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[Q] IceCream Sandwich and Xoom

I'm just curious but since ICS is coming, what does that mean for us? All I've heard is another UI overhaul for phones to give them more honeycomb, but what do we get? If Hardware Acceleration is in then I would be happy, but there doesn't seem to be anything in it for us tablet users.
Unless I'm missing something.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2393797,00.asp#fbid=eHhpmAndRdICant really say kinda early..heres something I found but still unsure

I hope it means an update and AOSP!!

Not sure what the link was for...... Didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. Sorry. But I'm just not sure if I would be excited about ics on my Xoom.

Imma say that it will be on the original Xoom's without a doubt. I read in an article that ICS will be able to run on older devices, thus it's almost a guarantee the Xoom will see it officially. Annnnd for some reason it does not... have no fear, as the devs will be here to solve that problem! The OG Droid was left out of the update loop awhile back because newer models replaced it, but we still have the most current updates on it thanks to the brilliant devs. Just gotta have some faith in your XDA community, and they will figure something out.

But again, I think the OP wants to know (...like I also do) what's the big improvement gonna be?
As I stated on another recent post, the big deal for me as I see it is that (presumably) the SC for HC will be released and then the ROM goodness will follow. But if it's anything like what happened with Froyo, etc, the Honeycomb custom ROMs will kick the stock Icecream Sandwichs' ass.
-No?

Psychokitty said:
But again, I think the OP wants to know (...like I also do) what's the big improvement gonna be?
As I stated on another recent post, the big deal for me as I see it is that (presumably) the SC for HC will be released and then the ROM goodness will follow. But if it's anything like what happened with Froyo, etc, the Honeycomb custom ROMs will kick the stock Icecream Sandwichs' ass.
-No?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for being the only reply actually related to my post, but Google had stated a long time ago that the SC for hc will never be released as the SC for ics will be released instead. But since phones will get more hc goodness, what do we get?(which is the main question in the topic)

I think at this point, it's a wait-and-see kind of thing.
But I think finally having the source code is the biggest news here. I think it will be the dawning of a golden age for the XOOM, so to speak.
Also, one advantage to the phone side getting lumped in to the same OS is that we will see a boost in apps that are tablet optimized since the devs will be able to work all of it into one .apk instead of focusing on two separate projects.
These are the two things I'm personally looking forward to the most as far as the tablet side goes.
Of course, it would be nice to be surprised, too.

kenfly said:
Thanks for being the only reply actually related to my post, but Google had stated a long time ago that the SC for hc will never be released as the SC for ics will be released instead. But since phones will get more hc goodness, what do we get?(which is the main question in the topic)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I think, since ICS will be open source, we will get additional development for the Xoom, beyond the wonderful feature additions and enhancements we have gotten with the limited HC.
Don't you think so?

From my understanding, Ice Cream Sandwich is an over haul for phones to bring out an honeycomb interface while allowing for tablet support as well and it will be more controlled by the king them self, Google.
What this means? All android devices will now be updated at the same time as it'll be more tightly integrated which means developers will need to start just making widgets for there own devices instead of a completely different interfaces like they do today. In a way, it'll be exactly what Honeycomb tablets are today (if you look at all the honeycomb tablets that's out, the interface is the same, only differences is that others will have widgets and/or wallpapers designed just for there tablets (i.e., samsung has the touchwiz) but can be upgraded all the same).
This is supposed to be more more uniform support and faster updates.
Will this go into effect right away? Probably not since the manufacturers will still need to make to update go through but we should also expect to see faster updates as well (there's still a lot of users out there still waiting on Gingerbread releases for there devices so with this making it more uniformed should allow for faster releases).
This is only from what I've heard, though.

This is from a PC World article this morning:
Although Google has kept its cards close to its vest about ICS, a number of things have been reported about it.
Widgets will be richer and resizable, as they are in the tablet version of Android.
More multitasking will be added to the system and the OS will be open source.
The system will be tailored to take advantage of devices that use the Texas Instrument's OMAP chip.
As with any Android upgrade, what Android devices will be eligible for the new system will remain with the manufacturers, but two good bets for the upgraded OS are the Samsung Nexus S and the Motorola Xoom.
---

I think it is important to understand one thing about ICS. It is intended to reunify the OS on all device types (like iOS). What this means for tablet (and conversely smartphone) users is that app development will improve and we will get better apps. These apps will make it easier to share functions between your tablet and your smartphone.
We would have found out more next Tuesday, but the announcements for ICS have been postponed. The postponement was for a good reason though. We still don't know what the reschedule date will be, other than sometime this month.

Fragmentation is the reason we don't have official gb

I am genuinely pissed after they postponed the ICS event because I felt like that would be the infuses' time to get current with its OS. Maybe I'm venting my frustration a bit but 500K+ devices are turned on per day(at least for the next few months). I see that version pie chart and Froyo is still number 1 despite GB releasing roughly 10 months ago(not to mention a new version is weeks from releasing) . It's exactly why I come here.
I would also like to point out that the Fragmentation also causes what I like to call a popularity contest. Yes you have a crap ton of device options but guess what the carriers and manufacturer are making sure the cash cows are first in line. Do you think they have as many engineers/developers working with the ChaCha as they do on sgs2? Hell no
Why is Google shooting themselves in the foot in staying current? Why on earth haven't they sat down with the phone manufacturers and hammered out some sort of standard to speed up adoption of new OS?
Android has a wide array of devices and that makes them unique and better than the competition by offering choice.
I understand that the burden of keeping up to speed primarily falls to the manufacturer/carriers which blows for us. The maker/google contract states the carrier only has update the device for 18 months. The definition and or frequency of an update is obscure at best.
I don't even want to guess how much money is being wasted on development overlapping costs because of the hodgepodge of devices. I tried to find out exactly how many hardware devices are currently supported. I found a list of everything but no summary I didn't feel like counting the but a good estimate is 350 + worldwide.
I understand the development life cycle as well as a hardware life-cycle. I fail to understand why integration of an update takes longer than one quarter to apply.
Google develops tests and releases system updates. The manufacturers takes that update and tests it with their bull**** on top (IE touch wiz and sense) then they test on devices.
Carriers finally now test the update, certify it, and push to users(never pushed at one time because they would never risk any downtime or damage to their network).
Wtf google step your game up and reduce the impact of Fragmentation because its only going to get worse and worse.
I'm the kind of device user that makes a well informed decision and won't get a new device until it breaks or I lose it(wow thinking about it I really am horrible with phones).
I have had this phone since it came out in April and I love it (I left it in a cab during the first 2 weeks I had it but was able to get my replacement soon after). Basically I'm a day one Adopter I had my original rooted and rom'd. It drastically improved the general usability of the phone. I decided to wait to mod the phone until I got the official gb to see what it could bring to the table. I really like the one click update with no issues but my hand has been forced. My device has been becoming noticeably slower and i find myself pulling the battery at least once every 2 days. To use it as a phone like it was intended I need to port to a mod. The
Thank you developers for implementing what the billion dollar corporations could not in literally 1/10 of the time.
Sorry if I ranted I'm pissed and there's no way I'm going down to wallstreet lol I'm lazy.
Jason
Note: I also read that it could reach nearly 1 million devices a day by the end of Oct/Nov.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App

Trust me I understand your frustration! According to google ICS was supposed to be that game changing release but honestly marketing is what is stopping companies from unifying. A majority of people who get an Android device don't know what the hell to do with it, how it works, or in the most part don't care (or at least don't seem to understand the difference between froyo and GB) they just want a functioning
phone. Then comes ios, that's why it's so popular.
Sent from my SGH-I997 using xda premium

I do venture to say that android developers are hurting as well with having to unnecessarily cater to multiple versions of the same OS. I was under the impression that ICS was that as well and will be a step in that direction. Once again how long will that take to push out to consumers? Are we supposed to wait until then? Google just needs to grow some balls and steer the proverbial green bull by the horns before the amount of devices becomes the reason we dont run with the bulls anymore.

jasonk1229 said:
I do venture to say that android developers are hurting as well with having to unnecessarily cater to multiple versions of the same OS. I was under the impression that ICS was that as well and will be a step in that direction. Once again how long will that take to push out to consumers? Are we supposed to wait until then? Google just needs to grow some balls and steer the proverbial green bull by the horns before the amount of devices becomes the reason we dont run with the bulls anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quite frankly your frustration (and mine) is backed by the dev community; to atleast some extent. Although, I still believe google saw the bright green money tree right above their noses and since then, can not let go of the smell! In other words, there wont' be a solution in the near future.

Android has become more like Linux in terms of fragmentation!

diablo009 said:
Android has become more like Linux in terms of fragmentation!
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Click to collapse
I couldn't name to you all the releases that are out there

Yes I love my Infuse but Fragmentation really move my temper gauge over the top. Still loving the infuse 4g screen, but the apps almost all force close error, and my facebook app sometime does not notify me on the notifiction bar and so is textfree app, i am really getting frustrated even yahoo a very big company the video call is a mess, i am in the edge of going back to iPhone which is not my choice, but google make this on OS, stop fragmentation.

spirikitik said:
Yes I love my Infuse but Fragmentation really move my temper gauge over the top. Still loving the infuse 4g screen, but the apps almost all force close error, and my facebook app sometime does not notify me on the notifiction bar and so is textfree app, i am really getting frustrated even yahoo a very big company the video call is a mess, i am in the edge of going back to iPhone which is not my choice, but google make this on OS, stop fragmentation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you running a custom rom, kernel, radio, are you OC/UV?
Any and all of these things can and will give you instability. I had a cm7 theme that kept crashing the system on my backflip.
The only way to do away with MOST not all issues is to live in "the box".

Android fragmentation is a big problem.
You're kidding yourself if you think the Infuse will ever get an update to ICS.

MikeyMike01 said:
You're kidding yourself if you think the Infuse will ever get an update to ICS.
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Click to collapse
Lol. By the ICS is out on a couple phones he would've switched to a different phone.

MikeyMike01 said:
Android fragmentation is a big problem.
You're kidding yourself if you think the Infuse will ever get an update to ICS.
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Click to collapse
There comes devs who may port it (hopefully). Ics is supposed to get rid of the fragmentation, and maybegoogle has something up there sleeve to combine all phones and most get ics who knows. Google and Sammy have just hired cynagen (sorry bad speling) and other major devs. They may just help figure out this problem, where they are actually smart and put this into consideration.

I want my freakin Gingerbread! Stupid fragmentation! (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

Kevinr678 said:
I want my freakin Gingerbread! Stupid fragmentation! (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
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Really missing my old HTC phones right now. Hell, one official rom could be easily ported over to like six others with those phones. Samsung has fantastic hardware but HTC dev support is superior.
Sent from my Samsung Infuse

slapshot30 said:
Really missing my old HTC phones right now. Hell, one official rom could be easily ported over to like six others with those phones. Samsung has fantastic hardware but HTC dev support is superior.
Sent from my Samsung Infuse
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Click to collapse
Completely agreed. Phone's that will never officially have things like Sense 3.5 have it, and the same with firmwares. I do love my Samsung though.

Ryanscool said:
There comes devs who may port it (hopefully). Ics is supposed to get rid of the fragmentation, and maybegoogle has something up there sleeve to combine all phones and most get ics who knows. Google and Sammy have just hired cynagen (sorry bad speling) and other major devs. They may just help figure out this problem, where they are actually smart and put this into consideration.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Problem is that every phone has vendor-proprietary bits to handle specific hardware support that aren't portable. The Apache license of the Android userland stack makes this possible. Also the ability to have proprietary modules loaded by the kernel doesn't help - for example the FSR and RFS drivers in the Infuse. The same reason you'll likely never see ICS for the Infuse is the same reason you didn't see CM7 until Rogers Gingerbread dropped. (It existed, but it was in a barely usable state until the vendor-proprietary stuff from Rogers GB could get pulled in.)
The good news is that I think Google is forcing vendors to "play nicer" as far as the low-level vendor-proprietary code in order to make AOSP bringups easier. They enforced a LOT of standardization with Honeycomb - the question is can they keep that going with ICS without witholding source like with HC? I think that by exercising tighter control over Google Apps licensing they can.
The Galaxy S II is a hint of things to come - while it still has vendor-proprietary libraries in the userland stack, it has zero closed-source components in the kernel, unlike previous Samsungs.

Motivation and $.
my opinion only...but, phone carriers have no motivation* to update the o.s. of phones already sold.
Just a few random thoughts...
1. Limited $ to be made from you (the customer waiting for an upgrade)
....a. sale of the device is already made.
....b. buyer is already locked into a long-term contract.
2. they are a phone company not a software company...thus any software developers they might have are probably focused on future sales and testing.
3. they don't make money releasing updates to already sold phones.
4. support staff would have to be pretty good size.
I wonder if the phone providers keep software upgrade staff or do they contract that out??? say to the phone manufacture (i.e. samsung, htc)? I have no idea.
(I am assuming it's the phone carriers who are the primary cause of delays in releasing software updates...not necessarily the
* what's more important to them? Future repeat customers due to good service OR simply getting them locked into longterm service contracts? Obviously point 2.

I wish fragmentation was decreased to that of the IBM compatibe market. (Am I the only one that still calls them that?)
Sent from my SGH-I997 using Tapatalk

Interesting point I would have to say they contract the work out to upgrade versions. If they haven't already I wouldn't be surprised to see full teams being hired as android becomes more permanent.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App

Great post
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App

The debate continues on TechCrunch:
http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/27/charted-android-fragmentation/

Ice cream sandwich ( ICS) might be worst for android?

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.
Click to expand...
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.
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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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.
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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

4 months since ICS release & Not a single phone updated to ICS

ICS was released on Oct 19th 2011. It is almost 4 months and still not a single phone was officially updated to ICS. The closest one was Nexus S which had an update that was pulled for being too buggy.
Why is it that android phones are so slow to update while WP7 & iOS have all their devices updated in days after a new update is out.
The wide varity of devices cannot be the reason as the team managing a device don't have to worry about other devices. For example, Galaxy S2 team needs to worry about Galaxy S2 and not other hundreds of devices.
Does upgrading in Android world means buying new phone and not software updaye like in iOS & WP7?

Although In part what you are asking makes sense it is in large part a flawed question and premise. I can not speak to windows mobile as I am not terribly familiar so everything going forward is about android and apple.
Yes we are all waiting to see how much each oem can f up ics with their version of android, whether it is tw or sense or blur etc. ics is a major change in how android handles things unlike ios5 which was in reality a very minor update to the system. And it was delayed by about 5 months from their typical release so when it was officially released it was available to most iOS devices true, but delayed all the same.
The delay for ics is caused by the oems thinking they can improve on it and give their own twist. If it was a vanilla update your premise would be accurate. As to the nexus s although the official release was pulled back there are several quality ports across several devices using it as a base

Though the source code was available previously, the first ICS device (the GSM Galaxy Nexus) was not released until mid-November. As mcord11758 mentioned, ICS is a *huge* updated to the Android system and it takes time to get everything coded to work properly.
I also saw some information last night that the 4.0.4 rollout would resume for Nexus S 4G devices today, so take a deep breath and relax

It's all that freedom man! It takes time to add bloatware,spyware and hideous UI "enhancements" you know.

alex2792 said:
It's all that freedom man! It takes time to add bloatware,spyware and hideous UI "enhancements" you know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have an iOS device. All ios5 did was eat my battery faster and do a weak job of copying androids notifications. Not sure what your bragging about

What I have always found funny is why independent devs can get roms out quicker. There was recent interview with one of Motorola's top execs that said the reason for delays was all the different hardware used in all the different phones. I am running jokers çm9 ics on my motorola electrify. An independent dev got it out before motorola with all their resources. They could get updates out a lot quicker if they so chose to.
Sent from my CM9 Motorola Electrify

mcord11758 said:
I have an iOS device. All ios5 did was eat my battery faster and do a weak job of copying androids notifications. Not sure what your bragging about
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, at least you didn't have to wait 6-12 months to actually be able to update your device.

cdrice15 said:
What I have always found funny is why independent devs can get roms out quicker. There was recent interview with one of Motorola's top execs that said the reason for delays was all the different hardware used in all the different phones. I am running jokers çm9 ics on my motorola electrify. An independent dev got it out before motorola with all their resources. They could get updates out a lot quicker if they so chose to.
Sent from my CM9 Motorola Electrify
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Independent devs get to release ROMs with a "sorry if it doesn't work, but tough sh*t" disclaimer. OEMs/Carriers have to be able to support the ROMs they ship.

Also have to remember that The CM based roms here use open source drivers that dont use the hardware to the fullest. While OEMs use closed sourced drivers built for the hardware. Once they get the update they have to wait for new drivers to be built to work with the hardware to the fullest.

alex2792 said:
It's all that freedom man! It takes time to add bloatware,spyware and hideous UI "enhancements" you know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With each post I'm more convinced your an apple employee but I'll bite and ask what spyware you refer to.
Dave
Sent from my LG P920 using Tapatalk

alex2792 said:
Well, at least you didn't have to wait 6-12 months to actually be able to update your device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait...are you saying you would rather a quick but flawed update rather than a delayed but more stable one?
Dave
Sent from my LG P920 using Tapatalk

mistermentality said:
With each post I'm more convinced your an apple employee but I'll bite and ask what spyware you refer to.
Dave
Sent from my LG P920 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Carrier IQ anyone?

The reason it takes so long is because all the manufacturers have there own UI to make there phones stick out from the others and with major updates like in ICS they have to rewite there UI to work smoothly with ICS.

IamJAX said:
Why is it that android phones are so slow to update while WP7 & iOS have all their devices updated in days after a new update is out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have worked at Microsoft on Windows Phone 7 and on Windows Mobile. Going back pre WP7, updates generally simply didn't get released for phones. Microsoft is trying to improve that, but the software has to go through modification and testing for carriers. I don't think any version was ready for acceptance in less than four months, ever.
I suspect it's worse in Android-land (where my phones live), because at least Microsoft has big teams for their for-profit product. The major manufacturers also have teams on-site at Microsoft, working to do the customizations. And Microsoft controls the hardware more tightly than Android; for WP7's initial release, there were really only two hardware package options (e.g. screen size, resolution, camera, processor, etc.) So less to modify.
And then Moto adds their new Blur incarnation, HTC adds Sense, and so on, each requiring more changes and testing.
So the comparison between WP7 and ICS is off because of profit-driven teams, hardware diversity and software customization that MS doesn't allow.

Idk but isn't this site to get ICS before any update??? Lol
I'm running ICS in my Samsung Captivate and I can promise you ICS will never come to a Captivate ... but guess what I've got it!!!
I can point and laugh at iOS and WP7 for their limited OS and customize my device
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App

To be honest I don't even know why people want ICS.
I was one of the unfortunates to get the update and now am desperately trying to downgrade back to stock 2.3.6 OR even better..load Cyanogen Mod on my phone.
The only good thing about the update is it led me to register and start to poke around this forum!
Bugs in ICS on my Nexus S include:
- Phone won't ring even when it should. It will only vibrate.
- Lags heavily and hangs when pulling up and trying to type a text message.
- Have to write text message most times before inputting contact to send to.
- Runs million processes in the background, thus killing my battery life.
When I upgraded it wouldn't let me sync my contacts and erased over half my names in my contact lists. When I turned on sync, it would continue to delete the names I had recently readded.
Since wiping all data from my phone, it works a bit more like it should and is a bit more snappy, but it still sucks. They need to hurry up and re-release ICS in a workable version, or at least let people roll back their phone to previous version like you could in Gingerbread.
Whatsup with naming their OS after generally crappy dessert items? Someobody in their marketing department is a glutton...

i want to up grade to ics... but i want to learn more first from here...
please give me some advice

SASQ!!!!!!
come on la, use your butt and think....
why android take such a long time to release a update.
because android has just tooo many different model....
while apple only got...umm.....1......
and windows.....ummm....less den android....
so think about it.....

maybe one----huawei Honor(U8860)ANDROID 4.0
the second edition of ICS commercial release

no guidelines, no warranty, no quality

This phone is still being sold?

Anyone have any idea why they are still producing this phone? It just seems strange they would still be making new ones when most early adopts are already up for an upgrade.. and the hardware itself is getting old(while still running ICS thanks to our great community, it raises the question how much farther will the phone be able to be updated..)

a cheaper alternative maybe? or its just that good..

That's exactly what manufacturers wants to hear from consumers. Why buy phones that have lasting dollar values and gets frequent software updates when you can buy a new expensive one every year that doesn't have great built quality and with zero to almost no software update?
Android can use a bit cleaning up on the performance side, even the Galaxy Note stock rom have hiccups because of the bloatness, with quadcore phones they'll have more excuss to bloat and put animations in. Windows Phone 7 seems to do fine with single core. It's not like my Galaxy S is struggling with any of the new games at 800x480 resolution.

Well we already know Samsung said "Nope, ain't gonna happen" for ICS on the Captivate even in spite of builds being made available by the talented folk here at XDA and at other places online. The excuse that "the hardware isn't capable of running ICS adequately" is always a crock because I'm running Doc's Master v8 right now, ICS 4.0.3 based, and I get higher benchmarks with this ROM than the stock KK4 AT&T Gingerbread 2.3.5 ROM with:
- Quadrant
- Antutu
- Vellamo (with Vellamo I actually get slightly higher scores than a Galaxy Nexus, unbelievable)
and several others I've tried recently. So much for being "inadequate" or an underpowered device...
So, Samsung, stop whining and making excuses and just give us some ICS source so people can make a pure ROM I suppose.
Doc's v9 is nice since it's currently a beta and completely unthemed, but a lot of stuff won't install properly on it from Play (although I can install them from the APKs if I remember to manually save them in between ROM swaps).
It's a great phone, it has a beautiful design overall (one of my all time favorites, with the HD2 still being the king of all smartphones to me), USB and headphone connections on the top - I hate it when they're on the sides or bottom, and the main draw being the Super AMOLED display.
People still buy 'em, so Samsung keeps making 'em and AT&T keeps selling 'em.
Works for me.

Snow_fox said:
Anyone have any idea why they are still producing this phone? It just seems strange they would still be making new ones when most early adopts are already up for an upgrade.. and the hardware itself is getting old(while still running ICS thanks to our great community, it raises the question how much farther will the phone be able to be updated..)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The R&D and tooling have long been paid for and there are still people buying. It's practically free money for them. The longer they're made, the cheaper they can get. The cheaper they can get, the more they're sold.
I sought this phone out actively because I liked my Epic and knew how to root & fix it easily. I didn't want a contract and for $250 brand new vs $600 for a Note it was a no-brainer.

Snow_fox said:
Anyone have any idea why they are still producing this phone? It just seems strange they would still be making new ones when most early adopts are already up for an upgrade..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Simple, it sells. And with it running 2.3.5, it's very much up to date OS wise. It's not ICS, but at this point what is?
The early adopters are a rather small crowd of people that seems large to us because they are the tech obsesses folks that make xda what it is. They count for next to nothing compared to the "average user."
This phone is exactly what Samsung aimed for it to be, a Flagship. It was way a head of the curve when it first came out, and is still a great phone. It's been muddied by the early releases but, the fact that Samsung still won out (and is the top selling android manufacturer) means it really was an excellent device (and family of devices).
It's time is almost up though, because ICS really is beyond its abilities.
br0adband said:
The excuse that "the hardware isn't capable of running ICS adequately" is always a crock because I'm running Doc's Master v8 right now, ICS 4.0.3 based
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But it can't. We don't even have half the features, almost everything new to ICS has been stripped out because we don't have the hardware for it. Sure, the core OS can be made to run on our phone, but even at that we can't run it properly. The things your comparing against are to that of 2.2, ICS is not some dinky internal tweaks. It's a whole new OS, it's 4.0 not 2.4. Now I'll admit that most of the new parts to ICS are little more then shiny buttons that don't serve us much good. But it's rather easy to dismiss things you've never been able to do before. Once you get your hands on a phone actually built for ICS, that is then made future-proof like the ours was, you'll look back at the cappy and laugh at it.

DaNaRkI said:
Once you get your hands on a phone actually built for ICS, that is then made future-proof like the ours was, you'll look back at the cappy and laugh at it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had a Galaxy Nexus - the flagship Android 4.0 device - and couldn't stand it so I returned it and decided to wait on something better. Then the Galaxy Note came out and I can't wait to see what ICS can really do on that device, but since I can't actually afford one I guess that won't matter anyway.
Found this Captivate on craigslist for $60 and it's been fantastic since the moment I bought it. I swear the SGS feels more responsive and stable running a "hack" ROM of the same OS than the Nexus did/does. Yes it could just be some placebo effect, I suppose. A benchmark using Vellamo puts this SGS running an ICS ROM (at 1.2 GHz) outpacing the Nexus, go figure - a single core device running an unofficial hack of an OS besting the dual core flagship device for that very OS... ain't it cool?
There may be some aspects of ICS that the SGS can't do (NFC, etc) but they just so happen to be features I don't give a damn about, either so... it all works out in the end.

phone is sold
as long as ppl buy it.
u can get iPhone3gs u know - @ great price.

br0adband said:
Had a Galaxy Nexus - the flagship Android 4.0 device - and couldn't stand it so I returned it and decided to wait on something better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Galaxy Nexus is not a flagship, just like the Nexus S was not. It's a debut phone and like the other Nexus phones, a developers phone. It's mean to showcase the abilities of ICS, not push the limits of a phone. Our phone came out before the Nexus S, yet that phone has a lot of the exact same internals. Why? ours was made future-proofed, nothing better was needed for GB. The Galaxy Nexus was also not top of the line at it's release, just compare it to an SGS2. Future proof would have meant that LTE was designed into the phone at start, not added later.
But you do bring up a very good point that I already admitted to, most of the new abilities are rather unnecessary for a phone. But I don't doubt that once a good ICS phone comes out we'll find ways to work them into our daily life. Just like we have for all the unnecessary things that the Cappy can do now.

The Captivate is a pretty solid phone still. I still have mine kicking around that I use now for playing music since my Galaxy Nexus doesnt have external memory (and apps are getting bigger and bigger in size so I need all the space I can get) so this phone does quite well for that.
I think I would still be using this phone if it had a bigger screen (I got big hands) and if Samsung was continuing to update this.

i use my spare captivate as a skype phone (between rom tests).
and where is the phone still being sold?