GN.. ICS.. I expected more frequent updates..

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XBarbarian

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Dec 29, 2006
Messages
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One of the "values" of having the Google reference model... GN with ICS
I thought.. was frequent updates and patches etc...

4.02 is months old....

pretty surprised.. I thought it was the active platform for constant improvement... doesnt seem to be the case.

sure, I can ROM etc.. and see dailies if I want from underground... but my expectation with this reference phone.. would be more activity...

oh well... :rolleyes:
 
Verizon version is supposed to be getting 4.0.5 in May, no other Android phone will be running that for quite awhile.

I have owned the Nexus-One...Nexus-S 4G...Galaxy Nexus. One very worrisome theme I am seeing from Google is the extremely slow updates onto the previous generation Nexus device. Gingerbread didn't come to the Nexus-One for like two + months after it was first released on the Nexus-S, and ICS took like 4+ months to officially be pushed onto the Nexus-S 4G from Google. So once the Nexus-Four comes out this Fall with Android 5.0 Jellybean, how long till the Galaxy Nexus gets the official update from Google ? Two to three months :rolleyes:

As much as I hate Apple, have to admit they know how to push out an update correctly. When Apple releases a brand new generation device, that very same week the new phone goes on sale, last years model gets the big OS update at the same time. I thought Google was planning to do that with their Nexus devices. It should be tested and ready to go the same week.
 
XBarbarian said:
One of the "values" of having the Google reference model... GN with ICS
I thought.. was frequent updates and patches etc...

4.02 is months old....

pretty surprised.. I thought it was the active platform for constant improvement... doesnt seem to be the case.

sure, I can ROM etc.. and see dailies if I want from underground... but my expectation with this reference phone.. would be more activity...

oh well... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
You apparently haven't paid attention to previous Nexus phones. They get more frequent updates, yes. However, they don't get updates monthly. Your expectations are way too high.

Current version is 4.0.4, which was only released publicly mid-March give or take. 4.0.3 was never officially released for any Nexus device regardless of model. https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images

You have to wait for testing and for the build to go through carrier validation especially with Verizon since the CDMA code isn't open source. That means Google can't 100% directly support the device. http://www.droid-life.com/2012/02/03/google-issues-statement-regarding-cdma-nexus-devices/

So start bitching at Verizon to finish their validation testing if they even have a 4.0.4 build on their test bench.

Zorachus said:
Verizon version is supposed to be getting 4.0.5 in May, no other Android phone will be running that for quite awhile.

I have owned the Nexus-One...Nexus-S 4G...Galaxy Nexus. One very worrisome theme I am seeing from Google is the extremely slow updates onto the previous generation Nexus device. Gingerbread didn't come to the Nexus-One for like two + months after it was first released on the Nexus-S, and ICS took like 4+ months to officially be pushed onto the Nexus-S 4G from Google. So once the Nexus-Four comes out this Fall with Android 5.0 Jellybean, how long till the Galaxy Nexus gets the official update from Google ? Two to three months

As much as I hate Apple, have to admit they know how to push out an update correctly. When Apple releases a brand new generation device, that very same week the new phone goes on sale, last years model gets the big OS update at the same time. I thought Google was planning to do that with their Nexus devices. It should be tested and ready to go the same week.
Click to expand...

Where did you read about 4.0.5? I haven't heard anything about a version 4.0.5.

You do realize that with ICS it was built around the GNex. Then it gets support for the other Nexus devices. You can't do that overnight. So what if it took 4 months. That's still worlds better then anything people get from other carriers. Show me another vendor that has upgraded their 1+ year old phones, here in the US, to ICS.
 
Yeah. I was surprised when I read that the Sprint version was going to have 4.0.4, I was expecting the damned thing to ship with 4.0.3 with how it's gone on in the past. I think the slowness of Google updating their flagships is smart though -- more people want working phones, than absolute bleeding edge with force closes.
 
XBarbarian said:
One of the "values" of having the Google reference model... GN with ICS
I thought.. was frequent updates and patches etc...

4.02 is months old....

pretty surprised.. I thought it was the active platform for constant improvement... doesnt seem to be the case.

sure, I can ROM etc.. and see dailies if I want from underground... but my expectation with this reference phone.. would be more activity...

oh well... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

It could be worse, our Sprint Nexus S4g just got ICS
 
Atleast it's not as bad as the Galaxy S series. We get our android updates right before the new models carrying the new update get released. And if your on CDMA, you get your update a month after that.
 
NickJames said:
Atleast it's not as bad as the Galaxy S series. We get our android updates right before the new models carrying the new update get released. And if your on CDMA, you get your update a month after that.
Click to expand...

Unless you're on the international version, they've had ICS for over a month already. :p
 
Zorachus said:
Verizon version is supposed to be getting 4.0.5 in May, no other Android phone will be running that for quite awhile.

I have owned the Nexus-One...Nexus-S 4G...Galaxy Nexus. One very worrisome theme I am seeing from Google is the extremely slow updates onto the previous generation Nexus device. Gingerbread didn't come to the Nexus-One for like two + months after it was first released on the Nexus-S, and ICS took like 4+ months to officially be pushed onto the Nexus-S 4G from Google. So once the Nexus-Four comes out this Fall with Android 5.0 Jellybean, how long till the Galaxy Nexus gets the official update from Google ? Two to three months :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Previous gen CDMA Nexus devices get even slower updates compared to their GSM counterparts too (at 'least if Sprint's Nexus S is any indication, and Sprint's generally good about updates, at 'least w/their HTC devices), so you're behind those in the update line, and they're behind the current flagship Nexus device... It's kind of silly if you ask me.

The whole Nexus program just seems to be way off timing-wise imo... Last two devices haven't been truly top-tier hardware anymore ('specially by the time 4G variants make it to US networks), not like the original Nexus was when it launched (it literally raised the bar on every aspect of the device). I think if they moved the release schedule around they'd be better off, maybe stop aiming for holidays/start of year and peg it at April/May.

Part of the problem is inherent to the Nexus device development tho, it's built on one platform and then they have to port it to a variety of others. I really hope they switch from Samsung for the next one tho. Samsung's put out one Nexus devices w/a TI SoC because their own hardware wasn't readily available which means even they have to end up porting the new OS version to their own devices, so no one has a leg up... And even when they used their own SoC they still blew it and the GB updates for the Galaxy S took forever.

It's still better than carrier dictated updates I guess, if you're not into the whole mod/ROM community... Apple drops features left and right from their older phone models just to up-sell the new phones, so even tho their model is super efficient it also screws people in other ways. MS probably has the best approach but they haven't released enough updates to truly test that, we'll see what happens w/Apollo and current WP models.
 
Vermillion said:
You do realize that with ICS it was built around the GNex. Then it gets support for the other Nexus devices. You can't do that overnight. So what if it took 4 months. That's still worlds better then anything people get from other carriers. Show me another vendor that has upgraded their 1+ year old phones, here in the US, to ICS.
Click to expand...

Samsung US is the worst, but some carrier/manufacturer tandems have done pretty good imo, even in the US where they tend to meddle more and delay updates longer. The original EVO went from Eclair (2.1) at launch to Froyo (2.2) a few months later and then Gingerbread (2.3) in less than 6 months after it came out. I think some original Galaxy devices in the US never even got Gingerbread... Not to mention that Sprint/HTC pushed out like a dozen other maintenance updates in between and around those three, literally like half a dozen.

My EVO 3D saw pretty good support too, tho ICS is taking it's sweet time and I don't expect it'll receive another major update after that. Moto/HTC have generally done much better in the US than Samsung, people say it's not Samsung's fault but the carriers but Samsung's phones on ALL carriers have lagged behind other manufacturers... So the real issue is Samsung's relationship w/US carriers imo. I think there might be more friction there than w/other manufacturers since Samsung wants to emphasize their own branding across different carriers etc.
 
that's just the kind of luxury you give up when purchasing an android phone
 
Google can't be bothered with updating even their own phones or even try to have some sort of agreement with the carriers about timely updates as part of using Android.

The answer to every Android problem seems to be 'custom rom' whether it is missing features/lag/lack of updates.
 
I have always read that the "Nexus" phones are supposed to highlight the latest software, not top of the line hardware spec's.

But their spec's have been pretty top notch for end of the year hardware;

- 2009 they released the Nexus-One with 1ghz processor, at the time no other phone had a 1ghz in 09'

- 2010 Nexus-S, 1ghz Hummingbird cpu, and Super AMOLED screen, it was no slouch whatsoever, and back in 2010, the only phone that compared to it, was Samsung's own Galaxy S1. But the Nexus-S had the all new Gingerbread OS. Hardware wise it was still in the top of the pack, nothing beating it in 2010.

- 2011 Galaxy Nexus, brought us the beautiful 720p AMOLED HD screen, and the awesome Android 4.0 ICS. It was dual core and had 1gb RAM. Not many others phones in 2011 offered all that in one device. Again for 2011, it's hardware package was not really surpassed by other phones, it was pretty much equal to all the other top of the line phones for 2011.

- 2012 Nexus-Four, I predict a Tegra3-LTE processor, 1080p screen, and the phone will be made by HTC, will run Android 5.0 Jellybean. Hardware wise it be be as good as HTC's top dog the One X, and I am sure on par with Samsung's king Galaxy S3.
 
OP, are you having issues that require an update? 4.0.2 was very stable for me, i only have 4.0.4 (in the form of AOKP) to gain extra non-AOSP features ..... I see it as a good thing that i'm not getting updates left/right, since the shit works out of the box ......


edit: Also the Nexus (to my knowledge) was never marketed as a ultra high end phone ... its a developer phone, it features the new software, the selling point is the software ....
 
MrCrispy said:
Google can't be bothered with updating even their own phones or even try to have some sort of agreement with the carriers about timely updates as part of using Android.

The answer to every Android problem seems to be 'custom rom' whether it is missing features/lag/lack of updates.
Click to expand...

That's the most common answer because you're looking for answers on message boards full of geeks who enjoy that kinda thing... Yeah some phones are duds and lack the occasional essential function or have major bugs, but that's kind of the point of Android, along w/that you have a wide variety of phones to choose from.

By and large the average consumer couldn't care less about OS updates so it's all kinda moot. If you happen to find yourself in that middle ground where you can't be bothered to tinker with your device but you also wanna be on the bleeding edge then you just gotta decide what you value more, and maybe Android ain't for ya, maybe WP or iOS is better suited.

Google's been working pretty hard at decoupling major functionality from the OS itself tho, so it's easier to update piecemeal, even the browser is finally moving in that direction with the Chrome beta... ICS is a huge UI redesign but it doesn't really alter core functionality of what you do with the phone on a daily basis. You can still text, take pics, run apps, browse the web etc etc. on GB or even Froyo.
 
Zorachus said:
I have always read that the "Nexus" phones are supposed to highlight the latest software, not top of the line hardware spec's.

But their spec's have been pretty top notch for end of the year hardware;

- 2009 they released the Nexus-One with 1ghz processor, at the time no other phone had a 1ghz in 09'

- 2010 Nexus-S, 1ghz Hummingbird cpu, and Super AMOLED screen, it was no slouch whatsoever, and back in 2010, the only phone that compared to it, was Samsung's own Galaxy S1. But the Nexus-S had the all new Gingerbread OS. Hardware wise it was still in the top of the pack, nothing beating it in 2010.

- 2011 Galaxy Nexus, brought us the beautiful 720p AMOLED HD screen, and the awesome Android 4.0 ICS. It was dual core and had 1gb RAM. Not many others phones in 2011 offered all that in one device. Again for 2011, it's hardware package was not really surpassed by other phones, it was pretty much equal to all the other top of the line phones for 2011.

- 2012 Nexus-Four, I predict a Tegra3-LTE processor, 1080p screen, and the phone will be made by HTC, will run Android 5.0 Jellybean. Hardware wise it be be as good as HTC's top dog the One X, and I am sure on par with Samsung's king Galaxy S3.
Click to expand...

The Nexus S launched quite a bit after the Galaxy S tho... And didn't really do anything new, and most other single-core flagship devices were on par even if other SoCs weren't quite as fast as Hummingbird on paper. It was really just a Galaxy S re-launched months later w/GB and no microSD.

The Galaxy Nexus had the big screen w/on screen buttons, altho a few other phones
were doing 720p already... And the HTC One X & SGS3 will soon eclipse it w/much faster SoCs and better battery life (28nm A15-based S4 or Tegra 3 w/companion core or w/e equivalent ARM A9 quad core Samsung trots out for the SGS3).

That's kinda my point, the last two Nexus have been sorta stopgap devices doing one or two things better than most current phones but soon getting overshadowed by the biggest model releases which are usually launched closer to summer.

I do hope they don't go w/Tegra 3 for the next Nexus as it'll start to be looking pretty long in the tooth by then, it's already outpaced by A15-based dual core designs in many situations (and those should be more power efficient)... If HTC ends up making it they would more than likely go Qualcomm tho, since that's all they use. The refreshed S4 w/a an all new GPU would be a possibility, but again, that would be launching 6 months after the S4 devices that are on launching now.

Hence my point, there won't be a whole new class of SoC ready by the holidays, just TI/Samsung's S4 equivalents. I think it'd be easier to keep Nexus devices up to date (and make them more of a showpiece) if they were launching alongside the other best-of-year devices, altho I guess there's reasons Google would want to avoid that kinda direct competition too.
 
HTC uses other chips than just Qualcomm, the Tegra3 is in their flagship One X, well the good international version anyways. And the Galaxy Nexus is a 2011 phone, not fair to compare to 2012 phones like the One X and upcoming S3. Compare the Galaxy S3 to the Nexus-Four which are both 2012 phones.

But again, Google never intended the "Nexus" line to show off super crazy high end spec's, it is about their OS #1. At least that is what I have always read. I agree would be cool if the Nexus line was both their brand new OS, and the best of the best hardware.

I think Google confused us [H]ardware geeks with the Nexus-One ( myself included ) The first Nexus was two things, the best hardware in a smartphone for 2009, and the latest/newest Android OS. I then expected the Nexus-S not just to have the latest Android OS, but also the best hardware of any phone at that time, and it should have been dual core, because those were not too far off at the time. I agree the Nexus-S was just a Galaxy S1 with 2.3 Gingerbread, nothing that great. Not sure if Google changed their minds after the Nexus-One, and made a point to just focus on software only, and not caring about top of the line hardware spec's in the Nexus line anymore ?

But after Quad Core Android phones, what is the next big hardware path for Android in 2013/2014 etc... ? They won't go 6 core or 8 cores in the next couple of years ? I guess more efficient processors and better screen technology ?
 
Last edited:
XBarbarian said:
One of the "values" of having the Google reference model... GN with ICS
I thought.. was frequent updates and patches etc...

4.02 is months old....

pretty surprised.. I thought it was the active platform for constant improvement... doesnt seem to be the case.

sure, I can ROM etc.. and see dailies if I want from underground... but my expectation with this reference phone.. would be more activity...

oh well... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

The nexus s received ics like 3 months late so yeah just buy the phone for what the current OS is running if you want more/faster updates either flash custom roms or buy an iphone.
 
Greenstuffs said:
The nexus s received ics like 3 months late so yeah just buy the phone for what the current OS is running if you want more/faster updates either flash custom roms or buy an iphone.
Click to expand...

Yes, that pretty much sums it up. When you buy a new Android phone, like it and accept it as is. If you want the newest OS or features, then you have to root + ROM, or go get an iPhone for timely OS updates.
 
Major iOS updates only happen about once a year, and it's not like Apple is exactly the paragon of efficiency when it comes to squashing major bugs and security holes either (far from it). Enthusiasts just fret too much about Android updates that won't necessarily change how they use their device, just because another device has it and theirs doesn't. /shrug If that causes you that much stress and you can't be bothered to tinker a bit in order to get updates sooner then yah, you're better off w/an iPhone or WP.
 
Zorachus said:
Yes, that pretty much sums it up. When you buy a new Android phone, like it and accept it as is. If you want the newest OS or features, then you have to root + ROM, or go get an iPhone for timely OS updates.
Click to expand...
And hope you get the full featured update, and it doesn't squash your performance.

Tradeoffs. Gotta love em.

Samsung US is the worst, but some carrier/manufacturer tandems have done pretty good imo, even in the US where they tend to meddle more and delay updates longer.
Click to expand...

I still really wonder how much of it is Samsung. The International GS2 has had 4.0 for a month now.... Surely it wouldn't take them too long to port it to the same device over here?
 
thanks for the feedback

I am happy with the phone.. it works great, no issues.. only one reboot so far...

was just making the point... that I apparently misunderstood and expected more frequent updates.

no biggie. its a great phone anyway.
 
I have to say after having the GN/GSM version since launch I'm really starting to hate this phone. The constant loss of signal...not bars..signal, is truly annoying and makes using the phone a constant pain in the ass. I'm on TMO but my friends on Verizon have the same problem. Will be looking for something new very soon.
 
XBarbarian said:
thanks for the feedback

I am happy with the phone.. it works great, no issues.. only one reboot so far...

was just making the point... that I apparently misunderstood and expected more frequent updates.

no biggie. its a great phone anyway.
Click to expand...

ya, as said earlier, the point of the nexus isnt to get updates every week, i'd be worried if there was, out of the box it was pretty solid. Major fixes come as they are needed, if you need the bleeding edge, root.

harsaphes said:
I have to say after having the GN/GSM version since launch I'm really starting to hate this phone. The constant loss of signal...not bars..signal, is truly annoying and makes using the phone a constant pain in the ass. I'm on TMO but my friends on Verizon have the same problem. Will be looking for something new very soon.
Click to expand...

Possibly faulty hardware? i've got one of T-Mo, havent experienced a loss of signal yet, its actually been stronger than either the Nexus S i had or the T989 I had .... very glad i upgraded from the T989 to this.
 
Zorachus said:
I have always read that the "Nexus" phones are supposed to highlight the latest software, not top of the line hardware spec's.

But their spec's have been pretty top notch for end of the year hardware;

- 2009 they released the Nexus-One with 1ghz processor, at the time no other phone had a 1ghz in 09'

- 2010 Nexus-S, 1ghz Hummingbird cpu, and Super AMOLED screen, it was no slouch whatsoever, and back in 2010, the only phone that compared to it, was Samsung's own Galaxy S1. But the Nexus-S had the all new Gingerbread OS. Hardware wise it was still in the top of the pack, nothing beating it in 2010.

- 2011 Galaxy Nexus, brought us the beautiful 720p AMOLED HD screen, and the awesome Android 4.0 ICS. It was dual core and had 1gb RAM. Not many others phones in 2011 offered all that in one device. Again for 2011, it's hardware package was not really surpassed by other phones, it was pretty much equal to all the other top of the line phones for 2011.

- 2012 Nexus-Four, I predict a Tegra3-LTE processor, 1080p screen, and the phone will be made by HTC, will run Android 5.0 Jellybean. Hardware wise it be be as good as HTC's top dog the One X, and I am sure on par with Samsung's king Galaxy S3.
Click to expand...

Nexus S was beat by the Galaxy S because it had an SD slot.
 
but nexus S had functioning GPS, unlike most Galaxy S's (atleast mine had no issues, and dont remember big stink about bad GPS on nexus S)
 
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