Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Android Companies Keep Pretending That Android Doesn't Exist (theverge.com)

Posted by msmash on from the android-problems dept.

Europe's biggest tech show IFA is underway in Berlin currently. Companies from around the world are showcasing their new smartphones at the event, chearleading the advancements they have made on the hardware side. Pretty much all these devices are running Android, but the way they are presented, you wouldn't be able to tell if that really is the case. The Verge's Vlad Savov writes: Sony would have us believe that buying an Xperia phone grants us a pass into the exclusive Xperia experience. The stuff actually differentiating the Xperia brand is junk and bloatware: the Xperia assistance software is a mobile version of Microsoft's Clippy. Huawei is even worse in its Android omerta, deathly afraid to utter the green giant's name. I understand that hardware companies want to spend more time talking about their hardware, but all these launches feel lobotomized without a proper discussion of the software driving their devices. Tell me about your implementation of Android. Tell me why you think it's okay to launch a phone without the latest software. Reassure me that I won't be left behind the way that many 2014 Android flagships already have been, and explain to your users why they don't need smarter multitasking, improved notifications, and baked-in VR support. Yes, those are harder issues to discuss, but dodging them is what makes customers untrusting of Android manufacturers.

4 of 168 comments (clear)

  1. Re: No surprise by slasher999 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Completely disagree. As a long time iOS user who switched to Android about six weeks ago I'll say it's been a great change. It's not as polished as Apple's walled garden but it is hardly clunky. Perfectly usable and I feel like I'm using a computer instead of an appliance, plus I'm running all of the same apps as I did on iOS.

  2. Re:No surprise by LichtSpektren · · Score: 4, Informative

    Try ANYTHING non Android and you will see how clunky and ridiculously sluggish Android really is.

    I have a Nexus 5X. My mother has an iPhone 6. For what it's worth, doing assorted things seems faster on my phone than hers.

  3. Re: By design by rubycodez · · Score: 3, Informative

    I find my employer's iphone to be inferior to my android in every way, why people pay 2X the money for something half as good I'll never understand

  4. Re:Why would they talk about Android? by nitehawk214 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Yes. That's why my next phone is likely to be a Nexus.

    No, it won't.

    --
    I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust