Android phone flaws

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spdenne

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#353685 19-Jul-2010 23:29

The historical graph of Android versions
http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html
shows v2.0.1 vanishing.

Presumably these all got updated to 2.1 in April.

As Android matures it should become easier for device manufacturers to upgrade from one version to the next.

sonmica

60 posts

Master Geek

#353709 20-Jul-2010 01:45

i read a related article this morning, but i can't for the life of me find it anymore :(

anyway, this kind of sums it up:
http://www.neowin.net/news/android-30-quotgingerbreadquot-details-uncovered

android 3.0 is due for release around october, will address UI issues. this also signifies a "fork" in android, with 3.0 destined for top of the line phones (see minimum phone specs requirements for 3.0) and most other phones remaining on 2.2 and 2.1 as the mid range smart phones.

so i'm guessing that this is a way for them to address the fragmentation issues by enforcing the minimum requirement. also, the stock android 3.0 UI will try to address the "custom skin" issues (Sense, TouchWiz, Blur etc) so that there is no longer any need for them, and hence less of a wait for custom firmware to come out.

I'm still really looking forward to Froyo on my Desire. I'm pretty happy with the phone right now, and i've been trying to hold off as long as i can without rooting. I can see the flaws in Sense, but it does look good, and i do really like the HTC widgets and apps, and overall I don't feel any pressure in rooting or modding the phone as of yet, just enjoying it as much as I can.

As for emails, I have a gmail account and i've also connected to our Exchange server at work for my work emails. I work for a company where all mobile email is handled by a blackberry server, but I managed to connect to the Exchange server without any issues. Emails, calendar entries and contacts synced fine, but i haven't tried syncing folders.

numfarr

329 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 7

#353725 20-Jul-2010 06:05

sonmica: i read a related article this morning, but i can't for the life of me find it anymore :(

anyway, this kind of sums it up:
http://www.neowin.net/news/android-30-quotgingerbreadquot-details-uncovered

android 3.0 is due for release around october, will address UI issues. this also signifies a "fork" in android, with 3.0 destined for top of the line phones (see minimum phone specs requirements for 3.0) and most other phones remaining on 2.2 and 2.1 as the mid range smart phones.

No that was corrected shortly afterwards: it was allegedly a "recommended" rather than a minimum spec, and there is no "fork" by design, although the demand for high-end features in phones may create one. Google has confirmed nothing; it may not even be numbered 3.0.

davidcole

6099 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1465

Trusted

#353730 20-Jul-2010 06:43

As for emails, I have a gmail account and i've also connected to our Exchange server at work for my work emails. I work for a company where all mobile email is handled by a blackberry server, but I managed to connect to the Exchange server without any issues. Emails, calendar entries and contacts synced fine, but i haven't tried syncing folders.

Comments like this, it would be useful to know what version you're on. Since AFAIU 1.5/1.6 wont do this (I could be wrong)

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davidcole

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#353731 20-Jul-2010 06:46

Linuxluver:
freitasm:

Being a Microsoft MVP Windows Phone I am well aware of that. The problem is that what's happening with Android now is exactly what happened to Windows Mobile - five years ago.

....

It helps to keep some perspective here.

Android v1.6 has been out for 10 months.
Android v2.1 has been out for 7 months.
Android v2.2 has been out for 3 weeks.

Android had a lot of ground to make up to get close to the front of the pack.

That time appears to be right about now. Almost every (major) new phone being announced today is at least on Android v2.1.

I think this is the scariest bit....the release cycle is crazy fast. Means that any investment you make now may or may not be able to run the latest version without a fair bit of fudgery to get it going, and/or waiting for the vendors to catch up....and major vendors like Samsung/SE etc....phones aren't their core business as they make a bunch of other stuff as well. So there may be fairly long delays.

What version is SE pushing out now, they've not yet released 2.1 I thought? Samsung I think have a 2.1 update but where's 2.2?

walt12

324 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#353780 20-Jul-2010 09:50

Some comments:

1. Smartphone hardware, the operating systems, and the software eco-systems are evolving at an incredible rate at the moment. The downside of this is obsolescence, the upside is wonderful new technology. Think PC hardware obsolescence x5. In other words, if I buy a PC I expect and accept that within 2 years it may not be able to run the latest and greatest software available. In the smartphone world this window is arguably 6 months. Naturally this development curve will start to plateau at some point, but we are not within sight of that yet.

2. The local telco's are not even remotely up to date with the latest Android hardware being released. In fact the only smartphone that you could argue local telco's are on top of is the iPhone. The Milestone/Telecom NZ debacle just highlights this ... the Droid (which it is based on) is end-of-line on Verizon in the US. Therefore, short of a revolution happening, and the local telco's getting their act together, if your preference is Android and you are not averse to purchasing your own handset, then your choice is to buy the handset directly from a vendor/parallel-importer/offshore retailer.

3. Froyo aka Android 2.2. The first phone to receive this update in an official sense was the Nexus One because it does not use a skinned version of Android. If you bought a phone from another hardware vendor, then your upgrade cycle is at the mercy of that vendor, not Google. Don't sing the praises of Sense and then turn around and complain about 2.2 not being on-time. HTC/Motorola/SE/LG et al will get there in time. As far at Exchange sync is concerned, I can confirm that it works as advertised with 2.2. So if this is a must-have , then don't buy a phone with anything less that 2.1 currently and a stated intention (well-researched by yourself of course) to upgrade to 2.2. Otherwise wait for a phone to be released with 2.2.

4. Taking all of the above into account, the question that begs is whether this prevents Android from mass-market penetration? The US case-study would argue that it doesn't, but that market is receiving the latest hardware at a break-neck rate at the moment, with all the latest features. Android will not achieve the same levels of penetration in NZ until the local telco's support Android hardware to the same degree. Who knows whether this will happen or not. In the meantime, we are on a geek website, by definition we are advanced users, in front of the pack in terms of early-adoption, and not afraid to tinker to meet our needs.

5. Early reports of Gingerbread indicate that Google plans to overhaul the UI eliminating the ability and need for the indivdual hardware vendors to skin the OS. This will address point 3 I made above, however at the same time it might also be a two-edged sword as this may set a minimum hardware requirement which at a stroke may eliminate many of the phones on the market today from that upgrade path. So what do you do? Wait? The time honoured tech conundrum ...

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sonmica

60 posts

Master Geek

#353947 20-Jul-2010 14:53

davidcole:
As for emails, I have a gmail account and i've also connected to our Exchange server at work for my work emails. I work for a company where all mobile email is handled by a blackberry server, but I managed to connect to the Exchange server without any issues. Emails, calendar entries and contacts synced fine, but i haven't tried syncing folders.

Comments like this, it would be useful to know what version you're on. Since AFAIU 1.5/1.6 wont do this (I could be wrong)

Apologies, I am running HTC's Mail app on a Desire, firmware version is 2.1-update1 (i think at this stage the Desire only runs on 2.1 or 2.2). The app came with the phone, I didn't have to do anything special aside from enter server info to get all the synchronising working.

Kilack

527 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 9

Trusted

#354878 22-Jul-2010 12:39

wendonside: I've been thinking of upgrading to an Android and have been looking at the Desire and the Galaxy S.

From the comments on the forum it looks like I've got a choice between:

Desire - Great phone let down by problems with touch screen and inability to see the screen in sunlight; likely to released by Vodafone NZ shortly (perhaps)

Galaxy S - great phone with excellent screen, but laggy and, according to recent posts, it sounds like the camera is not so good

So I'm now looking at two very good, but ultimately flawed phones! I don't really want to spend $1000 (give or take) on a phone that annoys me every time I use it.

Is it just too early in the Android hardware life cycle to jump on board right now?

I posted some negative things about the galaxy and have used it for a bit more time now.
I can say this.

The lag is easy to take care of and my phone has no lag at all now and is extremely snappy.
Admittedly you have to make a few changes that you shouldn't have to, flash roms etc, running an app that tells android to change your memory requirements etc, the end result though is a very fast phone.

I also complained about the camera. That unfortunately is true, while it can take some nice snaps, a lot are blurry especially in lower light conditions. It has a very small lens and I assume sensor, that combined with no flash = the lens having to stay open for longer to get more exposure so anything moving at all gets blurred, that includes your hands moving slightly while holding the camera.
I have had other phones with no flash but bigger lenses and they were cheap phones in comparison but took far better photos. That is now my main disappointment with the galaxy as I do like to have a camera on my phone that I can use for snaps on the spare of the moment when im not hulking around a DSLR.
I wouldnt care if the camera was only 3 megapixels, its the quality of the shot not the megapixels really.

Apart from that, the galaxy is a fine phone. There are some concerns about its GPS too, plenty of threads on that.... but apparently that is fixable with a yet to come firmware and is not a hardware problem.

but yes, its frustrating that these android sets seem to improve one area and go backwards in others.
I see a new milestone is out.. gets a nice camera with a _xenon_ flash, first android phone to get a xenon flash, but the cpu is way back to like 600mhz etc. Surely someone can combine all these nice things.
Id rather have my phone a little bit fatter and pay a little bit more and get it all right.

wendonside

22 posts

Geek

#354901 22-Jul-2010 13:25

Kilack: Id rather have my phone a little bit fatter and pay a little bit more and get it all right.

Thanks for the update. Regarding your last sentence, I'm ok with different features at different price points - that's the way the market works and that's fine by me. What I don't like is paying for features that don't work until you've spent hours trying to figure out how to reconfigure the system (as is the lag problem), or don't work properly out of the box full stop (as in the camera on the Galaxy S, or seemingly in the Desire's case with the touch screen).

Anyway my old phone seems to have come back from the dead for the time being, so perhaps I can wait for the perfect Android phone :)

Kilack

527 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 9

Trusted

#354924 22-Jul-2010 14:19

wendonside:
Kilack: Id rather have my phone a little bit fatter and pay a little bit more and get it all right.

Thanks for the update. Regarding your last sentence, I'm ok with different features at different price points - that's the way the market works and that's fine by me. What I don't like is paying for features that don't work until you've spent hours trying to figure out how to reconfigure the system (as is the lag problem), or don't work properly out of the box full stop (as in the camera on the Galaxy S, or seemingly in the Desire's case with the touch screen).

Anyway my old phone seems to have come back from the dead for the time being, so perhaps I can wait for the perfect Android phone :)

I hear you, I keep by k800 for the moments inbetween smart phones. still love that phone and the camera is great especially with its dedicated buttons and xenon flash.
I think also , the smart phone wars are so compeditive now that companies are just rushing phones out the door to keep up with each other before proper testing is done so we are getting these phones arriving with nasty bugs etc that should have been sorted before launching them but instead we have to wait a few months until they update firmwares etc.

ArtooDetoo

1044 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#355068 22-Jul-2010 19:13

Kilack:
wendonside:
Kilack: Id rather have my phone a little bit fatter and pay a little bit more and get it all right.

Thanks for the update. Regarding your last sentence, I'm ok with different features at different price points - that's the way the market works and that's fine by me. What I don't like is paying for features that don't work until you've spent hours trying to figure out how to reconfigure the system (as is the lag problem), or don't work properly out of the box full stop (as in the camera on the Galaxy S, or seemingly in the Desire's case with the touch screen).

Anyway my old phone seems to have come back from the dead for the time being, so perhaps I can wait for the perfect Android phone :)

I hear you, I keep by k800 for the moments inbetween smart phones. still love that phone and the camera is great especially with its dedicated buttons and xenon flash.
I think also , the smart phone wars are so compeditive now that companies are just rushing phones out the door to keep up with each other before proper testing is done so we are getting these phones arriving with nasty bugs etc that should have been sorted before launching them but instead we have to wait a few months until they update firmwares etc.

It's not just smartphones either. My modest old E63 has had audio probs since day 1 and there's still no fix. Cripes, it's not like Nokia doesn't have any experience with audio. They seem to be so intent on firing another piece of kit out the door, they're not bothering to get it right.

Hmmm...

Galaxy S has gone to its new owner. HTC Sensation has gone to its new
owner. Galaxy S3 has gone to its new owner. Now using Galaxy Note 3. Skipping Note 4 I think...

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