ajhieb wrote:
This speculation is based on what? Other speculation?
Isn't that the best kind?
It's certainly speculation to think they're "dumping" the current firmware for Android-based firmware, but I think there's a lot of reason to think that's what's going on. That being said, it's really hard to keep track of when things were said, and who said them.
The State of the Echo #3 post said they were working on "a complete integration of Windows Media Center in Android." This sounds like a lot more than what they were originally thinking. They never came out and said this, but I think when they initially talked about bringing Android to the Echo they imaged a simple port of Android separate from the WMC code. Then they decided that they could do much more. Again, they didn't come out and say this, although I think they came pretty close in a post either here or on AVS.
So, I think they originally viewed Android as a separate project. I think their plans changed, and they now view Android as at least the underlying OS for the new version of the extender code. It's a bit more up in the air how far they're going to take that. Are they doing the equivalent of an OS swap and porting over the WMC extender code? Or, are they completely re-writing the WMC interface as an Android app?
I'm inclined to think its the latter for two reasons. First, some of the screenshots they posted really, really looked like an Android app. The bottom one was the main example, showing something that looks awfully similar to the stock Android file handler pop-up. More generally, they just don't look like the WMC interface. I suppose it could be a WMC theme, though. The second reason I think they might be getting away from the regular WMC extender interface code is because they've promised Win8 support. That either means they're supporting the new version of RDP (which is certainly possible), or they're bypassing RDP entirely by running the interface in Android on the client, rather than streaming it over RDP from the server.
The major thing that contradicts this was I vaguely remember seeing a post from someone that claimed to have read a post from one of the Ceton guys (that's right, two levels of indirection) saying the "new" firmware will still work with any WMC add-ons you have. It doesn't seem like that would be the case if they dumped the WMC interface for an Android app. It doesn't, however, preclude changing the underlying operating system underneath the WMC extender code.
Anyways, I think you're right and in the past they did say they were continuing to develop the non-Android firmware. But, if memory serves, that was a long time ago. Plans may have changed. That doesn't mean they lied.
I contacted one of them recently because I was wondering what was up as well. While he could not provide any details as to what is going on his comment was very encouraging to say the least. 
