
Samsung all but guarantees no one will update to Android 4.0 - ukdm
http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/samsung-all-but-guarantees-no-one-will-update-to-android-4-0-20120711/
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RobAtticus
The conclusion seems like a bit of a leap, considering how many people were
willing to upgrade using iTunes for previous iOS releases. People can handle
downloading software to get an OS upgrade. Also, once you get the update
process started, it's not like the random screens you've never seen before are
going to deter you.

My main issue is I have yet to get the OSX version of Kies to work on my MBP
running Snow Leopard (not sure the OS matters, but maybe it does). When I open
Kies, it tells me there's an update to the software (and I agree with the
article here - wtf Samsung? Put the new version on the site). Now this update
will download, then ask me for my password, but after that it just hangs. It
takes up 100% of the CPU and does nothing. Canceling causes Kies to restart,
but no indication that the update actually took place. Then plugging my phone
in it says my phone cannot be upgraded. Now I'm stuck waiting until I have
access to a Windows machine to try my luck there.

If AT&T doesn't want to give mobile bandwidth away for OS updates, they should
have Samsung change AT&T branded devices to only allow OTA on WiFi.

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TimGebhardt
I second this. I noticed my MBA running hot and I figured it was because I was
photo editing. I stopped but then it continued to run with fans full speed
ahead. I looked at Activity Monitor and saw KiesOverWifiAgent running at 100%
CPU. Uninstalled...

Hardware manufacturers are the WORST software makers.

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bitwize
_Hardware manufacturers are the WORST software makers._

Except for Apple.

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khyryk
Overly dramatic title. AT&T sent me a text message when my 2.2 phone had a 2.3
update available. The instructions were clear with screenshots of every step,
so the only thing needed is about 30 minutes of one's time.

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recursive
30 minutes too many for most cell phone owners

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khyryk
Meaning they wouldn't update even if it were OTA?

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recursive
If it's a single button press, people like me would start it before going to
sleep or something. I'm not sure how many people are like me.

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nodata
We need to do this differently: we need a _very visible_ way to show the user
of a particular phone how many unpatched _security_ holes there are.

This should (hopefully) lead to demand for newer versions of Android to be
released everywhere (or at least backported patches).

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lomegor
That title is really confusing. Samsung is not guaranteeing no one will update
to Android 4.0?

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mtgx
I think he means most people won't know how to update from Kies or something,
and that OTA updates would've been preferred.

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wkdown
I guess I can understand the bit about not wanting to pay for data overages
when downloading over 3G/4G. But why not offer a wifi option instead of
forcing the use of bloatware?

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ConstantineXVI
There's an even easier solution: AT&T serves the updates from within their
network (during off-peak hours), and doesn't charge the user for it. The
occasional extra 100MB per user seems like a small price to pay to keep the
phones updated, especially if said updates come with better network handling
(easing AT&T's burden) or patching up security holes.

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wkdown
I assume AT&T sees even a small price being too much. Better to inconvenience
the users.

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iuguy
This article seems to be a bit of a moan. Is it really so bad that some people
will have to download and install some software to update their Android phone?
Won't someone think of the WP7 users?

I appreciate that the software may suck, but here's the thing: If you install
it, update the droid and uninstall it cleanly you should be fine.

Protip: Do it from a VM if you can, then roll back/blat the VM.

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TorKlingberg
Are major version iOS updates done Over The Air, or do they require connecting
to iTunes? Does AT&T give the bandwidth for free?

I suspect the real reason is that it is harder to reflash an OS from inside,
and a higher risk of getting stuck in some bad state. Not impossible of
course, just not as simple as reflashing from outside.

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josephlord
I'm not sure if you can do it over the telco network (you probably can), but
you can certainly upgrade over Wifi since iOS 5.

The procedure used on at least some products was to download the new version
alongside the existing software, verify it, configure it all and then set it
to be the boot version only when the install is done - then it can reboot.
Until that point it will still boot the original version. You could even have
a 'boot this next time only' mode and then at the conclusion of a successful
boot it would set it to be the default and in the event of failure would go
back to the previous version.

There probably are bad cases if the power is lost at the very end but the
window is quite small and you are probably safer with the phone having its own
battery (don't start installing unless there is enough charge) than you are
with products like TVs. I know at least one TV manufacturer used such an
approach and it seems a reasonable approach for reduced risk.

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raganwald
Isn't it possible to deliver a notification OTA but require WiFi to download
it?

