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WTF is Samsung doing...is there an upside???

Check out this brief note about the ever elusive Froyo update for our beloved, under performing (OOTB) phone.
http://erictric.com/2011/01/03/sams...froyo-update-for-samsung-galaxy-s-smartphone/
Upside...well, I've speculated before and been wrong...probably am here too, but trying to break my life-long mold of being a total skeptic:
We might just go straight to Gingerbread?????

Even if we get ginger and not froyo this will be the last samsung product i purcase
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk

I don't really care anymore when the official 2.2 update will come out. I'm happy sticking with custom roms until the Motorola Atrix comes out. Hopefully it will live up to the hype. The Captivate is my first and last Samsung cell phone I'll ever buy.

I too am just waiting for the atrix. I've never bought a phone off contact but will be forced too cause I bought the captivate with my upgrade. Its not that I'm totally unhappy with the captivate, just upset that samsung has don't so little to ensure that their "flagship" phone stays up to date. Its too bad too cause it has such great potential.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

I agree with all of you. I'm fairly pleased with my custom rom too, but feel like it still could be better if devs had source for the cappy.
Also, my first and last Samsung phone. I'm boycotting them altogether. My next phone Sony or Motorola...CES showed off some good stuff. Next flat screen TV Sony prolly, or maybe an LG; def done with Samsung.
Bastards say still testing but steadily releasing new products with Froyo and even GB.
Gonna have to find the money to break my contract with AT&T cause I'm not paying them an upgrade fee.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App

We want Galaxy S owners to have simple/reliable upgrade. We r running tests due to complexity/unique functionality.
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So i guess we can expect these delays on future phones too due to complexity/unique functionality? Heheh...
Those phones that samsung will announce next month better have gingerbread from the start, i don't think anyone can rely on samsung to put out an update anymore.

peachpuff said:
So i guess we can expect these delays on future phones too due to complexity/unique functionality? Heheh...
Those phones that samsung will announce next month better have gingerbread from the start, i don't think anyone can rely on samsung to put out an update anymore.
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Yeah, that's the killer. The SGS line was supposed to be their Flagship Android line for the US...got tons of people on board only to essentially abandoned us to work on new products to trick people in to buying. They can't get us an update for this line but they can put the OS on new products without any problems. Just look at what the devs on this forum have done with a FW that's not even for our device. If they can do it, then surely the makers of the damn line could. I hope they crash and burn, market share wise. It may take a while but if they continue this BS with other lines and products people are eventually going to say f-off.

My next phone is going to be either Motorola or HTC. In fact, I just replaced my Samsung TV with a LG. I am done with Samsung all together.

Cry some more? Even when they come out with it, it will just be stripped and modded and redistributed on the forums. The custom ones will be better than anything Samsung will put out.

88EVGAFTW said:
Cry some more? Even when they come out with it, it will just be stripped and modded and redistributed on the forums. The custom ones will be better than anything Samsung will put out.
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No doubt...I don't care about the ROM they release; just that source code so the talented devs on this forum can unleash it. I will never run another stock ROM on ANY Android device, ever. This forum is the bomb!!!!

Like others above this is my last Samsung phone ever. Sucks I wasted my upgrade for this crap.
I do appreciate the developers on this forum though for the custom roms. Thanks again!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

saint168 said:
My next phone is going to be either Motorola or HTC. In fact, I just replaced my Samsung TV with a LG. I am done with Samsung all together.
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This is the exact same conversation that everyone was having in the motorola forums with the backflip cliq and cliq xt. Htc is the only ones that have a reputation good for upgrading their phones, but moto and samsung have the best hardware (imo). Cant beat the screen on this thing and every moto I own has been indestructable. So now I buy the phone with the best hardware and community support. I have come to love flashing my phone with something different all the time, whether it be roms or themes, so I will never again buy a phone on the day of release. I will always wait untill the devs behind xda have a go at the device. Then at that point I could care less about manufacturer upgrades
Just my two cents... Take it or leave it
And ps. Youll never pry my 2 samsung hdtv's out of my cold dead hands. Best picture youll find in the price range
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

Lets face it Samsung makes the best hardware, But everything Support Software Updates Sucks harry monkey ****.
I will never get a samsung android phone.

Samsung has been tweeting the same message since the end of December when they knew they would miss the "End of Year" commitment.
But for all those convinced they are evil, go read the forums and blogs for other phones - all manufacturers miss dates, and many times it is due to carrier involvement. The grass always seems greener elsewhere, but the truth is, the same frustrations exist with all vendors.

Then the choice is clear. Generic non carrier phones.

All you guys high on the Moto Atrix, doesnt Moto lock down the phones so you cant root (easily or at all) ? Every manufacturer has their issues. Im hardly a Samsung fan but Id rather have custom ROM's and Galaxy S seems to allow that without much hassle.

I'm not happy with Samsung by any means, but I also remember waiting for a year for the WinMo update for the HTC Tilt 2 and it came from HTC, not AT$T. It's a tricky balance the relationship these companies have. If a new release borks up a significant number of users it could be a customer service nightmare for both companies with each trying to figure out who gets to fix it. That said, it does seem as though Samsung has moved on and is more focused on selling newer phones than taking care of their existing customer base. That's a bad business decision for any company, especially in an industry where product cycles are so short, customer memories are so long and most marketing is by word of mouth and internet forums.

Can I ask why? I have a captivate, flashed froyo on it and i'm loving it. Is it just Samsung that you don't like or theres something wrong with your phone?

poo22 said:
Can I ask why? I have a captivate, flashed froyo on it and i'm loving it. Is it just Samsung that you don't like or theres something wrong with your phone?
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Because they made a promise (online and in writing) to provide the Froyo update. My dislike also comes from having had 2 Samsung HDTVs that, while having great pictures, developed problems that were poorly handled by Samsung service. And while you may be happy with your modded phone, we shouldn't HAVE to flash a non-OEM ROM just to enjoy things like a working GPS or enhancements that other users in other countries are able to enjoy.

Maybe you don't like Samsung, but I love them. Awesome screen, great performance, good battery, and well I don't use GPS so honestly I don't care (I would use Network GPS before real GPS anyway).
I will most likely buy the 4.5" Infuse 4G, unless they make a 4.5" windows phone 7 (which I doubt, WP7 has horrible phones).

Jealous of Galaxy S 3 progress

I know only a handful of people have a device in their hands and it's probably not the production firmware, but browsing around the GS3 forums is kind of depressing. I've been watching these One X forums closely, hoping to see great feedback on the stock AT&T One X experience, progress on root/ROMs, or both. With the exception of root I'm sad to see AT&T preventing bootloader unlocks, AT&T/HTC messing with the US software, and a number of problems with Sense (though some of the latter is probably par for the course with a brand new firmware version from HTC). Browsing around on the Galaxy S 3 forums they seem to ship with bootloaders unlocked, there was a full firmware leak, and there's already an early root. At this early stage it seems like that device might end up being a lot easier to develop for.
I know it's probably too early to make any calls on a device that hasn't officially shipped yet, and who knows what kind of delays the North American LTE version will have - or what bastardization AT&T will manage with the GS3. But still, it looks promising over in GS3 land if only from a pure dev perspective.
Then there's the rumor of google selling multiple "Nexus" devices with multiple hardware vendors. Imagine if we had dev-friendly devices at the level of the One X or GS3 in the $400 price range!

well as far as I know it's AT&T that's preventing the boot loader unlock, not HTC, so when the GS3 comes to AT&T, they could very well do the same thing.

lucidlyseen said:
well as far as I know it's AT&T that's preventing the boot loader unlock, not HTC, so when the GS3 comes to AT&T, they could very well do the same thing.
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I also read an article last night, that will annoy people on at&t who are waiting for the GS3. Apparentley verizon is getting the phone first and will have exlusivety over the other carriers for a time, don't know how long though.

Still undecided if I'm keeping the One X. May go for the S3. The only thing I do despise, other than pentile screens, about the S3 is the forums here at XDA. It's worse than an iPhone forum. Samsung could poop a turd and these people would tell you why a turd is now better than anything else any manufacturer has ever produced. It's a tad ridiculous.

lucidlyseen said:
well as far as I know it's AT&T that's preventing the boot loader unlock, not HTC, so when the GS3 comes to AT&T, they could very well do the same thing.
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Yeah, that's what I was saying in the OP. Agreed 100%.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2

You can't compare any brand's unlocked retail devices to those sold through the U.S. carriers. The SGS3 section you're reading is for the international device and each of the U.S. variants will end up with their own forum. Look at the development in the international One X forum; based on the number sold (2MM so far) it too should always stay pretty active.
The i9100 forum is the most active forum on XDA as you'd expect based on the number of phones sold. Most of the lead developers are in the EU as you'd expect for a device sold globally. I'm sure the i9300 (SGS3) forum will be just as active.
Samsung's never locked their bootloaders and their devices are the easiest to mod. It's always been that way so shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. HTC's taking a firmer stand on unlocked devices. In the EU they're no longer covering h/w repairs on devices that have had third party ROMs installed on them (just unlocking the bootloader is OK). This is new since the introduction of the One's. Considering that 95% of people that buy an Android phone don't even know what a bootloader is their obviously putting the financials (savings on warranty repairs) over the needs of what they refer to as the "enthusiast" community. Just something else to consider when comparing devices.

Like Barry said, and once it's released it will be plagued by complaints on XDA, just like the HOX has been, just the nature of the environment.
What hasn't helped HOX progress in the US is the hold at customs, but that is rumored to clear up soon, then we'll be cooking.

vioalas said:
Like Barry said, and once it's released it will be plagued by complaints on XDA, just like the HOX has been, just the nature of the environment.
What hasn't helped HOX progress in the US is the hold at customs, but that is rumored to clear up soon, then we'll be cooking.
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This is what I was thinking too. Bootloader lock? Seen that before and seen phones still be well supported. HOX will be one of the top phones of 2012, so whether devs hack the bootloader or we get direct support from HTC, it will still get done eventually.
The customs hold is more concerning...

jnichols959 said:
I know only a handful of people have a device in their hands and it's probably not the production firmware, but browsing around the GS3 forums is kind of depressing. I've been watching these One X forums closely, hoping to see great feedback on the stock AT&T One X experience, progress on root/ROMs, or both. With the exception of root I'm sad to see AT&T preventing bootloader unlocks, AT&T/HTC messing with the US software, and a number of problems with Sense (though some of the latter is probably par for the course with a brand new firmware version from HTC). Browsing around on the Galaxy S 3 forums they seem to ship with bootloaders unlocked, there was a full firmware leak, and there's already an early root. At this early stage it seems like that device might end up being a lot easier to develop for.
I know it's probably too early to make any calls on a device that hasn't officially shipped yet, and who knows what kind of delays the North American LTE version will have - or what bastardization AT&T will manage with the GS3. But still, it looks promising over in GS3 land if only from a pure dev perspective.
Then there's the rumor of google selling multiple "Nexus" devices with multiple hardware vendors. Imagine if we had dev-friendly devices at the level of the One X or GS3 in the $400 price range!
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What I read here is the GS3 is no further along in development than the ATT HOX?
Leaked ROM: Check
Root: Check
What else do they have?

beaups said:
What I read here is the GS3 is no further along in development than the ATT HOX?
Leaked ROM: Check
Root: Check
What else do they have?
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They ship with an unlocked bootloader. That's a pretty big deal imho. Yes, the amazing devs here tend to unlock all the big phones one way or another - but shipping unlocked sure makes the first month or two a lot more fun for folks that like to tweak their android device.

jnichols959 said:
They ship with an unlocked bootloader. That's a pretty big deal imho. Yes, the amazing devs here tend to unlock all the big phones one way or another - but shipping unlocked sure makes the first month or two a lot more fun for folks that like to tweak their android device.
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You can pretty much say the internatiional One X was bootloader unlocked.. I mean all you had to do was go to htcdev.. It wasnt like you had to do anything special cept plug your phone in and goto a website. Not really a big deal there either..

jnichols959 said:
They ship with an unlocked bootloader. That's a pretty big deal imho. Yes, the amazing devs here tend to unlock all the big phones one way or another - but shipping unlocked sure makes the first month or two a lot more fun for folks that like to tweak their android device.
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Although Samsung's bootloaders are typically not locked, starting with GS2, Samsung's bootloader tracks and displays on boot up how many times you flashed non-Samsung ROM.
As others have pointed out, comparing an unbranded international version of GS3 to a AT&T branded HOX is pretty rediculus. When it finally hits AT&T (which is unknown at this time), its firmware will be modified to AT&T's demand which is pretty in line with what you get with AT&T's HOX.

nugzo said:
You can pretty much say the internatiional One X was bootloader unlocked.. I mean all you had to do was go to htcdev.. It wasnt like you had to do anything special cept plug your phone in and goto a website. Not really a big deal there either..
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Yeah, I keep hoping I can get a cutting edge, quality android device on a US LTE provider with good dev support but it seems the carriers (and to a lesser extent the patent disputes) are the ones making that difficult.

I hate to say anything that could be misconstrued as something negative to the devs, but it does suck to see that our device isn't getting much love. It's a matter of circumstance and I'm sure the devs out there would love to work on this device, given the opportunity.
Just gave my Galaxy Nexus to the wife... was cleaning it up and putting the latest CM9 nightly on there and it was just beastly. I think if the camera was better I would have stuck with it. The camera on the HOX is absolutely stunning though. I have no idea how any idiots could complain about it. The pictures I take look absolutely beautiful.
Might consider selling this device in favor for a GSIII. We'll see.

look how beastly the international HOX roms are. Our phone will hopefully get that kind of love. This phone will be the next HD2 if we can get the BL unlocked.
Sent from my Calculator

americasteam said:
Still undecided if I'm keeping the One X. May go for the S3. The only thing I do despise, other than pentile screens, about the S3 is the forums here at XDA. It's worse than an iPhone forum. Samsung could poop a turd and these people would tell you why a turd is now better than anything else any manufacturer has ever produced. It's a tad ridiculous.
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I really wish that someday there would be a different forum address for each manufacturer so I dont have to deal w those Samsuck fan boys. Came across one in another forum and my gosh what a fking ****. If you take notice they're all over Youtube trashing anything non-Samsuck. I hate Samsuck just because of them.

louis.b said:
I really wish that someday there would be a different forum address for each manufacturer so I dont have to deal w those Samsuck fan boys. Came across one in another forum and my gosh what a fking ****. If you take notice they're all over Youtube trashing anything non-Samsuck. I hate Samsuck just because of them.
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I had a captivate. Development was slow, at first, with all the ATT restrictions..but we got through it. I am 100% Positive we will have our devices unlocked and loaded to the fullest potential.
It might take some time, but so far the stock experience has not been to painful with my HOX, Once Rooted, you can De-brand your device, Replace the missing apps, Remove Bloatware.
Yes we don't have a custom Recovery, and no easy Kernel Tweaks, but they are coming....

louis.b said:
I really wish that someday there would be a different forum address for each manufacturer so I dont have to deal w those Samsuck fan boys. Came across one in another forum and my gosh what a fking ****. If you take notice they're all over Youtube trashing anything non-Samsuck. I hate Samsuck just because of them.
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Samsung has come up with very good devices you have agree with that. Galaxy S1 then S2, Note (Probably S3 also). Samsung is competing with Apple, all other android manufacturers are competing with Samsung (in my personal opinion).
I also have captivate which has many hardware issues and as above poster said dev was slow at first but see now, we were among the first ones to get CM9 (alpha) and its very stable now....The development is crazy there still.....
I am sure ATT variant of SG3 will be awesome, as in no locked BL and easy to hack as usual.

warri said:
I had a captivate. Development was slow, at first, with all the ATT restrictions..but we got through it. I am 100% Positive we will have our devices unlocked and loaded to the fullest potential.
It might take some time, but so far the stock experience has not been to painful with my HOX, Once Rooted, you can De-brand your device, Replace the missing apps, Remove Bloatware.
Yes we don't have a custom Recovery, and no easy Kernel Tweaks, but they are coming....
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I'm as excited as the next person to see what an unlocked bootloader will eventually do for the dev of the HOX, but I think you hit an interesting point; the quality of Sense 4.0. I know everyone ultimately would like to see the unlock, but do you think there may just be less overall development as some people are satisfied with the Sense 4.0 experience? Not to discredit the hard work that many folks are putting into dev, but I wonder if there is just a smaller quantity of dev's out there actually trying, leading to less eyes on the device, leading to a smaller likelihood/pace of new barriers being broken in the process.

fitchpuckman said:
I'm as excited as the next person to see what an unlocked bootloader will eventually do for the dev of the HOX, but I think you hit an interesting point; the quality of Sense 4.0. I know everyone ultimately would like to see the unlock, but do you think there may just be less overall development as some people are satisfied with the Sense 4.0 experience? Not to discredit the hard work that many folks are putting into dev, but I wonder if there is just a smaller quantity of dev's out there actually trying, leading to less eyes on the device, leading to a smaller likelihood/pace of new barriers being broken in the process.
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nope. i want AOSP. period. i've never ever been a fan of Sense or any overlay for that matter. i love what google has done with stock ICS. i've had my eye on the eXoDIZED ROM by JDR0iD in the international HOX threads. that's exactly what i'd like to see. or even better, MIUI.

Another Jelly Bean news Thread!!!

Well looks like theres a galaxy s 3 with full jelly bean.... no leaks or nothing!!! lol well its not out yet but its the galaxy s 3 mini!!! If you read the last paragraph it says all variants of s 3 will get jelly at the end of this quarter!!! LMAO yeah we shall see!!!!!
http://www.popherald.com/20121023_samsung_galaxy_s3_jelly_bean_update_keyboard_rumor-20246

crazydad said:
Well looks like theres a galaxy s 3 with full jelly bean.... no leaks or nothing!!! lol well its not out yet but its the galaxy s 3 mini!!! If you read the last paragraph it says all variants of s 3 will get jelly at the end of this quarter!!! LMAO yeah we shall see!!!!!
http://www.popherald.com/20121023_samsung_galaxy_s3_jelly_bean_update_keyboard_rumor-20246
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We gotta wait longer for VZW to give it to use officially. Don't get your hopes up.

Definitely thread worthy news.

[email protected] said:
Definitely thread worthy news.
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lulz

1 star thread.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

Yeah Verizon sucks no telling when we will see an update

Even a VZW leak would be useful.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

JB won't be coming out officially any time soon.
I'd post a link but not allowed to since I am under 10 posts.

well it is a galaxy s 3 but its a mini.... it is coming with jelly bean on it...go figure a new phone for verizon with jelly and the original s 3 still without it!!

crazydad said:
well it is a galaxy s 3 but its a mini.... it is coming with jelly bean on it...go figure a new phone for verizon with jelly and the original s 3 still without it!!
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Guess you never owned a new RAZR. ICS took forever and JB is a pipe dream. The new RAZR M just got JB so this is nothing new. Their focus is on selling new to market units, not throwing money at upgrading the OS on already sold units.

RCITNet said:
Guess you never owned a new RAZR. ICS took forever and JB is a pipe dream. The new RAZR M just got JB so this is nothing new. Their focus is on selling new to market units, not throwing money at upgrading the OS on already sold units.
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Funny thing is the S3 is still Verizon's best phone and well continue to be for now. Putting JB on it will just help sell more units as well as keep current customers happy.
Unfortunately Verizon does not care about keeping customers happy as long as they continue to hit their numbers every quarter.

[email protected] said:
Funny thing is the S3 is still Verizon's best phone and well continue to be for now. Putting JB on it will just help sell more units as well as keep current customers happy.
Unfortunately Verizon does not care about keeping customers happy as long as they continue to hit their numbers every quarter.
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Thats because Verizon prefers to push their "Droid" branded phones IMO.
They will eventually have to release a JB update. I'm just hoping source doesn't take too long to drop after it.
Samsung Galaxy S3

I'm really really really hoping I'm wrong but based on Verizon's history, I'm not holding out hope that we will see JellyBean on our GS3s anytime soon.
Take for example the Galaxy Nexus, by all logic the Verizon version should have gotten JB update at the same time as the GSM version.
However from what I understand(I don't own one) the GSM Nexus got the JB update the last week of June (~27th), while Verizon Nexus owners didn't receive it till Sept 27th, almost 2 months later.
Even if you argue that it takes a little longer to create CDMA/LTE-JB compared to a GSM/LTE-JB that doesn't account for the 2 month time lag. Not when you have access to all of the source code and hardware roadmaps the Samsung does.
In fact, I don't think it has anything to do with Samsung at all. According to what I've recently read, Sprint GS3's are getting JB starting tomorrow.
That means Samsung has already created an acceptable Official CDMA/LTE-JB update that has already been vetted by Sprint that is set to start being pushed out tomorrow with absolutely no evidence of one even existing for Verizon(not even a whiff of a leak or anything)
I don't know why it takes so long, but I do know that it seems like Verizon never gets anything first, in fact they usually get everything last(not counting T-mobile)
At this point I've stopped checking the forum. I'm just hopping that I'll wake up one morning and see an update notification on my phone.

Rumor has it Sprint might be getting OTA JB update starting tomorrow. If that is true, way to go Sprint. That is how updates should roll out.
Guess we will see tomorrow.

[email protected] said:
Funny thing is the S3 is still Verizon's best phone and well continue to be for now. Putting JB on it will just help sell more units as well as keep current customers happy.
Unfortunately Verizon does not care about keeping customers happy as long as they continue to hit their numbers every quarter.
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Putting JB on it won't sell more units. Most people don't know the difference and couldn't tell you the difference if they did a side by side comparison.
Google created this monster when it decided to make it open source with little control over how it's utilized. Apple devices cost more to the carrier and the carrier has little to no input on how the phone functions.
Apple made face time open for use over data where before it was wifi only. What did the carriers do, cry and get over it. Apple introduces imessage which circumvents regular texting lowering revenue from text messaging. What do the carriers do? Nada. Had it been android it wouldn't make it to our devices because they have no control over it. They release the OS, manufacturer builds it to the phones specs and then it's sent off to the carrier for bloating and restricting. Verizon is a service provider they have no business diddling around in an operating system.
Verizon as a customer centric business does have a great customer service. They're more responsive than most other carriers. However, they are in the business to make money and they want to maintain control of the very devices that could either make or break them. We phone enthusiasts are just a drop in the bucket to the millions of other customers that don't care what version OS their phone is on.
Sent from my Galaxy S III

RCITNet said:
Guess you never owned a new RAZR. ICS took forever and JB is a pipe dream. The new RAZR M just got JB so this is nothing new. Their focus is on selling new to market units, not throwing money at upgrading the OS on already sold units.
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This is what draws people to Apple though. They should take a lesson if they want to compete on the long-term.
I'll never, ever, buy another Motorola phone again. They come out with a new phone every other month, and drop support entirely for their existing phones.

[email protected] said:
Rumor has it Sprint might be getting OTA JB update starting tomorrow. If that is true, way to go Sprint. That is how updates should roll out.
Guess we will see tomorrow.
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Sprint is pretty good about updates but sometimes they are to quick on the draw. The S2 had some serious issues with one of the updates that would cause it to hard brick.
Sent from my Galaxy S III

EmmVeePee said:
This is what draws people to Apple though. They should take a lesson if they want to compete on the long-term.
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Dude you are wrong.
Most people don't know about & don't care about JB. Only the fanatics(ie people on XDA, me included) care one way or the other what version of Android is running on their phone.
This is even more true for IOS users. If OEMs didn't push updates to phones OTA most phones would never get updated. There are plenty of people who have there phones set up pretty much exactly the way it was coming out of the box.
I'd argue that your average Android user is a little bit more savvy about customizing his experience but mostly because there are more options, not necessarily because they are more tech savvy. Overall that average user isn't significantly more advanced than an average IOS user.
You would be surprised how many people purchase phones based on either the salesman's advice or the advice of a friend.
All of the talk of specs, fragmentation, OS updates is purely for the phone geek crowd.
Probably 1% of people are going to make their decision based on update version.

[email protected] said:
Rumor has it Sprint might be getting OTA JB update starting tomorrow. If that is true, way to go Sprint. That is how updates should roll out.
Guess we will see tomorrow.
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I would much rather be on Verizons network running ICS as opposed to Sprints with JellyBean...I need service more than timely updates. We will get a update, until then im perfectly content with what development is currently active on this device. we dont need jellybean source to get the ril perfected anyway. all we need is a dev like jt1134 that wrote the mtd filesystem for the fascinate and hacked the ril to near perfection...he also was the main reason cm7 ever made it to the fascinate. That device barely got a gingerbread ota and that didnt happen till way after cm7 was released. point is, support your devs folks! they are the ones that will keep this device up to date after the carriers drop it. I never log on to xda for news on ota updates...things are so much different now than it use to be here and there is alot less dense information in these forums. Now 1 in 3 threads is about ota or root...lol
end /rant

droidstyle said:
I would much rather be on Verizons network running ICS as opposed to Sprints with JellyBean...I need service more than timely updates. We will get a update, until then im perfectly content with what development is currently active on this device. we dont need jellybean source to get the ril perfected anyway. all we need is a dev like jt1134 that wrote the mtd filesystem for the fascinate and hacked the ril to near perfection...he also was the main reason cm7 ever made it to the fascinate. That device barely got a gingerbread ota and that didnt happen till way after cm7 was released. point is, support your devs folks! they are the ones that will keep this device up to date after the carriers drop it. I never log on to xda for news on ota updates...things are so much different now than it use to be here and there is alot less dense information in these forums. Now 1 in 3 threads is about ota or root...lol
end /rant
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I never said I would rather be on Sprint. I left Sprint about 8 months ago after being with them for 15 years. I am just saying I am pretty surprised to see this update come out so quick for them. Would have guessed we would have seen it on AT&T or T-Mobile first. Whether you like Sprint or not is irrelevant, I do think it is kind of cool to see JB released already for them though. It shows that there head is in the right place.
To be honest, if Verizon's network was not leaps and bounds better then others I do not even think the company would exist right now. Choosing to lock bootloaders, blocking apps like Google Wallet, worst data plans, the slowest updates ever and basically not caring about what the customer wants does not sound to enticing. Once the other providers catch up they better start to change their tude or they will begin to see a huge decline in numbers.
I do think Sprint really f'd up and now they are trying to be the good guy. While their network was going to the ****ter instead of giving their customers reasons to stay they continued to remove features at a rapid pace. They removed the Premier program, removed discounts from any line but the first, raised their ETF fee, raised their insurance prices and I am sure I am missing a few other things. Maybe now they are realizing with a network as ****ty as theirs they need reasons to actually keep customers and not scare them away.

SUMMARY of Android, root-friendly handsets and bootloaders

Galaxy Note II user here, rooted, running CM, happy. This fall, I will be due a free or cheap handset upgrade. I've been loosely following the GN3, even though I will probably wait for the GN4, and reading about KNOX. Then I got to thinking, maybe if Samsung is so interested in putting up barriers to rooters, maybe I don't need to give them my money next time I upgrade handsets. I recall a few years back, HTC decided to stop locking it's bootloaders... Good news. but then I didn't follow through to see how that turned out.
So is there a way to list the companies and/or specific handsets that are "friendly" to rooting?
-peter

pcrussell50 said:
Galaxy Note II user here, rooted, running CM, happy. This fall, I will be due a free or cheap handset upgrade. I've been loosely following the GN3, even though I will probably wait for the GN4, and reading about KNOX. Then I got to thinking, maybe if Samsung is so interested in putting up barriers to rooters, maybe I don't need to give them my money next time I upgrade handsets. I recall a few years back, HTC decided to stop locking it's bootloaders... Good news. but then I didn't follow through to see how that turned out.
So is there a way to list the companies and/or specific handsets that are "friendly" to rooting?
-peter
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its not all specifically Samsung's fault for the locked boot loaders, their devices have some of the best specs in android so why get rid of the option to opensource? its the carriers fault, like for AT&T for instance, all of the carrier variants of the Galaxy s3 had unlocked boot loader (i could be wrong) when the Galaxy s4 came out they like a few others decided to lock the boot loaders, why? i wanna say they Want people to tether lots and if we were to have a unlocked boot loader we could root it faster and get free tethering, they think they are losing money with all the flashaholics and root users. as for knox yeah its Samsung's fault and i think we all think its a big no no, there is a bounty (over $3000!) going on for it. its really disappointing that Samsung would act this way, Samsung's my hero and i hopped to work with them one day but since they are moving away from open source i think im gonna stick with someone else. as for a new company for phones you should probably go with HTC, LG is terrible, they only care for you if you buy their flagships and their UI is pretty much copying Samsung's.

[DISSCUSION] Are unexploitable bootloaders bringing US development to an end?

Opinions from different perspectives are most welcome but please mind your Ps and Qs.
Thank you...

Where did you get this news? please share more details about this.

engineerd2 said:
Where did you get this news? please share more details about this.
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It is not news per se. And not meaning to be flip it is a simply a question brought on by the observation of facts as they present themselfs.

My 2 cents
numbR7 said:
Opinions from different perspectives are most welcome but please mind your Ps and Qs.
Thank you...
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I don't think carriers are locking boot loaders to hinder development, in a strict sense. I believe they're doing it to force people to upgrade their devices more often, in order to gain any new innovations from OS upgrades. Take a look at the Samsung Infuse, a phone which was orphaned almost from the time of it's release. Thanks to a developer named Scott Hart, you can run kitkat 4.4 on it. If people hold on to their phones longer, profits go down.

rgrbckr said:
I don't think carriers are locking boot loaders to. hinder development, in a strict sense. I believe they're doing it to force people to upgrade their devices more often, in order to gain any new innovations from OS upgrades. Take a look at the Samsung Infuse, a phone which was orphaned almost from the time of it's release. Thanks to a developer named Scott Hart, you can run kitkat 4.4 on it. If people hold on to their phones longer, profits go down.
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I take your point and it's a good one. I do not know-for sure-the reasoning behind it just the result. Ironically, I do know that the majoritu of innovation-in my view-have come from xda members saving these carriers a lot of money in R&D. I remember loading CM on a tiny little phone a few years ago to get innvations that are now incorporated standard on most phones.
I would say it's interesting that I am continuously reminded what a small insignificant percentage xda members make up -- interestingly to argue diametrically opposed views.

numbR7 said:
I take your point and it's a good one. I do not know-for sure-the reasoning behind it just the result. Ironically, I do know that the majoritu of innovation-in my view-have come from xda members saving these carriers a lot of money in R&D. I remember loading CM on a tiny little phone a few years ago to get innvations that are now incorporated standard on most phones.
I would say it's interesting that I am continuously reminded what a small insignificant percentage xda members make up -- interestingly to argue diametrically opposed views.
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@NumbrR7: I second your point. I think that really grates (angers) me that most of the "new" phones are mostly incremental updates (i.e. better camera, updated OS). On another note, Oppo (based in mainland China) is gaining a niche for themselves because, from what I understand and read, the OS is developer-friendly and comes factory unlocked out of the box. USA carriers won't let that happen -- oh the horror. <rolling eyes>
Again, I affirm your position on this, numbR7.
XDA rules!

sameog said:
@NumbrR7: USA carriers won't let that happen -- oh the horror. <rolling eyes>
XDA rules!
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Corporate greed and capitalism. Having said that, I disagree, to some extent, with their line of thinking. I have the galaxy s, s2, s3, s4, s5 , and note3. I have had a custom Rom on every single device up until the s5 and the note. Rooting and updating to the latest OS only made me want the new hardware even more. But alas, I too think it might be fading. When it does, I think the opposite will happen, and I will hang on to my device longer. I am already thinking of going back to the s4 with Shostock on it, for my daily phone.

Poke01 said:
Corporate greed and capitalism. Having said that, I disagree, to some extent, with their line of thinking. I have the galaxy s, s2, s3, s4, s5 , and note3. I have had a custom Rom on every single device up until the s5 and the note. Rooting and updating to the latest OS only made me want the new hardware even more. But alas, I too think it might be fading. When it does, I think the opposite will happen, and I will hang on to my device longer. I am already thinking of going back to the s4 with Shostock on it, for my daily phone.
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I don't exactly agree with your first sentence (but it's worth discussion on a different type forum). That said. Your point is otherwise very well taken. You may get a new feature (maybe a new fade) but lose everthing else (that the freedom of controlling your own device gives you) suddenly that extra megapixel or two doesn't seem worth $650. Yep I'm sure of it! I think you have a really good point. I know it's a tad different but I choose to stick with Hyperdrive 15 (4.3) to avoid the hassles with SS and 4.4. That is NOT to say that I am bad mouthing SS. To the contrary, it's saved my behind. Hows that for nice language? Lol

Scott's still going with the Infuse?! Good on him! I loved that little phone. If it weren't for the problems with the video camera, I'd still be using it.
Well, this might rub some the wrong way but if all carriers started locking their bootloaders and forced buyers to choose based on hardware alone, I'd buy an iPhone. I love the little innovations that have come with an open Android - like Paranoid Android - but the hardware is usually underwhelming. The S4 has the screen going for it, but that's it. Apparently Apple will finally use larger screens on their iPhones so not much win for Samsung.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

Wyzpopper said:
Scott's still going with the Infuse?! Good on him! I loved that little phone. If it weren't for the problems with the video camera, I'd still be using it.
Well, this might rub some the wrong way but if all carriers started locking their bootloaders and forced buyers to choose based on hardware alone, I'd buy an iPhone. I love the little innovations that have come with an open Android - like Paranoid Android - but the hardware is usually underwhelming. The S4 has the screen going for it, but that's it. Apparently Apple will finally use larger screens on their iPhones so not much win for Samsung.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
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I think you're right especially if the screen is bumped up. With the bootloader situation you already have an "i-droid" anyway. "Open source" no longer has meaning.

Hopefully this will accelerate the people looking at buying much cheaper phones that aren't locked to any specific carrier and also aren't boot locked. The effectiveness of upgrades is dimishing which should help push this shift and hopefully will ultimately keep these big phone manufacturers honest.

bnolsen said:
Hopefully this will accelerate the people looking at buying much cheaper phones that aren't locked to any specific carrier and also aren't boot locked. The effectiveness of upgrades is dimishing which should help push this shift and hopefully will ultimately keep these big phone manufacturers honest.
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I've already looked into those "cheaper" phones. Most of them, right now, anyway, don't have LTE chipsets yet. In addition, 4G just rolled out in China (we get the new stuff first -- obviously). However, the cheaper phones are made and shipped factory unlocked. Some phones have a dual sim slots (i.e. one sim for personal, one sim for business).
I'm partnered up with a wholesaler and have access to everything he carries. The best part is that he doesn't "compete" with whom he partners up with -- bad for business, he says.
My .02 =)

as others have said it's just the way of big business in the 21st century. up until a week ago i had a 2 year old S2 which was running a 4.4.2 ROM (ressurection remix). if i hadnt been able to root and flash a ROM i'd have probably got myself a new phone long ago so locking down phones may get customers to upgrade more often (i know it would with me) as it is i bought my new phone outright and have gone payg to save myself some money and also to be able to upgrade as and when i like. i did look at some of the chinese phones (goophone being one) but wasnt sure of the root capabilities so decided to give it a miss.
i think even locked bootloaders will eventually be hacked. nothing is impossible. it's just down to when and how long we wait.

I took a brief reprieve from this forum, since there wasn't any groundbreaking progress made (and by "groundbreaking", I mean exploited bootloader).
It looks as if that has remained unchanged? I've only had the S4 for a year now, but I am officially "over" Samsung devices. Very aesthetically pleasing, but hardly functional overall. Battery is crap on every Samsung device, and the only thing that ever helped me was either buying a 3rd party with larger capacity, and/or running a custom ROM/kernel combo that allows for both less consumption as well as rapid-charge.
I'm interested to see this new thing Google is going to unveil to replace the GPE phones. I have no issue paying full price for a device that I can do whatever I want with, and know that there will be a strong following for. Even if that following is only a certain, small niche of the overall market.
It's a shame that my fun with AOSP had to come to a screeching halt, I loved the simplicity and functionality of it.

I don't think carriers make much or any money from selling new hardware. They make their money from plans.
That said, I'm happy to be on 4.4.2 SlimRom. ☺

disturbd1 said:
I took a brief reprieve from this forum, since there wasn't any groundbreaking progress made (and by "groundbreaking", I mean exploited bootloader).
It looks as if that has remained unchanged? I've only had the S4 for a year now, but I am officially "over" Samsung devices. Very aesthetically pleasing, but hardly functional overall. Battery is crap on every Samsung device, and the only thing that ever helped me was either buying a 3rd party with larger capacity, and/or running a custom ROM/kernel combo that allows for both less consumption as well as rapid-charge.
I'm interested to see this new thing Google is going to unveil to replace the GPE phones. I have no issue paying full price for a device that I can do whatever I want with, and know that there will be a strong following for. Even if that following is only a certain, small niche of the overall market.
It's a shame that my fun with AOSP had to come to a screeching halt, I loved the simplicity and functionality of it.
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Well, even if I sold my i337, the battery life was honestly very good for me. There's the facts that maybe I don't use it heavily every day, but I turn GPS on only when I have to find a specific place I haven't been to before. GPS down - battery life up. 3G down, unless I need it - battery life up. Power saving mode - battery life up.
As for the Android Silver program, we all are curious to see how will this turn out.