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"Details are scarce on Jelly Bean, but the slides tell us that Google will handle operating system updates from now on, which could address the fragmentation pr

"Details are scarce on Jelly Bean, but the slides tell us that Google will handle operating system updates from now on, which could address the fragmentation problem." This is the most interesting line in that article for me. Please let it be true.

trotsky 14y ago
I want to believe, but hasn't that been a (mostly) true statement for previous nexus devices as well?
- napoleoncomplex 14y ago
  The "from now on" part is giving me hope, but you are right, it is most likely something trivial like that.
objclxt 14y ago
I suspect it refers to the Nexus Tablet. I really can't see Google offering to maintain manufacturer specific Android front-ends like Samsung TouchWiz, and I can't see manufacturers dropping them for 'vanilla' Android.
- falling 14y ago
  They could be "encouraged" to only use public APIs and not change the base OS, which would make porting much much easier. This is of course assuming the problem is really a technical one and the carriers/manufacturers care at all about supporting last year's devices.
  - joenathan 14y ago
    Device drivers are the big issue, just look at how long it took Google to get ICS on the Nexus S 4G and at anyone trying to port Cyanogenmod over to a new device. I can't ever see Google providing updates for all devices, it would be way too time consuming and costly.
    - falling 14y ago
      Device drivers are Linux device drivers, while not the most stable, that interface is quite mature and people have been mantaining device drivers for a decade. In my experience UI code gets messy much faster and easier than lower level. No, there is no way Google is providing updates for hundreds of devices.
      - tadfisher 14y ago
        They will be shipping kernel updates, however; they'll just include upstream changes from the likes of Nvidia, TI, and Samsung (although the latter doesn't like to give back very much).
    - Zaim3 14y ago
      I think that was more down to 4.0.3 not being stable than anything else. Even the T-mobile Nexus S had that OTA pulled after 2 weeks, so made no sense to push it out to the 4G.

trotsky 14y ago

I want to believe, but hasn't that been a (mostly) true statement for previous nexus devices as well?

napoleoncomplex 14y ago
The "from now on" part is giving me hope, but you are right, it is most likely something trivial like that.

objclxt 14y ago

I suspect it refers to the Nexus Tablet. I really can't see Google offering to maintain manufacturer specific Android front-ends like Samsung TouchWiz, and I can't see manufacturers dropping them for 'vanilla' Android.

falling 14y ago
They could be "encouraged" to only use public APIs and not change the base OS, which would make porting much much easier. This is of course assuming the problem is really a technical one and the carriers/manufacturers care at all about supporting last year's devices.
- joenathan 14y ago
  Device drivers are the big issue, just look at how long it took Google to get ICS on the Nexus S 4G and at anyone trying to port Cyanogenmod over to a new device. I can't ever see Google providing updates for all devices, it would be way too time consuming and costly.
  - falling 14y ago
    Device drivers are Linux device drivers, while not the most stable, that interface is quite mature and people have been mantaining device drivers for a decade. In my experience UI code gets messy much faster and easier than lower level. No, there is no way Google is providing updates for hundreds of devices.
    - tadfisher 14y ago
      They will be shipping kernel updates, however; they'll just include upstream changes from the likes of Nvidia, TI, and Samsung (although the latter doesn't like to give back very much).
  - Zaim3 14y ago
    I think that was more down to 4.0.3 not being stable than anything else. Even the T-mobile Nexus S had that OTA pulled after 2 weeks, so made no sense to push it out to the 4G.