[drivebyacct]

This is possible with the iOS as well. Not really sure why this app was targeted. Any app with permission.INTERNET could do what that application was doing.

Saying it hinges on a kernel exploit is rather silly. If a kernel exploit were found for iOS or Android, the effect and response would be the same. Some developer would try to ship it do to "malicious thing" and Goog/Apple would revoke it to spare their users any pain or harm.

This is a really moot issue when you realize that Android users can always install whatever APK they want, so it's not significant when Google removes apps from the Market for ToS violations (even then, it's incredibly rare), etc.