[phsr]

Hell, the 3GS is getting iOS 6. What 3 year old Android phone will get ICS? Like you said, I'm guessing not many if any at all. Agreeing with your point, Android is heavily fragmented, with phone manufacturers having the final say on which software gets deployed to their phones. Many of them are going to use new OS version to force software upgrades

[dbaupp]

> Hell, the 3GS is getting iOS 6

Do you know how much of it will be enabled? (e.g. will it have Siri working out of the box?)

(Genuine question, btw.)

[Tyrannosaurs]

It won't get Siri. Even on iOS5 only the 4S supports Siri.

As far as I'm aware this is a deliberate disabling thing as the original Siri app worked on earlier models (maybe not the 3GS but the 4).

[tvon]

No Siri (still), and I'm fairly sure I heard no 3D maps.

[pook1e]

I'd be very surprised if iOS 6 included Siri for the 3GS (or even the 4, for that matter).

[aarondf]

This is just a guess, but since the iPhone 4 currently doesn't support Siri, I doubt the 3GS would.

[mladenkovacevic]

What does this mean? iOS6? What is ICS? (don't answer those questions.. I know what ICS is)

My point is the average user isn't sitting there with their Galaxy-Titan-whatever in their hands feverishly checking what version of Android they're running and yelling "Where is my ICS!!" They're posting to Facebook, emailing, tweeting, searching for restaurants..etc

It's all about features.. and the fact is that iOS6 is catching up with Android 2.2... not 4.0

[27182818284]

No, of course not, but they do see me do something on ICS that you can't otherwise do and they say, "Wait a minute? I thought you had Android. You do? Then why can't I do that!" followed by frustration and anger.

[fluidcruft]

Like what, specifically? ICS is great, but it's mostly improvements under the hood and window dressing--things that in the grand scheme of things really don't matter. 99% of the things that frustrate me about my Android phone are hardware-related (too little RAM, slow camera, TPM) and no software update can solve those. Yeah, the browser and calendar are improved.

[kevhsu]

That's your own fault then. Android offers a variety of hardware configurations, and you opted for a low-end one.

If you're in America, I have even less pity. The $200 price difference between some low-end free-on-contract smartphone and the $200 Galaxy Nexus or HTC One X is near negligible when you consider the price of the voice+data+messaging plan over the course of a 2 year contract.

[fluidcruft]

Actually, no I didn't, dude. My phone's 2+ years old and was a high-end eclair-era device. But I also wasn't complaining and I don't need or want your pity.

[kevhsu]

then why are you frustrated about the hardware? it's an old phone.

edit: oh wait i think i misinterpreted you original comment. my condolences for coming off as an ass.

[KirinDave]

It's really unfair to call what the 3GS gets "iOS 6." Apple's been doing this for awhile; calling maintenance upgrades mainline upgrades while not actually delivering all the features.

Keep in mind the problem of vendor recalcitrance is much less of an issue for an interested Android user. You can literally reflash your phone to a mod with an app from your phone. You don't even necessarily need to plug it in to anything.

[cantankerous]

interested Android user

That's a pretty packed up qualification there. Users that interested are not, have not been, and will not be par for the course on the Android platform.

Moreover, the in-app phone flashing is not something every Android phone can do. I speak from experience owning an Android phone that wouldn't play ball in this regard.

[KirinDave]

> That's a pretty packed up qualification there. Users that interested are not, have not been, and will not be par for the course on the Android platform.

If this is the metric, then do you think the average iPhone user cares about what version of iOS they have? So many iPhone users are shocked when you walk up and double tap on the home button.

For the people who care on Android, there is a way to upgrade. For the people who don't care, there change is meaningless.

While this is a dog's dinner compared to the great adoption rates on new phones and new versions of iOS, it's worth mentioning.

[cantankerous]

Absolutely not. I'm just tired of hearing that "interested users" line used as a general apology for the Android platform. I figured the same thing went without saying for iOS, since the perception of the platform is such.

[TYPE_FASTER]

iOS 5 killed my 3GS. KILLED it, made it unusable, etc.