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Why U.S. Galaxy S Phones run Android 2.1

forum.xda-developers.com

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Re: Why U.S. Galaxy S Phones run Android 2.1

#61

Post by potatolicious »

icarus_drowning wrote: post #52

As an Android user (and promoter to my friends/family), I'm starting to get worried about Google's approach to the product. Not because of "fragmentation" (which to me is an argument that essentially says "Android isn't going to ever be successful because its too successful now"), but because of the lack of attention it seems to be getting from Google . It isn't just the OS itself-- several of Google's own apps are g…

> "at least Google has acknowledged those and is working on a fix"

That's of little comfort. The bug report was dismissed and deprioritized for a long time before pressure from the public/internet forced Google to prioritize it and ship a fix.

If Google can't even prioritize and fix critical bugs like this without the blogosphere getting all up in their business... what hope does Android have?

Re: Why U.S. Galaxy S Phones run Android 2.1

#62

Post by potatolicious »

lwhi wrote: post #50
ergo98 wrote: post #13

The conflicting interests issue is really a problem in the Android space. As has been shown time and time again, vendors really don't want the burden of keeping your handset up to date forever because there is nothing in it for them, aside from perhaps avoiding too much negative press. Naturally people are going to compare it to iOS, where updates are free and rapidly disseminated. The difference there is that there…

" As has been shown time and time again, vendors really don't want the burden of keeping your handset up to date forever because there is nothing in it for them, aside from perhaps avoiding too much negative press. " The reality is a lot more depressing; the vendors actually want you to buy a new phone. If your current phone can run the latest version of Android - why would you bother ... ?

Depressingly true, but there's a flip side:

- Brand loyalty. Apple's fans are die-hard partly because Apple doesn't (often) screw their users. You can expect timely (even major) updates to your iPhone for quite some time after release. When's the last time someone reported that they won't buy anything but LG/Samsung/Motorola?

- Apple also loves having you on the upgrade cycle. The difference is that these have been largely driven with hardware changes. Retina display, new styling, front-facing camera, GPS unit, 3G connectivity... etc.

There's no reason why Samsung, LG, Motorola et al cannot follow this model.

Re: Why U.S. Galaxy S Phones run Android 2.1

#65

Post by eapen »

diego wrote: post #48
ecaroth wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed - but a little transparency on the public front for both Samsung and AT&T would go a long way. I have been on the fence about installing a hacked 2.2 rom on my captivate, but never did because I just had a feeling that the update was coming 'next week'. That was 4 months ago.

Do it. My Galaxy S with 2.2 is so much better than with 2.1 that it seems like a different phone. It's faster, more stable, the battery lasts longer. I wish I'd done it sooner.

Agreed - even I upgraded my Galaxy S (Vibrant) to Gingerbread Clone (eb-productions) and have better battery life and an amazingly accurate battery life widget.

Re: Why U.S. Galaxy S Phones run Android 2.1

#66

Post by ecaroth »

diego wrote: post #48
ecaroth wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed - but a little transparency on the public front for both Samsung and AT&T would go a long way. I have been on the fence about installing a hacked 2.2 rom on my captivate, but never did because I just had a feeling that the update was coming 'next week'. That was 4 months ago.

Do it. My Galaxy S with 2.2 is so much better than with 2.1 that it seems like a different phone. It's faster, more stable, the battery lasts longer. I wish I'd done it sooner.

thx diego. game on.

Re: Why U.S. Galaxy S Phones run Android 2.1

#67

Post by wmf »

joeyo wrote: post #59
drivebyacct2 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As has been shown time and time again, vendors really don't want the burden of keeping your handset up to date forever because there is nothing in it for them, aside from perhaps avoiding too much negative press. Then stop locking the bootloader and let me put the latest version of CM on my phone. I'm not going to buy Motorola and I'm not going to buy Samsung. Samsung won't release their kernel modifications for Fr…

> Samsung won't release their kernel modifications for > Froyo which are needed by the CM team to get CM7 running > on the Galaxy S devices Isn't this a violation of the GPL?

Not if it's a driver.

Re: Why U.S. Galaxy S Phones run Android 2.1

#68

Post by drivebyacct2 »

joeyo wrote: post #59
drivebyacct2 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As has been shown time and time again, vendors really don't want the burden of keeping your handset up to date forever because there is nothing in it for them, aside from perhaps avoiding too much negative press. Then stop locking the bootloader and let me put the latest version of CM on my phone. I'm not going to buy Motorola and I'm not going to buy Samsung. Samsung won't release their kernel modifications for Fr…

> Samsung won't release their kernel modifications for > Froyo which are needed by the CM team to get CM7 running > on the Galaxy S devices Isn't this a violation of the GPL?

Part of the problem is that they haven't shipped Froyo officially. But yes, manufacturers, even HTC, have been up to 6 months late delivering code as required via GPL.

Re: Why U.S. Galaxy S Phones run Android 2.1

#69

Post by rufugee »

drivebyacct2 wrote: post #47
ergo98 wrote: post #13

The conflicting interests issue is really a problem in the Android space. As has been shown time and time again, vendors really don't want the burden of keeping your handset up to date forever because there is nothing in it for them, aside from perhaps avoiding too much negative press. Naturally people are going to compare it to iOS, where updates are free and rapidly disseminated. The difference there is that there…

> As has been shown time and time again, vendors really don't want the burden of keeping your handset up to date forever because there is nothing in it for them, aside from perhaps avoiding too much negative press. Then stop locking the bootloader and let me put the latest version of CM on my phone. I'm not going to buy Motorola and I'm not going to buy Samsung. Samsung won't release their kernel modifications for Fr…

Really? Does this howto (http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/index.php?title=Compile_Cyanogen...) not get CM7 running on the Vibrant?

Re: Why U.S. Galaxy S Phones run Android 2.1

#70

Post by bokchoi »

quanticle wrote: post #56
ergo98 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no idea how the Windows Phone 7 dev kit works, however with CE it literally was configuring some flags and resources, and that was it. Microsoft did a tonne of heavy lifting to make it so. There were boxed in drivers for virtually everything, and customization was absolutely minimal. And when you bought a MotoQ, it was stock CE.

As far as I understand it, Windows Phone 7's API is Silverlight with a few restrictions related to screen size and the like. I haven't coded anything for Windows CE, but making a Silverlight app for Windows Phone 7 is about a difficult as making a WCF app for Windows, or an ASP.Net app for the web.

Why was this downvoted?
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