Dear Android Please Stop Discriminating Against Low-Cost Handsets | TechTree.com

Dear Android Please Stop Discriminating Against Low-Cost Handsets

Treat all smartphone segments equally just like Microsoft's Windows Phone platform.

 
Dear Android Please Stop Discriminating Against Low-Cost Handsets

Google announced Android 4.4 Kitkat last year in November. Its launch vehicle LG nexus 5 has been one of the best selling handsets across the globe. However, six months on, Kitkat is available on very few devices from Samsung, HTC, and Sony. All of them are high-end devices save for the Moto G. Can you believe that the recently launched Note 3 Neo (Rs 38,000) and LG G Flex (Rs 67,000) run Android Jelly Bean. Most manufacturers have no plans to upgrade their mid-range handsets. So yes, entry-level Android phones are out of question, when it comes to software refresh. Currently, we don’t even know whether Kitkat has been optimised enough to run on low-end hardware. For those not in the know, even the budget Moto G packs in the latest quad-core Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm. So nobody knows for sure, if the relatively older CPUs will be able to handle Google’s latest software.

On the other hand, Microsoft made a point to push Update 3 (known as Lumia Black for Nokia) on every Windows Phone 8 handset. Even yesterday, the company made it clear that the upcoming Windows Phone 8.1 update will roll out to all WP8 devices irrespective of their price segment. During the event, Stephen Elop and his colleague demonstrated the upcoming update on Nokia’s most affordable Windows Phone 8 device Lumia 520. To me, that was the high-point of the event. Seriously, when was the last time you saw the upcoming software running on a year old budget phone? That too on the day of announcement.

It’s also worth noting that the software won’t be watered down for low-end devices. Even the 512 MB RAM devices will receive all the new features including the new wallpaper option, enhanced lock screen, Action Center, and voice-assistant Cortana. It seems that Microsoft has learned from its past mistake — not upgrading Windows Phone 7 to WP8.

There’s this speculation that Google is all set to get rid of the Android fragmentation with its upcoming policy. Rumour has it that with new guidelines Google will try ensure that smartphone makers offer only Google’s latest software version. If this comes in effect, we expect that at least bigger players will adhere to Google’s policy. However, we are sceptical whether Google will manage to control the chaotic Sino-Indian brands such as Micromax, Karbonn, LAVA, Intex, iBall, Celkon and many more. Even today, these companies don’t mind releasing new phones with Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

The software update situation may improve for Android users in future. For now though, most Android users will have to simply forget about the software refresh. This is why we think that it’s now high time Google and handset-makers work together to streamline the update delivery process. In short, stop that discrimination against low-cost handsets.


Tags : Mobile Phones, Android, Windows Phone, Microsoft, Google

 
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