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"Android ICS already offers more than what is coming in iOS 6"

zdnet.com

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Re: "Android ICS already offers more than what is coming in iOS 6"

#81

Post by myko »

alexbell wrote: post #69
myko wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but Siri wont, 3D maps wont. If the main features of the update don't make it to the device, what's your point? edit: the -> your (I know the point of updating the 3GS, I don't understand the OPs point in its attempt to mock Android)

App and API compatability. New apps using iOS 6 APIs will still run.

If that's the measure we're going by I'd like to point out that many APIs have been backported by the Android Compatibility Library as far back as Android 1.6 (http://developer.android.com/sdk/compatibility-library.html).

Some features are missing from the compatibility library, but have been made up by open source projects such as ActionBar Sherlock (which is great by the way if anyone hasn't tried it out yet).

Re: "Android ICS already offers more than what is coming in iOS 6"

#82

Post by argarg »

doron wrote: post #53
SkyMarshal wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>ICS ecosystem is almost vaporware, it is supposed to be the best release yet, but i actually never saw it. Maybe its the best thing since sliced bread, but if nobody uses it, what exactly is the point?! Your chances of getting ICS on your legacy device are virtually zero. whereas getting IOS 6 on the iphone 4S is assured. There are two kinds of Android users in this world - those who care about this issue, and those…

This segmentation for two kinds of Android users is exactly the problem. If you are an IOS user, whether a poweruser or not, you will get the latest upgrade and a range of new features by default. This delights users, they don't have to care about the issue to be satisfied with the device. Perhaps I am lazy, perhaps I am somewhere in between those two archetypes you mention. I want to hold the device i buy before i b…

If you are an IOS user, whether a poweruser or not, you will get the latest upgrade and a range of new features by default.

If you're an IOS user, you're paying the comparable price of the latest nexus phone. If you buy the nexus instead of an iPhone, you WILL get the latest upgrade and range of new features by default. Let's keep a similar comparison please.

Re: "Android ICS already offers more than what is coming in iOS 6"

#83

Post by myko »

MrScruff wrote: post #73
myko wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but Siri wont, 3D maps wont. If the main features of the update don't make it to the device, what's your point? edit: the -> your (I know the point of updating the 3GS, I don't understand the OPs point in its attempt to mock Android)

There were more than two features announced. http://www.apple.com/ios/ios6/

Yes and more than these aren't available on older devices, let me direct you to this post on a different thread for a breakdown:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4096633

Re: "Android ICS already offers more than what is coming in iOS 6"

#84

Post by kevhsu »

fluidcruft wrote: post #64
27182818284 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, of course not, but they do see me do something on ICS that you can't otherwise do and they say, "Wait a minute? I thought you had Android. You do? Then why can't I do that!" followed by frustration and anger.

Like what, specifically? ICS is great, but it's mostly improvements under the hood and window dressing--things that in the grand scheme of things really don't matter. 99% of the things that frustrate me about my Android phone are hardware-related (too little RAM, slow camera, TPM) and no software update can solve those. Yeah, the browser and calendar are improved.

That's your own fault then. Android offers a variety of hardware configurations, and you opted for a low-end one.

If you're in America, I have even less pity. The $200 price difference between some low-end free-on-contract smartphone and the $200 Galaxy Nexus or HTC One X is near negligible when you consider the price of the voice+data+messaging plan over the course of a 2 year contract.

Re: "Android ICS already offers more than what is coming in iOS 6"

#85

Post by jvm »

abruzzi wrote: post #44

This is the old bullet-list fallacy. Quality is simply a measure of the bullet list of features, and no attempt is made to what is behind the items on the bullet list. Remember when the first iPhone was announced? The bullet list after it was announced had touchscreen at the top of the list, so every manufacturer thought that all they had to do was add a touch screen to their existing platform, and hordes of just lik…

> Quality is simply a measure of the bullet list of features, and no attempt is made to what is behind the items on the bullet list.

I don't know what a more appropriate method of comparison you're suggesting would be. I can say that I've been using ICS for a few months now and I wouldn't want to use any other mobile OS, is that more what you were trying to get at?

Re: "Android ICS already offers more than what is coming in iOS 6"

#86

Post by varelse »

SkyMarshal wrote: post #46
doron wrote: post #3

ICS ecosystem is almost vaporware, it is supposed to be the best release yet, but i actually never saw it. Maybe its the best thing since sliced bread, but if nobody uses it, what exactly is the point?! Your chances of getting ICS on your legacy device are virtually zero. whereas getting IOS 6 on the iphone 4S is assured. [EDIT] I have been an android user since it was essentially released, and have only recently swi…

>ICS ecosystem is almost vaporware, it is supposed to be the best release yet, but i actually never saw it. Maybe its the best thing since sliced bread, but if nobody uses it, what exactly is the point?! Your chances of getting ICS on your legacy device are virtually zero. whereas getting IOS 6 on the iphone 4S is assured. There are two kinds of Android users in this world - those who care about this issue, and those…

Long time android owner and now Galaxy Nexus owner here:

I... Hate... This... Phone...

And here I could deliver a scathing rant about the camera locking up the phone and refusing to properly focus. Or I could go on about the constant gmail, navigator, and browser crashes, the horrid battery life (even in 3G with the "extended" battery) and yeesh I'll just stop here...

And don't get me started about my Galaxy Tab 10.1 still stuck on 3.2 6 months after the release of ICS.

So why did I buy the Nexus? Because I figured the much-vaunted 2011 google phone would get great support. But if this is the best they can manage, sign me up for a Windows phone. More realistically, I'm going IOS on the next spin. Android is dead to me.

Re: "Android ICS already offers more than what is coming in iOS 6"

#87

Post by robmcm »

mtgx wrote: post #50
doron wrote: post #3

ICS ecosystem is almost vaporware, it is supposed to be the best release yet, but i actually never saw it. Maybe its the best thing since sliced bread, but if nobody uses it, what exactly is the point?! Your chances of getting ICS on your legacy device are virtually zero. whereas getting IOS 6 on the iphone 4S is assured. [EDIT] I have been an android user since it was essentially released, and have only recently swi…

Like 250 million iOS users out of 365 can't use 2 of the biggest features of iOS - Siri and the 3D Maps (and also turn by turn I believe). How is that for fragmentation? Yes, Apple does port an iOS version to most devices, and yes manufacturers have been very slow with ICS, but Apple doesn't push all the features when they port the OS to older hardware either, and sometime they are major features.

You have to remember that apple makes software to sell hardware. If they didn't restrict some features to the newest hardware fewer people would upgrade. Oh and the experience may not be as nice...

Re: "Android ICS already offers more than what is coming in iOS 6"

#88

Post by Terretta »

Kylekramer wrote: post #60
doron wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This segmentation for two kinds of Android users is exactly the problem. If you are an IOS user, whether a poweruser or not, you will get the latest upgrade and a range of new features by default. This delights users, they don't have to care about the issue to be satisfied with the device. Perhaps I am lazy, perhaps I am somewhere in between those two archetypes you mention. I want to hold the device i buy before i b…

Looking at the big red 1 on both my parents' iPhones' Settings app (not mention the much higher numbers on the App Store app) when I visited them this weekend, I imagine the same segmentation exist on iOS. Different proportions and easier upgradability on iOS, but the basic idea is the same on both platforms. If you want updates, you are able to get them. If not, and most don't, it is no loss to anyone but developers…

You can imagine the same segmentation, but you'd be wrong about the end result. 4/5 of iPhone users have updated to 5, while less than 1/10 of Android have updated to 4.

As a service provider, we see the device stats in our logs across tens of millions of users, and the numbers line up with Apple's slide: over 80% of iOS devices are updated to iOS 5, and under 7% of Android devices are on Android 4.

And really, it's a lot worse than that, with variations in the 2.x releases, even within the 2.3.x releases, affecting whether devices are able to stream video properly or not.

Re: "Android ICS already offers more than what is coming in iOS 6"

#89

Post by Terretta »

cageface wrote: post #66
technoslut wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>With both platforms approaching maturity... I can't agree with that. Many felt that way in 2006 and definitely turned out not to be the case.

I'm not saying that we've seen the last word in mobile operating systems, but neither iOS nor Android have made any fundamental UX changes in the last few major updates.

Have you looked at iOS 5 at all?

Re: "Android ICS already offers more than what is coming in iOS 6"

#90

Post by KirinDave »

phsr wrote: post #10
doron wrote: post #3

ICS ecosystem is almost vaporware, it is supposed to be the best release yet, but i actually never saw it. Maybe its the best thing since sliced bread, but if nobody uses it, what exactly is the point?! Your chances of getting ICS on your legacy device are virtually zero. whereas getting IOS 6 on the iphone 4S is assured. [EDIT] I have been an android user since it was essentially released, and have only recently swi…

Hell, the 3GS is getting iOS 6. What 3 year old Android phone will get ICS? Like you said, I'm guessing not many if any at all. Agreeing with your point, Android is heavily fragmented, with phone manufacturers having the final say on which software gets deployed to their phones. Many of them are going to use new OS version to force software upgrades

It's really unfair to call what the 3GS gets "iOS 6." Apple's been doing this for awhile; calling maintenance upgrades mainline upgrades while not actually delivering all the features.

Keep in mind the problem of vendor recalcitrance is much less of an issue for an interested Android user. You can literally reflash your phone to a mod with an app from your phone. You don't even necessarily need to plug it in to anything.

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