This just in from Google I/O. It seems like what everyone has been waiting for has finally come to be.
Google has officially taken a stance on one of the most well known gripes with Android devices. No more will you have to wonder whether or not your current and/or future device will receive Android Updates or not. Google has signed on the Top 4 major carriers in the USA and the top Android manufacturers to guarantee that devices will receive timely updates for up to 18 month as long as the hardware is capable of it!
On that note, Google also announced that Ice Cream Sandwich, the next update that will merge Gignerbread and Honeycomb for both Tablets and Phones will be released in 2011Q4!
This is a huge step for Android as a platform and for consumers a like. But there are a few questions that remain to be answered.
1) What does Google and/or manufacturers consider “timely”..a week? a month? or more?
2) Sprint in the past has pulled the stunt saying both the HTC Hero and the Samsung Moment are incapable of future updates due to hardware limitations. Even though we clearly have seen HTC Hero’s run Gingerbread and Samsung Moments running Froyo.
3) In a scenario where a new version of Android comes out at the last few days of the 18 months life-cycle. Will the OEMs/Carriers choose to update the phone, or will they simply claim that its outside of its 18 month or continue to support it.
4) In case of some manufacturers, some phones come out internationally before they appear here in the US, will they support it past the original model?..For example, the Samsung i9000 came out in May 2010, Giving its guaranteed life cycle of November 2011…While the Samsung Fascinate came out in September 2010, assuming an update similar to how Gingerbread hits in December 2011..will the Fascinate be updated till March 2012, or will it share its end of lifespan with its parent i9000 models.
We will try to get answers to these questions and update at a later time. In the meantime, what do you think on how the carriers and OEMs will honor their pledges?