[Macworld]

Post your comments for Google says new 'Jelly Bean' version of Android coming in July here

[DocNo]

"Jelly Bean will be pushed out to the Motorola Xoom and other devices starting in July"

Do they promise this time?

[DerekMorr]

DocNo, on 27 June 2012 - 12:42 PM, said:

"Jelly Bean will be pushed out to the Motorola Xoom and other devices starting in July"

Do they promise this time?

I'm not sure what you're getting at. ICS was pushed to the US Wifi Xoom on-time. There were bugs on the GSM Nexus S, which delayed it. Aside from those devices, it's the OEM's job to release the updates.

[DarkSith]

It will work on 1 device when it comes out, and in 6 months it will work on maybe 3.

[aguamala]

I live in Mexico and I have galaxy s2 still with android gingerbread 2.3.6, I don't know when I have ICS in my GS2, so Jelly Bean it seems far far away...!!

[DerekMorr]

DarkSith, on 27 June 2012 - 01:46 PM, said:

It will work on 1 device when it comes out, and in 6 months it will work on maybe 3.

No. Hugo Barra said that 4.1 will be released on the Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S, and Xoom in mid-July. I think it's safe to assume that this means the international GSM Galaxy Nexus (including the variant for sale directly from Google), the GSM Nexus S, and the US Wifi Xoom. Oh, and the Nexus 7.

[Lenjc1957]

DerekMorr, on 27 June 2012 - 01:35 PM, said:

DocNo, on 27 June 2012 - 12:42 PM, said:

"Jelly Bean will be pushed out to the Motorola Xoom and other devices starting in July"

Do they promise this time?

I'm not sure what you're getting at. ICS was pushed to the US Wifi Xoom on-time. There were bugs on the GSM Nexus S, which delayed it. Aside from those devices, it's the OEM's job to release the updates.

That's just great that the Xoom got ICS. But the sad truth is that the vast majority of Android devices, over 60%, are stuck at version 2.3, aka Gingerbread. Today, the installed base of ICS on Android devices is just a hair over 7%. Jelly Bean will likely fare no better. And no, it is not the OEM's job to release updates. It's the wireless carriers who should be pushing out updates for their smartphones' OSes. But, they have no interest in doing so, because there's no profit in it for them. If you want the latest OS, they will be happy to sell you another disposable Android phone, and sign you up for another two-year hitch. It's a very different business model from Apple's, no?

[Lenjc1957]

DerekMorr, on 27 June 2012 - 03:00 PM, said:

DarkSith, on 27 June 2012 - 01:46 PM, said:

It will work on 1 device when it comes out, and in 6 months it will work on maybe 3.

No. Hugo Barra said that 4.1 will be released on the Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S, and Xoom in mid-July. I think it's safe to assume that this means the international GSM Galaxy Nexus (including the variant for sale directly from Google), the GSM Nexus S, and the US Wifi Xoom. Oh, and the Nexus 7.

Just to be clear, here is Google's own data, released earlier this month, on Android deployment, by version:
http://www.androidpo...-on-its-way-up/

[DerekMorr]

Lenjc1957, on 27 June 2012 - 04:50 PM, said:

But the sad truth is that the vast majority of Android devices, over 60%, are stuck at version 2.3, aka Gingerbread. Today, the installed base of ICS on Android devices is just a hair over 7%. Jelly Bean will likely fare no better. And no, it is not the OEM's job to release updates. It's the wireless carriers who should be pushing out updates for their smartphones' OSes.

*sigh*

The ICS installed base grows every month. This month several popular devices got the ICS update (such as the Droid Razr, and the SGS II on T-Mo and AT&T). And new ICS devices shipped; the One S in India, the SGSIII in many countries, and several Motorola devices in China.

But my point was that if your device doesn't have ICS, then you should yell at your carrier or OEM, not Google, since it isn't Google's job to update non-Nexus devices.

Some of the OEMs haven't released the ICS update at all, but others have and the updates are still being tested by carriers. I wish we had more transparency into this process, but most carriers are tight-lipped about it. Vodafone Australia is a notable exception -- they blog weekly with software test status.

It remains to be seen what the 4.1 upgrade cycle will look like. Until we have the source next month, we can't really tell how big of a jump it is from 4.0. Going from 2.3 to 4.0 was a major undertaking, which has been a major source of delays. Also, the Platform Development Kit initiative announced today will help cut lead time. And then there's the work that Linaro has been doing.

[redgeminipa]

DerekMorr, on 27 June 2012 - 06:02 PM, said:

Lenjc1957, on 27 June 2012 - 04:50 PM, said:

But the sad truth is that the vast majority of Android devices, over 60%, are stuck at version 2.3, aka Gingerbread. Today, the installed base of ICS on Android devices is just a hair over 7%. Jelly Bean will likely fare no better. And no, it is not the OEM's job to release updates. It's the wireless carriers who should be pushing out updates for their smartphones' OSes.

*sigh*

The ICS installed base grows every month. This month several popular devices got the ICS update (such as the Droid Razr, and the SGS II on T-Mo and AT&T). And new ICS devices shipped; the One S in India, the SGSIII in many countries, and several Motorola devices in China.

But my point was that if your device doesn't have ICS, then you should yell at your carrier or OEM, not Google, since it isn't Google's job to update non-Nexus devices.

Some of the OEMs haven't released the ICS update at all, but others have and the updates are still being tested by carriers. I wish we had more transparency into this process, but most carriers are tight-lipped about it. Vodafone Australia is a notable exception -- they blog weekly with software test status.

It remains to be seen what the 4.1 upgrade cycle will look like. Until we have the source next month, we can't really tell how big of a jump it is from 4.0. Going from 2.3 to 4.0 was a major undertaking, which has been a major source of delays. Also, the Platform Development Kit initiative announced today will help cut lead time. And then there's the work that Linaro has been doing.

Until Google can guarantee timely updates for ALL devices sold within the last two years, they have a lot of catching up to do with iOS. Does Apple rely on carriers to push updates to iOS? Nope.

[DerekMorr]

redgeminipa, on 27 June 2012 - 06:49 PM, said:

Until Google can guarantee timely updates for ALL devices sold within the last two years, they have a lot of catching up to do with iOS. Does Apple rely on carriers to push updates to iOS? Nope.

Would you mind explaining how Google can provide an update for a device they have no knowledge of? If the device uses a different SoC, modified OS components, and runs on a carrier Google has no relationship with, Google can't provide an update. They do provide updates for the Nexus devices, which they control. For other devices, it's the responsibility of the OEMs and carriers to provide them. Some OEMs and carriers are better than others at this. And there's been some behind-the-scenes work that should reduce lead time. I really don't understand what's so confusing about this. I also don't understand why people who don't use Android devices care about it so much.

What Google does do is provide regular updates for the Google system apps. Things like YouTube, Gmail, Voice Search, Maps, Chrome, etc aren't baked into the OS and are updated regularly.

And, for the record, Apple doesn't update ALL devices sold within the last two years. Or perhaps I missed the iOS 6 update for my 1st-gen iPad?

[ThoseLeftBehind]

Wow! What a load off my mind! I was afraid that I might have to wait several more years to get an upgrade from Gingerbread to Honeycomb, but now we have Jelly Bean which completely kills any impetus my device manufacturer may have had to get to Ice Cream Sandwich! Bring on Krazybread !!!! Somehow I think you'll get to ZebraFlambe before I buy another Android device.

[Stewsburntmonkey]

DerekMorr, on 27 June 2012 - 07:35 PM, said:

redgeminipa, on 27 June 2012 - 06:49 PM, said:

Until Google can guarantee timely updates for ALL devices sold within the last two years, they have a lot of catching up to do with iOS. Does Apple rely on carriers to push updates to iOS? Nope.

Would you mind explaining how Google can provide an update for a device they have no knowledge of? If the device uses a different SoC, modified OS components, and runs on a carrier Google has no relationship with, Google can't provide an update. They do provide updates for the Nexus devices, which they control. For other devices, it's the responsibility of the OEMs and carriers to provide them. Some OEMs and carriers are better than others at this. And there's been some behind-the-scenes work that should reduce lead time. I really don't understand what's so confusing about this. I also don't understand why people who don't use Android devices care about it so much.

What Google does do is provide regular updates for the Google system apps. Things like YouTube, Gmail, Voice Search, Maps, Chrome, etc aren't baked into the OS and are updated regularly.

And, for the record, Apple doesn't update ALL devices sold within the last two years. Or perhaps I missed the iOS 6 update for my 1st-gen iPad?

I don't think anyone is confused. They are just saying that this is a weakness in Google's strategy. They set things up so that carriers would quickly adopt Android (which they have), but the price has been fragmentation (sluggish or nonexistent updates). Google can't push the updates itself, but it is still a problem for Google (the carriers largely couldn't care less).

[Lenjc1957]

DerekMorr, on 27 June 2012 - 06:02 PM, said:

Lenjc1957, on 27 June 2012 - 04:50 PM, said:

But the sad truth is that the vast majority of Android devices, over 60%, are stuck at version 2.3, aka Gingerbread. Today, the installed base of ICS on Android devices is just a hair over 7%. Jelly Bean will likely fare no better. And no, it is not the OEM's job to release updates. It's the wireless carriers who should be pushing out updates for their smartphones' OSes.

*sigh*

The ICS installed base grows every month. This month several popular devices got the ICS update (such as the Droid Razr, and the SGS II on T-Mo and AT&T). And new ICS devices shipped; the One S in India, the SGSIII in many countries, and several Motorola devices in China.

But my point was that if your device doesn't have ICS, then you should yell at your carrier or OEM, not Google, since it isn't Google's job to update non-Nexus devices.

Some of the OEMs haven't released the ICS update at all, but others have and the updates are still being tested by carriers. I wish we had more transparency into this process, but most carriers are tight-lipped about it. Vodafone Australia is a notable exception -- they blog weekly with software test status.

It remains to be seen what the 4.1 upgrade cycle will look like. Until we have the source next month, we can't really tell how big of a jump it is from 4.0. Going from 2.3 to 4.0 was a major undertaking, which has been a major source of delays. Also, the Platform Development Kit initiative announced today will help cut lead time. And then there's the work that Linaro has been doing.

Yell at your carrier? Or OEM? Seriously? Uh huh. Go ahead and try that, then let us know how responsive they are. Go ahead, we'll wait... (whistling.)