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Hi, hope this is the right thread to post this.
Anyways, with Honeycomb (and Ice Cream after that) being the next major Android release, and it being developed and focused more for tablet hardware/size, what do you think (if anything) will be next for Android phones after Gingerbread?
Given that Honeycomb, and the releases after, will probably require/utilize better hardware in terms of Android devices (ie. tablets), do you think Gingerbread is the "last" major Android release we'll see targeted specifically for phone devices?
If so, that would be disappointing. I know some people have uses for tablets, but frankly the smartphone for me is still the most capable and versatile device to come out in years, given that you can actually fit it in your pocket. I hope Google doesn't completely abandon Android development for phone-centric devices, and to see 2.5/2.6 updates.
The marketing VP of Viewsonic posts on this board and basically confirms that they are working on new Android versions for the G:
"Adobe and Google do not support Tegra II with Froyo"
"We are working on other OS versions, hint hint" The VP wrote the "hint hint", not me.
I know Roebeet has been busy with a big work project, but surprised the post did not ignite discussion. Does EVERYBODY have a big project with a short deadline?
added:
I think 2.3 is coming soon, due to the support issues. JMO.
Hmmm
rushless said:
"Adobe and Google do not support Tegra II with Froyo"
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Click to collapse
Support from adobe and google will happen for the Tegra II(TABLETS) when the new OS hits. IMO it will be when Honeycomb hits not gingerbread, but who knows....
rushless said:
The marketing VP of Viewsonic posts on this board and basically confirms that they are working on new Android versions for the G:
"Adobe and Google do not support Tegra II with Froyo"
"We are working on other OS versions, hint hint" The VP wrote the "hint hint", not me.
I know Roebeet has been busy with a big work project, but surprised the post did not ignite discussion. Does EVERYBODY have a big project with a short deadline?
added:
I think 2.3 is coming soon, due to the support issues. JMO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It could mean so much, I was actually trying NOT to think about or discuss it.
It could mean:
They're working on a port of the ZPad UI for the G Tablet. We know the G Tablet and ZPad are identical internally (and even externally, lol), so it wouldn't be far fetched to think VS has licensed (or whatever) the Zpad software from Malata and has it in their hands, working with it more directly - or maybe hired programmers to work on it on an official basis.
I no longer think of TnT as horrible, but I still think the dashboard section is unnecessarily bloated and way too static and rigid for an android homescreen environment. Feels more like a picture frame UI or a bedside device UI than part of an Android device and the 2.2 dock sort of takes care of those needs. XDA devs have done an exemplary and extremely commendable job with the ROM but after everything, people still have trouble with it from what I've read, so perhaps an official port by VS would work out for all the non-techies and typical users. Not to mention, you'd be able to get official OTAs as required/needed.
Security or not, I prefer the official OTAs than having to reflash the device through clockwork....the main reason I have remained on stock despite accolades given to TnT 4.1
They're working on/with 2.3 for the G Tablet. God, that'd be nice.
They're giving us something more standard/generic/closer to vanilla 2.2/2.3 and removing TnT completely. We know for the most part, that Froyo in it's more pure form, isn't tasty on the G Tablet MOSTLY because the hardware keys aren't backlit. I've always thought of TnT to be thoughtful because everything you can do from the hardware button(s) you can do from the toolbar. If they removed TnT and just wrote a new toolbar in, this would give us a more standard experience - paired with a newer kernel and newer tegra drivers, we'd have a more or less 2.2/2.3 with benefits experience.
So yeah, I don't like having low expectations but they keep me from hoping too hard/high and that way I won't be TOO disappointed if it really means a different version of the very same TnT with a few 'bug fixes', aka TnT 3452/3453.
Gingerbread is here....cm7 beta is available
http://vegantab.gojimi.com/download/update-cm-7.0.0-Beta1-Harmony-signed.zip
thebadfrog said:
Gingerbread is here....cm7 beta is available
http://vegantab.gojimi.com/download/update-cm-7.0.0-Beta1-Harmony-signed.zip
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Click to collapse
Yes, but at the cost of correct sdcard & sdcard2 mapping for the Gtablet? I loved CM roms on my G1, but hardware is too splintered now to cover all the hardware bases.
Not mention other hardware issues that CM is too general to make work correctly.
CM7 is using the correct Gingerbread mapping of sdcards.
Viewsonic release
What I was getting at was the fact that Viewsonic has yet to release an OFFICIAL gingerbread release. I still think that Adobe and Google will not give support to our tablets until they have an OS designed for them.
I know we have hacked ROMs that are based on Gingerbread, but I want to see VS take the next logical step and get us a real OEM OS..
Well hopefully then Viewsonic is SKIPPING Gingerbread because that is not a tablet supported OS just like Froyo.
We need Honeycomb to be the OS they are working on. Motorola is rumored to release the Xoom (Android 3.0 "Honeycomb") in late February.
Agreed
I agree, Honeycomb would be best... I don't think Motorola will get it all together and released by the end of February. I would love it if they did, then at least we could get a good source code!
Hopefully OfficialVS will come back and update us like he promised...
Gingerbread eh! Honeycomb would definitely be sweet. Now I'm in no way a techie, I am good at following instructions, with that said Notion Ink ships today would it be hard to port the eden UI over to the G-Tab? I'm curious what all the hype is about with it being that they both run the tegra chipset.
It is being developed together with LG?
Oh well ... I was thinking Xoom is the Google Tablet ... might be not.
http://www.gizmocrunch.com/android/6127-google-nexus-tablet-nexus-one-s
If you thought the Motorola Xoom was supposedly Google's own device like the HTC Nexus One and Samsung Nexus S, you may be gladly mistaken.
Google Nexus Tablet to join Nexus One & S
Reports are now coming in suggesting that Google is working with LG to release a Google Nexus tablet with a newer version of Android Honeycomb (Android 3.1?).
With questionable sales and a somewhat "rough around the edge" OS, the Motorola Xoom while being the first Honeycomb tablet, may not be the flagship Android tablet after all.
The details come courtesy of Eldar Murtazin, dubbed the "James Bond of Smartphones" by Engadget. Murtazin states that the so-called Google Nexus tablet scheduled for release sometime in mid-summer or early fall.
Just like the Google Nexus One and Nexus S, this tablet will no doubt be packing new features that will remain exclusive to the tablet for sometime before rolling out to other manufacturers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
gogol said:
It is being developed together with LG?
Oh well ... I was thinking Xoom is the Google Tablet ... might be not.
http://www.gizmocrunch.com/android/6127-google-nexus-tablet-nexus-one-s
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Click to collapse
If that's the case I'm sure the xoom would get a port of this rom when/if it comes out
gogol said:
It is being developed together with LG?
Oh well ... I was thinking Xoom is the Google Tablet ... might be not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Makes sense... just like the phone side had the HTC Dream / G1 before the nexus one, the tablet side has the xoom to take the hit for all of honeycomb's bugs before releasing their own-branded hardware. It's the price moto pays for being first.
Everyone said, that the problem of Xoom is Honeycomb (3.0). If google brings a tablet with 3.1... i think the update from 3.0 to 3.1 of the xoom will be the same. The hardware of Xoom are not bad.
That's true ... the Xoom hardware is more than enough.
The only problem is the Android 3.0 Honeycomb. Once Google gave proper updates to make it more stable, less force close, it will all set.
OFNeo said:
Everyone said, that the problem of Xoom is Honeycomb (3.0). If google brings a tablet with 3.1... i think the update from 3.0 to 3.1 of the xoom will be the same. The hardware of Xoom are not bad.
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Click to collapse
Wow this is such BS. Andy Rubin has already said in interviews that the Xoom is Google's reference device like the Nexus devices. Wouldn't make any sense having another one. Either way I'm not worried about getting software updates. They're giving the a Xoom to developers to make apps for Honeycomb too.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
oh noo.. what should i do now?
XOOM is not yet release in the UK, hence i can still cancel my pre-order.
should i wait for the Nexus Tablet (not sure what to call it), or just go with XOOM?
i'm really confused with this announces...
I'll go this weekend to Miami, and i've planed to buy motorola xoom... but now...
First, the motorola xoom are heavier than samsung galaxy tab 10.1 and ipad2. but samsung have a lot of issues... My samsung galaxy S have the GPS broken... the touch wiz interface.. "i hate it" and RFS file system..
what can i do? buy motorola xoom? and die without upgrades? like milestone? buy ipad2 and die with itunes and IOS? glbenchmark said that his gpu is 10 times faster than tecra2...
i'm really confused with this.
-1 google...
Never believe Murtazin, he has no idea what he's talking about, all rumors he started was comlete BS, he's also likes to lick Steve's balls very much. I'm dead serious, Eldar Murtazin is just very bad, unprofessional "journalist".
I think we need to view the XOOM as the original DROID.
"stock" android 2.0 on DROID, followed rather quickly by the Nexus One.
Looks quite similar to me. With Honeycomb not being open sourced for the time being, I know I will be waiting now...
Yeah this kind of annoys me, having just bought the Xoom yesterday. I am glad it's stock honeycomb, I can't see the Xoom not getting future updates, and the hardware is darn good. Even after the tablets expo'd at CTIA I decided on the Xoom. We shall see I guess.
Google did put their name on the Xoom... They don't just put that on anything.
At any rate, no matter what you buy or when you get it, there's something newer, better, shinier, and faster right around the corner.
Sent from my Xoom
I am curious if Google is trying to take a larger hand in the hardware side of things, possibly encouraging news if they start to push updates them selves for many devices instead of 2.
Then again, they did hand out EVOs at IO...and it is far from Googles primary device.
Maybe Google/LG putting together a Tablet that will have the new processor Kal-El. Nvidia said that we are going to see tablets this fall whit Kal-El
http://blog.laptopmag.com/nvidia-de...power-of-tegra-2-but-with-longer-battery-life
April Fools comes early this year?
I think people should stop getting their panties all twisted at every tabloid rumor, or at least nudge their brains out of park. If you bothered to look, the rumor has a single source, and the same site (mobile-review) also stated that Android 2.x devices wouldn't get the license to upgrade to 3.0. Last I checked, you don't need a license to use Android.
e.mote said:
April Fools comes early this year?
I think people should stop getting their panties all twisted at every tabloid rumor, or at least nudge their brains out of park. If you bothered to look, the rumor has a single source, and the same site (mobile-review) also stated that Android 2.x devices wouldn't get the license to upgrade to 3.0. Last I checked, you don't need a license to use Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not to mention this is a rumor for a tablet coming in "late summer or fall". Its March 28th right now so were a far way off from this...
e.mote said:
April Fools comes early this year?
I think people should stop getting their panties all twisted at every tabloid rumor, or at least nudge their brains out of park. If you bothered to look, the rumor has a single source, and the same site (mobile-review) also stated that Android 2.x devices wouldn't get the license to upgrade to 3.0. Last I checked, you don't need a license to use Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google may restrict what type of devices run Honeycomb so that a good user experience is maintained. I am sure there is something they can do if they really want to.
Actually, the licensing part comes wit hthe "Google" apps such as the market, they can deny access to that if they feel hardware and manufacturers don't meet their requirements.
That is how the platform works.
There is a vast difference between "may" and "will." Bill Gates may be the next Google CEO...or Charlie Sheen. The Earth may explode tomorrow from, you know, bad stuff in its core, and we won't have to worry much about anything else.
On licensing GApps -- It's not part of Android. While some may think this is a requirement to have for an Android device, it isn't. Lower-tier vendors have gotten around the issue with "unofficial" hacks. The one draw of GApps is market access, and with Amazon's store emerging as a credible alternative, what little leverage Goog has before is now even less.
The tablet exist and has Chrome OS.
I just read this article, a good eye opener for those craving for ICS
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2394929,00.asp
Google needs to look to Microsoft as an example of how to get updates right. Compared to the grinding misery of the Android non-update schedule, Microsoft's transition from Windows Phone 7 to Mango is going pretty smoothly.
Like Google, Microsoft has to deal with different OEMs and get its software approved by carriers. Like Google, Microsoft has to deal with different form factors—phones with physical keyboards and without, for instance.
Yes, Apple gets it right too, but that's a little boring; Apple has only one OEM (itself) and a handful of models, so it's much easier to push out updates to iPhones and iPads.
Earlier this year, Google and its OEMs formed a consortium to pledge to deliver prompt updates, but absolutely zero concrete work has come out of that group. Every single U.S. Windows Phone will update to Mango within weeks. Two-year-old iPhones can get iOS 5. But owners of Android phones and tablets just a few months old have no clue when, or whether their gadgets will get Ice Cream Sandwich (or for that matter, sometimes still even Gingerbread.)
Microsoft keeps its Windows Phone line down to one screen resolution and chipset, and doesn't allow manufacturers to skin the OS. I don't want to see Google take on the first requirement, as competition between chip manufacturers has been a major force driving Android's advances. But even if one chipset at a time got Android updates, it would still be a major step forward.
If manufacturer skins are really stopping updates, it may finally be time for Google to find a way to punish OEMs that can't keep up with the pace of change. Google likes to trumpet its openy-ness, but the company has always blessed and punished OEMs by giving or withholding the Android Market and Gmail apps that are necessary to have a decent Android device. Google needs to set a time limit for OEMs to implement changes.
Ice Cream Sandwich looks great. So when can we get it, how can we find apps for it, and how can app developers address the widest variety of Android devices easily? That's what Google needs to answer clearly and concisely.
and it made me think alot.
I'm an android fan, but i feel this author's opinion is quite true.
whats the point of having a good and new OS but its just available on a over priced nexus phone?
android updates are slow (i mean around 6 months or probably never). and silly manufacturers are further delaying it by their custom UI. This is just sad sad news for android.
i better stop reading news about ICS, just to make myself less miserable.
in my country, malaysia, the sgs2 is still at 2.3.3. which is another reason to forget about the ICS.
I agree, that's probably the biggest stumbling block of Android. When Apple fanboys say, "When Apple releases iOS 5, most iPhones (3GS onwards) can join in the party immediately. With Android, you have to wait and you might not even get the update at all", I have no response to that, because they are right.
One thing though, Microsoft controls the hardware specs of WP7 phones very closely. Sure there's differences here and there, but not as far reaching as a Galaxy 3 vs a Galaxy S2.
Well, heres my opinion about this subject:
No, it will not make things worst, i have been using android since donut with an HTC Magic, from which i had tried 2.1 and 2.2. Never resourcing from HTC's official releases.
I'll put it simple, for someone who needs a smartphone, almost every verion of android will do, you get to manage emails on the go, music, photos, market+apps, you get the point.
Now for someone that takes "what version of android i'm running" into consideration, there are solutions to run the latest. Me for example, i do take it into consideration, and i'm running 2.3.5 on a LG2X which only has 2.2 officially.
If this was real reality, what about X86 OS's? i mean, win3.1, win95, win98, win98ME, win2K, winXP, winVISTA, win7 and now win8... And im only talking about microsoft.
Theres no such thing has fragmentation. As for the development problems regarding which target android version will "I" develop to. Cmon, theres good coding or bad coding. OFC theres some API's that are only available since version X of the android version, but still, good coding would prevent the use of this API even if it means having less functionality.
I believe android is in the right track, ICS looks to have some nice improvements, although the main development i saw was design ("Make me awesome"), i believe there has been some improvements regarding stability+smoothness+usability.
Next stop is: "Google needs to look to Microsoft as an example of how to get updates right." Wait a second, google has made the most successful mobile OS and it needs to look to Microsoft for *whatever*?
"Yes, Apple gets it right too" No! if in Sascha's opinion Fragmentation is a problem, Apple is having the same issue, but it is coming later than android, mainly due to the 23454345672384 OEM's android has versus the 1 OEM Apple has! I mean, 1 oem, 1 OS = iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod Touch Xgen, iPad, iPad 2.. FFS! fragmentation? a single oem has made more devices than most android OEM's has! (not true, but quite)
[EDIT] Sorry im berserking.
"Microsoft keeps its Windows Phone line down to one screen resolution and chipset" if this was done in the Android habitat, there would be no sense in making different versions, varying prices, and so on. Fragmentation is good in some aspects, one of them being the different prices devices can get.
As for the version and updates problem, how about attacking the OEM's itself instead of Google? Since google is the main "victim" of this article, google has made all it can do to get it "corrected" (if this is a problem) and it even does not own the OEM's companies! All phones launched by google have had some nice updates, keeping it with the most recent OS all the time. (Yes i'm talking about the nexus lineup, Nexus One is 2 years old, so i guess it will not get ICS, still iphone 2G will not get iOS 5 neither.)
[EDIT2] Now i'm haywire.
Just take a look at the article comments, the writer ends up having no arguments. FFS He's calling WP7 an example for updates! saying that the OS provider has the obligation the get OEM's in line...NO! thats the good thing about Android, it is free, free to use, and free to transform. Every OEM is responsible for what they do with the devices they sell, and the OS they ship it with.
Thats like saying that my Dinossaur pc doesn't run windows 7 and call it Microsoft's fault, because my PC only have 96MB of Ram! Isn't that almost Apple-fanboy talk? The os provider must develop the HW for it to run properly.
Logi_Ca1 said:
When Apple fanboys say, "When Apple releases iOS 5, most iPhones (3GS onwards) can join in the party immediately. With Android, you have to wait and you might not even get the update at all", I have no response to that, because they are right.
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Click to collapse
That is true, except for one thing. There is a response.
If you want iOS, you have the choice of black or white. If you want Android then you have the choice of hundreds of different devices. It's a trade-off that I am more than happy with. I prefer choice over regular updates, especially when the OS is already good enough anyway.
Usually you get leaked firmwares before official release anyway. So I don't see the issue.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
drelite08 said:
Usually you get leaked firmwares before official release anyway. So I don't see the issue.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
I don't think that's a valid point since only a small minority of Android users know about xda and the fact that you can flash ROMs. Every iPhone user in the world will know about OTA updates.
Sorry but there's no apple fanboy like Joshua Toposlky, he is the only one in the world (sarcasm =P) that can see the bright side of both sides of the war.
Archer said:
I don't think that's a valid point since only a small minority of Android users know about xda and the fact that you can flash ROMs.
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Thats why i did say that for a smartphone user, every android version will sufice.
Archer said:
Every iPhone user in the world will know about OTA updates.
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Click to collapse
This is almost not noticeable in the android environment because of the OEM's, not google's fault
[EDIT] OMFG! Now this is stupid, this is SO STUPID! Check this out, he makes a table of the new features that the new iOS can do, an compares it to other OS's... so lets start:
Location Based Reminders: Only iOS
Quick Camera Acess: iOS and WP7
Advanced Photo Editing tools: Only iOS
Advanced Voice Commands: Only iOS
My answer to this is: I am not going to open another URL coming from PCmag
The way Android works is that Google do not have that much control over it after the OS is designed, it gets open-sourced then it is down to each individual OEM to build a rom and get their carrier partners to approve it.
Google have deliberately chosen to not do it the more formal way as it will defeat the entire original purpose that android had.
Obviously there is more complicated steps in the process when it comes to the licencing of Gapps....
However google and the other major partners have expressed their wish to reduce fragmentation and move to ICS as soon as possible, but that article was right in that we have not been given any strict words. However any phone currently running android 2.3 and is still getting worked on (i.e. not EOL) should receive an ICS update. I know that samsung are working on very quick timetables and the SGS2 rom should be out very quickly, but based on the past experience companies like HTC may take a very long time.
in WP7 Microsoft give a rom to the OEMS to do very minor tweaks, this is then approved and released.
I think what people are missing
Here guys is the fact that android os is the only open source os out of three three majors!
This means that u don't really need the oems to have latest up to date os version. As we can c clearly in the case of cynogenmod project. Moreover, the android build it's reputation on being the most comprehensive os with most capabilities to consume the most of the hardware. This is a big plus for everybody.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
Ray1 said:
in my country, malaysia, the sgs2 is still at 2.3.3. which is another reason to forget about the ICS.
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I have just read this now, and i must say WTF? what you mean? you want 2.3.7? You have officially the latest released Android version, and you call it "still"?
svceon said:
I have just read this now, and i must say WTF? what you mean? you want 2.3.7? You have officially the latest released Android version, and you call it "still"?
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Click to collapse
I'm sorry i offended you. Please dont get upset.
but the upgrading firmware or version is very frustrating.
i saw in youtube and other tech website that the latest gingerbread is 2.3.5,
2.3.4 suppose to have the video call in google talk
2.3.5 suppose to have better battery life.
(i hope i'm not mistaken)
dont you feel its sad? i spend a big BIG sum of money to buy this phone (RM2099), and naturally i expect it will have good support. OTA updates should be ideal, KIES is acceptable as well, but 2.3.5 is no where to be seen even on KIES.
Ray1 said:
I'm sorry i offended you. Please dont get upset.
but the upgrading firmware or version is very frustrating.
i saw in youtube and other tech website that the latest gingerbread is 2.3.5,
2.3.4 suppose to have the video call in google talk
2.3.5 suppose to have better battery life.
(i hope i'm not mistaken)
dont you feel its sad? i spend a big BIG sum of money to buy this phone (RM2099), and naturally i expect it will have good support. OTA updates should be ideal, KIES is acceptable as well, but 2.3.5 is no where to be seen even on KIES.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ray1, i'm not upset, don't get me wrong =P i just thought you were saying that you wanted ICS now, and that you were frustraded that you didn't had. i'm only upset by PCMAG by it's acumulated stupidity.
As for the updates, there are a lot of 2.3.4/5 roms in the SGSII development sub-forum, why dont you try to flash one?
Another thing about firmware and OEM's updates:
When i buy a car, i dont expect it to be upgraded when the next generation of engines are released. When i buy a car i bought it because i needed it or i wanted it as it was being sold.
If you want the latest hardware in your phones, then don't expect to have the latest software.
linkin85 said:
If you want the latest hardware in your phones, then don't expect to have the latest software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This doesn't make a lot of sense
Ray1 said:
I'm sorry i offended you. Please dont get upset.
but the upgrading firmware or version is very frustrating.
i saw in youtube and other tech website that the latest gingerbread is 2.3.5,
2.3.4 suppose to have the video call in google talk
2.3.5 suppose to have better battery life.
(i hope i'm not mistaken)
dont you feel its sad? i spend a big BIG sum of money to buy this phone (RM2099), and naturally i expect it will have good support. OTA updates should be ideal, KIES is acceptable as well, but 2.3.5 is no where to be seen even on KIES.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no Google talk video call in 2.3.4 nor 2.3.5..
the fact that the author wrote "Google needs to look to Microsoft as an example of how to get updates right" made him lose any ounce of credibility that he had (if he had any to begin with.)
they released WP 7 without half of the proven needs on a smartphone (eg. cut and paste), released an "update" which was basically a primer for your phone to be able to OTA update when the new "patch" was released. and it didn't even adress the issues that had people *****ing about the phone. Mango was promised to be released last year, and it's already october 2011. I got rid of my windows phone within 3 months of buying on.
so what if apple releases iOS 5 to all iphone users? half of them probably doesn't even know what's on the new OS. the other half are still marvelling over siri as some technological breakthrough. it has got to be the most boring OS i've seen. everyone holding an iOS phone/tablet/ipod looks the same as the other person holding it. oh great, you can change the wallpaper...whoopdiedoo...and buy a 200 dollar case for it! wowie.
i was a loyal windows mobile user for many many years, having used them since O2 still manufactured awesome products. I loved it for how much I could customize it to suit how I'd like it to be. I'm not paying 1000 bucks and have the company tell me how I should want it to look. I'm sorry, but a homescreen with 16 icons on it just doesn't look appealing to me. I have been blown away by what the android OS can do.
how ICS release can be bad for android users baffles me. I bet the author was wetting himself when apple launched the white iphone.
This ''issue'' can be avoided by installing CM7. This way your phone is like a nexus and has the latest updates.
Umm this isn't really google's fault by any means; whether or not ICS comes to our devices is up to the manufacturers, and it's is up to us as consumers to let them know that we don't want a customized UI, but standard android instead.
Vote with your wallets and send manufacturers complaint letters and you shall have what you wish for. Just look at the locked boot loaders issue as an example of what can be done when enough people complain and commit to a cause.
1) don't rely on Official Roms all the time, plenty of leaks for 2.3.4 and 2.3.5 have surfaced
2) Just because you are not yet on 2.3.4 doesn't mean you won't get ICS, you don't have to go up every single OS step in order...
Again Android liberty. You can pick the OEM. If you want the fastest update buy a nexus. Slower OEMs will sell lesser product in the future. And I didn't get the idea of the article. Is limiting the OSs with resolution and chips a good thing? If so what are we doing here?
Sent from my GT-I9100
What do you think when someone asks you about the worst part about Android? Chances are, Android fragmentation is one of the first things that flies through your head. But I've been thinking about it and I haven't noticed anything to suggest that I am not alone.
It is well known that Android owns the smartphone market globally. It has done this by being open source. This has become it's greatest strength and it greatest weakness. For the first point, it is currently on over a billion devices all over the world. As for the second, I think you can guess: fragmentation. God knows how many different companies have taken Android and twisted it to their laggy and unsupported preference. I would really like to point towards the manufacturers that basically releases a new phone every month to three months. These include Samsung, Blu, and countless others. Here looks like a good place to say that I HATE THOSE LITTLE COMPANIES WITH THEIR CRAP TABLETS ON AMAZON. Anyway, Samsung probably is the worst right? With their big fancy skin and slow updates....well look at Blu! They have at least two dozen phones, tablets, and everything in between, most of which don't get a single update (to the next large update like 5.0, 5.1, etc. This doesn't include small patches, though I'm sure that they don't give many of those). Now I know that this is starting to turn into a rant, but that's OK. I'm almost ready to point out my...point. :l
If any of your friends, co-workers, acquaintances have iPhones, you might have heard the "why does my iPhone 4 on iOS 6 not support this app" complaint (or something similar). I've found that most apps work with Android Jelly Bean, ICS, or even Gingerbread, all of which are as old or older than iOS 6. Android apps support older versions of Android better than iOS does, which has very few fragmentation problems. Quick note: Some people haven't updated their iDevices to the newest version, so please don't give me crap for it. So that is my first supporting argument, which is a little harder to go against than my final point.
Quick recap: there to many different skinned versions of Android. This might seem to contradict my rage about "THOSE LITTLE COMPANIES WITH THEIR CRAP TABLETS ON AMAZON", but no one cares since most people probably agree with me on that. We should all calm down about the slow updates on our devices. Don't get angry at me and say that I must have a Nexus or a Motorola and I've never known the struggle; I have the LG Optimus G AT&T version and it hasn't gotten the official Kitkat release. Actually, I haven't even gotten an official update since 4.1.2. Thanks to custom ROMs, I'm on Lollipop right now. But that isn't the point. Maybe we shouldn't think of Android as "be together, not he same", but more like "be not the same, not together." That didn't quite work the way I hoped...
So I'm starting to think of Android a only a base and that we should think of skinned versions of Android more like Linux and it's distros. Ubuntu is based off Linux, but it isn't Linux (not actually sure if there is a pure Linux...would it be text based?). It rather another creation of it. The candied named Android versions are just new standards and aren't really necessary. I'm pretty sure that Samsung could take the current version and just add the security and new features in as they need it. Well, maybe some dev could correct me on that? Anyway, I'd like to end this summing up this thread (b/c it isn't very organized to my eyes) by saying that it's OK that you don't have the newest update and that Samsung really should add in the new features if not update the whole OS.
:silly: