You want to make changes to Android all willy nilly? Google says NO!

Semi-Touch?

That’s what I’m affectionately referring to Google’s Multi-Touch as. Google began rolling our multi-touch support for the Android this week. This update will allow for the “pinch-to-zoom functionality.” So why do I call it semi-touch instead?

The only applications that support it initially will be the browser, maps and gallery applications. So far, there is no news on more applications coming later although there would have to be. So all Android users get ready for your touchscreen phone to have all the features you expect from a touch screen. Wait a minute… not ALL Android users. As of right now, it’s just Nexus One owners that will be getting the functionality. multi-touch is part of the Android 2.0 framework and, as we know, that is exclusive to the Nexus One at the moment.

Droid users and people with other flavors of the Android OS… Google says it will be up to the carriers and device manufacturers to push the updates. There is no talk on when and if it will show up in other models on other carriers or how that decision will be made so keep your eyes and ears open about your brand.

This is the problem with not having a closed ecosystem. You have the device manufacturer (Motorola, HTC, etc), the carrier (T-Mobile, Verizon, etc) and the OS developer (Google) and all three parties have to make arrangements and different partnerships provide different features sets at different times. One Android owner cannot, necessarily, expect the same as another Android owner. 

Multi-touch capability has been available for some time and with a serious of hacks (or apps), it’s been unlockable. This new update represents the first time Google is incorporating it into the OS as a native, usable feature.

If you’re reading this immediately after it was posted, then I can bet you’re not reading it on your Nexus One. This morning, every Nexus One in the country lost service all at once. To be specific, data service. Was it all T-Mobile? No. All HTC phones? No. Just the Nexus One. No network upgrade, not phone firmware patch. It just stopped working.

It starts with a prompt on the phone to buy a data plan (even if you already have one). So you call T-Mobile but they have to forward you to HTC support. That’s where you get the help. They tell you that they have no idea but it’ll be fixed soon.

Some are wondering, “Why HTC? It’s the Google Nexus One.” Nope. It’s not. It’s Google branded but it’s made by HTC. How does it differ from the HTC Hero, Tattoo, Magic, or the Dream. It doesn’t except in terms of the version of the Android OS.

There is one other major difference. You have to buy it through Google, get billing support through T-Mobile and tech support through HTC. T-Mobile’s only apparent role is to provide signal to the antenna. So far this morning they haven’t done that.

This is not a Google bashing article to leverage against Apple’s shortcomings this week. This is not a T-Mobile bashing article to raise the opinion of AT&T. This is phantom problem without rhyme or reason and poor replies to customer because of poorly engineered business deal between the three companies.

If the Nexus One wants to mature and see its full potential, it will most certainly need to not continue to stop working spontaneously. And when it reaches other carriers, the support path will need to be better as well.