Video Related To: Google's shutdown of China's Acer phone makes short-term sense, long-term trouble

Why Google's clash with Acer and Alibaba strains China's Android market Story from: www.guardian.co.uk Image Attribution: Ng Han Guan/AP The row between Google and its Open Handset Alliance partner Acer - which dropped a plan to offer a smartphone with Alibaba in China - points to bigger threats to Android's unity in the world's largest smartphone marketGoogle's intervention to stop Acer launching a smartphone with search rival Alibaba's "forked" version of Android is reportedly causing tension with Taiwanese and Chinese handset makers - and might even threaten Android's unity in China.The search giant lobbied Acer last week to halt its scheduled press showing of a new smartphone aimed at the Chinese market pointing out that membership of the Open Handset Alliance - the group of companies forming the device carrier semiconductor software and "commercialisation" sides of the Android ecosystem - forbids Acer from making devices that offer forked or incompatible versions of Android. Acer cancelled the launch abruptly leaving Alibaba fuming publicly at Google's actions. John Spelich Alibaba's international spokesman told CNet that "Aliyun is different" from Android - dismissing remarks aimed at him by Andy Rubin head of Google's mobile efforts including Android saying to Spelich that "Aliyun uses the Android runtime framework and tools. And your app store contains Android apps (including pirated Google apps)."The upshot has been that Acer has withdrawn from the partnership <b>...</b>