From the department of WTF: AT&T replacing Google search (and services?) with Yahoo equivalents.

Now before we go any further, I’ll make known that I understand Google isn’t Android and Android isn’t Google. Google just so happens to be one of the biggest OHA members who puts the bulk of marketing dollars behind the mobile OS. With that said however, so far Google has been Android. Any Android device you pick up that’s been labeled a “Google Experience” device as been stuffed full of Gmail, Google Maps, Googlve Voice, etc. A tight knit blend of hardware and software. AT&T is set to start the Android madness this month with their first (and utter POS) attempt at the Android game with the Backflip. Besides being tainted with all kinds of useless, overpriced AT&T crapware and services, a new revelation coming to light affects not only the Backflip, but all Android devices on AT&T — Google won’t be the go to service.

That title will now go to Yahoo. To be clear, it’s only the search provider for now as Google apps are bundled with the Backflip in particular. But could it signal a different stance by AT&T? Will future Android phones not only come riddled with god awful AT&T crap apps and less than stellar (read: half-baked) Yahoo apps? Replacing the default search provider with Yahoo may not seem like a big deal, but to some it’s a huge decision. Besides filling AT&T execs’ pockets with cash, I’d like to know any other reasoning as on the desktop search front, Yahoo has been sucking hard the last several months.

When all is said and done however, the relatively low-end feature set of the Backflip coupled with the boat load of bloatware compliments of AT&T means this phone is a strict “no buy/pass”. Unless you just have to have a cheap Android device on Big Blue, you’re better off unlocking some other Android device for AT&T usage or sucking it up and waiting for 1 of 4 other Android devices set to launch on AT&T this year.

Good, bad, ugly?

Android and Me

Author: Mike Norris

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Gadget lover, smartphone collector, and beer connoisseur. I've been writing about gadgets for three years now and loving every minute of it. Outside of the digital landscape, I enjoy being active outdoors. I'm always up for a good conversation, so feel free to drop me a line!