“There’s a leaked Android 4.3 Jelly Bean ROM out in the wild this morning, in the form of a pre-release build for the ‘Google Play edition’ Galaxy S4. It’s also been ported to the European LTE Galaxy S4 (GT-i9505) in the form of a custom ROM, courtesy of the original source of the leak, Samsung fansite SamMobile. We’ve fired up that ROM on our European GS4 and shot a quick hands-on video, giving an early glimpse of the next version of Android.” Few changes.
Sounds like they’ve decided to release a minor update(4.3) and push all the big features to 5.0? later in the year.
Like it wasn’t announced during the Google keynote… If it was Android 5.0, that would be another affair though.
Kochise
I think it’s smart of Google to stick to small, incremental updates to Android 4.x series in order to get carriers caught up while they straighten out the fragmentation mess. Android 4.x is a strong, robust platform that’s mature and capable enough to carry users forward before a radical update that is expected with Android 5.x. Slow and steady will win the game. That being said, I also think it is very smart of Google to work with OEMs to offer “Google Play” (i.e., Nexus) versions of popular phones like the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One sans carrier skins and other bloatware that hinders timely updates to the OS.
I have an Android 4.x capable hardware that the OEM decided not to update after Android… 2.3. Go figure. Of course, no ROM source code available, no datasheet, the OEM just decided to abandon the platform.
Fragmentation ? What can Google do to force OEM to upgrade their various Android implementations and keep them up to date ? Nothing.
Would it be easier for OEMs to upgrade from Android 4.x to 5.0, will(ing) they do it ? No sure, because Android 5.0 will add a value to the new devices sold with, and OEMs have to sell new devices, not support old ones. That’s HTC’s fate and misfortune.
So my Android 2.3 device will never know Android 4, even less Android 5. So what’s the point of making “little steps” ?
Kochise
Unfortunately that is the norm for cell phones. Personally, I prefer to buy a Nexus device or another device that I know is supported by third parties, like CyanogenMod, but I know that is not always possible.
Just curious, what is the model of your phone?
Edited 2013-06-29 10:06 UTC
Not a phone, a 7″ mini PC using a WM8650 @ 1GHz.
For my phone, a HTC Evo 3D GSM, I use CyanogenMod 10.1 Jelly Bean 4.2.2, but no more 3D, since that’s HTC’s private binary blob stuff.
Kochise
Exactly!!! I only purchase Nexus devices. I had a Nexus One and currently own a Galaxy Nexus. I for one am very excited about Google offering Nexus versions of flagship devices Samsung Galaxy 4 and the HTC One. The build quality of the latter is really something; I can’t say that I’ve ever seen a more attractive device. The Nexus One was an HTC handset and I found its quality far superior to Samsung’s offerings.
Minus the SD card slot and some other stuffs…
Kochise
[q]Fragmentation ? What can Google do to force OEM to upgrade their various Android implementations and keep them up to date ? Nothing.
/q]
Well, quite. Google can’t force this. Hence, it’s a market. If you want up-to-date Androids, go with Nexus or a manufacturer with a good track record of updates. Customers have a choice. This is why Android is a good thing.
True. What Google can do, is reduce the number of features that are introduced in new versions of android to make it easier for OEM to upgrade their various Android implementations. Hopefully, the easier it is to do, the more OEMs will actually do it.
It will reduce the gap between the Android versions, but it will not force OEMs to upgrade if they don’t want to. They will still pretend the hardware is not capable enough. Or they are delaying the release because they are doing a thoughtfully testing for 3 years to keep the user experience level. Or simply focusing on just new products.
It at least they opened their specs…
Kochise
I think we’re going to have to hit a plateau soon where OEM’s will discover that they spend more money creating slightly improved devices every 6 months than they gain from selling those “new and improved” versions.
With the number of devices they are releasing combined with the way the US carriers test updates to official devices, its just not feasible to update everything regardless of hardware capabilities. Improving the situation in either direction would be greatly beneficial ( either OEM’s develop fewer devices giving Carriers fewer devices to certify or cutting carriers out of the update certification business by not selling them through carriers). I just think its more likely that the OEM’s will reduce the number of models.
I am no marketing guy, but I guess if Nokia or Samsung released thousands of different models it’s not for noothing, but to cover every consumer’s needs and fashion.
Just Apple succeeded at selling one device model at a time.
Kochise
As Blackberry and Nokia learned the hard way, the most profitable course of action today isn’t necessarily the one that worked in the past.
This site isn’t OSSurprises
Nope, OSleaks :
iOS leaks
iPhone leaks
Android leaks
Windows 8 leaks
…
Kochise