l**n
发帖数: 7272 | 1 It took about a year for my Droid 2 Global to upgrade to Gingerbread.
Moreover, the first OTA push were failed and I do not know why.
My 2c. The software QA in phone vendors is not great at all. Phone vendors
are behind in terms of software capabilities. In addition, phone vendors
are not interested in upgrade software on sold phones.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2397349,00.asp
==================================
Why It Will Take So Long to Upgrade Phones to 'Ice Cream Sandwich'
ARTICLE DATE : December 7, 2011
By Mark Hachman
Ever want to know exactly why it takes so long to push the latest Android
operating system release to your phone? Motorola and Sony Ericsson attempted
to explain it on Wednesday.
On Nov. 14, Google released the Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" code base
to the general public, including manufacturers, which immediately began
implementing it into their phones.
Tying the tablet and the smartphone together, Ice Cream Sandwich has been
characterized as a landmark update to the Android platform, with an improved
camera and the ability to monitor data usage, even by application. Motorola
has said previously that the Droid Razr, Motorola Xoom, and Droid Bionic
will all receive ICS updates; Sony Ericsson said that ICS will run on all
2011 Xperia phones. Neither manufacturer indicated by when this would happen.
"We are currently assessing this source code, and over the next month we
will be determining which devices will get the upgrade and when — and we
will communicate this as information becomes available," Motorola wrote in a
blog post.
Both, however, seemed to be setting up customers for a long wait, given the
explanation each gave to describe the process the code must go through. Most
phone manufacturers plan to upgrade their top 2011 phones to the new
Android 4.0/ICS release sometime next year.
Motorola described the process succinctly: it must merge and adapt the new
release for different device hardware architectures and carrier
customizations; stabilize and bake the release to drive out bugs; submit the
upgrade to the carriers for certification; and then finally release or push
the upgrade to customers.
Adapting the new OS to the hardware is jointly done by Nvidia, Qualcomm, and
other component makers, and the work is brought back into the OEM developer
cycle as it completes, Motorola wrote.
"This is also the time when we begin integrating all of the Motorola-
specific software enhancements into the source code," it added. "Features
like MotoCast, Smart Actions, and our comprehensive enterprise solutions are
integral parts of our device experiences, and we want to make sure we
continue delivering differentiated experiences for our consumers with these
software upgrades."
Sony also explained in its own blog post that the certification process
requires the most time out of all the steps.
"Contrary to what people may think, it is not the Bring up phase, but the
Certification and approval phase that is the most time consuming process
when it comes to getting a new software release out on our phones," Sony
said. "This is one of the major tasks that are legally required from us as
phone manufacturer, but is a task that the custom ROM community doesn't have
to take into consideration. Furthermore, by putting all this efforts into
testing and certification, we ensure that quality and conformance is at a
top level, in benefit for all consumers worldwide."
Why? Because each component that is changed must be recertified. When a
hardware component like a Wi-Fi chip is changed, that chip must be re-tested
. But when the OS changes, all affected components must be recertified.
Operators then may want to customize the software, and the OS must be
localized for the market and language.
For more, see PCMag's full review of Ice Cream Sandwich and the slideshow
above. Also check out our roundup of the Best Phones Getting Ice Cream
Sandwich. | g*****g
发帖数: 34805 | 2 厂家和通讯商要装一堆的UI和应用，如果啥都不加一个月估计就够了。
vendors
【在 l**n 的大作中提到】
: It took about a year for my Droid 2 Global to upgrade to Gingerbread.
: Moreover, the first OTA push were failed and I do not know why.
: My 2c. The software QA in phone vendors is not great at all. Phone vendors
: are behind in terms of software capabilities. In addition, phone vendors
: are not interested in upgrade software on sold phones.
: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2397349,00.asp
: ==================================
: Why It Will Take So Long to Upgrade Phones to 'Ice Cream Sandwich'
: ARTICLE DATE : December 7, 2011
: By Mark Hachman
| l**n
发帖数: 7272 | 3 add one more. There are drivers that need to be developed by some vendors
who can not access alpha or beta.
However, in comparison with PC industry, the quantity of UI/Apps/Drivers
seems far less. Why is it so hard?
Regardless, 1 year is too long.
Overall, as I stated, vendors are incapable to move swiftly on software
development/QA and are reluctant to upgrade OS/Software.
Could GOOG/MMI change this picture?
【在 g*****g 的大作中提到】
: 厂家和通讯商要装一堆的UI和应用，如果啥都不加一个月估计就够了。
:
: vendors
|
|
