
Verizon will control Android updates for Google Pixel phones it sells - monsieurpng
http://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2016/10/6/13191614/verizon-google-pixel-android-updates
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raman325
FWIW, Verizon does extensive internal testing of OS updates. When I was there,
as an engineer, we would be given phones, and anytime there was a new update,
we would receive the updates first, use it daily for a couple of weeks, and
report what we found. There were multiple tiers of internal user trials before
the updates were greenlit, and there were many potential OS updates that never
made it to public because of the problems we found.

Verizon may slow down updates to consumer devices, but I always felt like it
was for good reason.

~~~
xbmcuser
Do they do the same for Apple devices ?

~~~
raman325
I don't remember what we did for Apple devices, but I'm pretty sure they
(Apple) had complete control over the update framework, including the updates
themselves.

EDIT: edited for clarity

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xbmcuser
Why is that personally I feel it is so that they can put all the carrier
bloatware into the Android roms. I like that here in Singapore carriers are
not allowed by law to lock phones to their networks or put uninstallable
bloatware. So carriers can put the bloatware in but I can get rid of it easily
as not in the system rom and we are allowed to sell the device that we get
thorough contracts.

~~~
raman325
Apple had more negotiating power than any other cell phone manufacturer had in
the past. The first iPhone that supported the Verizon network was the iPhone
4. At that point it had already been proven to be wildly successful, and it
was one of the few things that people could knock Verizon about (aside from
price). I'm pretty sure Apple held all the cards in the negotiations to get
the iPhone 4 on the Verizon network.

Contrast that with every Android OS based manufacturer: 1) The majority of
them were companies that had been working with cellular providers for years
already. They probably already had agreements in place with providers about
how things would go (bloatware, extensive testing, etc.). 2) They were
competing with each other for market share because the OS wasn't a
differentiating factor (their bloatware/cosmetic overhauls were weak attempts
to establish software differentiation). 3) Verizon made a big investment in
Android with the Droid line, providing marketing, branding, etc. Any other
manufacturers that were building Android phones had to compete with these
devices and had to market on their own. Verizon had all of the cards.

It's slowly changing, but it boils down to: 1) Manufacturers trying to compete
(they often add plenty of their own bloatware) 2) Verizon using a model
they're familiar with from the feature phone era and manufacturers being used
to the carriers having control

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xbmcuser
Looks like the news media still has some power. With all the recommendations
of not buying google pixel from verizon now they have come out saying google
will control the updates and the devices will be carrier unlocked.

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gumby
Gratuitous screwing of customers aside, I'm trying to figure out what the
benefit for Verizon is.

Do they get a lot of customer support calls from people who don't know how to
use the phone, and need time to train the call center staff?

Or is it simply their reflexive control-freakery? Clearly they survive a lack
of control from iOS.

~~~
zigzigzag
I think this is one of those "trust is earned" cases.

Google has, in the past, pushed out updates to phones in ways that bypassed
carrier certification and then broke things (e.g. in the early days of Market
auto updates). Because people buy the phone from the carrier, if it breaks the
carrier gets to pick up the pieces. This is especially true because whilst
Apple has extensive on-the-street support infrastructure and everyone knows if
you have a problem with an Apple product you take it to the Apple Store and
they fix it, no questions asked, this is not true of other phone
manufacturers. The carrier provides the (very expensive) in person support.

Verizon may simply not trust Google's QA process, or put another way, they
institutionally don't trust OEM QA processes and to make an exception for that
requires a very good reason beyond just "Google is cool".

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0xFFC
What is update path/policy for iPhones? Do Verizon sell iPhones too? Do they
control it's update too? Or iPhones gets their update directly from Apple? (I
am only aware of noncontract iphones, which do get update regularly from Apple
itself.)

P.S. I do not live in USA. I am asking because this is huge mistake for
Google. With their new branding I hoped they will deliver updates to pixel
line as smooth as Chromebooks. But it seems nothing changed in regard to
Android update problem.

~~~
hossbeast
Of course, you can just buy your pixel from Google

~~~
0xFFC
But I thought buying from Verizon would cost less, because of the contract.

Am I right? My point is people who will buy phone for 50$ (for example for two
year contract) from Verizon will get direct update from Apple (which improves
overall health of the its ecosystem), but pixel ones don't. I think this is
shortcoming.

So if you want fast updates like iPhone, you have to buy noncontract from
Google itself.

Do you see what is my point?

~~~
dquigley
It used to be the case that you'd get the phone subsidized by your service
plan from Verizon, but not any longer. Verizon and the other major US carriers
stopped subsidizing phones in the past few years.

For me the biggest reason I wanted to buy through Verizon was they were
offering a promotional $200 trade in value for my Note 4. For some people
selling their phone separately would be a better deal though, so even that
won't matter.

~~~
PhantomGremlin
_Verizon and the other major US carriers stopped subsidizing phones in the
past few years._

Except that Verizon just started subsidies again last month:
[https://www.verizonwireless.com/deals-
landing/](https://www.verizonwireless.com/deals-landing/) Only they disguise
it somewhat.

Not sure if that shows up properly. But in September an iPhone 6 was "worth"
$650 as a trade-in. As of yesterday it was still worth $650. Today it seems to
be $100 less:

    
    
       Trade in and get iPhone 7 for $99.99.
       Get up to $550 savings.
    

It's clearly a subsidy because an iPhone 6 isn't worth anywhere near $650 (or
even $550) on the open market. Heck, I had an old iPhone 5C lying around that,
last month, Verizon gave me $400 credit for toward an iPhone 7.

If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck ...

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jaflo
Interesting that this is an AMP link, loads faster than the regular page
([http://www.theverge.com//2016/10/6/13191614/verizon-
google-p...](http://www.theverge.com//2016/10/6/13191614/verizon-google-pixel-
android-updates))

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berberous
What is this AMP garbage? I've noticed it everywhere in the past few weeks and
it has been really annoying. Trying to copy/paste Gothamist links on mobile to
send to other people was an exercise in frustration. Had to request the
desktop to site to get the real URL and send that for it to work.

~~~
rch
I've had the opposite experience, and I'd anticipate clicking on ever fewer
non-amp links over time.

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mimg
Back when I had a Windows Mobile smartphone the carrier I had controlled the
updates. Upgrading from winmo 6 to 6.1 took months. I think allowing carriers
to control updates will negatively impact user experience.

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bkjelden
Will the phones sold by Verizon be a different SKU?

There are some phones, the LG G4 being one I believe, which are available in
unlocked SKUs that technically work on Verizon's network, but don't have
access to as many cellular bands and therefore don't get as good of
signal/speeds.

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Yaggo
For a moment I thought Google will become Apple's competitor.

