Android and Fragmentation

MoSync is a tool to fight the unwanted effects of fragmentation. A problem that in the long term and short term tends to cripple the mobile industry as a whole. The whole world (or at least everyone wearing Star Trek t-shirts) were immensely happy when Android phones hit markets around the world.
The iPhone killer, the One, the Messiah of Mobiles were few of the names attributed to the OS. That Google was entering the Mobile Operating System market was thought of as the 'dawning of a new age'. We have come long way since the first HTC G1 hit the market. The market already has 8 Android devices on the board with plenty more in the offing.
Is Android the great equalizer? Are we heading for an age where most of the world will either be an Android device or an Apple device? Maybe, but the question to ask is "Are all Android phones the same?"
The sad answer is no and the no is increasing in font size and gathering some support.
Wind River announced (7th December,2009) that they are launching a commercial version of the Android platform that comes with pre-integrated apps and global support and is optimized for Texas Instruments’ OMAP 3. But the offering represents one more step toward a dangerously fragmented Android universe.
A fragmented Android world means we could see Android updates that aren't immediately available to all phones, pushing handset manufacturers to either make modifications to update every phone or to leave out the older phones altogether. This could spell doom or at least create some bad will against a Mobile Operating System that has been getting some rave reviews from even the most obtuse of critics.