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Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

developer.android.com

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Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#41

Post by nilliams »

veeti wrote: post #36
nilliams wrote: post #31

>> Faster, Smoother, More Responsive Does all this finally mean it has actually caught up with iOS in terms of touch-lag? And is this finally admittance that there was a problem all along? I know some may jump to the defence of Android here, I've seen this argued ad nauseam before, and yes I've tried some Android phones that didn't have noticable lag, but the 'top of the range' Samsung Galaxy II tablet is indisputabl…

Honeycomb and ICS aren't as smooth as iOS, but most of the lag that you're experiencing on your tablet is coming from Samsung's terrible software and not Android itself. The Galaxy Tabs are an embarrassment.

Oh wow thanks, I hadn't realised that was the case, never actually heard anyone state that so bluntly. Is it safe to say the ASUS tabs are smoother?

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#42

Post by taligent »

mtgx wrote: post #21
TylerE wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's like saying 91% of the Windows market is 3 major versions, XP, Vista, and Windows 7. 2.x and 4.x are very different beasts.

Yes, it's exactly like saying that. Windows has several years between each version and each version still has like 30-40% each, so it's quite fragmented, too.

It is fragmented. But not in the developer sense.

Microsoft has always been quite good in backporting their developer libraries. So even you did have users on XP you could simply bundle these with your app e.g. .Net, DirectX.

Google may have to look at doing something similar for 2.3 users in particular.

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#43

Post by drivebyacct2 »

javajosh wrote: post #8
drivebyacct2 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There's a lot of money to be made and they'll get in line The fact that that's not true is precisely why timely upgrades aren't done. Verizon and Motorola sold you that Droid RAZR. They get nothing from spending engineer time to update it. Also, what is this implication that Google is just being lazy or has some incentive to not have everyone running the latest OS. You really think Google so powerful that they can…

Apple gets "nothing" from engineering their upgrades to be backwards compatible. That is, if "nothing" means being incredibly successful. People are actually rather smart about things like this, and they know that the iPhone "just works" and will continue to work, and that is a huge competitive advantage. And long-term competitive advantage is one of the classic components of "maximizing shareholder value". So yes, p…

>I think you are a troll, based on this and prior discussions, and this is the last time I'm responding to you.

Nice of you to edit and sneak that in there. All I did was mention how it's in the interest of OEMs to push new devices. You continue to call me names, not reply to what I'm saying and be rude. Apparently you learned nothing from the last time you did this to me. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4158857

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#44

Post by veeti »

nilliams wrote: post #41
veeti wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honeycomb and ICS aren't as smooth as iOS, but most of the lag that you're experiencing on your tablet is coming from Samsung's terrible software and not Android itself. The Galaxy Tabs are an embarrassment.

Oh wow thanks, I hadn't realised that was the case, never actually heard anyone state that so bluntly. Is it safe to say the ASUS tabs are smoother?

Definitely. I've played around with a friend's Transformer Prime for a bit and it was mostly pretty fluid.

ASUS also makes far less modifications to the OS, too. Their devices are very close to stock Android with just some small additions, some new apps and wallpapers and whatever.

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#45

Post by no_more_death »

nilliams wrote: post #31

>> Faster, Smoother, More Responsive Does all this finally mean it has actually caught up with iOS in terms of touch-lag? And is this finally admittance that there was a problem all along? I know some may jump to the defence of Android here, I've seen this argued ad nauseam before, and yes I've tried some Android phones that didn't have noticable lag, but the 'top of the range' Samsung Galaxy II tablet is indisputabl…

Yes, iOS caught up with Android in many respects at the last WWDC, and Android is catching up with iOS on the responsiveness front. That's fine, on both counts. It means that Android and iOS are competitive. It also means I don't have to switch to iOS if I'm craving responsive.

The Android JVM basically means Android needs a faster processor to get the same level of responsiveness. So that's what they're giving it.[1] That's fine, since the benefit of Android is being flexible enough to run on scads of devices. That's emphatically a benefit, not a curse, just like being able to buy all different configurations of PCs is emphatically a benefit.

[1] Reports of A5x being faster than Tegra 3 are overblown.

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#46

Post by taligent »

cookiecaper wrote: post #22
jshen wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought a droid x2 about a year ago. It was a top of the line phone a year ago, and I can't even get ICS for this phone. Here's what's going to happen to motorola's profits. I will never buy another phone from them.

FWIW you can get ICS on that phone, just not officially. If you aren't going to buy a Nexus, you have to accept the fate of sparse official/OTA updates if you're lucky enough to get any at all. This is the fault of carriers and the ignorant masses that prop them up. An alternative exists if you're interested; buy Nexus line.

I've never understood this ridiculous "it's the carriers" argument.

Apple doesn't have a problem with releasing timely updates. So how come the Android OEMs can't ?

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#47

Post by vibrunazo »

veeti wrote: post #36
nilliams wrote: post #31

>> Faster, Smoother, More Responsive Does all this finally mean it has actually caught up with iOS in terms of touch-lag? And is this finally admittance that there was a problem all along? I know some may jump to the defence of Android here, I've seen this argued ad nauseam before, and yes I've tried some Android phones that didn't have noticable lag, but the 'top of the range' Samsung Galaxy II tablet is indisputabl…

Honeycomb and ICS aren't as smooth as iOS, but most of the lag that you're experiencing on your tablet is coming from Samsung's terrible software and not Android itself. The Galaxy Tabs are an embarrassment.

That's true, I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab. My girlfriend have an Acer Iconia tab. Same Android version, very similar hardware. I droll every time I use her tablet, it's so smooth compared to mine. It's a shame Samsung does this.

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#48

Post by sigkill »

nilliams wrote: post #41
veeti wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honeycomb and ICS aren't as smooth as iOS, but most of the lag that you're experiencing on your tablet is coming from Samsung's terrible software and not Android itself. The Galaxy Tabs are an embarrassment.

Oh wow thanks, I hadn't realised that was the case, never actually heard anyone state that so bluntly. Is it safe to say the ASUS tabs are smoother?

Yep. I've got the Old Transformer 101, and the Galaxy S2. Both are totally smooth which is why I was confused as to what you were referring to.

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#49

Post by ConstantineXVI »

no_more_death wrote: post #45
nilliams wrote: post #31

>> Faster, Smoother, More Responsive Does all this finally mean it has actually caught up with iOS in terms of touch-lag? And is this finally admittance that there was a problem all along? I know some may jump to the defence of Android here, I've seen this argued ad nauseam before, and yes I've tried some Android phones that didn't have noticable lag, but the 'top of the range' Samsung Galaxy II tablet is indisputabl…

Yes, iOS caught up with Android in many respects at the last WWDC, and Android is catching up with iOS on the responsiveness front. That's fine, on both counts. It means that Android and iOS are competitive. It also means I don't have to switch to iOS if I'm craving responsive. The Android JVM basically means Android needs a faster processor to get the same level of responsiveness. So that's what they're giving it.[1…

The JVM isn't relevant to Android's responsiveness, only Android is. Android wrote Dalvik and the Android UI framework from scratch, it's performance is entirely in their hands.

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#50

Post by jshen »

ryannielsen wrote: post #39
jshen wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that's flawed short term logic. I will never buy another android phone from someone like motorola. My phone is about a year old. Still under contract, and I can't even get ICS. I don't have the option of buying another phone right now!

And vendors like Motorola probably don't care about you and your situation. From their perspective, they likely see two things 1) a still growing cell phone market 2) a rapidly growing Android market As long as the market's still growing, and as long as the vast majority of Android users aren't disgruntled about being left behind, their efforts are best spent on building new phones and acquiring new customers. I'm cu…

" Motorola have zero incentive to spend time or capital on maintaining old devices."

You are making a large assumption when you say this. Your assumption is that it won't hurt them in the long run. Maybe that is true, but it's a risky bet to make. I certainly won't buy another android phone. Maybe most normal users will, but I'm skeptical of that.

Here's how normal users will realize they aren't getting updates, because it happens to me often. Somehow they learn about some cool app they want and they go to the Play store to get it. But they can't find it. It doesn't show up on their search! It won't take long for them to figure out that they can't get it because it doesn't work for their old version of android.

This happens to me about once a month.

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