Motorola: ICS isn’t worth the update on some devices

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Motorola: ICS isn’t worth the update on some devices

Motorola is at it again, talking about updates for the handsets and which devices will not see an update to the latest version of Android. Late Friday afternoon Motorola commented on their blog showing what phones will be updated to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and even mentioned a few wouldn’t be updated because there isn’t enough improvements.

Here’s the quick explanation, which is the same route that Motorola sadly took here. If the upgrade to Android 4.0 ICS won’t “improve” the device, they won’t be updating it. That’s the gist of their blog post. Devices like the DROID X2 (powerful dual-core smartphone) won’t be getting updated, and neither will the DROID 3. I could understand them not upgrading an older device like those with only 512 MB of RAM (although Google did this just fine) but to not be updating a phone as new as the DROID 3 and claiming it won’t “improve” the phone is just upsetting.

You may be wondering why all devices aren’t being upgraded to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). Here’s the deal. We work very closely with Google and cell phone carriers for every software update. And, obviously we want the new release to improve our devices. If we determine that can’t be done—well then, we’re not able to upgrade that particular device.

Now that Google’s finally got all the approvals for the Moto buyout hopefully something will be changing soon, but I have some serious doubts. The same blog post by Motorola has a link to their upgrade timeline, that seems to only list phones with 1GB of RAM getting the update, so that could be their thinking. Sadly since their bootloaders are so locked down developers can’t easily get into the mix and help out Motorola owners so for now users might be out of luck. I could understand if these phones weren’t capable of handling Android 4.0 ICS, but they are perfectly capable just like the Nexus S.

What does everyone think of Motorola’s latest comments? They are vague and I don’t think “improve” was the right word in this case, since we all know ICS improves devices all around. Sigh!

[via Motorola]
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  • Drepope100

    If this upsets you, I suggest simply not buying anything from Motorola………..period!

    • http://www.androidcommunity.com Cory Gunther

       lols

  • Alfred

    I can’t state this as a fact, but maybe ICS requires more memory than Gingerbread.

    • http://www.androidcommunity.com Cory Gunther

       Well even if so, look at the Nexus S.. it got ICS

  • Boone Simpson

    I really hope google takes motorola to task on this behavior as it is anti-consumer. I get that moto wants you to buy a new phone, but you would think google would want users to be happy and using the android ecosystem.

    I hate to say it, but Apple is a very appealing option for smartphones users who are not power users. Apple has no carrier bloat, they have little OS fragmentation , os updates are released universally across product generations, and they have few skus to confuse the buyer, all of this makes the IOS platform appealing to those who want simplicity and ease of use in a smartphone.  I am not an apple fanboy, heck I will go so far as to say I am anti-apple, but if google doesn’t reign in a degree of control, users will look to the greener pastures of other phone OSes.

  • pesto242

    Google has a huge up-hill battle to gain me as a customer at Motorola ever again. I sold my Photon 4G after 6 months and will never buy another Motorola product until a revolutionary change within Motorola.

  • TH3ORY

    Motorola make some cool phones :)   

  • Jeff

    I bought both a Motorola Xoom and a Droid 3.  The LTE upgrade took FOREVER, and the Galaxy Tab got the title of first 4g tablet.  Now they aren’t going to upgrade the D3 to ICS?  I think ICS came out 4 months after the phone was released, if even that long.  And on top of all that they are leaving all the bootloaders locked?!  I bought Motorola because the other vendors had been doing some awful stuff, but it seems like Motorola just doesn’t have its stuff together.  At least for me.  I won’t be buying anything Motorola ever again.

  • Farli64

    Is Moto trying to drive away customers or are they just plain stupid?

  • lukemcd

    As an owner of a Droid X2 I find this absolutely ridiculous. The Droid X2 should have had 1GB ram to begin with (it’s one of very few dual-cores I know of with only 512MB), and stock ICS is already available as a software build for Tegra 2. Why not just drop it in?

  • Jwin

    Updating to Ics for single core phones with 512b ram is perfectly possible. Sony did that for all the old Xperias.

  • http://mobilezfun.com/ Mobilezfun

    This was a good and brave decision from Motorola.

  • Oryon81

    I pity the motorola owners..

  • AtrixBoy

    Most ICS features seem to be already on my phone. I don’t even really see a need to the Motorola Atrix 4G to get an update, other than it being more smooth and fluid. I remember when the Galaxy Nexus came out, and I was just wondering what new things were coming… Yay Motoblur.