Google Now Rolling Out Android 4.2.1

[raytseng]

[citation][nom]wildkitten[/nom]This is the problem with the Android fan kiddies, "oh just root and put on a custom ROM".Sorry, the only people who should touch a custom ROM are those willing, and can afford, to permanently brick their phone and pay the off contract price for a new one. That's it. Even rooting voids the warranty.You all who advocate rooting and installing custom ROMs as though it's no big deal are just wrong.[/citation]

Someone who thinks the biggest issue of rooting and installing a custom ROM is the threat of bricking your phone has missed the mark and likely hasn't really gone through that trial. For the faint of heart, you can go to "shadier" independent cell-phone shops who will do this for you at no charge, and hand over the rooted/modded phone to you before you sign the contract.

The real problem is more along the lines of playing around with open source or beta software. Where even with a given phone, there's a selection of different roms, each with pluses and minuses, but none of them quite as stable as a polished product with a more ginormous user base (even if it's missing features)
You end up using a lot of time trying out all these different roms, maybe starting with the most popular ones, and each still has slight quirks and bugs here and there. Then you go about trying out the latest builds every few weeks to see if the quirks that you were worried about are solved...and maybe the quirk you didn't like was solved, but then some other different thing gets broken.
Such is living on the bleeding edge.

 

[Guest]

Android is technology by committee:

Google makes an OS, and then says "software and hardware isn't our problem"
HTC et al makes some hardware, then says "the OS and software isn't our problem"
Millions of random hacks make some software, than say "the OS and hardware isn't our problem"

And then, like in many committees, it takes a lot of time to get nothing done. The software is fragmented and poorly optimized (if it works at all), the hardware is underutilized and far too expensive for the given experience, and the OS moves too fast to give programmers time to make anything worthwhile.

The only place such type of technology works is at the very bottom of the price spectrum, and for script kiddies to experiment. For people that want things to work reliably, with little input from them (which is the vast majority), a more thorough approach is needed.

 

[Vorador2]

Fragmentation is the problem with Open Source. Anybody can fork the code and create it's own Android ROM, so it's quite hard to keep fragmentation on check, specially if the one doing the fork doesn't care either for Google Play access or Google partnership.

 

[biggiebody]

[citation][nom]wildkitten[/nom]No, it is not realistic to get the update.And I call you a fan kiddie because of this casual attitude of "oh just root and you can get the update now". Why is something like this, something that only enthusiasts who are willing to brick their phones, just tossed out there as a perfectly acceptable solution? It's not. Rooting will void warranties for most carriers. This is a big deal. In fact, ICS includes a root checker, at least on Verizon phones. They will even charge you higher amounts for support.Rooting and installing of custom ROMs should not be presented as a casual thing to be encouraged among Android users. Only those people who fully understand the consequences, understand the working of their phone, do not need access to their phones if it bricks, and can afford to spend the $500 or more for a replacement off contract phone in the event of bricking, should even consider rooting.It is not nearly as good an alternative as sending out an update to all users by the manufacture of the phone.[/citation]
yet no where in my comment did I make a casual comment like that. sounds to be your just pulling stuff out of your behind. all I wrote is its possible to get the update through rooting. no where did I suggest you to root or somewhat for that matter. Show me where I made a casual comment like that because you seriously sound like a fanboy yourself.

 

[contentsmayvary]

If your phone is working, you don't need to update.
And the only way that Google could address the fragmentation is by not letting anyone else make Android phones unless the hardware is exactly the same as that specified by Google. There's no other way - as soon as someone else makes an Android phone with different hardware, then they need a different implementation of Android, and it can't then be updated by Google.

What do people expect?

 

[house70]

[citation][nom]contentsmayvary[/nom]If your phone is working, you don't need to update.And the only way that Google could address the fragmentation is by not letting anyone else make Android phones unless the hardware is exactly the same as that specified by Google. There's no other way - as soon as someone else makes an Android phone with different hardware, then they need a different implementation of Android, and it can't then be updated by Google.What do people expect?[/citation]
This.

Nothing more pathetic than some Apple trolls making comments about something they don't understand.

Funny thing is, according to these trolls' definitions of fragmentation, Windows is even more fragmented than Android ever was. I don't hear anybody bitching about that.

Apple sends you an "update" that changes the number in the "about" section to show the latest iOS version, and y'all fall on your backs like a bunch of kitties. Since they won't give you the latest and greatest of their most recent version, you're left with the illusion that you have the latest and the greatest. Oh, and let's not forget the updates they sent a little while back (I think the one when they launched iPhone 4) that rendered the iphone3 almost unusable. Yep, don't say a peep about that...

Manufacturers take AOSP and make whatever they want with it; they also have the monopoly on how/when to update it. It's not Google's problem, and it's not even a problem to begin with, because your phone works fine as is.

 

[heffeque]

"So far there's no indication as to what the upgrade brings to Android other than the People app fix, but additional reports indicate that the patch may address Bluetooth performance issues that arrived with Android 4.2. Additional stability and battery life improvements are also a possibility with this new patch."

From wikipedia:

+ Fixed a bug in the People app where December was not displayed on the date selector when adding an event to a contact
+ Added Bluetooth gamepads and joysticks as supported HID devices

That wasn't that difficult, was it!

 

[darknate]

wemakeourfuture-
"At least you do get some fixes and features with the 3GS and 4, you may not get all the features a phone like the 4S or 5 that is more powerful."
"My iPhone 4 may not have Siri, but I know that 6.0.1 came out to make fixes for 6.0.0, and I had access to them on day 1."

and that does not mean you have 6.o that means you are an idiot for believing that since apple cut features and stuff from that version of ios that its still version 6.0.
lets remove project butter from jb but we'll still call it jb. yeah doesnt work.
we do get updates to fix problems. sometimes they come in a new version of android and sometimes they dont. but what we dont get is a chopped up version of android with the same designation as the full feature version.

"By the way, the new Nexus Google phone is crap compared to the S3, DNA, Optimus G, etc. So to convince me that to go Android and get speedy updates I must submit to a subpar non-LTE phone is a non-starter."

the dna, optimus g and nexus 4 share the same hardware. in fact the nexus 4 is a cross between the at&t and sprint versions, sans the 4g. again you showed you are an idiot. you dont read anything and spout out "facts" in hope that people will believe you.

nice trolling
keep on walking. there's nothing to see here.

 

[wildkitten]

[citation][nom]biggiebody[/nom]yet no where in my comment did I make a casual comment like that. sounds to be your just pulling stuff out of your behind. all I wrote is its possible to get the update through rooting. no where did I suggest you to root or somewhat for that matter. Show me where I made a casual comment like that because you seriously sound like a fanboy yourself.[/citation]
Here is what you said

well technically you can upgrade your android OS by rooting your phone. It's not that you can't it just that you don't want to go through the hassle. Although some of the older models probably wouldn't be strong enough to handle the newer OS's, but doesn't change the fact you can still upgrade manually instead of waiting.
I have a galaxy nexus and get all the updates instantly, but I prefer the rooted OS's so that's why I rooted my phone and go with cynogenmod or AOKP type OS.

No where in your comment did you spell out the risk of rooting and especially of installing a custom ROM. You talk as if it should be done by just anyone, and this is clearly not the case.

Yes, it is a good thing that Android can be rooted, but there are still risks associated it, risks, and potential extra costs, you don't bother to mention.

And how do I come off as a fan kiddie? I do not follow any one thing blindly. I can appreciate the strengths of any platform while also willing to criticize the weaknesses. That's the opposite of a fan kiddie.