Samsung has yet to release the Android 2.2 Froyo update for its Galaxy S range of smartphones in the US, and we may now have an explanation on what is taking them so long.
According to the guys over at the XDA forum, Samsung is in fact charging mobile carriers for upgrading to the latest version of Android, so the reason you haven’t got Android 2.2 on your Galaxy S is because of Samsung.
There are three types of updates that manufacturers provide to mobile carriers on Android smartphones, the first is a critical update, which usually addresses bugs and security fixes, this type of update is free to the carrier.
The second type of update is a maintenance update, which also fixes some bugs and other issues, the carriers are usually charged a small fee for this, and then we have the third type of update, feature updates, which in this case is Android 2.2 Froyo, and the manufacturer charges the carrier a larger fee for this.
It seems that the majority of US carriers aren’t happy that Samsung is charging hefty fees for these feature updates, and this explains why many of the Galaxy S smartphones are still on Android 2.1 instead of 2.2.
To be honest this seems completely ridiculous that Samsung would delay their smartphone customers from getting Android 2.2 on their smartphone, so that they can make extra money with each update, especially considering that Android is a free mobile OS.
There is already a class action lawsuit files against Samsung by Samsung Galaxy S owners and mobile operator T-Mobile for delaying the Android 2.2 update, and I guess this news lets us know which of the two companies is to blame.
If Samsung wants to continue to produce popular Android smartphones, they need to re think their strategy, as many people may now be put off from bying a Galaxy S smatphone in the future due to the reason that Android updates takes so long on the Samsung smartphones.
via TFTS
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