Android may be wildly popular based on the number of phone manufacturers using Google's Android software. Wood's rant is pretty serious and I can attest to a problem after my phone was upgraded from Froyo to Gingerbread in September.
My Verizon 3G signal varies from lousy to non-existent where I live so I had relied on WiFi via my wireless router for data and web use of my phone. Yet after the upgrade, I cannot connect to the Internet through it. Admittedly, it's a 7 year old router, but it does solid duty. My wife's iPhone 4 connects OK and Apple laptops also connect wirelessly OK. I think the new Android software doesn't like the unit's encryption.
My phone will connect with my Verizon MiFi (encrypted) and with other wireless networks, both encrypted and open. So the remedy should be for me to replace (I have all the firmware upgrades) my wireless router? Phooey. This is Google's or Motorola's problem to fix.
This post-upgrade WiFi problem has been reported by several folks on the Motorola Users Forum sometimes with suggested fixes that work for some but not for others. This is my one gripe with the Gingerbread upgrade. And I have spent several hours messing with it, to no avail. Otherwise, the new Gingerbread features look and feel are OK.
Nevertheless, the fragmentation issue that Wood highlights is real and I think only Google can fix it. They better get on the stick and do it PDQ. I wonder if my DROID2 will see an Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade someday? Or is it time to upgrade my phone to a Samsung 4G Prime, or whatever it's new name on Verizon or an iPhone 5, assuming it'll be 4G when it arrives.
"Fragmentation (still)
...I've written about this problem before, and it's still a problem. Sure, it's a problem Google has pledged to address, by forming the Android Update Alliance back in May. Google announced it would work with manufacturers and carriers to deliver timelier updates on a standardized schedule, and to keep updating every device for at least 18 months after its creation. That seemed like good news, and a pretty straightforward acknowledgement that fragmentation was a serious problem, and one that was driving consumers batty.
As of August, progress was spotty, and abysmal at T-Mobile and Verizon, where AndroidAndMe found that only a fraction of phones with those carriers were running the latest version of Android..."
'via Blog this'
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