Will android update its self?

[Jleagle]

Im looking to buy an Android phone but dont want to get stuck with a certain version number if loads more come out.

I have read that it is possible but how do i know if the people i have my contract with are going to release and allow an update?

Thanks.

[BBnLA]

Im looking to buy an Android phone but dont want to get stuck with a certain version number if loads more come out.

I have read that it is possible but how do i know if the people i have my contract with are going to release and allow an update?

Thanks.

So far, every Android phone released is capable of what's called OTA (over the air) operating system updates.

With that in mind, some Android phones have customized Operating systems, such as SenseUI from HTC, or MotoBlur from Motorola. Other Android phones have stock Android OS's on them... such as the very first released Android phone, the G1, and the Motorola Droid.

Those phones with standard Android OS will be updated sooner, being the OEM doesn't need to update their customization to a newly released operating system.

The Droid, for example, has already had one release, and it's only been out about two months. It's supposed to get another update Jan. 21st.

some manufacturers announce that they'll be updating to such and such OS (newest OS update will be 2.1, which will be on the NexusOne, and is supposed to be sent out to Droid phones late January), while other phones come out with somewhat outdated versions of the Android OS (my wife's Behold II is still on OS 1.5, while the G1, released in Oct. '08, has been updated to OS 1.6!)

Hope this helps some...

[Eclypz]

Android Operating system itself can be updated.

Whether your phone is eligible for an update depends on your carrier and device manufacturer.

But to buy a phone now and expect every update for the life of the device is unreasonable. Soon Android will exceed the hardware specifications older devices (G1/Dream comes to mind, due to its limited amount of RAM and partition space)

[Jleagle]

I don't see why lifetime upgrades would be unreasonable, after all Android is free.

I was thinking about getting a Hero which has 528 MHz CPU but i noticed all the new Android devices have double that.

I would have thought the CPU consumption would hit a plateau after a certain amount of releases, and therefore no longer need faster CPUs.

[hall]

I don't see why lifetime upgrades would be unreasonable, after all Android is free.

That's not what was said or implied. It was clarified that newer versions of Android will realistically need more and more horsepower, RAM, etc to operate well.

[Jleagle]

What i was trying to say was Android RAM/CPU consumption is rising now because its fairly new but i dont think that will last for ever. Eventually it will slow down and i think its important (for me) to buy a phone which will be capable of running Android at the point in time when it starts to slow. So hopefully the phone will be upgradeable for as long as possible.

[Eclypz]

Wirelessly posted (HTC Dream: Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 1.6; en-us; T-Mobile G1 Build/DRC83) AppleWebKit/528.5+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.2 Mobile Safari/525.20.1)

What i was trying to say was Android RAM/CPU consumption is rising now because its fairly new but i dont think that will last for ever. Eventually it will slow down and i think its important (for me) to buy a phone which will be capable of running Android at the point in time when it starts to slow. So hopefully the phone will be upgradeable for as long as possible.

Technology never stands still.



The last OS that "leveled off" and stopped advancing was Windows Mobile, and I'm sure I don't need to remind you how well that went. When the competiton raises the bar, Android has to improve to remain competitive. As more is demanded from smart devices, the hardware requirements increase with it. There is no way around that. You're not going to get more for less.

Here is an example:
I predict Snap Dragon (1GHz) will be the next standard platform for Android, which will give us more breathing room, but that also means all the current devices (Qualcomm 528MHz) will eventually be left behind, as the newer Android revisions are designed for a faster platform.

[chickenslut]

What i was trying to say was Android RAM/CPU consumption is rising now because its fairly new but i dont think that will last for ever. Eventually it will slow down and i think its important (for me) to buy a phone which will be capable of running Android at the point in time when it starts to slow. So hopefully the phone will be upgradeable for as long as possible.

What you should really consider is what your "reasonable life" will be out of the phone. If you anticipate replacing it inside of 2 years, then the Hero should do okay by you. You would likely see likely 1 major and a couple minor updates over that time (my predictions and opinion).

If you want the device to last longer than that and still be relevant (not lagging when trying to do basic functions) buy the fastest one on the market so that as tech improves it will be humming along just fine.

You need to look at how long you want to use the phone for. A basic cell phone functions for years since it only makes calls and sends SMS and those are not prone to technology advances, but a smartphone is prone to what I call "technology inertia". You can't reasonably expect a 10 year old laptop to rock the latest version of Call of Duty (not that you are implying that either), so just figure out how long you want to use the phone for an base your decision on that.

[Jleagle]

Ive looked around at the different contracts and most last 24 months. That means i pretty much have to keep paying every month for the next 2 years, right? So id like the phone to last untill then. Is it possible to change/update the phone before then?

[chickenslut]

Ive looked around at the different contracts and most last 24 months. That means i pretty much have to keep paying every month for the next 2 years, right? So id like the phone to last untill then. Is it possible to change/update the phone before then?

Yes, are you in the States or UK?

[Jleagle]

UK

I dont know much about contracts etc...

[chickenslut]

Gotcha, I wish I could speak to contracts overseas but I don't know so I would hope someone could chime in and explain a bit further since I don't want to give bad info.

In the US, our contracts are typically 24 months to cover the subsidy cost, that's why I used that example. Let me know if you have any other questions and I'd be happy to help.

[rasmith3530]

I would have thought the CPU consumption would hit a plateau after a certain amount of releases, and therefore no longer need faster CPUs.

My first computer was a KayPro 16. It's Intel 8088 CPU ran at a blazingly fast 4.77Mhz. By the time I got to a 133Mhz Intel Pentium running Windows 3.1, I was asking how much more do we need. I still have one of my old desktops, a 350Mhz Compaq DeskPro, and I am amazed that we ever put up with such slow hardware.

Data is the future of mobile devices (read cell phones), and data uses CPU power. Application feature development drives hardware speed. More and better features equal the need for speed.