Augen's Kmart tablet and smartbook won't have Google-branded apps from now on
By Sean Hollister 
posted August 7th 2010 8:01PM
posted August 7th 2010 8:01PM
Florida- August 07, 2010 – Augen Electronics Corp., an innovator of tablet pc's, netbooks, and eReaders, would like to deliver the following statement to address the circulating media gossip regarding Augen's preloaded apps.
On July, 29 2010 Augen had a constructive conversation with Google Inc. The topic of the discussion was Google's Application Suite. As you know, Google Inc. has released the source code for the entire Android platform under the flexible and commercial-friendly Apache 2.0 open source license. Augen is free to use that open source code; however, the suite of applications comprising Google Mobile Services on Android are proprietary to Google and have not been released under open source licenses. The Google Mobile Service and Android Apps were pre installed during the development process on our tablets for testing purposes, and were not removed unintentionally before releasing the products in the market place.
Google and Augen came to a mutual understanding that the Google Mobile Services Application Suite pre-installed on the GENTOUCH/ GENBOOK Series; could not be removed due to technological constraints for the products that were sold, shipped, or already produced.
For future production runs and deliveries, Augen will block and remove the Google Mobile Services Application Suite from the current devices until further notice. We are currently in communication with Google Inc. to obtain the required licensing for upcoming products, and will announce in our future statements the timelines and availability of these products as it will become available to us. However, for your convenience Augen will add applications to accommodate the absence of the Google Mobile Services Application Suite.
OUR COMMITMENT TO YOU...
The future of Augen holds a key to develop market conscious products with a vision of delivering the latest and emerging technologies, being available and affordable to every household, big/small corporation in the United States of America and worldwide.
We are at the final stages of releasing an entire new line of products which incorporates the newest technology and concepts, that will make a difference in your every day lives. We encourage you our Gen Nation, to follow the exciting products that Augen will be unveiling in the very near future. We are here to put the world at your fingertips and take you beyond the realm of the market that exists today, bringing you with us into a new era of open world communication and computing.
We are a US based company and understand and incorporate your wishes, desires, and requirements in our company's DNA. We are here for you and are looking for your continued support, and excitement in our current and future releases.
Gary Gofman
CEO
Augen Electronics Corp.
I cant even find this dam thing my local kmart shippment never came and they only order 3! Lol
@John DROID What ever happened to "free" and "open". Guess Android is not so free and open. Not so much.
Off topic: there was a post about something to do with a zune before this current kmart thing,, why did it get deleted??
@SskyNnet
Shhhhhh... It's A Secret
@iPhone 4
Android is, Google propietary apps aren't
@Arkv2 +1
@Arkv2 The problem here is yet another example of the platform fragmentation..
Google needs to decide if they are marketing "with Google" or "android" atm the market is a fragmented mess of "with google" devices such as the MyTouch, legit but not with google devices (anything with Sense, Blur or any other custom UI on top of it but still having marketplace access) and the "rest" or "bulk" of the devices on market which have neither..
Its a nightmare for the consumer who equates Android with Droid (verizon's lineup of android phones which are heavily marketed) and even more of one for developers..
Theres a big huge gulf between "apple walled garden iron fisted control" and "its open source anyone can use it" If google wants android to be anything more than a replacement for Brew as the phone OS of choice.. they need to start reigning in the platform and issuing reference designs platform requirements to be Branded as having Android. (not to mention renaming the Open Source portion of android which is incredibly small stack sitting on top of standard linux)
@jabbathewocket
Actually my Sprint Hero says "with google" on the box and the battery cover and also comes with HTC's Sense UI.
@jabbathewocket
Why are you worrying about Apple? You are so lame man! take your tired tirade somewhere else. Obviously you didn't read where Google has to give you permission to use their stuff. that is called control. So where is the openess? Ain't none.
Everyone knows that Google is getting paid for evey click on an ad and they are going to make make sure they can track that money. That is control like no other.
@Arkv2 As much as I agree with that? Why wouldn't Google want their apps and their market work on none-phone devices?
@pspitts android is open but there is not currently any official Google experience tablets. Anyone can put android on a device but that it doesn't necessarily have the seal of approval as such.
Anyways do you not have any different tunes to sing? 'Denial and arrogance in the morning' is getting a bit tedious.
@jabbathewocket
All good points.. but the real 'issue' here (if you want to even call it an issue) is that Google really doesn't care.
Google is an advertising company. plain and simple. Android, like search, gmail, docs, maps, earth and everything else that Google does, is just another means to an end - another way to get users more comfortable and invested in their platform so they are primed for advertising, and so that advertisers have a reason to go there.
'Fragmentation' isn't really an issue to Google anymore than Google's apps on the iphone or Blackberry are (Which in itself is a kind of fragmentation).. At the end of the day if you're using Google.. Google wins.
how do companies make money off products of this caliber?
@tehslax They don't, unless they sell milllllions, like the EeePc
@tehslax
They use the cheapest components possible and invest basically nothing into technical support, quality control or future development. So if they manage to make 10% margin on each unit it's still a better profit than leaving some money sitting in the bank, bonds, or other securities. They're probably not mass producing these on any huge scale so they can be pretty sure what they make they will end up selling. Not a lot of risk.
@tehslax the companys that sell stuff like this make bank.
let me tell you why, they have extremely dedicated workers who provide there knowedge of sales and then they buy stuff extremely cheap in bulk, very bulk. now many companies make big mistakes and buy the wrong thing and end up selling what they have had for less than they paid for it, thus the product(cheap) never gets sent to market.
let me tell you this, if you were to buy a fabulously cheap working computer, would u consider it a deal, or just a happy pappy mishap(that its so cheap)
numerous items that big companies sell, it has actually taken so many turns and the item has come out to cost making a lot more than expected, that is why these bigger companies with lots to do,, have to jump there prices up. now let m,e tell u after a bit of time of selling at a high enough prce, they can then just sell cheaper.
@arash
Perhaps I misunderstood you, but it seems like you are implying that the EeePC was the same "caliber" as this piece of junk. I bought the first EeePC released, the Surf 2g. It was a budget PC, for sure, but the quality of the hardware was far greater than what you would expect for the price. It was revolutionary, sparking a whole new trend in mobile computing. A lot crappy netbooks have been released since then but the EeePC was a gem.
@tehslax it's called "The Pet Rock Syndrome"
Well this is exactly why android has no future!!!!:D:D(how can i say that, it was really hard) i'm looking at you..... well there's nothing to look at it
@arash
... it appears that your post was what didn't have a future.
@DaHarder
ZING
@arash i agree with you, they arent getting anywhere with it calling it android, they will have to change the name or come up woth a whole new thang!
@emopoops You seem to be implying that this tablet has no future rather than android. Android definitely has a future, the Kmart tablet, not so much.
@emopoops 200k phones/day isn't what I call "aren't getting anywhere"
Well... There are a number of was to 'work around' that little issue.
I never understood googles logic against apps on tablets and non phone devices.
I'm sure if one of the big names (HTC, Samsung, Motorola) creates a tablet it will have a market though.
@PathogenX I'm pretty sure you have to pay google in some way to get the market and other apps.
@PathogenX I think they have to meet certain requirements to have the market and google apps.
@PathogenX
Google gets a $$ kickback from the phone OEMs. The tablet guys? Not so much. No tickee, no shirtee.
hmm would it not be possible to drop a rom of a device with similar specs to this (one of the many chinese tablets) that does have market access on to this, and get around that .
I was thinking about buying one of these but not too sure about it anymore.
@Brt312 http://www.kmart.com:80/shc/s/p_10151_10104_020W023705190001P?vName=Computers+%26+Electronics&cName=Laptops&keyword=augen&prdNo=2&blockNo=2&blockType=G2
Its online now?
@Brt312 What you really want is an Apple iPad. Just pony up the money already.
@iPhone 4 I already have one. I want an android device too, not that I think its a better os.
We are sorry but we do not have sufficient inventory for the item you are ordering. Please modify the quantity or remove the item from your cart. 7" Color Touch Screen Tablet PC Powered by Android™ 2.1 See Similar Items Sears Item # 020W023705190001 Mfr.model # NBA7800ATP Augen 7" Color Touch Screen Tablet PC Powered by Android™ 2.1 Augen 7" Color Touch Screen Tablet PC Powered by Android™ 2.1 Sold by Kmart Kmart item # 020W023705190001 Mfr.mode
@gonzoangel damn, but i thought it wasn't going to be available online.
@Brt312 For those that are not familiar with ordering from KMart.com, I recommend avoid it at all costs.
You place an order, they (try to) find a store that has an item (or whatever staff think is close enough to substiture, especially in the case of toys), and the item is drop shipped from a random retail store.
All manner of hilarity ensues. On the toy collector board I participate in, someone new learns this lesson about three times a week. Those of us scoring at home show a roughly 5% success rate in actually receiving the item we ordered from kmart.com
I thought Google was open and allowed anything. So much for that.
@Keleko Bogus logic.
Android as an OS is open and the source code is available. What is not open is the array of Google specific applications like Gmail and Google Maps. Can't really blame Google for keeping those parts controlled.
@scoobydooby
> Can't really blame Google for keeping those parts controlled.
Uh, why? They give away free web interfaces and apps all over the place that access their services. Why are they so uptight about someone putting a binary blob on an Android device that accesses gmail, etc?
@Bobo Because Google apps are what set "Google Experience" devices apart from other devices.
@scoobydooby It's still douchy and inconsistent. A gmail app for the iphone (if one was allowed) would certainly be free, so why is it restricted to only "approved" devices on google's own platform? It makes no sense.
@Chip
Aside from the one in the Google App you mean, although it works better if you set up Gmail as an exchange account in the iOS mail app, something I haven't been able to set up on an Android device for some reason.
Copied all the settings straight across to a HTC Magic, HTC Legen SEX10 and SEX10 Mini Pro none of them would work as Exchange with Gmail.
This thing looks like poop anyway. I know it's cheap so there's a market for it and it might make an ok second device.
I'll wait for Samsung's Galaxy tab.
Google don't play dat...
Are there hefty fees from Google?. I thought Google brand is " come out to the net by all means and use our search engine."
Unfortunately it looks like Google's "open source" solution isn't the panacea originally hoped for, and while they aren't being "evil" they don't mind being a little malevolent. Oh well, time to switch to a truly open AGPL/linked web based system.
@huh: it has more to do with setting a minimum standard for Android. Google is using their apps and the Market as leverage to force manufacturers to attain a certain standard.
@kidphat I see your point, but gmail &c are pretty basic parts of the experience. Gmail should work anywhere, this seems more like extortion and is certainly far away from many ideals.
@kidphat Minimum standards or not, if a large portion of what people think of as "android" is proprietary and only the base OS source code is freely available then there's really not much difference at the end of the day between a handset maker installing android plus the proprietary Google apps pretty much everyone has to ship with, versus just going with a proprietary alternative. It's not like you can really get away with shipping an Android handset that can't use Marketplace and without Gmail integration. What about the browser for that matter, is that proprietary as well? If half the things needed to make Android usable are proprietary then it's no different than any other proprietary OS.