[BeethovensPiano]

Google's I/O conference is next month - 28th May to be exact What are we expecting to see? Any ideas or rumours. We had Android L last year, maybe we will see a successor to that?

https://events.google.com/io2015/

[Everything Goes]

Many of us are still waiting on Lollipop nearly 6 months after launch. Lollipop has reached 1.6% In Feb 2015.

The Jelly Bean version of Android which comprises Android 4.1.x to Android 4.3 — still comprises 44.5 percent of total installations, down just one-half of one percentage point. Android 4.4 KitKat came in third at 39.7 percent of total installs.

In a word Dreadful!

Google keep saying that roll outs will be faster as they pressure manufactures. Bet we here the same old story at this one too....

http://www.androidcentral.com/androi...ercent-devices

[BeethovensPiano]

Im still waiting for Lollipop on my Moto E

[Everything Goes]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeethovensPiano

Im still waiting for Lollipop on my Moto E

Im still waiting for it on my Galaxy S4. Its the one thing that Apple well and truly do well with. Android ecosystem is however much more complex. I think at the end of the day we need to take the networks out the loop on this one. If they want custom bloatware then they will have to add it in later on rather than another excuse to hold up the process.

[Richard_T]

One of the issues with android is that you are in fact buying abandon ware, in that whatever the phone is shipped with is the software version that stays with it for life, and most devices will only see one update at best ( assuming the end user accepts the update)
Why would an android device manufacturer want to spend money and resources on getting the latest version of android running on an old product, when they are releasing countless new android products of slightly different designs all the time?

[Gigabit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard_T

One of the issues with android is that you are in fact buying abandon ware, in that whatever the phone is shipped with is the software version that stays with it for life, and most devices will only see one update at best ( assuming the end user accepts the update)
Why would an android device manufacturer want to spend money and resources on getting the latest version of android running on an old product, when they are releasing countless new android products of slightly different designs all the time?

Obvious troll is obvious.

[jchamier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gigabit

Obvious troll is obvious.

Its a real problem though - the handset makers don't get any cut of sales from the Play store and majority of apps are advertising funded. Therefore the handset maker has no incentive to support devices in the field.

[jchamier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Everything Goes

Im still waiting for it on my Galaxy S4. Its the one thing that Apple well and truly do well with.

I thought Lollipop was out for the S4 ?

http://www.androidauthority.com/gala...pop-uk-594610/

[Everything Goes]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jchamier

I thought Lollipop was out for the S4 ?

http://www.androidauthority.com/gala...pop-uk-594610/

The only network branded roll out is on Vodafone:

http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/d.../GT-I9505/VOD/

The UK BTU Black Edition has it:

http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/d.../GT-I9505/BTU/

Not on O2:

http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/d.../GT-I9505/O2U/

Not on EE:

http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/d.../GT-I9505/EVR/

Not on Three:

http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/d.../GT-I9505/H3G/

Like I was saying we need to take the operators out the loop.

[jchamier]

A colleague of mine installed what I thought was lollipop on an O2 purchased s4 using kies last week. No wifi at work so no idea if it was also an OTA.

[Everything Goes]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jchamier

A colleague of mine installed what I thought was lollipop on an O2 purchased s4 using kies last week. No wifi at work so no idea if it was also an OTA.

I guess it possibly unbranded stock handset, maybe an unlocked Vodafone or an imported handset. Sam Mobile is the a very trustworthy source. Rom updates are direct from Samsung. Otherwise it may not have been updated in a while which is likely if Kies is being used from time to time. Never use it cos its crap.

[jchamier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Everything Goes

I guess it possibly unbranded stock handset, maybe an unlocked Vodafone or an imported handset. Sam Mobile is the a very trustworthy source. Rom updates are direct from Samsung. Otherwise it may not have been updated in a while which is likely if Kies is being used from time to time. Never use it cos its crap.

That would be surprising, as I believe it was bought from O2 store in town at launch; and I'm pretty sure its been regularly updated. Given how poor O2 network coverage is here and no WiFi at work I'd expect Kies to be used.

[BeethovensPiano]

So any thoughts on what we will see at this event?

[Everything Goes]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jchamier

That would be surprising, as I believe it was bought from O2 store in town at launch; and I'm pretty sure its been regularly updated. Given how poor O2 network coverage is here and no WiFi at work I'd expect Kies to be used.

Its not unknown for networks to sometimes get unbranded stock, especially if supply cant meet demand.

[klendathu]

Z3 Compact still on Kit Kat.
Dreadful

[Redcoat]

My Moto G 2014 Dual Sim phone (XT1068) got an upgrade for Lollipop around six weeks ago but I had a nightmare to get it installed properly. As I had the phone bootloader unlocked and rooted, the software update was downloaded but refused to upgrade, and removing root did allow the update to go through at first but it then hung on a bootloop! So eventually I had to grab a stock KitKat 4.4.4 UK ROM, install that, relock the bootloader on the phone, allow the phone to download the Lollipop update, allow the phone to upgrade and on the first boot cycle wait several minutes, shut down, start up again, and then unlock the bootloader and root the phone again! Phew! All seems to be working fine now, but I do miss not having Gravity Box or the Xposed framework available yet for Lollipop (I know there is a version out but it's still only at Alpha stage) when it worked very well for tweaks on KitKat & Jelly Bean.

The funny thing is that the Nexus 7 tablet also got Lollipop, but I decided to reinstall KitKat with the last Cyanogenmod firmware as Lollipop doesn't allow me to select between 2G/3G & 4G. As far as I can see, there's not really anything having Lollipop on the tablet that is a major benefit to myself compared to Cyanogenmod at the moment.

[Everything Goes]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jchamier

That would be surprising, as I believe it was bought from O2 store in town at launch; and I'm pretty sure its been regularly updated. Given how poor O2 network coverage is here and no WiFi at work I'd expect Kies to be used.

Lollipop is officially available for the S4 on O2.

http://www.sammobile.com/2015/04/06/...duos-and-more/

[daclick]

Yet not the note 4 on o2

[Zack06]

On the upgrade issue, Google is in a bit of a dilemma at the moment.

"Open Source" the very phrase which made people give Android a second glance has now turned out to be its biggest curse since the platform became the most successful in the world.

At the end of the day, Google can draw up agreements like the Open Handset Alliance, they can push "stock Android" through Nexus and formerly Google Play Edition, but what they cannot do, despite trying nearly every way around it, is force manufacturers to do what Google wants.

I'm sure Google knows that updates on Android have become a large problem, in fact they are probably extremely annoyed and see it as a serious threat to the platform, that is why, after all Nexus was conceived, the very name means "link" and it was clearly intended to try and push manufacturers towards a standardised, pure Android experience.

Clearly though, A. that just isn't in the OEMs best interests, and B. Google is powerless to force them to comply with the vision because they know that OEMs are the key to Android's continuing success, they need them onside.

But no smart OEM is going to switch to stock Android as it strips them of a major differentiating factor and leaves them to compete on hardware and marketing, which we all know is not a level playing field.

Google's new strategy seems to be to back track desperately on Open Source and the whole idea. Android One is a tightly controlled program, as is Nexus, and they have stripped AOSP of all key features and migrated virtually all of Android's key/unique features to the closed source Google Play.

Whether this strategy works, I don't know. I'll be interested to see how they explain around this issue at I/O as it could be the eventual undoing of Android.

[jchamier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zack06

Whether this strategy works, I don't know. I'll be interested to see how they explain around this issue at I/O as it could be the eventual undoing of Android.

Google's big headache is China, where none of Google's cloud services are really used, and the company has closed its offices.

There are now two big Android distributions, "Google Android", and "non-Google Android", and the non-Google versions are starting to get some interesting data privacy features similar to iOS, or Windows Phone, or even Blackberry OS 10, that are not permitted in Google's Android due to the ability to block adverts.

It will be interesting to see how well Samsung's S6/S6edge does in comparison to the much cheaper 'generic android' handsets from China.

[Gigabit]

Google are kind-of succeeding in getting AOSP onto more devices. Allowing the Google Now Launcher to be downloaded on all devices means that at least the homescreen is basically stock.

In addition, OEMs are going more and more towards stock, e.g. Motorola have totally pure Android on their phones now. Sony and HTC's skins are basically adjusted stock skins. The only bad one is Samsung and even they're starting to tone it down on the S6.

What I'd like to see is all manufacturers investing in an AOSP program like Sony have done.

[zantarous]

There is no point in waiting for a network to get a update ready, either buy unbranded phones or spend £20 and get a unlock code and take the carrier out of the loop completely by installing the update yourself when it becomes available, I have been running a Note 3 with Lollipop for months from a official Samsung BTU Polish ROM, works perfectly fine.

[aurichie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Everything Goes

Many of us are still waiting on Lollipop nearly 6 months after launch. Lollipop has reached 1.6% In Feb 2015.
http://www.androidcentral.com/androi...ercent-devices

I know

This is why gave up on Android. I'm far happier with iOS devices knowing I'll get the latest and greatest updates on day one of launch for years to come.

[Zack06]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gigabit

Google are kind-of succeeding in getting AOSP onto more devices. Allowing the Google Now Launcher to be downloaded on all devices means that at least the homescreen is basically stock.

In addition, OEMs are going more and more towards stock, e.g. Motorola have totally pure Android on their phones now. Sony and HTC's skins are basically adjusted stock skins. The only bad one is Samsung and even they're starting to tone it down on the S6.

What I'd like to see is all manufacturers investing in an AOSP program like Sony have done.

They aren't. AOSP is not what Google wants anymore, in fact I'd go as far as saying they want to get rid of it once and for all.

Just look at how they've stripped AOSP of all Android's main features, and left the default apps to rot. Google haven't updated the Music app in AOSP since Gingerbread 2.3. The reason why, is because AOSP is not the same as Google Android. OEMs need to pay a licensing fee to be able to bundle Google apps in with Android. AOSP is the version which exists pretty much outside of Google services now.

This is partly why they can't succeed in China at the moment, the OEMs there don't want to pay, and others such as Xiaomi don't want to be chained to Google. Other OEMs like Samsung have even gone as far as throwing cash towards creating their own ecosystems, but at the moment to no avail, and I think Google is safe on that front at least for now.

[Redcoat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aurichie

I know

This is why gave up on Android. I'm far happier with iOS devices knowing I'll get the latest and greatest updates on day one of launch for years to come.

Not everyone is seeking to have the latest OS available for their device - when extended support for Windows XP ran out this time last year, it still had around a 25% global market share for PC operating systems. Even now it's still hovering around 17% according the the website below...

http://www.netmarketshare.com/operat...11&qpcustomb=0