Android, buying Android is difficult compared to iPhone.

[hwangeruk]

I want to buy Android, but I am scared. Why?

If I buy a Nexus one, Google will look after it, and release for it.
If I buy an HTC I get better hardware, better than an iPhone even.

But what if HTC stop retrospectively releasing updates for the model I buy?
I know people with an HTC Magic (I think, the white one) stuck on 1.6 who won't know if they will get 2.x

There are so many models, so many names, Desire, HD2, Fabulous, Miracle bla bla

It's the worry of being left behind that bothers me. What do you guys do to get passed this?

 

[punky]

Firstly Google are away that the market is getting fragmented. Really its to do with the pace of development and companies that offer 3rd party solutions like HTC unable to keep up.

I have a Desire and its the best UK HTC phone on the market. It probably will be for some time especially with how hard they are pushing it. Certainly until 18-24 months are up and you can upgrade. There are also good deals going around where you can get the phone and 12 months service for little more than what the PAYG price is.

I know people with an HTC Magic (I think, the white one) stuck on 1.6 who won't know if they will get 2.x

When you get to that point (i.e. out of warranty) then flashing the ROM to a standard Android one is an option. You'll lose the fancy HTC Sense but I hear SPB are releasing Mobile Shell for Android as well.

 

[Isthmus]

I want to buy Android, but I am scared. Why?

If I buy a Nexus one, Google will look after it, and release for it.
If I buy an HTC I get better hardware, better than an iPhone even.

But what if HTC stop retrospectively releasing updates for the model I buy?
I know people with an HTC Magic (I think, the white one) stuck on 1.6 who won't know if they will get 2.x

There are so many models, so many names, Desire, HD2, Fabulous, Miracle bla bla

It's the worry of being left behind that bothers me. What do you guys do to get passed this?

That's the beauty of android, its flexibility. If you have an issue with HTC and the frequency of their updates, you can always simply root the phone and install stock android, yes you'll loose all the pretty HTC widgets and the sense shell, but you'll get standard android and be able to update at will.

I think that the fact that we are even having this conversation and entertaining readily available alternatives, speaks to the pros of android over apple's closed system.

 

[Bundy]

^ What they said. If there is a major upgrade to say 2.2, instead of waiting for HTC to update Sense, you can install the standard Android OS. When HTC releases their update that includes Sense, you can then load that.

This will be my first Android (getting Incredible tomorrow), so if I'm wrong I apologize, but that's the way I understand it and one reason why the open platform is superior to all others: OPTIONS!

 

[Gibbs]

There are always alternatives. I just jumped off the iPhone boat to android. yes the iPhone was nice but android does every that iPhones can only dream of (unless you're jailbroken). even then that brick was too slow. I just got the Incredible. Honestly I'm not too worried about updates. They will come around just not as fast as you would get them on the nexus one. Regardless they are all HTC phones you are comparing. Like the others said, you can always flash the ROM. That said even iPhones get left behind by apple. There are so many changes that have been made and are going to be made in the 4.0 update that alienate pretty much all current users and will require them to buy the newest model if they want all of the features (another reason why I switched to android. my 2G iphone gets no real benefits from the 4.0, since pretty much all of the changes won't work except for folders).

 

[boomhower]

If you limit your updates to only official ones then yes, you could have a valid concern. But these phones are very popular with the hacking community. For instance 2.1 roms have been out for the Hero for over a month now.

 

[hwangeruk]

If you limit your updates to only official ones then yes, you could have a valid concern. But these phones are very popular with the hacking community. For instance 2.1 roms have been out for the Hero for over a month now.

Thats what worries me, its a "hack".
I've got a ROM on a Windows Mobile phone taking it from 6.1, to 6.5
It's horribly buggy.

I can see where you're coming from. Perhaps you live with it for 18 months, and just get the latest and greatest. And, I spose Apple does leave people behind to.

Interesting times: New RIM Blackberry 6, Android 2.2, Windows Phone 7 and a new iPhone + OS4. I want them all ~

 

[Gibbs]

Thats what worries me, its a "hack".
I've got a ROM on a Windows Mobile phone taking it from 6.1, to 6.5
It's horribly buggy.

I can see where you're coming from. Perhaps you live with it for 18 months, and just get the latest and greatest. And, I spose Apple does leave people behind to.

Interesting times: New RIM Blackberry 6, Android 2.2, Windows Phone 7 and a new iPhone + OS4. I want them all ~

I know people with ROMs and theirs are stable....I wouldn't compare winmo to android. I'm definitely not one to switch after 18 months lol. I had my iPhone for 2 1/2 years before I finally switched. I plan to keep my Incredible for as long as I can until I really see the need to switch. At this point I would recommend waiting for everything to release then see what suits you best.

 

[Karum]

I want to buy Android, but I am scared. Why?

If I buy a Nexus one, Google will look after it, and release for it.
If I buy an HTC I get better hardware, better than an iPhone even.

But what if HTC stop retrospectively releasing updates for the model I buy?
I know people with an HTC Magic (I think, the white one) stuck on 1.6 who won't know if they will get 2.x

There are so many models, so many names, Desire, HD2, Fabulous, Miracle bla bla

It's the worry of being left behind that bothers me. What do you guys do to get passed this?

Pretty sure the Nexus One is actually manufactured by HTC so I don't think you should be too concerned about hardware quality.

If I was going for a new Android phone right now though it would be the HTC Desire, I currently have a Hero and love it despite being behind on Android 1.5 but it doesn't really bother me too much tbh because I think they realise the market is fragmented and are working towards being able to keep everyone up to date and less fragmented in future.

 

[hwangeruk]

Thanks for the continued feedback.
Here is some from my side of the fence.
Chap who sits next to me at work, waves an HTC desire at me today. (His new toy)

I go into all sorts of geek lust and fiddle mode.

Here is a typical fragmentation issue:

He reads online, that Android 2.x has multiple Exchange accounts, he has his own Exchange server (yes, he is a geek) and he has his work Exchange. So Android 2.x is his friend. He then gets the HTC desire (in the UK) and guess what, HTC have removed multiple Exchange account functionality (doh)
He kicks himself for not checking further, but seriously he read that Android 2.1 (must be .1 right) has multiple accounts and "assumes" he will also get it.

Gawd only knows why HTC would do something like that. He installed another application to fetch email from Exchange but its not as seamless as he wanted.

Anyway, he is enjoying the multitasking. Using Co-Pilot this morning, and clicking home, fiddling with his music and flicking back instantly to Co-Pilot got him all kinds of excited. Android is strong on this. And Apple's new multitasking may very well come off like a kludge, but we will have to see the full and released implementation.

Nice bit of hardware. Change your own battery. My iPhone 3g has had 2 batteries in 20 months, 1st was free under warranty, second was 63 quid. Ouch.

 

[iBran]

It's a shame HTC makes such nice hardware because their software absolutely sucks.

I want to get a Nexus One to replace my G1, but I'm afraid of being in the same spot in ~12 months. No updates in sight, because HTC just wants you to buy a new phone.

 

[Nitrousoxide]

It's a shame HTC makes such nice hardware because their software absolutely sucks.

I want to get a Nexus One to replace my G1, but I'm afraid of being in the same spot in ~12 months. No updates in sight, because HTC just wants you to buy a new phone.

HTC doesn't deal with updating the N1. That's entirely up to Google. It's only their sense UI phones that they have to push out updates for.

 

[iBran]

G1 was "vanilla Android" as well, but it's on HTC's end to get the software out for that device. Don't see why the N1 would be any different.

Especially for the "Google Experience" devices (G1, myTouch series, Nexus One, etc.) Google needs to grow some balls and get the carriers AND handset manufacturers to keep up with current software, because the platform falls apart with fragmentation. My G1 hasn't seen an official update in over 6 months... the G1 is barely 18 months old, and they're already abandoning it? Thanks a lot, HTC/T-Mobile/Google.

 

[grainysand]

G1 was "vanilla Android" as well, but it's on HTC's end to get the software out for that device. Don't see why the N1 would be any different.

Especially for the "Google Experience" devices (G1, myTouch series, Nexus One, etc.) Google needs to grow some balls and get the carriers AND handset manufacturers to keep up with current software, because the platform falls apart with fragmentation.

Honey sweetie darling, the N1 has already had an update. Guess where it came from? OTA. Not through a carrier. Not through HTC. An OTA update from Google. Keep up with the news.

Your G1's way past its warranty, anyway. Why not just root and get 2.1 on it like everyone else?

 

[iBran]

Honey sweetie darling, the N1 has already had an update. Guess where it came from? OTA. Not through a carrier. Not through HTC. An OTA update from Google. Keep up with the news.

Your G1's way past its warranty, anyway. Why not just root and get 2.1 on it like everyone else?

I did. Still has issues with Bluetooth and battery life. Went back to CM 4.2.15.1 last night.

The three-year-old original iPhone still gets updates. The upcoming 4.0 is the only one that it won't get. Why should Android devices have such a short lifespan?

And, uh, honey-sweetie-darling, T-Mobile still sells the G1, so it absolutely should be getting updates.

 

[Caloy]

I won't be too worried. There is a fairly large development community for Android.

 

[iBran]

Also, enough with the "just root it already" sentiment. I've been running Cyanogen forever, but that doesn't mean every Android user could OR should.

The only way the platform grows is by getting more users onboard. This includes people like your grandmother, and is she really going to install a custom ROM in her spare time?

Phones that don't get updates can't run the latest software. If they can't run the latest software, that's fewer customers for apps. Fewer apps means fewer developers. Without users, without apps, without developers--the platfom is nothing. Get the picture?

I love the ability to root and install community ROMs--that's why I chose Android over other platforms. But that doesn't mean EVERYBODY should. Everyone should have access to current OS updates from the carrier/manufacturer.