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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

#31

Post by nilliams »

>> 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 indisputably laggy when compared to an iPad 2.

If this is finally the fix we've (or maybe just I've) been waiting for then congrats to Android, I'm really glad to see it.

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#32

Post by wmf »

saurik wrote: post #3

Really? I thought the keynote explicitly said the SDK would be available today, but that neither the source code nor the binary updates would be pushed to the public (as opposed to hardware manufacturers, who now have ahead-of-time PDK access) until mid-July. (edit: In addition, the Nexus 7, running Jelly Bean, while available to purchase today, will itself not be shipping until mid-July. I really don't think it is a…

The 24-minute news cycle doesn't make allowances for little things like facts.

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#33

Post by dangrossman »

wmf wrote: post #30
drivebyacct2 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope it's obvious that Motorola releasing the RAZR2 is more profitable than spending time working on software updates to the RAZR1 and I don't know why you insist on comparing Android OEMs to Apple when you yourself already point out that they have different goals and strategies by the nature of their products,

Realistically, there is a level beyond which you cannot increase profit through forced obsolescence. If I have a year left on my contract I am not going to buy a new phone, no matter how good it is. So the choice is not between a free software update and a new phone. It's a choice between a software update and nothing ; the update may actually be more profitable.

Explain why a free software update for a year-old phone would even be on their radar of choices? The only time carriers have provided free Android updates was when a brand new phone was being released around the time of a major Android update, and competing against other brand new phones that already have the update, putting their product at a disadvantage among comparison shoppers.

What's the incentive to give you a free update a year into your 2-year contract? Nobody else is doing it, so not providing an update isn't going to influence a decision to switch carriers. Providing the update will cost significant money, while doing nothing will cost nothing. Why would creating an update "be more profitable"?

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#35

Post by Xyzodiac »

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.

With loads and loads of bugs, dragonzkiller's CM9 ROM is incredibly alpha.

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#36

Post by veeti »

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.

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#37

Post by jsz0 »

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.

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.

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#38

Post by wmf »

dangrossman wrote: post #33
wmf wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Realistically, there is a level beyond which you cannot increase profit through forced obsolescence. If I have a year left on my contract I am not going to buy a new phone, no matter how good it is. So the choice is not between a free software update and a new phone. It's a choice between a software update and nothing ; the update may actually be more profitable.

Explain why a free software update for a year-old phone would even be on their radar of choices? The only time carriers have provided free Android updates was when a brand new phone was being released around the time of a major Android update, and competing against other brand new phones that already have the update, putting their product at a disadvantage among comparison shoppers. What's the incentive to give you a…

Apple gives free updates.

An update would be profitable if they charged for it.

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#39

Post by ryannielsen »

jshen wrote: post #15
astrodust wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple gets a lot of things, obviously. Making the updates backwards compatible means more people are using the current version, and that means feature uptake time is minimized. Apple's intention is that supporting your hardware for a longer period of time makes it a more attractive purchase. Android phone manufacturers do not care about this. They are not in the business of promoting the operating system or cultivati…

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 curious how many people purchasing a new Android or iOS device even know it can be upgraded. Apple has features in iTunes and now in the phones themselves to advertise new versions and strongly encourage users to upgrade. I'd wager most Android users, because their phones never advertise updates to them, are aware it can even be upgraded and, thus, aren't the least bit put off by these vendors apparent negligence.

Until the market stops growing, or until the vast majority of users get angry about being left behind, vendors like Motorola have zero incentive to spend time or capital on maintaining old devices.

Re: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now available

#40

Post by jsz0 »

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…

Apple gets happy developers who can use the latest & greatest APIs and support the latest & greatest features/services Apple offers. Android OEMs have no incentive. They don't get a cut of app or ad revenue. To this point at least lack of updates have not caused them any major problems. As we move further and further away from 2.x though I do think it will start to become a bigger issue. On the plus side it looks like Google made very few changes to 4.1 so we should see devices shipping with it by the end of the year this time.
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