The source code for Android 2.3 has been released. “Nexus S went on sale yesterday morning in the US, running Gingerbread. Just like I did for Froyo, I’m open-sourcing the matching Android platform source code, right after the first consumers get their hands
on it. I’m going to start literally right now, and the process will take a few hours.”
For releasing the Gingerbread code.
I second the props. I wonder when Gingerbread will hit the N1? ;-P
I’m wondering when CyanogenMod gets updated to Gingerbread
It is going to be a while. Apparently there is a ton of ABI breakage in gingerbread. This means that a lot of drivers (and proprietary bits) are going to have to be redone for gingerbread
Yeah, I thought so – should be at least a month, maybe two… I’m very happy with current stable CyanogenMod though, so I’m not really impatient
Shouldn’t take too long. But you have to remember that the N1 is no longer the primary dev phone so it may take longer than froyo
Edited 2010-12-18 21:30 UTC
So, anyone find something useful (that is, useful for “rest of the world” not running Dalvik) in the source code?
It’s sort of sad that this is good news.
It would have been much better if Android had been an open opensource project, i.e. we could have followed how the code evolved from day one. That way we could have software that was updated to make use of new features from day one.
Considering how much Google likes betas, you’d think they would release a beta to developers before the official release.
Unfortunately like previous updates you’ll be dependent on the OEM and/or carrier. Its all very nice to have ‘open source’ but if it requires elaborate hacking around just to load on a ‘open source’ ROM built by a community of enthusiasts then I don’t hold out much hope. I’ve got a Vodafone 845 running Android 2.1 – although most of what is introduced in 2.2 is geared towards phones with particular features, what I protest is the principle that customers are left high and dry. Its a good phone and all but I’m still frustrated at the lack of any movement when it comes to end user based ROM upgrades rather than being held to ransom by carriers and OEM’s.
Unfortuantely, the best roms and aosp android versions come to the most popular phones and also depend on the most capable community.
i.e. you will find a ton for HTC phones but not say… sony ericsson. So obviously if a phone is popular the greater the chances that you can root your phone and write a non signed version of android (i.e. hack the bootloader).
Or you just buy a google nexus phone which is free of the blocks that a put on non google phones.
Your situation is just the same as it has always been. When I used carrier Nokia phones I always had to hack the region codes in order to dump the carrier firmware. The carriers would never update the phones firmware and their own extensions either outright ruined the phone or just didn’t work very well.
It is a bit sad that Android changes very little about carrier and manufacturer behaviour, but for some (the lucky few of us?) the situation is a lot better.
I am sorry but Sony Ericsson is very popular and was also one of the very first phones to get an unofficial Gingerbread!!
The bootloader has not been cracked because of its good implementation, not because no one has tried. I have also heard that the marketing people at SE are aware of the “problems” this have caused XDA, and they dont like it. Maybe we can see a “leak” soon?
Edited 2010-12-20 15:24 UTC
I don’t really follow Android stuff too closely because it doesn’t affect me, but from comments here am I correct in interpreting that although the new Android version has been released it’s going to be potentially months before it’s available on the majority of existing Android powered handsets, if at all?
I was under the impression that it just automatically updated over the air – one of the key differentiators touted by some. Is that not the case?
No. The source code to *almost* everything has been released. Unfortunately, critical drivers (GPS, camera, battery, etc) are not considered part of Android by Google, and are often closed source. They need to be updated by the phone manufacturers in order for the new release to work.
Some good news on that front though, the Nexus One GPS driver is now open source, and the Nexus S audio and camera drivers are open source.
Basically with android aosp, the phone could (depending on the model) boot, but beyond that things that require drivers not in the google kernel will not work.
Incidentally, drivers and *extra stuff* is one the reason things like CyanogenMod exist. It is up to the community to add all the extra stuff that is not included in the android releases.
While I understand this completely I don’t know many non-techy people who are either interested in or capable of rooting their phone to install an updated version of the OS, especially when…
“I was told it would just update automatically!”
I know it’s a walled garden, and all those lovely descriptors people want to throw at it, but every single person who I know that has an iPhone 3G, 3Gs or 4 – and there are a lot of them – are running the latest iOS, because they simply clicked update.
I appreciate that this is also the case with Google’s own phones, but my point is that there are surely a lot of people out there who’ve bought into the whole “it’s just like an iPhone only open” or “it’s just like an iPhone but you can do more with it” thing, who bought other Android based phones, who may have to wait months to be able to use their sexy “over the air” updating to get new features, if at all.
Being one of the “I want it now!” brigade, I know if it was mine I’d be pretty pissed off.
Aha,yes that is true. However I bet many of those people didn’t expect updates to cause issues like ios 4 on 3gs. Or that major features wouldn’t be available to them. But yes the Iphone does benefit from lack of diversity.
Whoever is saying Android is iphone but open should be shot. Also whoever is marketing that ought be hung, drawn and quartered.
It is usually the case that the I want it now, buy good phones and root them. It is usually the the cheap or carrier branded phones that suffer the worst…but then you get what you paid for…
Edited 2010-12-20 00:54 UTC
I want to buy an Android phone (LG Optimus One), because it is a good price and has decent features and is a big upgrade from my nokia-dumb phone, but am hesitant to buy it because the company does not give any info about how long they will support and update the phone. Also, there does not appear to be a cynogenmod available for that phone.
So, here I am ready to spend the money but not sure if it is a good idea. I’ll probably wait until 3.0 is released and buy a low-end phone that runs 3.0 decently. Atleast that way, it is likely that I’ll get updates for 3.x alteast!??
Atleast with the iPhone, even the old 3GS is guaranteed updates for another 1.5 years. I wish Google & Android phone vendors would do something about mentioning how long phones would be supported.
If they are non-techy, they don’t want in-depth updates anyway, I think.
I still remember the day where I helped a relative with his iPod Touch, which exhibited some strange behaviors. Turns out he had updated it to iOS 4 without knowing exactly what it was about, and even worse the update process didn’t go perfectly well.
Myself, I would never update any of my computers (phones included) to a new major release of their OS/firmwares without having done a full back-up and having some hours to spend recovering everything if the update process didn’t went well. Minor security/stability updates are generally safe, but major updates change a lot and thus have a much higher chance of breaking something in the way.
Edited 2010-12-20 15:06 UTC
Most of the people I know bought in to Android because Verizon doesn’t offer iPhones – and they were not going to AT&T just for an iPhone
It’s really not much different from my WinMo days; if you wanted an OS feature two versions later than what came on the phone, you turned to the porting/hacking community. If Apple is indeed backporting all their new iOS versions to old hardware, then good for them. One does pay a price for that in other areas, though.
Wow. Ok. I wonder how many people who bought Android handsets other than Nexus had this little gem explained to them?
Average Jane and Joe doesn’t care – only geeks do, and they knew already. Seriously, now I have a handful of colleagues with Android handsets, and they coldn’t care less for OTA updates. What they care for is built quality, usability, some cool apps & games. Today’s Android handsets deliver on all fronts. And for people who do care about always getting the latest and greatest, there is always a completey open phone available, and some that are more or less hacker friendly.
I have also found that most android users, even average joes, tend to have more knowledge about the particularities of android as opposed to most iphone users who tend to be much more ignorant about aspects of ios.
Interesting… in the past, whenever someone has made a similar criticism about the iOS, you and the rest of the Apple Defense Brigade have been quick to leap into the fray, apologists talking-points primed and ready. You know, the standard BS lines about how Apple’s draconian restrictions are entirely “for our own good/for the User Experience(tm)/THINK OF THE CHILDREN”.
So, by all means, please educate us as to why those arguments apply to Apple’s restrictions, but not those imposed by Android device makers/carriers. Waiting…
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