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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

#101

Post by Ralith »

vibrunazo wrote: post #47
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.

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.

Can't you reflash it with a generic install?

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#102

Post by yuhong »

rprasad wrote: post #76

My phone, purchased brand-new last summer (the model itself is almost, but not quite a year old), still runs Android 2.3. It will run Android 2.3 forever, even though Google owns the company that made it. Jelly Bean, released last year, is still on less than 10% of all Android phones, and may never even exceed 15%. If Google can't get its act together on the update situation, a lot of people, myself included, will no…

They just finished that acquisition.

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#103

Post by spiralpolitik »

anigbrowl wrote: post #24
avbor wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are maximizing shareholder value though. Each OEM is competing with the other OEMs producing for Android, and creating a new Android update for the older phones doesn't increase sells if another OEM releases a phone that has better specs in addition to having the newest OS. Whenever any of my friends go shopping for a new Android phone, they immediately try to find the one with the highest specs. OEMs aren't goi…

They're only maximizing it for one quarter at a time. They're losing repeat business to competitors, primarily Apple. Why would I want to buy a second product from a company that has let me down once already?

I've been wondering if this is why Android growth in the US stalled last quarter as the people who bought Verizon Droids in fall 2009/early 2010 fall out of contract and pick something other than a Droid (i.e an iPhone) when they renew.

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#104

Post by yuhong »

wcoenen wrote: post #88
taligent wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> [Windows] is fragmented. But not in the developer sense. We develop windows applications and have to support XP and up. We certainly notice fragmentation "in the developer sense". To give some examples, we can't use true filesystem transactions[1] or the ribbon UI[2]. These aren't available as "backported developer libraries". Sometimes we run into bugs[3] which were never fixed in earlier versions. [1] http://en.w…

Yea there is big differences between XP and Vista in particular.

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#105

Post by zmmmmm »

rprasad wrote: post #76

My phone, purchased brand-new last summer (the model itself is almost, but not quite a year old), still runs Android 2.3. It will run Android 2.3 forever, even though Google owns the company that made it. Jelly Bean, released last year, is still on less than 10% of all Android phones, and may never even exceed 15%. If Google can't get its act together on the update situation, a lot of people, myself included, will no…

What I find disingenuous about this line of argument is that you (and everybody who argues it) know full well that you will not be keeping your current phone "forever", and in fact, it's almost 100% certain you will replace it within 2 years if not 12 months simply because of the 2 year upgrade cycle that exists in many carriers or if not, because of the lure of next generation hardware will convince you to buy a new phone.

So what you are actually asking for is for tremendous engineering resources to be spent to port the bleeding edge OS to your soon to be obsolete phone so that you can use it for a few months and then toss it in the bin.

Now I'm not necessarily arguing that there isn't an issue with upgrade on Android phones etc. But I find this particular tone of "I will be stuck forever with an outdated OS thanks to Google" that appears regularly in these comments to be somewhat disingenuous.

PS: Jelly Bean was not released last year, it was announced literally just hours ago.

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#106

Post by seanmcdirmid »

jerhinesmith wrote: post #96
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Microsoft has been good at backporting their developer libraries? And we are talking about phone right? So...Windows Phone 7 (silverlight) to 8 (WinRT), or even from Windows Mobile 6.5 (WinForms, OpenGL) to Windows Phone 7 (Silverlight) . How much backporting was/is being done?

No, they're talking about the desktop OS. Look about 2 or 3 levels up and you'll see the context is fragmentation between XP, Vista, and 7.

Right, but the original topic was about phone and Microsoft's great back porting reputation just hasn't shown up there. There is something hard about the problem and none of the major players are taking that approach (Apple doesn't backport, just supports old hardware with new versions until it unsupports them).

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#107

Post by myko »

javajosh wrote: post #5

Until the fragmentation problem is fixed, every new Android release only fills me with dread. Normally when new versions of frameworks or software that I use come out, I like it. Except Android, because every new version of Android has lots of nice features that I won't be able to use and it is guaranteed to further fragment of the marketplace. Android is the (old) Internet Explorer of mobile. I've never seen one app…

I think attempting to strong arm OEMs with Microsoft's mobile offerings on the horizon could be a very bad move for Android.

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#108

Post by jsz0 »

smithian wrote: post #51
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…

As an iPad 1, iPad 2, original Droid, Nexus S, Galaxy Nexus, and Kindle Fire owner, I have no idea what you are talking about. Our iOS devices have hiccups just as much as any of our Android devices do, and sometimes more.

Hiccups aside, which I agree is universal, the scrolling performance in-particular with Android devices just seems atrocious. I remember playing around with the GNex when it came out and just moving between home-screens was full of lag. That's with ICS. The mere existence of this Project Butter is a pretty good indication the problem was not solved in ICS isn't it?

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#109

Post by seanmcdirmid »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #106
jerhinesmith wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, they're talking about the desktop OS. Look about 2 or 3 levels up and you'll see the context is fragmentation between XP, Vista, and 7.

Right, but the original topic was about phone and Microsoft's great back porting reputation just hasn't shown up there. There is something hard about the problem and none of the major players are taking that approach (Apple doesn't backport, just supports old hardware with new versions until it unsupports them).

Downvote for disagreeing. Classy.

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#110

Post by akandiah »

glogla wrote: post #56
jsz0 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only by installing alpha/beta quality software from an untrusted source. Not an acceptable solution for most. You're right though about buying a Nexus. That's the only way you will have any chance of getting software updates. If it's not available on your country/carrier, and updates are important to you, do not buy an Android phone.

Not really. First of all, free/open source software is not really "alpha/beta quality software from untrusted source" and suggesting it is, is pretty much trolling. Second, Google is not the only one manufacturer (in the borad sense) that keeps it's phones up-to-date, for example Sony recently released 4.0 upgrade for it's 2011 models. Third, I know it tends to be pretty common in the US, but if you are buying subsid…

I'm using the official CM 7.3 release on my HTC Desire. I wouldn't classify it as 'release' quality software.
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