So I bought the Samsung S3 for sprint

[Parker]

?????

There is heaps of phones to choose from running the Android OS, some more powerful then others obviously but in the high end spectrum of phones running Android there's plenty to choose from.

Yet 90% of the phones won't see 90% of the updates, of course this is also because Android doesn't blow away with each new version, but doesn't seem to be able to optimize their software.

This is the unfortunate thing about Android, and only really people with a slight interest in technology would upgrade via rooting & flashing a new ROM of an upgraded version.

The fact that HTC doesn't get ICS running properly on the Desire HD, just shows you how poorly Android is written and how each new update, definitely does NOT blow you away. Of course this is no different with Apple, since it just makes your device slower, but at least you get the updates.

This could be a problem with HTCs software that they load on to their devices, there's ICS ROMs which are near perfect and even a Jellybean ROM that's alpha and running and because HTC hasn't upgrade some features may not even be possible (example: camera) to run because HTC has decided not to upgrade the firmware.

What about the Nokia Lumia 900, released in April this year and isn't even getting WP8, less then a year later of the release date.

So if you excuse my enthusiasm, but considering it took them a year to develop ICS and they did zero performance improvements, I simply have a hard time believing that Android will be "hitting it big".

On the contrary imo, every new release has been great for me personally both on my tablet & phone, I don't think I've been as excited for a Android version as I am for Jellybean even though I've had a smartphones for many years so the novelty hasn't worn off yet.

[Ron]

Yet 90% of the phones won't see 90% of the updates, of course this is also because Android doesn't blow away with each new version, but doesn't seem to be able to optimize their software.
The fact that HTC doesn't get ICS running properly on the Desire HD, just shows you how poorly Android is written and how each new update, definitely does NOT blow you away. Of course this is no different with Apple, since it just makes your device slower, but at least you get the updates.

So if you excuse my enthusiasm, but considering it took them a year to develop ICS and they did zero performance improvements, I simply have a hard time believing that Android will be "hitting it big".

Invalid argument. The correct statement is HTC doesn't find it cost efficient to take the time to develop a stable stock ROM for the device when its better to put resources in to newer phones to keep up. Also they know that, because of the HTC Evo, there is a lot of following behind HTC phones and they know that indie developers already have the latest updates for anyone who wants them.

Want updates?

JellyBean - JELLYTIME for DHD/Inspire4g - Beta 5 Available - xda-developers
[ROM] Android Revolution HD 7.0.4 | High Quality & Performance | O/C | Legendary - xda-developers
[ROM][ICS/Sense3.6] XxXPachaXxX NERO XL || Beta! [Virtuous Kernel 3.0.16] - xda-developers
[ROM][May 31 2012] Blackout ICS XL v2.1 ULTRA SMOOTH!!! [4.0.3][Sense 3.6] - xda-developers
[ROM][27/06] Runny Xtreme Surprise - v3.0.1 || Xtreme Fast || Sense 4 Xtreme Beauty | - xda-developers
[ROM]22-07-2012 | IceColdSandwich - 8.4 - AOKP | THE END EDITION - xda-developers
[ROM][PORT]ParanoidAndroid v1.8a JellyBean Edition / Dark Unicorn v2.5 AOKP ROM - xda-developers

Its not a flaw in Android, its a flaw in the manufacturer not finding it cost efficient to keep older phones updated. The Desire HD was released in late 2010 and it can run the newest OS, Jelly Bean with Butter, smoothly.

Android is Linux. To take full advantage of Linux you need to learn how to properly use it. In the case of phones, its flashing and compiling custom ROMs. Even someone with little coding knowledge can make some cool tweaks as long as they can compile the ROM and flash it.

There are certain things about certain phones that cause them to not get updated as much. Lack of firmware updates can hurt. For instance, the Sprint Epic (galaxy S1 with a keyboard) didn't get a lot of updates or support because the keyboard was really buggy and it was hard to make it work right. CM never supported the phone so people lost interest and got better phones. By this time it was ~2 years old anyway.

[Z1ls]

I got Samsung Galaxy Y and i'm amazed how good it actually is, only bad side is the small screen, but you get used to it really fast.

But Samsung Galaxy S3 has kinda large screen and good cpu, so i think you wont be dissapointed :D

My m8 got Samsung Galaxy S2 and it's very good phone, wish i could have money for that...

[GohanSSJ]

There is heaps of phones to choose from running the Android OS, some more powerful then others obviously but in the high end spectrum of phones running Android there's plenty to choose from.

At which the S3 is by far the most powerful one. The One X is running the very dissapointing Tegra 3 and the One S is running a very nice, but still less powerful Qualcomm dualcore.

Besides, everyone knows that if you want good community support beyond what the creator offers, then you want a popular phone and this will be without the most popular in this generation.

This could be a problem with HTCs software that they load on to their devices, there's ICS ROMs which are near perfect and even a Jellybean ROM that's alpha and running and because HTC hasn't upgrade some features may not even be possible (example: camera) to run because HTC has decided not to upgrade the firmware.

They have actually slimmed down Sense in the last version, so if anything, HTC is creating less load on the phone. But this is not just HTC, many devices suffer from a little less performance after going to ICS, this is not noticeable on high end devices, but pretty much all older devices, cheap tablets etc get slower due to the upgrade. Even when they are upgrades done by the community and are stripped down from all the junk, there simple are no performance improvements while they have added stuff.

What about the Nokia Lumia 900, released in April this year and isn't even getting WP8, less then a year later of the release date.

I can definitely understand a lot of people are not happy about this, MS should have definitely been more open about their future plans so that people know what they were getting into.
That said, it can't be really compared, Android 2.3 and 4.0 are in it's core the same OS, rather then making a new OS, they just changed stuff. WP8 has a new core, they went from the CE to the NT core, this is a huge change and where the CE core was made to run on even the simplest chips, the NT core wasn't, it requires a lot more.

So where WP7.8 and WP8 will look the same, underneath it's very different and that's what makes it so difference from Android, because where 2.3 and 4.0 look quite different, underneath it's the same.

In the end, this is not something MS did well, if I had bought a Lumia 900 I would have been quite pissed off, the upgrade to 7.8 is nice, but not enough imo. In the end most of us get the phone with a 2 year plan, so that's how long you should get updates. Personally I'm very satisfied with my updates (got my phone over 1,5 year now and I will be getting 7.8 as well), but yeah people who bought their phone this year, must feel crap about it.

On the contrary imo, every new release has been great for me personally both on my tablet & phone, I don't think I've been as excited for a Android version as I am for Jellybean even though I've had a smartphones for many years so the novelty hasn't worn off yet.

But you didn't actually get any performance upgrades, I'm not saying ICS is bad, I'm saying they did nothing to improve performance. I've got a 1Ghz tablet with a mali 400 gpu and while more should be done by the GPU, this only makes the experience smoother, but not faster. My brother had the SGS2 and now the Galaxy Note, he has not noticed any increase in speeds with ICS on either one. This seems to be pretty much everyones experience, if there are any improvements, it's just the UI that been improved (like what happened with the latest version of Sense)

Invalid argument. The correct statement is HTC doesn't find it cost efficient to take the time to develop a stable stock ROM for the device when its better to put resources in to newer phones to keep up. Also they know that, because of the HTC Evo, there is a lot of following behind HTC phones and they know that indie developers already have the latest updates for anyone who wants them.

If it had to do with money, then they wouldn't even tried it, the Desire HD is nearly 2 years old and pretty much no one supports 2 year old phones. So I'd like to see some proof, otherwise this is just based on absolutely nothing whereas the truth points somewhere else.

Its not a flaw in Android, its a flaw in the manufacturer not finding it cost efficient to keep older phones updated. The Desire HD was released in late 2010 and it can run the newest OS, Jelly Bean with Butter, smoothly.

Last time I checked, that's not ICS you are talking about.

Anyway you really can't compare a 2.3 version with all it's crap in it with a clean version, of course the clean version runs better, this however does not proof that the OS has been improved, this just proves, like everyone knows, that there is too much junk in it slowing down your phone.

Android is Linux. To take full advantage of Linux you need to learn how to properly use it. In the case of phones, its flashing and compiling custom ROMs. Even someone with little coding knowledge can make some cool tweaks as long as they can compile the ROM and flash it.

That's nice, of course 99% of the people don't give a crap about that, mostly because they have no knowledge of it. Those who do, usually don't change anything anyway. In the end it's a gimmick, I'm not saying it's worthless, because obviously if you enjoy tweaking it, then that's great, but this is hardly a argument what makes Android great.

Besides, if you want to go that way, on Windows Phone that can be done as well, if I were to root my device then I can change pretty much whatever I want.

[Keith]

Got the S3, ...instantly fell in love.

[Ron]

Everyone always says iOS is amazing and shit, but every time I use one it feels slow. I have a neighbor upstairs with an iPhone 4 and the UI is extremely choppy, especially the notification window. I don't get it. I think people don't want to move away from their $5000 they've spent in iTunes because they're too stupid to pirate music or buy physical media.

@gohan

flash this on your phone. Its ICS for the Desire HD. Will run 100x more smoothly than your stock rom, even with the bloat.

[ROM]22-07-2012 | IceColdSandwich - 8.4 - AOKP | THE END EDITION - xda-developers

Anyways, you can't expect a low budget development team to be able to get ICS to run smoothly on old hardware while adding in the bloat. Its not a downfall of Android, its a downfall of the manufacturer. If you want a pure Android experience get a Nexus. You'll see the true performance and capability of Android and have better support for flashing custom ROMs.

Manufacturers need to stop touching the source code. All they do is break shit.

[Btk]

Android = Future.

[SheenBR]

$150 really??? I dont think we can buy a S3 in BR yet, but it wont be less than $978 lol

they ship to other countries?

[Samus.]

$150 really??? I dont think we can buy a S3 in BR yet, but it wont be less than $978 lol

they ship to other countries?

No.

Samsung Galaxy S III 4G LTE for Sprint - RadioShack Wireless

+ $70,- per month.

[SheenBR]

that sucks... just in that store the SIII is $150 or it is the overall price?

[Keith]

The S3 is bloody amazing, I LOVE IT! ;3 soo worth it.

[Jim Raynor]

S3 is awesome, holding one as well :)

[jMerliN]

I just got a Galaxy Nexus. It's quite unrealistically epic. :)

[Keith]

came from the phone.

[Thunda]

As others people said, superb choice!
I'm still stuck with my android: Samsung Galaxy Y :/

[Ron]

I just got a Galaxy Nexus. It's quite unrealistically epic. :)

Flash the latest JB rom from ACS. Fucking sick shit.

[Bloodraven]

iOS, The past, Android, The future :D

I flash ROMs a lot.

[Parker]

I just got a Galaxy Nexus. It's quite unrealistically epic. :)

Weren't you the one who tore the shit out of people who liked smartphones? :P

[jMerliN]

Weren't you the one who tore the shit out of people who liked smartphones? :P

I don't believe so. Just people who like Apple and their terrible implementation of everything, probably. Nothing in iOS is comparable to Android. Nothing. It's like comparing DOS to Windows 7.