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Samsung undecided about Gingerbread on Galaxy S, Google says hardware needs 'similar'

If the Nexus S is basically a Galaxy S in Gingerbread disguise, you'd think Samsung would be bursting at the seams to offer a software upgrade for all the phones it's already sold from that family. Okay, you really wouldn't, but you'd hope that would be the case, right? Well, Pocket-lint prodded Samsung on just that point and managed to finagle the following response from a local UK contact presumably speaking on behalf of the mothership:
"In case a new version of Android operating system is publicly announced and released, Samsung will review the possibility of implementation of such new version to the existing Samsung products with Android operating system ("Update").
Such a review will be based on various factors including, without limitation, the overall effect of such Update to Samsung products, the system requirements, the structural limitations, and the level of cooperation from the component suppliers and the software licensors".
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More here:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/09/samsung-undecided-about-gingerbread-on-galaxy-s-google-says-har/

Nope, the Galaxy S will be getting gingerbread:
http://twitter.com/Samsung_Mobiles/status/12437775529803776
A reporter already touched bases with Samsung, Samsung has claimed to be working on Gingerbread way before Motorola and HTC supposedly because they were experimenting with it on the tablets.

SlimJ87D said:
Nope, the Galaxy S will be getting gingerbread:
http://twitter.com/Samsung_Mobiles/status/12437775529803776
A reporter already touched bases with Samsung, Samsung has claimed to be working on Gingerbread way before Motorola and HTC supposedly because they were experimenting with it on the tablets.
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Both of these pieces of information have been discussed in the Gingerbread thread.
And saying "Nope" doesn't change the fact that the Engadget article is pointing out the same inconsistencies - Samsung UK says "unknown at this time" and as your tweet shows; Samsung India says "yes" - so I think we can agree that the answer is undecided.
No idea why a new thread was started.

alphadog00 said:
Both of these pieces of information have been discussed in the Gingerbread thread.
And saying "Nope" doesn't change the fact that the Engadget article is pointing out the same inconsistencies - Samsung UK says "unknown at this time" and as your tweet shows; Samsung India says "yes" - so I think we can agree that the answer is undecided.
No idea why a new thread was started.
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"UK contact presumably speaking on behalf of the mothership:"
Who is this contact and presume is better way of saying assume.
I truly hope that India is right.

Considering most employee's Twitter use about work is governed by non-disclosure agreements, for an Indian employee to Tweet something like that he is either corect and doing it with company permission, or soon to be fired, correct or not.

A big question is where do Samsung software engineers work?
Maybe they work in India or Korea, who knows. But I think the UK wouldn't have as much knowledge as either of them.
We'll just have to wait and see.

alphadog00 said:
No idea why a new thread was started.
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You really don't have an idea? It should be quite obvious...I did it to annoy you.

nooomoto said:
You really don't have an idea? It should be quite obvious...I did it to annoy you.
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That and because you probably don't know to search first... standard rookie mistake. But I forgive you.

alphadog00 said:
That and because you probably don't know to search first... standard rookie mistake. But I forgive you.
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Whew! That was a close one, I wasn't sure if you were going to forgive me or not. Now I can rest easy tonight...I'll post a new thread to let you know.
I apologize for not having superior forum searching skills. I'm so glad that you found the time in your busy day to point out that the link to the article had already been posted in the 8 page long Gingerbread thread, while at the same time offering your analysis of the situation and reaching the conclusion that nothing has been decided. You are truly a shining beacon in the pantheon of multi-tasking.
Really dude, stop being so anal. Everyone on this forum is so pissy. I've been on physics forums that are more light-hearted.

Bravo to the UK rep for giving a nice neutral PC response. He should get a job in politics.
Seriously, what is the rep supposed to say?
"Yes, without question."
"NO, never going to happen. Buy new Samsung products."

Do you think samsung wants to make more money or keep current customers happy?
Because I think they are more after money.
So they in my conclusion they would not make gingerbread FW for SGS.
they would make a whole lot to give us froyo and make the "next gen" phone with Gingerbread and have that updated to whatever is going to be next....h...h...
offtopic... what dessert starts with a h?

sixk said:
Do you think samsung wants to make more money or keep current customers happy?
Because I think they are more after money.
So they in my conclusion they would not make gingerbread FW for SGS.
they would make a whole lot to give us froyo and make the "next gen" phone with Gingerbread and have that updated to whatever is going to be next....h...h...
offtopic... what dessert starts with a h?
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Well making money and keeping your customers go hand in hand.

Honeycomb
Sent from my Axura 2.1 phone with Gingerbread keyboard.

ah... is that the announced name honeycomb???
I didnt look it up haha >_<
anyways technology is changing so fast they cant keep one item for more than 2 years now without it being obselete now.
We have a SGS captivate because we wanted the best...
but for how long?
I am pretty sure by next summer its going to be mid range by than.
So like half the people with a captivate will get the "newest bestest" phone by then because thats what we want. the best tech for that time... well those with money atleast haha
so my point is why waste time on a mid range phone when they can concentrate on a better phone by the time they can put gingerbread into SGS variations.
Also with all the carriers being stingy with froyo... =/
I can only see 1 FW update for new phones lately unless its Dev phones.
Reason why iphone are good is because they can update their fw because all their phones are similar and is on one carrier till they go verizon.
This is just my opinion though
only thing we can do is just wait and see. ^^
have a good day and really I do hope for Gingy for our phones.

sixk said:
so my point is why waste time on a mid range phone when they can concentrate on a better phone by the time they can put gingerbread into SGS variations.
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Because if you don't treat current customers well it makes it harder to get new customers.

if most customers are like me i had the i8910 hd and changed to captivate to see if they might have better support which is a whole lot better than the i8910.
but really... with tech moving so fast support will only last 2 years the most imho
look at nokia and sony...
they are like that also ^^ not only with phones but with other things.
but everyone has their opinion and story
I guess this is getting more and more off topic
im sorry haha

File this under, I'll believe it when I see it.
Samjunk still hasnt released Froyo for the Captivate yet and people are worried about Gingerbread?

derek4484 said:
File this under, I'll believe it when I see it.
Samjunk still hasnt released Froyo for the Captivate yet and people are worried about Gingerbread?
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Is it Samsung that hasn't release Froyo or the carriers who haven't released it?

derek4484 said:
File this under, I'll believe it when I see it.
Samjunk still hasnt released Froyo for the Captivate yet and people are worried about Gingerbread?
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Blame att not Samsung.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Ok.. is SG going to give us Gingerbread.. They say they will, but by then we are going to be PAST Honeycomb, they are slow, lazy and do not care. Honestly, they rather sell a new phone with the new OS then just do a free update.
lets be honest, they will give it to us, but by then it will be too late
NOW, lets think about this tho. the Nexus S is a Galaxy S with a twist right. So lets wait till some of the Chefs in the Rom dept give us a ROM unlike anything in efficency that SG will give us.
I mean, do you think the update to Froyo is going to be as good as the stuff that is out already? heck we even have some stable OV-UV HSPA roms out there, stable and all.
I'v had HTC, Samsung, and millions of other phones, i never rely on the manufacture. Heck even the iPhone had such better stuff when it was jailbroken.
just say'n. the newest from the manufactures, will be nothing but just obsolete crap.

Why ICS is important to me.

Watch the video (In case you havent seen it yet!). In it Matias Duarte explains how the Android team is beginning to try and create a cohesive and unified atmosphere with the os at the most basic levels. I for one, am absolutely thrilled to see that they are finally going to be paying attention to design and aesthetics. Usability of the platform can also benefit from this immensely.
I am also tired of people saying "ICS isnt all that special". It really doesnt matter how "special" you think it should be. What matters is that its the next iteration of the os. We all want to have our devices updated and current. So wanting this on our devices has less to do with design in this sense, and a lot more to do with jumping on the wagon of unification. I would greatly prefer beautiful apps and ease of use over anything Gingerbread has offered us so far. Now I already know that a lot of the visual benefits of ICS come mainly from theming and such, but its profoundly more exciting when the theming itself is coming from the creators of Android and not some hard-to-find source in the app market.
Lastly, I would appreciate it if you guys could give your thoughts on this. Are you excited to see the new direction the Android team along with Matias, are going in? Do you feel that they are focusing on some rather important points in the software (usability, framework, aesthetics) or not? And of course please keep the flaming and crude/rude comments to yourselves. Thanks all for listening to my rant.
~~Vince
Heres the new design guidelines site they have up.

tazbo28 said:
Watch the video (In case you havent seen it yet!). In it Matias Duarte explains how the Android team is beginning to try and create a cohesive and unified atmosphere with the os at the most basic levels. I for one, am absolutely thrilled to see that they are finally going to be paying attention to design and aesthetics. Usability of the platform can also benefit from this immensely.
I am also tired of people saying "ICS isnt all that special". It really doesnt matter how "special" you think it should be. What matters is that its the next iteration of the os. We all want to have our devices updated and current. So wanting this on our devices has less to do with design in this sense, and a lot more to do with jumping on the wagon of unification. I would greatly prefer beautiful apps and ease of use over anything Gingerbread has offered us so far. Now I already know that a lot of the visual benefits of ICS come mainly from theming and such, but its profoundly more exciting when the theming itself is coming from the creators of Android and not some hard-to-find source in the app market.
Lastly, I would appreciate it if you guys could give your thoughts on this. Are you excited to see the new direction the Android team along with Matias, are going in? Do you feel that they are focusing on some rather important points in the software (usability, framework, aesthetics) or not? And of course please keep the flaming and crude/rude comments to yourselves. Thanks all for listening to my rant.
~~Vince
Heres the new design guidelines site they have up.
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I can't deny that I would be overly excited if ICS came to this device, haha.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using xda premium

Kevinr678 said:
I can't deny that I would be overly excited if ICS came to this device, haha.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using xda premium
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+1 internets I totally agree!

As nice as ICS's upgrade would be...it's not in Sammy's or AT&T interest
Sammy want's device sales and AT&T wants new/renewed contracts. By limiting ICS to 2012 devices, it provides incentive for 2010/2011 device owners to pony up for the new hotness with the new software.
Now before anyone wants to say, "WAIT WAIT, Apple..." save it. We're not talking about Apple here. Sammy is the OEM and they control what happens for the product line.
Sure you can wait for a dev to 'hopefully' get around to releasing an ICS port and yeah, it may be decent. That's your choice.
My upgrade plans begin in 2013 when ICS should have a few months in the wild and become more mature. By then all my smartphones will be eligible for upgrade discounts. I have no issue with AT&T's service as they allow me to keep my grandfathered unlimited data plan.
I'd rather have ICS when it's grown up and not so much a baby. Also, fully functional on my device too would be nice.

Interviewer is huge fan of Apple I can see

The main reason i want ics is so i can impress my friends lol. It also just has features that i just like better. Im not going to die without it, but it would be nice with it. Im sorry guys who have to wait for their contract, both my parents have their upgrades up and both are fine if they get my infuse, and i get the note.

durvall said:
Interviewer is huge fan of Apple I can see
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Joshua Topolsky! My man! He was the senior editor at Engadget.com before leaving to start theverge.com. He actually left his Apple iPhone after the 3gs I think. He soon thereafter bought a Nexus One. Which I think he still uses to this day. And touts it every chance he gets. He does however praise apple for incitefull design and craftsmanship. I mean he is in a business (tech blogging) that is notorious for praising the behemoth company(not that this is a good thing) But trust you me when I say he isn't afraid to drop the hammer on Apple when he voices his gripes over their products. I would venture to say that most blogging sites require their employees to work on Macbooks now though. It seems to me that they would rather choose a totalitarian system like the Macs because they are less prone to buginess and viruses. And when your in an industry that thrives off of having secure data on close deadlines and less vulnerabilities, Macs (imo) just do it better. I dont use a mac, never have, I have had an Iphone 3g one time for a while. But will probably never go back. Unless I become rich or something. You do have to admire their design principles though both physically and software wise. When you compare Apple's aesthetics to Androids up till now, its just no-contest which is more cohesive and well thought out.

durvall said:
Interviewer is huge fan of Apple I can see
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So is Samsung.
Sent from my SGH-I897

funny thing is I used to frequent a guitar forum and a well known member was a Samsung senior cdma systems engineer and his phone was an iPhone. that was before cdma iPhones existed so he was obviously on att which is big in texas. he didn't boast about apple too much nor Samsung, basically the only things I remember that stood out was he refuted the idea that the apple products have Good audio. said the newer apple products are not as good as the older ones and suffered from clipping (overdrive basically) and boasted the galaxy s in that area. but when it came down to it he was a fan of ios for the accessories and high quality audio software (garage band for the ipad) and got an ipad 2.

i always have an upgrade....(4 lines=leverage) .. but i will not purchase another phone until ICS is available, especially because of updates. i want the note..but if no ics pre-installed..i aint buying.. i almost went to verizon for the nexus but they dont have good coverage where i travel

ICS should be important to everyone. Even if only for the principle of it.
Sent from my SGH-I897

Anyone currently working on ics?
Sent from my SGH-I997 using XDA App

dustinhayes93 said:
Anyone currently working on ics?
Sent from my SGH-I997 using XDA App
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yeah but they haven't posted progress so its anyone's guess as to what issues they are having. remember the people working on it have real lives and are doing it as a hobby. so i don't think anyone is working on it full time.

Yea of course. Its great to know it is being worked on. Anything is better than nothing!
Sent from my SGH-I997 using XDA App

LinuxBozo still around? I had some questions for him..
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theROMinator said:
LinuxBozo still around? I had some questions for him..
Sent from my SGH-I997 using Tapatalk
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he drops in to a thread every once in a while especially the "all the devs jumped" threads. he was never that big on posting. I dunno if he answers pm's.

Dani897 said:
he drops in to a thread every once in a while especially the "all the devs jumped" threads. he was never that big on posting. I dunno if he answers pm's.
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Yes, he does. I've spoke with him before. I was just hoping he hadn't jumped ship.
Sent from my SGH-I997 using Tapatalk

theROMinator said:
Yes, he does. I've spoke with him before. I was just hoping he hadn't jumped ship.
Sent from my SGH-I997 using Tapatalk
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I don't think so. I know at one time he said he didn't like change.... whether he'll post work after his ics thread got trolled on I don't know.

theROMinator said:
Yes, he does. I've spoke with him before. I was just hoping he hadn't jumped ship.
Sent from my SGH-I997 using Tapatalk
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He will probably answer in this thread lol but he is. One of the leads with the infuse cm7 team. He has been busy with other stuff though (carpantry). He is around. Ics will come someday hopefully...

even though some people will drop their Infuse's this Spring, Im really hoping some devs will still try to bring over ICS for the people who want to feel out the year on devices. I wish I wasnt so disorganized, otherwise i might actually have the capacity to learn how to develop. =/

Just Realizing... OEMs are Taking Advantage of us!

Alright, so after reading a couple articles on a bunch of sites. I can sort of understand a vicious cycle that's going on in the mobile development world.
First off, let me begin, Mobile OEMs (as we all know) don't release updates very often. And as a general rule, when they do... it's usually a couple months late. Just look at HTC devices, most of the (somewhat) older devices (depending on what you're definition of older is) aren't getting the updates to ICS for while http://goo.gl/FjcMJ . And in some cases they just decide not to update them at all. (see the Desire HD and possibly the Thunderbolt http://goo.gl/BwZld )
Initially when Android started, this was a little different. And allow me to clarify by going far far back, to the first Android device. The HTC Dream.
It initially came out with Android 1.0 (Astro) it eventually got updated all the way to the software version 1.5 (Cupcake). If you look back then, that's two software updates! Astro to Bender to Cupcake.
Now let's look at just about any other Android device (not made my Samsung, for the most part they're a bad example... (of course then again, they have the head of Cyanogenmod Steve Kondik on their team).
We're going to look at Motorola, because despite the fact that it's owned by Google, not all of their devices have received updates. And the device I've chosen from them is the defy. Now if you look over at the development section of the forums you'll see that we have a working (and apparently a very smooth) port of Jelly Bean for the Defy. http://goo.gl/mE1Qy
But if you decide to see what Motorola's deciding to do to update it from Gingerbread, well... their development section is devoid of everything for the Defy... http://goo.gl/g8XN0
Now why does that matter to us happy go lucky developers and modders? Well let's look over this little scenario I've played out in my head more than once.
CEO#1 "Oh they want Jelly Bean?"
CEO#2 "Yeah they do..."
CEO#1 "So what are we going to do about it?"
CEO#2 *checks XDA* "Nothing, the ones who really care about it have a working ROM up already."
CEO#1 "Okay, sounds good to me. So are you ready to go make some more phones with high specs and outdated software?"
CEO#2 "Well if we start now, we should be able to get six new devices running ICS 4.0.3 out by mid December!"
CEO#1 "Ohh, not even having the latest version of ICS is really going to get them. Brilliant!"
This is a vicious cycle that just keeps going around, and around, and around. The problem is that there doesn't seem to be a way to stop it. While we need Superuser and rooting privileges, we also need updates to the latest version of Android OS to keep us going.
OEMs on the other hand see us as free labor for development and as the only people who really want/need the updates. The problem is that with their history of sending out updates we really can't stop working. And even when they do send out updates, sometimes they aren't even fully stable! (see Evo 3D http://goo.gl/VzCNM )
So the question is, how are we going to stop this?

Buy devices from the companies that keep things up to date. The Nexus gets direct pushes from Google so you know you're good there. Sony has a dedicated line to developers through their forums and even offers devices for temporary dev use and has reasonably priced unsubsidised phones.
Put your dollars in the right places if you want to make change happen. Those who want full access still aren't a large enough part of the market to shape everything. That said, people pushing for control have made sure that iDevices can be jailbroken and HTC is staggering hard because of mis-steps in marketing that have been worsened by lackluster updates and their decision to shun the dev community that was bolstering them.

They can't look at xda or whatever Android forum because there is a larger population of users who have no idea what rooting is, let alone custom ROMs. Those people depend on updates and if they won't get an official update, they won't get one at all.
Sent from my MB508 using xda premium

If you ask 10 Android users what version of Android they are on, 8 of them will have no clue, 1 will know because the sales rep used it as a selling point, and one of them will be running Jellybean (thanks to XDA!).
Consumer demand is not high enough to demand the cost of testing new software on dated phones. Sad but true.

thebeastglasser said:
OEMs on the other hand see us as free labor for development and as the only people who really want/need the updates.
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If they really saw us as free labor, they would release a phone with cyanogenmod or something and just kang whatever works for their next update. (Actually, this would be a very good idea.)
However, in actuality, they just don't care about the devs. Too busy trying to differentiate their products with custom skins and cause more work for everyone.

It is true that most people don't know much more than that they are are android or "droid", just like many people don't know much more than they have an Iphone. The vocal majority of phone users (online) however have quite a bit more knowledge which means they get much more feedback from the minority.
One of the main reasons (other than price) that I got a Nexus 7 was due to the fact that Google pushes updates immediately to their nexus devices. I see this as an additional "perk".

You can't buy a device Android or other from an OEM or carrier and expect to get the latest greatest updates a or mods any too quickly. Forums and sites like xda bring in developers and users who ate eager to offer mods and help that you will never find coming from the mainstream as quickly or with the same quality. I get the device I want and look to here to make it better quicker.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

But what I see is that there are a bunch of phones that could easily be running better software (like the Defy) but OEMs clearly see that anybody who seems to care enough about updates are doing it themselves. The problem is, there are relatives of mine who refuse to root and yet they know enough about phones to know what version they're running and know the difference between the two versions. The one they currently have, and the one they could have.
I feel like this is kind of unfair to the sed-mentioned people and on top of that, it makes uneducated users buy more phones, while it keeps people like us are at work.
I'd bet that it was a pain in the a** porting ICS to the Desire HD no thanks to HTC, and yet this is just one less job for HTC and a hell of a lot more work for us... That's just me.
And also, that idea for a "pre-kanged" phone or one running a version of Cyanogenmod is pretty good. It'd be a great idea...

Again, speak with your dollars. I have no doubt that Nexus sales will continue to climb not only because of devs, but because people who just end up with them will like seeing timely updates and devices that continue to get better and better. If you want to help the rise of affordable, quality devices then steer others toward them when you can and buy them yourself when it's time for something new.

Also, people on xda do not see development as a "work", they see it as a hobby...
So even if all the phones were on the latest android, the dev community here at Xda would still be hard at "work" to come up with something better...something which the OEM's and Google couldn't think of implementing even with such large resources at their disposal...
And let's face it, apart from games, the general public in large doesn't have "need" for BETTER phones...
I've seen the likes of HTC One X and Galaxy S3 go in the hands of people for whom multitasking would mean chatting on whatsapp while waiting for the fb app to load...
So the question would arise, if the public doesn't "need" better phones, how do we sell it to them?
The answer becomes clear, stop giving them updates...make them feel that their device is outdated...that they "need" a NEW and BETTER phone...
The ones who understand the capability of their phone would have the ability, or more importantly, the will to make the updates happen...
For the rest, well there's fancy advertising...
Hope this clears up...
- Via xda premium

Yeah, I suppose it makes sense. Thanks guys!

How many people are there using Android? About 60% of the market, which means hundred milion users How many members do we have here on XDA? Less than hundred thousands! It means that regular users dont know and dont care what OS they use or even dont know what the update is. Froyo, GB, ICS, JB sound like alien languages for most of regular users. For those who know wat they are using, they are already XDA members, the rest just doesnt care or they just simply buy an iCrapple. Therefore, there is no way you can stop that. Customers are always taken granted by companies.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app

Extreemly well put. We all knew it but didn't say anything. I am awaiting the next nexus for this very reason. Props to thebeastglasser

MissionImprobable said:
Again, speak with your dollars. I have no doubt that Nexus sales will continue to climb
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The bundling is too strong with this market. When there are literally only one or two phone brands, usually otherwise sub-par, that are stock, the voting with dollars won't make much of a difference. It's like voting in an election where a lot of people who might prefer a pure candidate are given tons of reasons to go with more mainstream ones.
So how can change actually be effected? First and most obviously, google might dictate to motorola to make stock phones. Hopefully, that will happen and stock android will start getting a positive reputation for straightforward and automatic upgrades.
The other option starts at grassroots levels: this bundling leaves a gap in the market, and eventually someone should step in to fill that gap. I can imagine small start ups in third-world countries (where price is a real issue) revitalizing older brands with the highest supported cyanogenmod, then selling them at still relatively low prices for a profit. If there is enough demand for this, this "repackaging" business would be emulated all over and the OEMs might start to take a hint.

For the record there are over four million members on XDA...

thebeastglasser said:
For the record there are over four million members on XDA...
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Not currently active users though. Remember XDA used to make you register to download files so that jacked up the member rate.

thebobp said:
The bundling is too strong with this market. When there are literally only one or two phone brands, usually otherwise sub-par, that are stock, the voting with dollars won't make much of a difference. It's like voting in an election where a lot of people who might prefer a pure candidate are given tons of reasons to go with more mainstream ones.
So how can change actually be effected? First and most obviously, google might dictate to motorola to make stock phones. Hopefully, that will happen and stock android will start getting a positive reputation for straightforward and automatic upgrades.
The other option starts at grassroots levels: this bundling leaves a gap in the market, and eventually someone should step in to fill that gap. I can imagine small start ups in third-world countries (where price is a real issue) revitalizing older brands with the highest supported cyanogenmod, then selling them at still relatively low prices for a profit. If there is enough demand for this, this "repackaging" business would be emulated all over and the OEMs might start to take a hint.
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The Chinese market is already doing that, and with brand new phones that come both rooted and sometimes unlocked. Yes, there are other markets in which this can be done, but it doesn't make sense to talk on the one hand about voting with dollars not making a difference and then saying third-world resellers will change the game.
Google is marketing a clean, recognizable line in their Nexus devices, advertising intelligently, and making sure that they continue to stay on the latest firmware. Supporting them and other companies who do so will dictate what model corporations follow. Again, HTC is eating crow because their abandonment of the dev community and their decision to spread themselves thin, ala Motorola, who are also being dug out of a hole now by Google. I'd say both companies have paid the price for ignoring what the marketplace demands.
Moto had everyone hooked with the original Droid so there is no doubt that share is won or lost by how you approach relevancy for the long run. Go back and look at how many people loved their OG Droids in every way but have now moved on to other brands because of locked bootloaders and lack of firmware updates on the models that followed. Money makes the corporate world go round and every little bit helps.
Grassroots movements have done everything from keeping the iPhone legal to jailbreak to getting a man his goodies when a WP store tried to pull a fast one in regards to him winning the WP challenge to getting VZ to clarify that they wouldn't be doing anything to their Unlimited users. We may not be the majority, but we are far more organized and informed than the masses and as such what we do gets noticed and picked up on by tech, blog, and news coverage. The only ones who don't make change happen are the naysayers who sit by and do nothing. Support the brands that support the customers and devs.

MissionImprobable said:
The Chinese market is already doing that, and with brand new phones that come both rooted and sometimes unlocked. Yes, there are other markets in which this can be done, but it doesn't make sense to talk on the one hand about voting with dollars not making a difference and then saying third-world resellers will change the game.
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Sure voting makes sense.. if you're in another country where the election's not as rigged.
MissionImprobable said:
Again, HTC is eating crow because their abandonment of the dev community and their decision to spread themselves thin, ala Motorola, who are also being dug out of a hole now by Google. I'd say both companies have paid the price for ignoring what the marketplace demands.
Moto had everyone hooked with the original Droid so there is no doubt that share is won or lost by how you approach relevancy for the long run. Go back and look at how many people loved their OG Droids in every way but have now moved on to other brands because of locked bootloaders and lack of firmware updates on the models that followed. Money makes the corporate world go round and every little bit helps.
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I'm not really convinced that Motorola's and HTC's losses were due to locked bootloaders, or even lack of firmware updates. Rather, I think it's due to brand inertia: at some point, Samsung came up with a phone (the Galaxy S2) that was so far ahead of anything else on the market at the time, that they just grabbed market share and brand loyalty from many of the consumers on the market. This has little to do with the Galaxy Nexus, and indeed their "next big thing" has been the horribly backward (from a stock perspective) S3 and the Note.

It's been my perception that there is a strong correlation between developer support and whatever device I want to get next.
When I got my very first phone, it was the Samsung Captivate.
It had (Still has) great dev support. I decided not to wait a month to get the Moto Atrix because, there was no predicting what kind of dev support it would have despite having great specs. I find that (generally speaking) Samsung phones have had strong dev support.
I sort of hate to point this out.. But, if you think the "average consumer" cares about upgrades.. I would be inclined to disagree. A lot of people do care about upgrades.. Myself, my girlfriend, a lot of people who frequent forums in general.
Still, your average consumer is probably more concerned with the screen size than the software it's packing. Even if ICS is "nicer" and "more elegant" there are a lot of people who really don't know or even care what OS their phone is running. As long as they can text and check facebook, they aren't going to be bothered with the small details of "Jellybean" or "ICS"
I have to be completely honest when I admit, if I were a manufacturer.. I don't honestly know how inclined I would be to release OS updates. Not because I want to be an evil corporation and force you to upgrade to get the newest OS.. But, because putting it plain and simply.. It takes time, energy, and money to release an update. If *ANYTHING* goes wrong with the update and even a single person doesn't follow the instructions.. It becomes really hard to prove they are the one at fault. So you spend your time and energy making an update, potentially having more cost incurred due to possibly damaged hardware, and then finally.. wondering how many people really cared in the first place. A lot of people don't care and even won't upgrade their phone because, they perceive it as "a pointless endeavor."

thebobp said:
Sure voting makes sense.. if you're in another country where the election's not as rigged.
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What does this have to do with supporting companies that support us? Voting with your dollars is a metaphor; it doesn't mean that there is an election for phones.

Don't get it no development!?

I mean no disrespect but y is there no real development on this amazing device... Hands down strongest n most beautiful tab n there's no love! I don't get it.... Can someone explain... Is it the price or something
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app

mightymike889 said:
I mean no disrespect but y is there no real development on this amazing device... Hands down strongest n most beautiful tab n there's no love! I don't get it.... Can someone explain... Is it the price or something
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app
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the question itself is disrespectful. Tell the hardworking devs here that there is no 'real' development going on. nice.

I think the price detours alot of people, even dev's in comparison to some of the competitors out there. I/O issues even scared one CM dev who left the device awhile ago. I think part of the issue was waiting on JB source to drop for this device. To to sum it up, it's really a few factors. I wouldn't say there is no development, but just minimal, but it's getting there. It should get better in the forthcoming months as well, so be patient.

lafester said:
the question itself is disrespectful. Tell the hardworking devs here that there is no 'real' development going on. nice.
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i didnt mean to be disrespectfull as i said earlier..i what i mean is y there really arent alot of roms and mods for the tablet...
chugger93 said:
I think the price detours alot of people, even dev's in comparison to some of the competitors out there. I/O issues even scared one CM dev who left the device awhile ago. I think part of the issue was waiting on JB source to drop for this device. To to sum it up, it's really a few factors. I wouldn't say there is no development, but just minimal, but it's getting there. It should get better in the forthcoming months as well, so be patient.
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what are the i/o issues?

Development usually picks up several months after the device is out, tends to weaken just before a major update (like JB), and picks up again shortly after the sources are out.
Part of the reason the infinity is hard to develop for is we only have a partial unlock from Asus. Another reason, like mentioned before, is the tablet is rather expensive. Further, compare that to the intense competition from the Samsung side usually Samsung wins over deveopers because they give sources for everything they can and even often offer assistance to devs to make custom stuff for their hardware.
That being said, it seems like the tables are turning for Samsung, last i heard the S3 had a locked bootloader which is rather annoying.
Basically, wait. Just hang tight till the JB mess blows over and things stabalize. There is development for this tablet, just maybe not as much as other devices because this is newer and going through an update. Relax and trust that the devs will make things great XD

Help the Cause Please

Hi guys this is my first time posting although I've been reading these forums for quite some time now
First of all i'd like to thank all the devs that work so hard for this phone. We all appreciate it immensely. :good:
Now down to business.
I've started a petition for LG and T-Mobile to release an update for the T-Mobile G2x (LG-P999).
I know this seems pretty useless at this point but hey its better to try then do nothing at all
I'd really appreciate it if everyone here could show there support and spread this around.
Petition: wwwchangeorg/petitions/lg-and-t-mobile-update-the-lg-g2x-lg-p999-to-android-4-x
Please also visit the lg forums and voice your opinion.
supportlgforumcom/lg/topics/g2x_owners_reply_if_you_want_android_4_0_ics_for_our_g2xs
Were bound to get noticed eventually. If it fails at least we kinda tried to put a thorn in LG's side xD
Thanks guys, please no negativity, im just trying to help us all out after all.
(BTW had to remove periods after www, change, support, and lgforum since im noob and can't post links )

There is a difference between negative and realistic. IMHO it would be a waste of time considering nexus 4 and EULA for the g2x.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda app-developers app

mansa_noob said:
There is a difference between negative and realistic. IMHO it would be a waste of time considering nexus 4 and EULA for the g2x.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda app-developers app
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I think doing nothing is more of a waste of time. It's really not that hard to just go and comment at least on the lg forums.
If you go to the lg forums you will find a this written by an LG employee:
RyanLG (Official Rep) 4 days ago
"Nope, those are just the crickets from another thread I recently posted. There is not much else to add to this 160+ comment thread that has been of popular topic for the past year. All I can say is the Thrill finally received a software update to fix many of it's previous hardware and software issues. Nobody saw that coming in a million years and what do you know, it happened! And ever since the complaints have subsided substantially about that particular device and the praise for it is at an all time high. I fully understand the complaints and frustration from all the G2X owners, you deserve some sort of resolution. The best thing you can do at this point is let your voice be heard whether it be here, but more so to LG customer support, the carrier or anywhere else. I will escalate this thread to the top with hopes of some sort of resolution. A similar process benefited the Thrill, so who knows."
What he said is what im doing, trying to get people to voice their opinion about the phone.
Also what he said about the LG Thrill gives me some hope.
If you don't wanna sign the petition i understand but at least go to the official lg forums and "complain".
It may be a long shot and will probably never happen but why not try at least, like RyanLG said, "who knows"?
Maybe just maybe if we get a lot of people to show their frustration and support for an upgrade a miracle will happen.
Won't know for sure unless we try is all i'm trying to say :angel:
Also, since development is practically at a stand still what else is there to do?
Rummage through xda forums everyday hoping for something new? x.x

Maybe we can reach out to other developers with lots of experience to look at the radio problem or build Hackfest roms? We basically only have Maz left and we can't expect him to do everything for us.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda app-developers app

Bulletblitz27 said:
Maybe we can reach out to other developers with lots of experience to look at the radio problem or build Hackfest roms? We basically only have Maz left and we can't expect him to do everything for us.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda app-developers app
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Maz is put through maintaining a gingerbread kernel on top of a new project that some users wanted, fixing bluetooth calling. There were some other projects maz had set put to do also. Such a nice guy but lets look at this situation realistically. This phone is a 'sunken ship'.

Bulletblitz27 said:
Maybe we can reach out to other developers with lots of experience to look at the radio problem or build Hackfest roms? We basically only have Maz left and we can't expect him to do everything for us.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda app-developers app
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That'd be awesome if we could contact other devs to help with the ril issue. Problem I see there though is that I'm sure many of those devs are working hard on other projects. Plus, the ril issue is something that is really difficult to resolve (if even possible?) and Idk if more devs would even be of help at this point but nonetheless the more devs working on this phone the better.
JustinBieber said:
Maz is put through maintaining a gingerbread kernel on top of a new project that some users wanted, fixing bluetooth calling. There were some other projects maz had set put to do also. Such a nice guy but lets look at this situation realistically. This phone is a 'sunken ship'.
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I agree maz is super awesome! To me it seems like he's the only dev currently doing anything. Im using his latest beta kernel and my phone is not only snappy but also has awesome battery life so much props to him.
And I have accepted that this phone is a sunken ship but I will never lose hope

The phone is 2 years old at this point in the States. The end of life of the device through T-Mobile was January 2012. The hardware was pretty much a prototype version of the current Tegra 2 platform, and we'll never know the proper way to code for it. The RIL issues will never get fixed, nor did they have a shot to be fixed. If you're still on the device, you're either like me and too poor to afford an upgrade, or somehow stuck in a deal for the phone. If you used an EIP through T-Mo, you can pay it back early instead of monthly and get yourself a new one on the plan.
In the end it comes down to knowing exactly what phones are going to be popular for developers. Nexus devices and the Galaxy line are where you want to be if you want good support. That's where all the action is and will be for some time. The HTC One shows some promise, but with AT&T locking the bootloader, that's one less carrier brand that can be unlocked.
Pick wisely and don't bother with this stuff. Getting your hopes up will only cause you more anger when the truth comes around.

"The hardware was pretty much a prototype version of the current Tegra 2 platform, and we'll never know the proper way to code for it."
Interesting. Are you saying that the entire Optimus 2X line of phones was not based on the Tegra 2 platform used on other phones, but rather an incomplete prototype (probably because they were rushing it to market), or that this is only true for the G2X (aka P999), hence the differences between it and the other models?