Motorola says the inevitable, older devices won't receive new Android updates

Motorola says the inevitable, older devices won’t receive new Android updates

February 8, 2011 | by Chris Smith

Earlier today Motorola made the announcement that four of their last-gen Android devices will no longer be receiving Android updates, essentially being “stuck” with their current Android builds. The devices include the Motorola Clique Xt (we saw this earlier from a forum posting), the i1 (a Sprint-Nextel device), the Motorola Flipout, and the Motorola Charm. The Xt and i1 will be stuck at Android 1.5 and the Flipout and Charm at 2.1.

If consumers or anyone else is surprised at this announcement or the idea that their low-range smartphones won’t be getting the latest Android updates, I’m surprised at them. Some are saying that the customer’s of these devices are upset. I don’t want to be too harsh, but if you wanted the newest in operating system upgrades, why would you buy something that isn’t the latest in hardware specs? I understand that Android devices are “old news” as soon as they are released, being outpaced by the entire industry, but buying a phone that is completely obvious to be last-gen hardware isn’t the greatest idea if you want the latest tech.

Some are comparing this to the Samsung Galaxy S “debacle” of a couple of weeks ago where Galaxy S devices aren’t being upgraded to 2.3 yet. I have to say that this isn’t even close to being the same situtation. Samsung Galaxy S phones are considered to be top-of-the-line and could easily support the newest Android software. These Moto devices are sadly not that great and were of course going to fall by the way side.

It is a definite crap shoot to know what Android device will be upgraded and what won’t, but word to the wise; if you don’t want to be left behind when buying an Android smartphone, buy one that is top-notch at the time of its release.

Via [The Droid Guy]

1.5, 1.6, 2.1, 2.2, Android Froyo, android updates, CLIQ XT, motorola, Motorola i1, upgrades

4 Comments

edbdroid says:

February 8, 2011 at 8:42 pm

Dear Computer User: Your Pentium486 DX66 with 16MB of RAM, unfortunately, will not be compatible with any operating system beyond Windows 98. You might possibly want to purchase a new system that is compatible with this millennium. Best regards, THE FUTURE
William Frantz says:

February 8, 2011 at 9:25 pm

Actually, even the oldest Android G1 could run the latest Ginger Bread release. The Nexus One is older than most of the devices listed and it runs GB. All iPhones except the very first one run the latest iOS. Smartphone OEMS need to recognize that the new consumer expectation is free OS upgrades and plan accordingly or even more people will gravitate to iOS.
Levi says:

February 9, 2011 at 12:31 am

Lets put this in context. As far as the Charm and Flipout NEVER received any updates. They came out with outdated systems relatively recently and were never updated. The Flipout is what I bought my wife because she liked the form factor and keyboard – and would never have done so if HTC offered something comparable. Not regretting it as if it wasn’t for this she’d still be using a Blackberry and anything is better than that. But that is besides the point. Honestly what I wish for is a competent organization like Anonymous to do a full on assault on every manufacturer that leaves it customers with security holes. Maybe they’d change their business practice.
w says:

February 9, 2011 at 12:35 am

Well spoken. Very true indeed.

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