Android phone discussion
- Thread starter Likwid
- Start date
I upgraded my Galxy Epic to the SG3 and oh my god this phone is fucking powerful. it runs so smooth and i threw a 64gb sd in there for my music. the screen is alot better and it actually looks really good under the sun too (which the epic did not) got to say this is hands down the best phone out right now. it was a toss up between this and the iPhone but once i put this phone in my hand i knew this was the phone for me. not a fan of HTC.
google makes their new software version available for nexus phones first, then releases the source code to the manufacturers who in turn tweak and customize it in order to release it on their phones. it takes months and ensures that most android phones are a version behind. its a flawed process but google is trying to remedy it with their PDK. we'll see how it works out:
Google Releasing Platform Developer Kit To Manufacturers Before Major New Android Versions - Are Speedier Updates On The Way?
Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Android OS, Dev, News
Android has become somewhat infamous for slow (almost unbearably so) updates for users of pretty much any non-Nexus device. In fact, when Jelly Bean was announced earlier today, the first thought on some users' minds was that their handsets haven't even tasted Ice Cream Sandwich yet.
Google is well aware of this issue, though - last year, it made an attempt (albeit a feeble one) to solve the problem with the Android Alliance. I think we all know how that turned out.
This year's I/O saw a related announcement: that of the Android PDK, or the Platform Development Kit. In short, it's a set of tools which will aid manufacturers in porting new versions of Android to their devices and which will be released to said manufacturers a few months before the public launch of each major Android update. In theory, this should mean that manufacturers will be able to have updates for their handsets prepared by the time they're announced - exciting, isn't it?
It remains to be seen how effective this solution will be in practice, however - carriers (who don't really need to be involved in the update process but are anyway) will likely intervene, which could slow things significantly. Additionally, marketing decisions will continue to be necessary, meaning that your two-year-old device may not be updated at all so as to incentivize the purchase of a more recent handset.
Still, at least hardware developers will now be able to get their paws on new Android versions sooner, so those devices whose fates do contain a few more updates should receive them in a more expeditious manner.
Google reports that "select" manufacturers have already been granted a chance to try out the PDK with the release of Jelly Bean - we'd assume ASUS and Motorola are among their ranks, if not Samsung and HTC. Hopefully the group isn't too "select" - I think we'd all like to see faster updates on our devices.
Google Releasing Platform Developer Kit To Manufacturers Before Major New Android Versions - Are Speedier Updates On The Way?
Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Android OS, Dev, News
Android has become somewhat infamous for slow (almost unbearably so) updates for users of pretty much any non-Nexus device. In fact, when Jelly Bean was announced earlier today, the first thought on some users' minds was that their handsets haven't even tasted Ice Cream Sandwich yet.
Google is well aware of this issue, though - last year, it made an attempt (albeit a feeble one) to solve the problem with the Android Alliance. I think we all know how that turned out.
This year's I/O saw a related announcement: that of the Android PDK, or the Platform Development Kit. In short, it's a set of tools which will aid manufacturers in porting new versions of Android to their devices and which will be released to said manufacturers a few months before the public launch of each major Android update. In theory, this should mean that manufacturers will be able to have updates for their handsets prepared by the time they're announced - exciting, isn't it?
It remains to be seen how effective this solution will be in practice, however - carriers (who don't really need to be involved in the update process but are anyway) will likely intervene, which could slow things significantly. Additionally, marketing decisions will continue to be necessary, meaning that your two-year-old device may not be updated at all so as to incentivize the purchase of a more recent handset.
Still, at least hardware developers will now be able to get their paws on new Android versions sooner, so those devices whose fates do contain a few more updates should receive them in a more expeditious manner.
Google reports that "select" manufacturers have already been granted a chance to try out the PDK with the release of Jelly Bean - we'd assume ASUS and Motorola are among their ranks, if not Samsung and HTC. Hopefully the group isn't too "select" - I think we'd all like to see faster updates on our devices.
