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Is 2.1 a Marketing tool?

First we had Motorola list the 2.1 upgrade as coming soon, 2.1 for the HTC leaked, and now Verizon is saying its coming soon. Is Verizon using the announcement of a 2.1 upgrade as a Marketing tool? Does soon mean 6 months, like there BB, and other smart phones? I could care less about the enhancements. But, when there are bugs in the operating system that effect security and existing features, someone needs to take responsibility and make sure they provide updates in a timely mater. Soon is not a time line if you can't give a date don't announce a update. If you can't OTA 2.1 provide a update to fix the existing problems, 2.02. Verizon charges a lot of money for there service. They branded the phone, they should do more to make sure software fixes, roll out in a reasonable time frame.

Comments

bkfist

You don't THINK you care about the enhancements - but once you get 2.1 you certainlly will not want to go back to 2.0.1 (unless Motorola/Verizon really pooch the build...)

Once you get 5 or 7 home screens, smoother scrolling, better flash compatibility, better over-all speed and so on, you aren't going to want to go back, trust me.

glocker

The enhancements would be great. But, I'm more worried about the security problems and the bugs that exist now. Your phone is now becoming a laptop replacement, media, e-mail, and browser. As the operation system becomes more popular, it becomes more inviting to hackers. If you use your phone to look up your banking account, are you willing to wait 6 months for a security update? How is anyone going to get the most out of 3rd party apps, if you can't get software support for the hardware and operating system? If there are bugs in 2.1, should you have to wait 6 months for 2.2 or 1 month for 2.1.1? No offence to anyone, but if this is how updates are going to be treated say goodbye to Android. I'm glad I don't have to wait for Road Runner to release updates to my home PC, or Windows to get updates to 3rd party programs and hardware. The way phones are used has changed, and all providers are pushing smart phones. If you don't get support for your home PC or media device, you lose function and security. The new phones are no different, support should be more open.

T-ROCK

Youre talking about all these security problems that might come with this and how long it would take to fix the problems if there are. The reason why 2.1 is taking so long to come out is because they are fixing the problems that they had, and the update isnt sent to everyone at once, it is sent to a few thousand people first just to check and see if there are problems with it. If there are then they will work on 2.1.1 before sending 2.1 out to the rest of the phones.

bkfist

I agree, but then again you don't wait for security releases from your internet provider for a product they did not produce, nor should you allow yourself to be at the mercy of the phone company or phone manufacturer for the security releases for your smart phone. You don't wait around for HP or Compaq to come out with an update for a Windows security bug, do you? (If you do, I am sure there are some hackers who'd love to have your PC for lunch.)

I do not, my daughter does not, nor the couple of friends I have that have Android on their phones. This doesn't mean that any of these phones are in any way running any OS that is different than what they were running before. 2 of the Heros are running completely stock ROMs and unless you rebooted into "recovery mode" you wouldn't be able to tell that those 2 phones were not 100% Hero ROM's. One you might see the lack of the "Sprint/HTC bloat-ware" (NFL, Nascar, stocks etc., as a sign that they were "somehow" different, maybe a theme that you haven't found in the Market, a little different menu, but it's stll running basically the ROM that Sprint put on the phone. On the other Hero (mine) you would see a dramatic difference, and would not even recognize it as a Sprint Hero, were it not for the physical look of the phone itself.

Guess who's phone runs the fastest, is the most stable, gets the strongest signal, has the longest battery life, and runs Google Navigation, Google Goggles, Buzz, and the other new "goodies" that don't work on the other 4?

Android is the one and ONLY operating system that you really have any *real* control over this on. (OK, Maemo on the Nokia N900, but that is still pretty niche at the moment.)

You certainly do not have this ability with windows mobile, palm, BlacBerry or the iphone. You are totally at the mercy of not only the phone company, but also the software developer, and the phone manufacturer...

With the exception of the few Android phones that have not yet been rooted, (or the a**anine decision of Motorola to lock the firmware of the Milestone with a digital signature)-(Also why I'm fairly certain that my Droid will be the very LAST Motorola phone I ever own - I won't make that decision until I'm ready for a new one, though.), nobody is required to be at the mercy of a company who's primary interest is in pushing out the "next big phone".

By sitting around waiting for an update from those you are complaining about, you might just very well "seal your fate". For the Droid Eris owners, do you *really* think that there will be another update for your phones once 2.1 is released? Look at the the expense and trouble it's taking for HTC/Verizon to come out with the 2.1 update... Rumors abound that the Hero/Eris line is nearing EOL - soon to be replaced by faster/newer models... Once that happens, do you seriously expect any significant updates to come out of HTC/Verizon? Maybe a little patch here or there if something *really* significant comes along in the way of security, but I personally will be *extrememly* surprised if anyone sees Android 2.2, 2.5, 3.0 etc. released for these phones through official channels... Hey, I could be totally wrong, I can't read the minds of either company, and if I *am* wrong, I will be very happy to admit it... I'll be happeir knowing that HTC & Verizon have moved from the "Pump and Dump" mindset to a more Open Source mindset in their distribution/support model, but that would take additional resources from both companies, and I doubt it is going to happen, at least not for a few more years. (And I'm not going to blame them for it either... They have to make a profit, as well as support the phones to the average "Joe Six-pack" user...) Then again, anyone who's found this forum is generally (not always) at least a step or two above that user-level, and those who even KNOW what version of Android they are running are about 10 steps (at least) ahead of "Joe Six-pack"

Sure, it might be possible to "undo the lock-in" but until it happens you do not know if this will be the case.

I'm not advising you to do anything to your phone to void your warranty, but if your primary concern is security, the warranty isn't exactly the primary issue, is it?

glocker

T-Rock, everything about 2.1 is a rumor. Phones are replacing laptops. If you spent 600 dollars on a laptop, and you had a problem with one of the functions. You call the manufacture and they tell you its a software problem, there working on it. You call a week later and they tell you the fix has been released to your internet service provider. Call the service provider, they tell you they weren't happy with the fix sent it back the the manufacture. One month passes, manufacture says they released update, service provider says they had problems with the release, available soon. Three months later you get the update a bing search bar, flash is blocked, and advertise there's a new laptop that has supports for flash. The more users, the higher the risk. If it takes months to push a update the risk grows.

T-ROCK

You do make a good point, but there is a difference between a laptop and a cellphone. According to you, the only way to get the software update for the laptop is by calling support. It is sent straight to your phone(at least for the droid), so your logic doesnt make complete since. There not sending out an update to fix a major bug. the only problem ive heard with the droid is that if you have a phone call you can get passed the lock system. Things can happen, but thats with everything that happens in this world. If it does so happen that there is a security problem, and people have access to your banking information, etc, etc...., then that will be on you......but you will have the same chance of someone getting your information off of your computer as you will your phone.

Also, how is 2.1 a rumor? There has been confirmation from vzw, motorola, and htc that its coming.....so i guess im interested as to what your logic is on that

glocker

http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-2.1.html

2.1 API changes and bug fixes, released in Jan 2010. How many times has a release date been given? How many rumors as to what's included in the update? Promised by Q1, you going to have it in 3 days, Moto or HTC? Its a rumor until you receive it, every week there's a new story. The lock system, is an issue. I use it all the time, and its junk. Call Motorola about it, fix in the update, when, soon. Call Verizon, when's the update, what update, its your phone needs replaced. Called end of Jan. after the rumored first release date. Soon, could mean 3 months, 6 months, a year, or never. Wish I could say soon at work, and still keep my job.

pool_shark

According to the the Febuary '10 edition of Laptop Magazine, they state that 2.1 is mostly cosmetic.

It reads..

"Aside from enabling voice search for every text field, the Android 2.1 OS is mostly a cosmetic upgrade. Five home screens can be customized with interactive and moving wallpapers. And now you can scroll through the application launcher in a three-dimensional wheel."

That was part of their review of the Nexus One, page 57. It makes no reference to bugs or fixes and they give it a 4 star rating out 5.

endorphine44

I wish VZW would get off their collective[edit] and put out some updates and the new HTC Incredible. I really don't want to root my Droid just to get 2.1 on it, but it's really starting to come to that point.

{word filter avoidance}

T-ROCK

^Spoke too soon, 1000 updates were sent out at noon today and 9000 are being sent out at 11:59 tonight. (None on March 31st) then on April 1st more will be sent out and everyone should have it by the end of the week.

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