The Reason We may Not Have Froyo Nor may we get it
yoworm
Newbie

I read this on another site and it may just explain why US carriers do not have FROYO but other carriers do.  This does seem a bit of a stretch but if it is true it would be sad that the US carriers would not ban together and put more pressure on Samsung.  If this is true I think it would be great fuel for the fire of the already filed class action suit.  

 

To explain the political situation, first, a primer on how phone firmware upgrades work for carriers. When a carrier decides to sell a phone, a contract is usually written between the phone manufacturer and the carrier. In this contract, thecost of updates (to the carrier) is usually outlined. Updates are usually broken into several types: critical updates, maintenance updates, and feature updates. Critical updates are those that resolve a critical bug in the phone, such as the phone overheating. Maintenance updates involve routine updates to resolve bugs and other issues reported by the carrier. Finally, feature updates add some new feature in software that wasn’t present before. Critical updates are usually free, maintenance updates have some maintenance fee associated with them, and feature updates are usually costly. In the past, most phone updates would mainly consist of critical and maintenance updates. Carriers almost never want to incur the cost of a feature update because it is of little benefit to them, adds little to the device, and involves a lot of testing on the carrier end. Android has changed the playing field, however – since the Android Open Source Project is constantly being updated, and that information being made widely available to the public, there is pressure for the phone to be constantly updated with the latest version of Android. With most manufacturers, such as HTC, Motorola, etc. This is fine and considered a maintenance upgrade. Samsung, however, considers it a feature update, and requires carriers to pay a per device update fee for each incremental Android update.

Now, here’s where the politics come in: most U.S. carriers aren’t very happy with Samsung’s decision to charge for Android updates as feature updates, especially since they are essentially charging for the Android Open Source Project’s efforts, and the effort on Samsung’s end is rather minimal. As a result of perhaps, corporate collusion, all U.S. carriers have decided to refuse to pay for the Android 2.2 update, in hopes that the devaluation of the Galaxy S line will cause Samsung to drop their fees and give the update to the carriers. The situation has panned out differently in other parts of the world, but this is the situation in the United States.

Some of you might have noticed Verion’s Fascinate updated, but without 2.2 : This is a result of a maintenance agreement Samsung must honor combined with Verizon’s unwillingness to pay the update fees. In short, Android 2.2 is on hold forGalaxy S phones until the U.S. carriers and Samsung reach a consensus.

Some might wonder why I didn’t deliver this over a more legitimate news channel – the short answer: I don’t want to lose my job. I do, however, appreciate transparency, which is why I’m here.

 

 

 

Here is the link for your own review.

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Re: The Reason We may Not Have Froyo Nor may we get it
cmdrgeist
Newbie

Just read this, and it seems valid, since I had the same issues with the Omnia. Looks like I'm taking this thing back and getting a phone from a manufacturer that supports the phone. In case anyone doesn't want to read the wall of test, the shorthand version is:

 

"Samsung charges all Cell Phone Carriers an extremely pricey charge to create and release each Android version upgrade, rather than the cheaper price they charge for a Maintenence release. They are the only handset manufacturer that does this. That is why you, and no other person with a Samsung android phone, does not have Froyo. Because Samsung is greedy."

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Re: The Reason We may Not Have Froyo Nor may we get it
cubdukat
Newbie

I certainly hope that isn't true. That certainly couldn't help their defense in that class-action lawsuit that just got filed against them.

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Re: The Reason We may Not Have Froyo Nor may we get it
PJNC284
Master - Level 2

wouldn't surprise me.  Samsung isn't exactly known for their "amazing" update track record in the US. 

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Re: The Reason We may Not Have Froyo Nor may we get it
yoworm
Newbie

Even the LG Ally gets FROYO

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Re: The Reason We may Not Have Froyo Nor may we get it
spurs21
Contributor - Level 1

I gotta tell you, I love my Fascinate and was considering getting a Continuum for my daughter, but if this info is true, I will never buy another Samsung phone. That being said, prior to the Fascinate I had a Rogue, and after the lengthy wait for the first update, the updated were provided with regularity.

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