Google Partners To Provide Speedy Android Updates, Support For 18 Months
This week marks the fourth annual Google I/O conference held in San Francisco, and the show just keeps getting bigger, more dazzling, and more important. As Google's growth in the consumer realm continues to skyrocket, so does the mind share. And with that, comes a ton of support from OEMs and manufacturers of tablets and smartphones. But one of the big issues that has plagued Google over the years is fragmentation. Basically, that one phone has an Android update, while another neighboring phone doesn't.
A few flagship handsets over the past couple of years come to mind as seriously lagging behind in the update department, and that has evidently not gone unnoticed within Google. Yesterday, the company announced a loose set of new guidelines that would mandate phone and tablet makers to remain on a strict time table for releasing updates. But here's the catch: not every phone maker is signed on.
For those that are (LG, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, HTC, etc.), this means that each company will push related point releases to their handsets during a to-be-determined window of time after Google certifies the build. And beyond that, support will be provided (along with subsequent updates) for 1.5 years after launch. Google's still working out the exact details, but it's definitely good to hear the company finally making progress in this very sore area. Hopefully next year's mega-Android phones won't go 12 months without seeing an update.
A few flagship handsets over the past couple of years come to mind as seriously lagging behind in the update department, and that has evidently not gone unnoticed within Google. Yesterday, the company announced a loose set of new guidelines that would mandate phone and tablet makers to remain on a strict time table for releasing updates. But here's the catch: not every phone maker is signed on.
For those that are (LG, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, HTC, etc.), this means that each company will push related point releases to their handsets during a to-be-determined window of time after Google certifies the build. And beyond that, support will be provided (along with subsequent updates) for 1.5 years after launch. Google's still working out the exact details, but it's definitely good to hear the company finally making progress in this very sore area. Hopefully next year's mega-Android phones won't go 12 months without seeing an update.
