The Glade 4.0

Seriously, WTF is with Android OS fragmentation? This is bloody ridiculous.

It's a serious problem, and it's not going to get better any time soon....

I thought they were consolidating everything under 3.x...? Maybe that's apocryphal in my head. All I know is my Xoom tablet runs Honeycomb, and 75% of the Android apps out there aren't usable for the damn thing.

I had the same problem with my G-Slate.

There are millions and millions of older handsets out there running older versions of the OS. T-Mobile still has a lot of G1s running 2.2 for example.

Consolidating under one major version isnt good enough. Hardware vendors are free to develop Android for whatever hardware platform they want, including drivers, etc... leaving application developers to have to adapat their applications.

I have no idea what the solution is, but fragmentation is the bane of android's existence.

strangely... My brand new Galaxy S 4G (Vibrant redux) from T-Mobile (new provider, MUCH better than Sprint ever was) only has 2.2.1 on it.

But I will take 2.2.1 and the ability to run Flash than my Sprint devices with 2.3 and no flash support.

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

Version 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) will be the OS that consolidates tablet and phone.

http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news ... t-oses.ars

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Hokanu
Duty is a magnificent blessing because it is the sign of trust from the universe.
END OF LINE.

Sooo, my week-old, $500 Xoom tablet is already effectively obsolete (people will continue developing for the old stuff and start developing for 4.0, ignoring 3)?

Greaaaat. Brilliant planning, thy name is Android.

Did I miss someplace in that article that said current hardware won't upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich?

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

I thought that was a problem with the current Android phones...you have "sideload" or some other non-official crap to update (if you can even run it)?

That's what I've gathered from reading Androidery on the board here, at least.

Depends on the phone, and the carrier.

Many offer official updates over the air. Others don't. Mostly, it has to do with how recent the phone is (ancient phones don't get official support as often), and whether it's a "tentpole" model for a carrier, so to speak.

Frequently, you'll hear about people sideloading even stuff that's going to get updated, because Google releases the source and hobbyists will get it onto a given phone sometimes before a manufacturer does. And since Android tends to, out of the top 5 phone OSes, attract the most tinkerers and tweakers, others have little disincentive to follow suit.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

It works for my phone now, so I'm happy.

Skee, at the end of the day, you're still dealing with an open OS that you can do whatever you want to. Just means you might have to find the update yourself.

And don't feel bad, I'm getting ready to buy a Xoom this week or next.

That's in no way a plus to me, unfortunately.

This might need it's own thread, but I'll toss it here first and see if it sticks..

Anyone considered the WebOS based HP Touchpad?
http://h41112.www4.hp.com/promo/webos/u ... p173610329

I haven't, but I played with one for a few minutes last week, and it has that same quality feel the iPad has.

I don't know what the pros and cons of the OS are, but the hardware sure looks and feels nice.