Is this the end of Android fragmentation?
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Google is on the verge of a takeover that will change the way Android development and updates are handled.
This according to Richard Windsor, an analyst with Edison Investment Research, who believes the Mountain View ad giant is tiring of slow updates and will soon take control of firmware updates away from hardware vendors.
Windsor said that the slow uptake of Android Marshmallow is getting in the way of Google's new product rollouts, such as Now on Tap. Seeking to improve uptake and use of its products, Windsor believes Google will assume responsibility for releasing firmware updates, a task currently left to handset makers and mobile carriers.
Alfredo sauce: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/02/17/google_android_takeover/
IMO, about time. One thing that has always annoyed me about Android is the lack of support/updates from the manufacturers. They don't really care about your security. They just want another sale from you, so of course they are going to be slow at patching/updating.
I might even look at an Android phone next time I'm due to get a replacement, providing the updates/patches are handled by Google.
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This only works if Google does it so cheaply that the handset makers let them do it. Google has no means of forcing them to let them do this.
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If you don't want to wait on your carrier, get something from the Nexus line. As I understand it, the Google devices are first in line for updates.
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@dafyre said:
If you don't want to wait on your carrier, get something from the Nexus line. As I understand it, the Google devices are first in line for updates.
Yeah, that may be so but a small, fragile and unnecessarily expensive device isn't top of the pile priority.
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What we need is for carriers to stop selling phones. Take the incentive for them to care away. My ISP doesn't sell me my computer - they only see me access. My cable/satellite provider don't sell me my TV, they only provide the video content, etc.
Turn those cellular providers it access providers and stop the lock-in madness.
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@dafyre said:
If you don't want to wait on your carrier, get something from the Nexus line. As I understand it, the Google devices are first in line for updates.
I really really enjoyed my Nexus5 and would still have it were it not broken due to my own stupidity.
Now I have a Samsung Note5 and I'm back to running Android 5.1.1 instead of 6.0.1 which I had for months prior.
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@MattSpeller said:
@dafyre said:
If you don't want to wait on your carrier, get something from the Nexus line. As I understand it, the Google devices are first in line for updates.
I really really enjoyed my Nexus5 and would still have it were it not broken due to my own stupidity.
Now I have a Samsung Note5 and I'm back to running Android 5.1.1 instead of 6.0.1 which I had for months prior.
why didn't you get another Nexus?
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@Dashrender said:
@MattSpeller said:
@dafyre said:
If you don't want to wait on your carrier, get something from the Nexus line. As I understand it, the Google devices are first in line for updates.
I really really enjoyed my Nexus5 and would still have it were it not broken due to my own stupidity.
Now I have a Samsung Note5 and I'm back to running Android 5.1.1 instead of 6.0.1 which I had for months prior.
why didn't you get another Nexus?
Nexus 6P wasn't out when I broke the screen on my 5.
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@MattSpeller said:
@Dashrender said:
@MattSpeller said:
@dafyre said:
If you don't want to wait on your carrier, get something from the Nexus line. As I understand it, the Google devices are first in line for updates.
I really really enjoyed my Nexus5 and would still have it were it not broken due to my own stupidity.
Now I have a Samsung Note5 and I'm back to running Android 5.1.1 instead of 6.0.1 which I had for months prior.
why didn't you get another Nexus?
Nexus 6P wasn't out when I broke the screen on my 5.
I'm due for a new phone this year and I'm going to get a 6P.
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I briefly considered an S7 Edge, but I can't leave the Nexus line ha.
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@MattSpeller said:
@Dashrender said:
@MattSpeller said:
@dafyre said:
If you don't want to wait on your carrier, get something from the Nexus line. As I understand it, the Google devices are first in line for updates.
I really really enjoyed my Nexus5 and would still have it were it not broken due to my own stupidity.
Now I have a Samsung Note5 and I'm back to running Android 5.1.1 instead of 6.0.1 which I had for months prior.
why didn't you get another Nexus?
Nexus 6P wasn't out when I broke the screen on my 5.
Se you went to a Samsung instead of buying another 5? just wondering why?
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@Dashrender said:
@MattSpeller said:
@Dashrender said:
@MattSpeller said:
@dafyre said:
If you don't want to wait on your carrier, get something from the Nexus line. As I understand it, the Google devices are first in line for updates.
I really really enjoyed my Nexus5 and would still have it were it not broken due to my own stupidity.
Now I have a Samsung Note5 and I'm back to running Android 5.1.1 instead of 6.0.1 which I had for months prior.
why didn't you get another Nexus?
Nexus 6P wasn't out when I broke the screen on my 5.
Se you went to a Samsung instead of buying another 5? just wondering why?
They stopped selling the 5.
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Really? so for a time there was no Nexus device to be purchased? that's weird.
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@johnhooks said:
@Dashrender said:
@MattSpeller said:
@Dashrender said:
@MattSpeller said:
@dafyre said:
If you don't want to wait on your carrier, get something from the Nexus line. As I understand it, the Google devices are first in line for updates.
I really really enjoyed my Nexus5 and would still have it were it not broken due to my own stupidity.
Now I have a Samsung Note5 and I'm back to running Android 5.1.1 instead of 6.0.1 which I had for months prior.
why didn't you get another Nexus?
Nexus 6P wasn't out when I broke the screen on my 5.
Se you went to a Samsung instead of buying another 5? just wondering why?
They stopped selling the 5.
The 5 was cannibalizing the sales of a LOT of the newer phones and our "big 3" all ceased buying it.
(source: one of the big3 district managers is my close friend) -
@Dashrender said:
Really? so for a time there was no Nexus device to be purchased? that's weird.
No they had the 6, but it was about $300 more than the 5 was.
The 16GB 5 was only $350.
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@johnhooks said:
@Dashrender said:
Really? so for a time there was no Nexus device to be purchased? that's weird.
No they had the 6, but it was about $300 more than the 5 was.
The 16GB 5 was only $350.
aka "free to me" and specs were really solid still (they hold up well today even)
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@MattSpeller said:
@johnhooks said:
@Dashrender said:
Really? so for a time there was no Nexus device to be purchased? that's weird.
No they had the 6, but it was about $300 more than the 5 was.
The 16GB 5 was only $350.
aka "free to me" and specs were really solid still (they hold up well today even)
I'm still using mine. I noticed it's getting a tiny bit slower though. Plus it's been through a lot ha.
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@johnhooks mine still worked with the outer plastic broken in 4 spots around the edge, big chunks out of the back cover and the back cover peeling up at two corners. The screen shattering was the coup de grâce.
Edit: buy a case people, they suck but they pay off
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@MattSpeller said:
@johnhooks mine still worked with the outer plastic broken in 4 spots around the edge, big chunks out of the back cover and the back cover peeling up at two corners. The screen shattering was the coup de grâce.
I have a few chips taken out of the edges/corners. All of the letters have come out of the back haha.
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@MattSpeller said:
@johnhooks mine still worked with the outer plastic broken in 4 spots around the edge, big chunks out of the back cover and the back cover peeling up at two corners. The screen shattering was the coup de grâce.
Edit: buy a case people, they suck but they pay off
I have this one, but it ended up being too big. You can get an extended battery to put in it (I have it but it charging takes forever with it).
