Is Android really Open Source and free?

When you buy Indian version of HTC Magic, first Android mobile phone in India, you will be disappointed. I was really disappointed. It runs Android but it is not a real Android phone.

Andoid is open source. You can create a phone with this source code.

But you can not use some services from Google. You can not install some application from Google, which is not open source, closed source. Those applications are:

• GMail, Google Maps, Android Market, Google sync, etc.
• Even you copy above application into Open Source version of Android, some of them do not work. Because few features are missing for them to work.
• Android Market is very important because it is the place to download application. There are 10,000 applications registered.

If you have Nokia phone, or Windows mobile phone, you can install Google Maps. But you can not install Google Maps on Indian HTC Magic. Why?

To have Google Applications on Android, it need licence and fee which either has to be paid by manufacture like HTC or venders like Airtel.