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ICS Update Hold Up

A couple guesses as to the state of affairs:

1. The first option which would make updates happen faster would involve Google allowing carriers to charge users for the updates. Free updates don't do much to help AT&T's (or any other carriers') bottom line. The carriers pay people to review, modify and test the OS source code (troubleshoot compatibility issues, add bloatware, etc.) and then give the software out for free!? For Fifteen different current phones as well as 15 phones that have gone 'end of line' in the past year!?

2. The second option which would make updates happen faster would involve Google taking the Apple route. Apple has one device (various shapes, sizes, capacities, names, etc., but really one device). The carriers aren't allowed to modify the OS, and updates come directly from Apple. If Apple releases new iOS software today, you can download it today. Done. No waiting on AT&T, Bell, etc. Simple. Apple also has the user base and continued sales power to enable them to take a hard stance on this when negotiating with carriers.

3. The average user doesn't know Gingerbread from Ice Cream Sandwich and really doesn't care if his/her phone has the latest Android OS or not. Last time I was in a Bell store the customer beside me wasn't asking about what OS was on her phone. She was asking the customer service agent to show her how to do 2 things with her new 'droid': (1) answer a call when the phone rings (I kid you not); (2) send a text message. She couldn't have cared less whether her phone's OS was the most current. She's in the majority. We, discussing mobile OS updates in an online forum, are the minority.
 
Mmmm... well Samsung is heavily promoting the fact that the Premium Suite and ICS are on the way. It helped sway me from going for a HTC One X. But the promise was for Q2 and there are about 7-8 weeks before Q2 finishes. As long as they deliver by then I will be content.

Ian
 
At the moment I am living with the devil I know rather than the devil I don't. My Note is working reasonably well with the exception of the standard sleep of death every couple of weeks and the odd loss of data connection requiring a reboot.

I am not really sure if ICS will deliver any improvement on these two points so I can wait for a good while. After all I waited for my N900 for three months without any other smartphone to fill the gap.

Better for Samsung to take their time than to deliver buggy rubbish which will give the haters more ammunition.

Regards,
Eric Ritchie.
 
Somewhere I read that Android phones are not so stable and require reboots. Is that the same issue?

they're small computers these smart phones. they're gonna crash once in a while, it's inevitable. saying that, i've had my note for 2 months now and it's been switched on ever since i first got it and not a single crash or reboot.

and ios isnt any more, or less stable either just fyi. i have friends who have iphones and not a single problem, while some need to reboot theirs a good few times.
 
Somewhere I read that Android phones are not so stable and require reboots. Is that the same issue?

If you don't load them with 3rd party applications to the max and jump from application to application they would be perfectly stable I am sure. Other phone types/manufacturers go the route of controlling what runs on them which makes for a much more stable, if not limited, experience. I'll stick with Android and the unfettered market since this is what I like most. I will quite happily pay the price of a reboot now and then to have such a powerful beast in my pocket ;)

BTW: I came to the Note from the N900 which needed far more rebooting. Still loved that phone though.

Regards,
Eric Ritchie.
 
What were you doing to your 900? Mine ran flawlessly, until I shorted the screen by getting it wet, and a full charge last about a week (on Wi-Fi).
 
What were you doing to your 900? Mine ran flawlessly, until I shorted the screen by getting it wet, and a full charge last about a week (on Wi-Fi).

Oh wow, it would probably be easier to tell you what I was not doing with the n900 ;)

I was heavilly using skype, sip, various games, web browsing (a lot), using it as a modem when traveling, gps or navigation, music player (6000 mp3s loaded) etc. I needed to charge twice a day, I was using it so much.

Tbh, I am impressed that it did not need to be booted more often. I am doing most of the same things with my Note (with even more web browsing) and it is even more stable. I must say that I am impressed.

Regards,
Eric Ritchie.
 
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