Android OEMs should make fewer devices

[DKAngel]

meh once appon a time your phone didnt get updates :p i dont rember ever getting any for my nokia phones, so why are people bitching for?

[Rudie32]

Nothing wrong with choices. If android did the iphone thing, and only release one new android a year, it would not have made it at all. It's because of the huge selection of androids people got them. Those who can't get the iphone or can't afford it can get a cheap android with or without a keyboard, maybe 4g maybe not. If having selection turns you off and makes you not buy an android, then that doesn't make sense. You can't complain that androids cost too much. lol

[FloatingFatMan]

I don't really mind the plethora of devices, but what I *do* mind is the OEM's drop support so damned quick.

This problem wouldn't exist if Google had insisted on unlocked bootloaders and easily rootable devices. That way at least people could more easily update their own devices from AOSP.

Those that are in the android alliance are required to update a device for 18months, but that requirement doesn't say a damn thing about how quickly they have to update them...

[bobbyfabulous]

Who the hell doesn't like choice? Thats whole reason I love Android, I'm a tech enthusiast.

I would BY FAR rather a plethora of high end devices to choose from than the alternative which is a few devices with ancient hardware and low resolution displays (*ahem* WP7) that all look the same.

Whoever doesn't like choice is an idiot as far as I'm concerned.

[dnast]

Looks like people have turned this into another black and white issue. You can still have choice even if you don't have one or two dozen new phones releasing every single month (I might be exaggerating but I can't keep count). There is some middle ground between Android's current situation and Apple's once-a-year gospel and whatever's going on with WP7.

[Anibal P]

Looks like people have turned this into another black and white issue. You can still have choice even if you don't have one or two dozen new phones releasing every single month (I might be exaggerating but I can't keep count). There is some middle ground between Android's current situation and Apple's once-a-year gospel and whatever's going on with WP7.

If you REALLY look at it, ther aren't as many Android handsets being released as the anti-choice crowd suggests, what you have here in the US is one phone slightly changed and released with a "new" name on every carrier, you also have to factor in the two competing cell standards being used, but in all reality each manufacturer really is just releasing a low, medium, and high end phone. And do you really want to complain that there are too many brand choices?

[dnast]

If you REALLY look at it, ther aren't as many Android handsets being released as the anti-choice crowd suggests, what you have here in the US is one phone slightly changed and released with a "new" name on every carrier, you also have to factor in the two competing cell standards being used, but in all reality each manufacturer really is just releasing a low, medium, and high end phone. And do you really want to complain that there are too many brand choices?

True, the phone carriers in the US have a lot to do with it. Look at the original Galaxy S phone family: Vibrant, T-Mobile Galaxy S 4G, Captivate, Epic 4G, Fascinate, Continuum, Mesmerize, Showcase, and Indulge. That's just in the US (and those weren't the only Samsung Android phones available at the time). While they all (AFAIK) use the same processor and have the same amount of RAM, there are variations of screen sizes and the number of and types of cameras, etc. That's a lot of hardware to support for that single line of phones which means it'll take longer for users to get updates.

Even small changes like the placement of ports makes it very unlikely to find, for example, a "plug and play" car dock specifically for you phone without having wires everywhere. I'm talking about a dock that simply plugs into your DC outlet and that you simply sit your phone on the dock and it's charging and able to stream music from the dock. There are countless docks that do that for most iDevices, but you'd be hard pressed to find something like that for your Android device.

And to clarify, I'm definitely not "anti-choice" - I choose to run Android on my phone, actually. I could run WP7 (which works like a charm), Ubuntu, Meego (heck even Windows 95 runs on this thing), or just stick with the cumbersome WM6.5 my phone came with. I just think manufacturers and consumers could benefit in some ways if hardware manufacturers paced themselves. Looking at the list of HTC Android phones on Wikipedia, I count 30 phones released in 2010 and 2011 by them alone. That just seems like a bit much to me.

Edit: I forgot to mention that there are pentaband phones out there that support AT&T and T-Mobile 2G and 3G frequencies. There are even phones that support both CDMA and GSM, but I don't think the US carriers like that so you don't hear much about them.

[Muhammad Farrukh]

Nice one +dnast

I could run WP7 (which works like a charm), Ubuntu, Meego (heck even Windows 95 runs on this thing), or just stick with the cumbersome WM6.5 my phone came with

HD2?

That thing is a beast in true sense

[dnast]

Nice one +dnast

HD2?

That thing is a beast in true sense

Thanks.

Yeah, this phone turned out to be a great investment. The SGS2 or Galaxy Nexus might get me to finally get an official Android device, though.

[PGHammer]

True, the phone carriers in the US have a lot to do with it. Look at the original Galaxy S phone family: Vibrant, T-Mobile Galaxy S 4G, Captivate, Epic 4G, Fascinate, Continuum, Mesmerize, Showcase, and Indulge. That's just in the US (and those weren't the only Samsung Android phones available at the time). While they all (AFAIK) use the same processor and have the same amount of RAM, there are variations of screen sizes and the number of and types of cameras, etc. That's a lot of hardware to support for that single line of phones which means it'll take longer for users to get updates.

Even small changes like the placement of ports makes it very unlikely to find, for example, a "plug and play" car dock specifically for you phone without having wires everywhere. I'm talking about a dock that simply plugs into your DC outlet and that you simply sit your phone on the dock and it's charging and able to stream music from the dock. There are countless docks that do that for most iDevices, but you'd be hard pressed to find something like that for your Android device.

And to clarify, I'm definitely not "anti-choice" - I choose to run Android on my phone, actually. I could run WP7 (which works like a charm), Ubuntu, Meego (heck even Windows 95 runs on this thing), or just stick with the cumbersome WM6.5 my phone came with. I just think manufacturers and consumers could benefit in some ways if hardware manufacturers paced themselves. Looking at the list of HTC Android phones on Wikipedia, I count 30 phones released in 2010 and 2011 by them alone. That just seems like a bit much to me.

Edit: I forgot to mention that there are pentaband phones out there that support AT&T and T-Mobile 2G and 3G frequencies. There are even phones that support both CDMA and GSM, but I don't think the US carriers like that so you don't hear much about them.

The US carriers (more so than in Europe) are all about tying the customer down to that specific carrier (that is why there are two frequency bands of GSM in the US, and two different flavors of CDMA, also in the US). In Europe, there is far less physical space between carriers, and there's a continent-wide single standard of GSM (both of which mitigate against carrier-specificity). The Big Four carriers in the United States *all* used to be regional carriers, and they didn't come much into physical contact other than roamers - when I took my first cell phone (Samsung a-610 VZW prepaid) to Las Vegas, it was, by and large, Sprint wireline/wireless turf still, even though VZW had their own towers and I could use the phone without roaming. The Las Vegas "Strip" was, by and large, largely seen as the core of Sprint's "turf" - being able to use a non-Sprint phone there was seen as a novelty (even though this was 2005). In our group (all from two families) only T-Mobile wasn't represented among the Big Four - VZW had the best call clarity and coverage in Sin City, followed by "hometown hero" Sprint, followed by AT&T Mobility. That pretty much caused my own grin to get bigger and bigger, as I had long suggested that VZW's network coverage was just plain better for *phone calls* - this was hard and unignorable data.

My issue is the lack of Android or Windows Phone-based "feature phones" (as opposed to smartphones). There are those of us that would not mind a low-priced phone with either Android or Windows Phone 7 that connects to wi-fi (even at home only) for data transfer to and from a home PC (not all desktops - or even most desktops - has Bluetooth); however, if a carrier (any carrier, even a regional such as Cellular South) releases a handset with Android, it's a "smartphone" - which leaves you open for mandatory extra "data plans" and other mandatory extra fee-baggage, and often for features you could care less to have. (Yes - VZW is just as guilty as all the other carriers; I'm not letting them off the hook.) As opposed to the multiple variations of Android smartphones, I'd like to see an Android "feature phone".

[ATLien_0]

I tend to agree, fewer phones is better. Don't get me wrong choice is good, but your choice could be easily done by OS type and then OEM (1 model per). I also hate using the iPhone as an example, but look at the number of buyers on that and Apple only makes 1 phone. The worst for me is going into the store and seeing 20 Android phones 5 lets say by HTC that are virtually identical. Its even worse when I have to take my parents with.

The number of Droid phones reminds me of the pre smartphone days and the similar brick or flip phones.

I wish OEMs would go by the whole planeed obsolescence philosophy and make 1 darn good phone every 6-8 months instead of releasing a new one every month?