Smartphone OS Updates — How Fast is Fast Enough?
The smartphone sector is one of the fastest moving sectors in the mobile tech space. New phones appear almost daily, and the resultant race for the latest and greatest is a hectic one. Savvy consumers may be the only ones concerned about technical details such as OS version installed on a given phone, but it can make a big difference when it comes time to make a purchase. It is not always a given that smartphone X will get the next big OS upgrade, and even if it does the timing of said upgrade is not always fast. That leads to the question — how fast is fast enough for smartphone upgrades?
This question is timely given the recent release of the Verizon Droid and Droid Eris. The Droid is the only available smartphone that runs Android 2.0, the latest version that is widely recognized as a big improvement over the previous version, 1.6. That version is on most of the other Android phones currently available, or in some cases (the HTC Hero comes to mind) even an earlier version is running the show.
The Droid Eris is priced very attractively, but prospective customers have to consider if the older OS is worth the cost savings. Sure, it is expected (although not necessarily a given) that the Eris will get an upgrade to Android 2.0. That would make the Eris one of the most attractive Android phones on the market given the low price point compared to the Droid. But in the world of phone OS updates, such an update could be months before it appears. There are too many fingers in the OS update pie, the phone manufacturer, the OS provider and of course the phone network.
A few months doesn’t seem like a long time to wait for a significant update, but smartphones have a very short consumer lifespan. Contracts in the U.S. are two years in duration, and some folks don’t keep phones even that long. That makes a wait of a few months for an OS update a lot more of an impact on the buying decision. If a given phone doesn’t see an update for six months, not that unusual, that can be a significant portion of the phone’s lifespan with the typical consumer. To some folks it might not be worth the wait, it might make more sense to get the more expensive phone that ships with the latest OS version.
I only used the Droid as an example given the timeliness of the Eris release. The same question can be asked of other phones, as it seems we are always waiting for one OS update or another. The only platforms exempt from this dilemma are the iPhone and WebOS. All of Apple’s and Palm’s phones get all updates, a distinct advantage in this case. So how long is too long for an OS update? Would you be willing to wait a long time for an update, or do you take that into your buying decision?
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While I’m as enthused for the Next Big Firmware Update as any other tech enthusiast, my bigger peeve is the lack of updates for older hardware – in many cases hardware that is marginally slower/less capable than the current generation hardware. One particularly egregious hardware manufacturer is Nokia, which has for about a decade now released half-completed firmware, pushed one or two updates out (usually not to all the different versions of the phone), promised to new bugs in another release, and then stopped releasing the hardware. It was enough to get me to swear off Nokia in 2007.
This is probably the biggest complaint with Windows Mobile based phones. While handset manufacturers occasionally make updates of the OS available for older units, and thankfully this behavior has become more common recently, and groups like XDA-Developers work to make versions of firmware updates available for download to older phones, Microsoft refuses to create an official upgrade path. The practical consequence is a Windows Mobile phone is obsolete as sune as it’s purchased. Not so fore Apple, Palm, and Google phones.
I completely agree – forced obsolescence in 9 months is going to dictate peoples choice. i’d pay a reasonable amount for an OS u/g or u/g path. but at 1200AUD HTCsmartphone is more akin to a PC than it is to a 100 buck Nokia handset.
I think the makers and networks are as much at fault as the IS proviers – painfully, can’t keep bashing Microsoft on this one.
maybe VZW is intentionally crippling the Eris to make the Droid even more appealing
plus you have to wait for HTC to update Sense as well
I wish we could update phone like we do PC’s, right now we have no real control unless you love to hack.
the iphone/palm approach is nice, but WinMo/Android is a mess
The answer to this is simple.
a) Don’t ever expect free upgrades unless you’ve been specifically told you’ll get one.
b) 2 year contracts are for idiots.
One can always sit around waiting for an OS upgrade. And no, Android is not a “mess.”
Got my Sprint Hero about 3 weeks ago and I absolutely love it. Been with corporate Blackberry devices for about 8 years. I’m a geek and I mostly just love the openness. Don’t love the SMS app, go to the Marketplace and grab another one. Handcent and ChompSMS are the two hot SMS apps right now and they are both free. First time you open ChompSMS the Android OS will ask you if you want to make this your new default SMS app. Apple would never allow this in a million years.
Don’t even get me started with the multi-tasking and also the Task Manager app I downloaded a week ago. The HTC SenseUI is amazing as well. Widgets on my home screens – 7 home screens in fact. I don’t even want to re-read this post, because it probably sounds like some damn Android pitch, but I’m happy and wanted to share what I found.
Sprint HTC Hero has Android v1.5 with the HTC SenseUI on top. No, this cannot be shut down permanently. HTC has said they are working on getting out Android v2.0 with SenseUI to the Hero. I say great, but I’ve already in love. C
At last an easy question!
The answer is “it depends,” and it’s the customers that decide.
No one questions that Microsoft doesn’t update enough and that customers see innovations like online markets for download-able apps, multi-touch finger friendly screens, and the like appear on other platforms first. So after a time customers migrate to those platforms to get the features they want.
Apple may update too often, not bringing significant new features or bug fixes to the table, so customers may get annoyed with any inconveniences created.
I think the general impression is Google isn’t updating fast enough. Why? Because each rev brings highly inticipated capabilities.
And Palm … well they’ve lost a lot of momentum. The OS update just release is long overdue.