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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
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
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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Click to collapse
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
Will anyone be supporting the htc arrive to possibly build an Apollo rom once the code is released so we can get even a small taste of the windows phone 8 magic?
With XDA it seems almost anything is possible but I certainly wouldnt hold my breath, At this point Im more wondering whether or not the Arrive will get 7.8. Its also confounding that sprint seems to be the only of the "big 4" carriers that havent committed to wp8.
Agreed, I'd love to see another windows phone on the sprint network, especially a wp8 with support for lte
I think personally when WP8 comes out I will just buy the first one with a proper keyboard. I haven't been in a situation where I've not wanted another smartphone in a long time, but unfortunately I just use it so much that my 7 Pro isn't going to last much past the end of the year I fear...
If you all remember from the Windows Phone Summit, it was mentioned that all devices launced will have (receive updates) for a period of 18 months.
What does this mean brothers? Does it mean every WP device released will be neglected and won't be able to upgrade to another major OS update just like today's 1st and 2nd gen devices after 18 months.
What if we get quad core, NFC and all these hardcore hardware goodies? Will a phone with all the wonderful specs still be neglected? I really don't see how if the Kernels and cores are not changed.
Typical example: Will the HTC One X and Samsung Galaxy III loose support for Android ONE DAY??? Even if the Android kernel and the cores still remain the same???
I'm really lost and need your opinions...any explanations?
Kenzibit said:
If you all remember from the Windows Phone Summit, it was mentioned that all devices launced will have (receive updates) for a period of 18 months.
What does this mean brothers? Does it mean every WP device released will be neglected and won't be able to upgrade to another major OS update just like today's 1st and 2nd gen devices after 18 months.
What if we get quad core, NFC and all these hardcore hardware goodies? Will a phone with all the wonderful specs still be neglected? I really don't see how if the Kernels and cores are not changed.
Typical example: Will the HTC One X and Samsung Galaxy III loose support for Android ONE DAY??? Even if the Android kernel and the cores still remain the same???
I'm really lost and need your opinions...any explanations?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope it does lose support after 18 months as that leaves the room for new innovation every 18 months which is fantastic if you as an end user want value for money! 18 months in gadget years is a long time. I would rather prefer new screen res, new processors, new add-ons to the hardware that can be exploited using an updated OS. However, yes if the OS can do all these by not changing kernel etc, we might potentially still be able to update to newer OS, but would you not want those hardware features that evolve in 18 months? I would!
18 Months is too short...
Think of how the latest gen phones got a front facing camera, yet we won't see Skype integration unless we upgrade to WP8...
What features will the 2nd gen of WP8 phones get that won't be used until WP9?
18 months is wayyyy too short... 36 would be a more fair number!
Zhariak said:
18 Months is too short...
Think of how the latest gen phones got a front facing camera, yet we won't see Skype integration unless we upgrade to WP8...
What features will the 2nd gen of WP8 phones get that won't be used until WP9?
18 months is wayyyy too short... 36 would be a more fair number!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For example, they could exploit the possibility of x86 instead of ARM?
or hexa-cores?
or kinect sensors?
Now imagine if we could run the new kernel and MSFT would give WP8 to us right now, but we had same hardware, we wouldn't be seeing those NFC goodies on our current phones or those games that exploit multicores!
Zhariak said:
18 Months is too short...
Think of how the latest gen phones got a front facing camera, yet we won't see Skype integration unless we upgrade to WP8...
What features will the 2nd gen of WP8 phones get that won't be used until WP9?
18 months is wayyyy too short... 36 would be a more fair number!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be idiotic. 3 years?
And considering that Android manufacturers abandon you before you've even bought it, 18 months is perfectly fine.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda premium
18 months is fine its the length of your contracts eligibility so essentially your phone will be supported until the next wave comes out.
18 months is perfect, means you can enjoy your latest update for a half year before your contract expires and you can renew it icm with a new phone.
Come to think of this, then someone like me need not buy a flagship phone. When WP8 comes out, they'll be low end, mid range and high end phones, since I don't play a lot of games on my phone and just use my social, forum and productivity apps, I really don't need to buy a WP GS3 or One X like WP which will no be supported in 18 months time. Both high end and low end WP 8 devices will not be supported in 18 months time then I better buy a cheap WP8 device when it comes out. Or am I wrong?
Sent from my HTC HD7 using Board Express
And also are they giving us 18 months support based on the expirations of contracts? If so then they are not being fair to some of us who buy phones off contract. You really need to use your phone like forever if you buy one coz they are damn expensive.
Sent from my HTC HD7 using Board Express
Kenzibit said:
And also are they giving us 18 months support based on the expirations of contracts? If so then they are not being fair to some of us who buy phones off contract. You really need to use your phone like forever if you buy one coz they are damn expensive.
Sent from my HTC HD7 using Board Express
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why is this such a complicated concept?
It's 18 months from when the phone is released.
If you buy a year old phone, then that would be your problem.
Sent from my SGH-I777
Personally, I think it should be at least 24 months, in the US we all end up with 2 year contracts. Now if you buy the phone 3-4 months after it's release, who's fault is that ? Yours not Microsoft.
Now here's another good question that should effect US users. Does this 18 months start when the phone is released by the Carriers or the OEM ? Phones released in the US tend to get an overseas release before the US, sometimes as much as 6 months (GSM or CDMA).
How about the case of the Verizon Trophy or the Sprint Arrive, for example. The GSM Trophy was released about 8-9 months BEFORE the CDMA releases of the Arrive or the (few weeks later) Trophy. Yea, people say they are different phones but, MS could say, no a Trophy is a Trophy. Are you saying when I buy a CDMA phone (better coverage in the US now) my upgrades from Microsoft could only be 6-7 months on a just released phone, that I just signed a new 2 year contract on (sorry Lumia 900 owners) ?????????????????
All I know, when the WP8 devices start shipping, I will watch for the most popular one on here, and buy that one, because the XDA hackers will give me WP9, even if Microsoft does not
All its saying is Microsoft has to support them for AT LEAST 18 months. It doesn't mean they're necessarily going to abandon every 18 month old phone. All the contract says is that they are obliged to support us for 18 months. Who knows? We might even get windows phone 9 on or wp8 devices if they are compatible!
Knowing how Microsoft updates Windows and the XBOX, I would bet that you would get EVERY update including the major release, Unless your over 18 months after release (after 18months you will get all minor releases but, no more major updates).
As in the xbox, if your system requres a update, you can not access xbox live till you update. I'm sure MS would want everything standardized and on the same level if possable.
The question is what happens after the 18 moths are up? Will they stop releasing apps for it? Will they shut the market place down for Windows Phone 7.8 users like they did with Windows Mobile forcing everyone to go to Windows Phone 8?
sinister1 said:
The question is what happens after the 18 moths are up? Will they stop releasing apps for it? Will they shut the market place down for Windows Phone 7.8 users like they did with Windows Mobile forcing everyone to go to Windows Phone 8?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nothing happens after 18 months.
Sent from my SGH-I777
sinister1 said:
The question is what happens after the 18 moths are up? Will they stop releasing apps for it? Will they shut the market place down for Windows Phone 7.8 users like they did with Windows Mobile forcing everyone to go to Windows Phone 8?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nothing really...
They stop supporting your device(as for updates). I know that just because WP9 hits, your apps are not going to stop working or anything like that. It just means just like now, your going to get a minor update for Wp 7.5, and they will move on to WP8, all current apps will work fine and most of WP8 apps would work too (some games and big production apps could be an acception.)
As someone posted on another thread, a programmer today creating an app for WP8 would want to make it backwards compatable to 7.5/8 to reach the most people possable and reach higher sales amounts. If you just make a WP8 only app, you limit the people who can access your app. Just makes business cense...
Some apps will need the WP8 features and those you will not be able to run (high impact games will be the acception for the most part).
DavidinCT said:
As someone posted on another thread, a programmer today creating an app for WP8 would want to make it backwards compatable to 7.5/8 to reach the most people possable and reach higher sales amounts. If you just make a WP8 only app, you limit the people who can access your app. Just makes business cense...
Some apps will need the WP8 features and those you will not be able to run (high impact games will be the acception for the most part).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But if it is a port from Android, iOS or even a Windows 8 Metro App, it is way easier to port to WP8 than to WP7, and if WP8 sales are good, it might not be profitable to support the small marketshare that WP7 holds.
However, as of today your statement is of course true because there is not even a WP8 SDK.
slimshady322 said:
But if it is a port from Android, iOS or even a Windows 8 Metro App, it is way easier to port to WP8 than to WP7, and if WP8 sales are good, it might not be profitable to support the small marketshare that WP7 holds.
However, as of today your statement is of course true because there is not even a WP8 SDK.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any new OS version WON'T have a bigger marketshare than that times ongoing OS.
e.g.
WP7.5 will have more than WP7.8 at its launch
WP7.8 will have more than WP8 at its launch
WP8 will have more than WP9 at its launch
etc.
So... even if WP8 sales are good since day 1, it will take at least 6-8 months to overtake that time's WP7.x userbase.
In the least effect, a W8 developer who ONLY ports to WP8 is losing potential 12 million customers - simple maths.
So, since Microsoft forgot to let us know when 7.8 will be available, have anyone heard any rumors?
In my country people from microsoft talked about January or February
WP7.8 official release?
I was also about to post this question
Now that MS has taken lid off WP8, they should also declare official availability of WP7.8 for us- owners of their legacy WP7 devices.
Is it possible the Lumia 610 will get his update?
andrews317 said:
Is it possible the Lumia 610 will get his update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Every Windows Phone 7.1 7.5 will get it. the only problem is how, some are saying it will be released from the manufacturers itself on new models which run 7.8 and then we can "port" them, and then somebody says if microsoft not push it to every and let it do the carriers 80% of the users can wait forever to get it. Some sources say after the launch of WP8 and couple of weeks after that you can go to your carrier and they will flash it for you. I have also seen an Nokia News twitter post where a user is upset why nobody has mentioned 7.8 in the presentation yesterday. and Nokia News responded on twitter with "news on wp 7.8 will be soon, stay tuned" or something like that... So it can only take to new year for 7.8 thats my thoughts.
http://www.wpcentral.com/windows-phone-78-probably-coming-late
Windows Phone 8 is to be formally released in a few more hours. But guess a whole lot of us care more about its little brother: Windows Phone 7.8. For existing Windows Phone users who aren't buying a new device at this time, Windows Phone 7.8 is the real savior. There's bad news coming from Chinese site WPDang though: it'll be coming late.
Citing undisclosed sources, the site claims that Windows Phone 7.8 won't come through OTA update first. Instead, after a few weeks of Windows Phone 8 debut, version 7.8 will show up pre-loaded on new low-end devices. Afterward, OEMs will be pushing out OTA updates to older phones.
If true, this sounds awfully like what it was like with Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango): Fujitsu IS12T, Nokia Lumia 800, HTC Titan, then existing devices started to get the update gradually. Some OEMs might choose to update old phones in a manual way in retail stores, like what HTC did back then in Taiwan.
The good news is that, Windows Phone 8.0 and 7.8 are largely the same. Let's pray no one is left behind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not entirely sure if that article is correct.
According to Nokia, Lumia devices (610 through 900) will be getting the update first. There are no new 7.8 devices announced in the following months, so it is safe to assume that by the end of the year we will have 7.8
mcosmin222 said:
I am not entirely sure if that article is correct.
According to Nokia, Lumia devices (610 through 900) will be getting the update first. There are no new 7.8 devices announced in the following months, so it is safe to assume that by the end of the year we will have 7.8
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, when ever it comes and to whatever device, lets get those cab files shared ASAP so we can all have a piece of the pie
http://www.gsmarena.com/_windows_phone_italys_facebook_page_reveals_wp78_features-news-5028.php
Whoever is managing the Windows Phone Italia Facebook page was more talkative, however, and answered a question from a fan, revealing the new features that v7.8 will bring. The response has been deleted since.
The list includes the new homescreen (which we already knew), something called 'Club', which we guess is Rooms, Xbox Music and SmartGlass.
Facebook is hardly a reliable source of info, but the features listed seem quite probable - we already know about the homescreen, Rooms and SmartGlass are available for other OSes too, so it's unlikely they will be excluded from WP7.8 and Xbox Music will bring the existing user base to Microsoft's new music service.
In case you don't know yet, Windows Phone 7.8 will be released for 7 and 7.5 devices, as the old hardware won't get updated to WP8.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
7.8 will bring about as much as windows phone 8 does. The only things we won't get in 7.8 is the things closely related to hardware like NFC, real multitasking (apparently dual core CPUs are needed for that) and directx support (so we won't be able to run some games).
That's pretty much all the differences.
And before you ask me how i know this, think about it...if it were only a few features, why not push the upgrade sooner? They actually take their time to implement stuff.
Windows Phone Italy said that it would be released 2 weeks after the WP8 launch (google it)
So, I had idea, and I don't know if it's been done. I wondered if it would be useful to create a list of as many phones made by each manufacturer as possible, include the launch date, and determine the date of the last update provided. Based on this, we could take an average of how long each manufacturer provides updates for their devices before EOLing hardware (even though it's usually an artificial EOL since the devices are more than capable of running current releases). Would anyone be interested in this data, and would anyone like to assist me in this pursuit?
Interesting idea and it may take a lot of data analysis to figure that out.
Also something to consider is that does it differ by region? I spoke to one of my friends who works in Hong Kong Fortress (a big box store like Best Buy) and for HK, supposedly Sony and Samsung get the quickest updates. Him mentioning Sony definitely surprised me. After that it's HTC and then LG. except for the Nexus 4 of course.. I can attest to LG since my last phone Optimux 2X took forever to get updates available.
Also note that in HK, Motorola has pretty much given up on the market, so I don't think any of their phones get updates here anymore.
Your biggest issue will be that the OEMs dont control updates in alot of places. The carriers have most of the power when it comes to updates. The OEM may send them an update but the carrier can refuse to push the update to handsets.
of course,sony and samsung privde updates the fastest and newer versions of android(samsung updates its 2 year old dual cores to 4.2.2 adn some of them come from 2.3).Htc is also up with updates,but a bit slower.Well,lg is out of the list.They never update their phones.The promised a ics update for my e730 last summer and i still run on gb
strangesura said:
of course,sony and samsung privde updates the fastest and newer versions of android(samsung updates its 2 year old dual cores to 4.2.2 adn some of them come from 2.3).Htc is also up with updates,but a bit slower.Well,lg is out of the list.They never update their phones.The promised a ics update for my e730 last summer and i still run on gb
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This sounds about right. Those "Dual-core" phones were the Galaxy i9100 and the S2 Skyrocket variant for AT&T for 4.1.2. Instead of Sony: I would put ASUS next. Their TF300 got the 4.2 update back in March. In-fact: ASUS Support has no restrictions about recommending Custom ROMs and will even link you to a few.
Sony and LG are like....eh. I'd even add HTC to the list. They put out a list, but it's ages before we hear from them again.
I dream of a future when we have open platforms and we can update devices at our will...
the best is samsung and the worst is LG
naxian said:
the best is samsung and the worst is LG
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Yes LG is indeed the worst. The official GINGERBREAD update came out for the Optimus 2X in December 2012... and it was extremely buggy, pretty much unusable. Needless to say I ditched the phone in March.