Kellen
Our friends over at Computer World took the time to crunch the numbers on Android updates for the four major carriers to decide which of them is leading the way on getting their users to the most current software the fastest. They also looked at manufacturers to see who’s line of handsets was receiving the latest updates the fastest to round out their report. The facts shouldn’t shock you, but we should all thank them for putting the time in on this fantastic report. Maybe now you’ll all decide which phones to buy and on which carriers with a little more ease?
Verizon won the carrier battle and we’re not all that surprised. We know there have been hiccups along the way, but when you look back at the last year and see how many handsets were updated to Froyo, they easily took down the competition. Over 1/3 of their Android devices received Froyo within the first 6 months of it being on the market, with the average handset receiving it within 58 days. That’s less than two months my friends. Sprint came in at a respectable second with T-Mobile and AT&T no where to be seen. In fact, between those two carriers, they were able to upgrade 1 device. Yes, one.
On the manufacturer side, it was HTC all the way. They managed to update 50% of all phones to Froyo in 2010 and at at average time of 56 days. And I’m impressed. Motorola came in at second, but at only a 15.4% update rate, while Samsung somehow made the list by updating 11.1% of theirs. You have to look at those percentages being a little skewed since Samsung only updated 1 device, while Moto updated several, but obviously has more devices on the market. No matter what though, HTC is on top of the update game even with Sense loaded on almost all of their phones. Who says skins slow down update rates?
Were you worried about the Thunderbolt and its single-core processor? Maybe this report will help ease your mind, as the device is almost guaranteed to be one of the first with Gingerbread.
Source: Computer World 1, 2
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