Motorola exec's comments on Android updates don't jibe with reality
0. phoneArena posted on 09 Feb 2012, 12:44
This seems like a strange claim, and we're not even sure that we believe what Motorola is saying, but it Motorola executive Christy Wyatt believes that it is the Nexus hardware which is to blame for the slow...
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13. Whateverman posted on 09 Feb 2012, 14:02 3 0
How about the same old idea people have been saying for three years now. Make your stupid skins optional! Put the hardware together, ship it with vanilla Android, and make your stupid skins downloadable from the market. LauncherPro works perfectly fine on every Android I've had and more flexible. By making Sense, Blur, and TouchWiz an app instead of update blocking obstacle, your customers will be a bit happier as well. Don't blame it on Google, it's your own fault! And Motorola mobile wouldn't even exist anymore if it weren't for the OS they're currently b*tching about.
24. tedkord posted on 09 Feb 2012, 15:53 2 0
This. In fact, Google should make that part of the license - custom launcher skins have to be disableable, with vanilla enabled by default.
Of course, the reason they don't do this is it would be super easy to port to any phone. Like Sense, but prefer Samsung hardware? You could just move Sense to the Galaxy Sx, and not buy an HTC phone.
14. speckledapple posted on 09 Feb 2012, 14:04 2 0
Actually, I think it takes a long time for them to optimize it because of their individual (Adjusts). If it were not for the addons they put with the phones, it would be out quick and quick. The problem is partly with Google for not stepping up to the plate and making some more definitive schedules for updates but manufacturers are just as much to blame for the bloatware that few ask for but they insist upon having with locked bootloaders (htc im looking at you). Bottom line is that the process needs to get better. Ice cream is a better version of Android so the system that supports it needs to get better moving forward.
16. gallitoking posted on 09 Feb 2012, 14:23 0 1
sorry to barge in here.. but my old Motorola badge still works... she is cute though
20. MorePhonesThanNeeded posted on 09 Feb 2012, 15:27 1 0
Hey does no one here read? Motorola did say that they have to test the Android build on the current phones then make sure it works without any flaws, then add their own skin and also have to get it re-certified by the carriers...that last part right there...see it...re-certified. That is the big slow down aside from Moto's own skin, which by the way is pretty darn useful in its own right. Sure they may move slow, but not many other OEM get Android version updates faster than Moto. So this is basically a moot point.
Oh and another thing, while Moto has an idea of which phones they want to update to ICS, it still rests with the carrier on which that phone is in use. No point in wasting effort if the carrier is just going to say no. So we come to the point where Moto is going to release less phones and keep the line less cluttered so this kind of transitioning will be made much simpler. I look forward to less Moto phones per quarter and this will in turn speed up updates and hopefully we can get the carriers to back the eff off with the garbage they want OEM to do before they carry their phones. I don't need no stinking tethering VZW, I have Optimum WiFi. Moto is wise not to put it out there which phones will get ICS aside from the obvious dual core line up, keeps them from getting hate mail all day when a phone they said might get it doesn't.
21. sprockkets posted on 09 Feb 2012, 15:31 0 0
"The comments don't really work with what we've seen and been told. First of all, Wyatt seems to be saying that Google creates the new version of the Android software to be optimized specifically with the hardware found in the Nexus device, which flatly goes against every design comment any Google employee has ever made about Android. Google has always asserted that the software has to be optimized to run on a huge variety of hardware. The comments also go against what we've seen with the first three devices to get the ICS update, which have not been TI OMAP devices (like the Galaxy Nexus), but rather the Nexus S (Samsung Hummingbird), Asus Transformer Prime (NVIDIA Tegra 3), and Motorola XOOM (NVIDIA Tegra 2). If it were really that difficult for manufacturers to re-optimize the code for other hardware, it would follow that TI OMAP devices would see the update first. "
HTC with the sensation has to recompile the drivers for the camera, touchscreen, and other devices specific to the phone. I'm watching their progress with it, and their first test releases broke the wifi hotspot due to wifi supplicant not working. They still have to work out a few bugs here and there, and they've released 4 new radio firmwares and 4 new boot loaders to go with it.
What I believe she is saying is that yes, ICS was in development with the Galaxy Nexus, thus is ready out the door. They can't start developing and testing until the source is released. But going from 3 to 4 isn't that big of a deal for Tegra, plus nVidia helped a lot there. The only real oddball arch btw OMAP and Exynos and Qualcomm's is Qualcomm's stuff like Snapdragon which is a custom arm processor.
25. PAPINYC posted on 09 Feb 2012, 16:01 0 0
Of course it's a combination of manufacturer and carrier; Android has less to do with version update than it has to do with iToones.
