Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 3rd Jan 2013 23:42 UTC
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Member since:
2005-07-06
What surprises me is that Google hasn't set a simple cut-off point for releases if you're part of the handset alliance (which should obviously cover carriers too). Something like you can't release a new handset/tablet/whatever with a version of Android that's more than 6 months old.
Obviously, there needs to be an upgrade timetable too - something so that there's time points up to the 2 year mark (e.g. an upgrade at the 6/12/18/24 month mark or something like that).
Carriers will resist this hugely for 2 reasons, even if the phone is easily capable of running every Android release for the next 2 years. Firstly, it means they'll have a lot more models to update (maybe that would encourage them to release *less* models over time? HTC were terrible for this: almost every week would see a new model!).
Secondly - and this is a biggie - carriers love "disposable, non-upgradeable phones" (i.e. sealed in battery, no SD card slot expansion) because they can sell a new model to replace it and make a tidy profit. Allowing upgrades on older models of any sort (software or hardware) is against their selfish interests.