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Regarding the guaranteed upgrade: "2 The device will receive at least one software update to the current KitKat 4.4.2 operating system." The wording there is c

Regarding the guaranteed upgrade: "2 The device will receive at least one software update to the current KitKat 4.4.2 operating system." The wording there is confusing. I could see reading it as "it currently doesn't support 4.4.2, but it will." or "We'll upgrade to at least 4.4.3" or "we'll upgrade to at least 4.5" I suspect they intend it to mean 4.5, but it is written vaguely, and that sort of promise sounds very much like marketing weasel words to avoid shipping anything more than minor system upgrades (which are INTENDED to not break functionality on devices). They should be more explicit, why not just say a particular version number or later? Fear of the team changing the numbering scheme?

nuclear_eclipse 12y ago
Considering the Moto X (on Verizon even) was the first non-Nexus phone to receive an upgrade from 4.3 to 4.4, I would assume it means that the Moto E will get whatever major release comes out after 4.4. But I would also be willing to bet that the wording is intentionally vague such that if Android 5.0 comes out next, and makes it "impossible" to upgrade, that the lawyers will be happy with just a single security/bugfix update.
- r00fus 12y ago
  Why would Android 5.0 be impossible to upgrade? Looking at it from the Apple side of things, where each phone gets 2-3 years of OS updates, "at least one" seems paltry in comparison. When you say "impossible", I see "cost prohibitive" - i.e., they can't sell a phone at this price if they want to support drivers and a newer OS for more than one release.
  - nuclear_eclipse 12y ago
    I guess it was a bit tongue-in-cheek, and meant more that "if the Android team all of a sudden re-architects the entire platform", then they have a way out. In all likelihood, any Android 5.0 release will continue to be an incremental upgrade of the Android platform. But lawyers don't like committing to anything.

nuclear_eclipse 12y ago

Considering the Moto X (on Verizon even) was the first non-Nexus phone to receive an upgrade from 4.3 to 4.4, I would assume it means that the Moto E will get whatever major release comes out after 4.4. But I would also be willing to bet that the wording is intentionally vague such that if Android 5.0 comes out next, and makes it "impossible" to upgrade, that the lawyers will be happy with just a single security/bugfix update.

r00fus 12y ago
Why would Android 5.0 be impossible to upgrade? Looking at it from the Apple side of things, where each phone gets 2-3 years of OS updates, "at least one" seems paltry in comparison. When you say "impossible", I see "cost prohibitive" - i.e., they can't sell a phone at this price if they want to support drivers and a newer OS for more than one release.
- nuclear_eclipse 12y ago
  I guess it was a bit tongue-in-cheek, and meant more that "if the Android team all of a sudden re-architects the entire platform", then they have a way out. In all likelihood, any Android 5.0 release will continue to be an incremental upgrade of the Android platform. But lawyers don't like committing to anything.