All those with Motorola devices on the new list of the abandoned phones list, at least as far as updates to Android. This list includes the Motorola Clique Xt, the Motorola i1, Motorola Flipout, and Motorola Charm. Both the Flipout and the Charm are currently (and will be forever more) at Android 2.1, while the Xt and i1 is and will now forever be on Android 1.5. Owners of these devices are more than likely going to be neither surprised nor emotionally damaged by this decision, especially since this is a basic procedure for a load of brands pushing out Android phones this day and age.

If you’d like to get a phone you’re sure will be upgraded to Android 2.3 Gingerbread, your best bet is to buy a Nexus S or head to India to grab an OliveSmart V-S300 which is not only India’s first Gingerbread phone but also one of the very few phones in the entire world right not to have Android 2.3 at all. Just this week there was another brand new Android phone Sprint hopes to be a blockbuster, the Kyocera Echo, that also will not be released with Android’s newest system Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

One must sit back and consider that this situation is not the same as the newest version of an operating system on a desktop computer, at least not yet, in that the majority of the smartphone buying population does not expect the newest upgrade to be on their phone. Instead, like what’s being shown quite clearly with the new Sprint phone, a double screen and a hinge will suffice. Hardware over software? You bet.

[via Computer World]

7 COMMENTS

  1. Older Phones ???????? I have an I1 bought it the day it came out… ITS ONLY BEEN SINCE JUNE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OLDER PHONE MY A** . I was robbed by a company that promised updates then left me in the dust after taking my hard earned cash thanx moto U have lost a customer for life

  2. Older Phones ???????? I have an I1 bought it the day it came out… ITS ONLY BEEN SINCE JUNE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OLDER PHONE MY A** . I was robbed by a company that promised updates then left me in the dust after taking my hard earned cash thanx moto U have lost a customer for life

  3. I completely disagree with the last paragraph. While people are more than willing to buy a laptop with Windows XP on it, Android customers are looking for their updates.

    I personally think phone manufacturers have decided to go on strike due to Google’s fast update releases. They think they can force people to buy the newest handsets to get the newest OS version before their current device is even past its contract. The thing is, they’re dead wrong. Android users are smarter than users of other devices. We bought into an open platform for a reason. Unlike our “i” counterparts, we won’t be fooled into buying the next shiny pile just for the sake of buying it. We will merely root, rom and move on. When it is time to buy a new phone, we’ll be the ones paying attention to which companies have the best track record and Motorola will be back in the same hole it was in before it released the Droid.

    To all the Android phone manufacturers out there: You’re not dealing with WinMo, Palm or Blackbery customers. We signed on for an open platform with lots and lots of updates. One of you is going to be the company who is known for the best update schedule and the rest will fall by the wayside. WE decide which company stays and which ones go and trust me, it’s not going to be pretty for those of you who screw the Android users. We are the fastest growing group of smartphone users on the planet and we can bankrupt your company inside of six months if we so choose. So don’t for one second think you’ll win an update strike. We can go for years on currently available hardware with custom roms, how long can you go without any phone sales?

  4. The best thing Moto (and other manufacturers) can do, if they simply refuse to post updates, is to unlock their stupid phones to allow us to update them! Phones are like computers now, I don’t throw away my computer each time an OS update comes out so I don’t expect to do the same with a phone, support updates or unlock your stupid phone, one or other, if neither, you will loose customers and go bust, end of.

  5. Don’t get me wrong I love the Android OS on the phone, especially my G2, however, Iphone has an edge because they keep their phones OS upgraded regardless on the phone generation. I would never by a Motorola product, not because the hardware is bad but the fact that they don’t support their products. I have been upgrading computers with Win 7 back from 2004 and they run amazing. Why can’t manufactures do the same. My kids are getting Android phones, I will only allow them to purchase the Nexus S, at least the any upgraded OS will be supported.

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