Taiwanese PC maker Acer was originally scheduled to launch a new smartphone on Thursday that was to use the Aliyun OS, a Linux-based mobile operating system developed by a subsidiary of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group. But the launch event for the device was , with no clear word from Acer on why.

Alibaba, however, quickly responded and alleged that Google had threatened to revoke Acer's license to use Android if it went ahead with the launch of the Aliyun OS smartphone.

Google initially declined to comment on the matter. But on Saturday, Andy Rubin, head of the company's Android development team, addressed some of the controversy in a and also on his . He alleged the Aliyun OS was based on Android, but incompatible with the Android ecosystem.

The Google led Open Handset Alliance, of which Acer is a member, is meant to promote the development of Android. Members are restricted from building handsets that use incompatible versions of Android.

"While Android remains free for anyone to use as they would like, only Android compatible devices benefit from the full Android ecosystem," Rubin wrote. "By joining the Open Handset Alliance, each member contributes to and builds one Android platform -- not a bunch of incompatible versions."