Moto cancels ICS for Atrix/Photon/Electrify

[s44]

Wtf!? (It was originally scheduled for Q3 -- that is, by next week.) Seriously, the original Atrix was their flagship for like six months.

On the one hand, anyone who bought the Atrix near release is due for an upgrade soon anyway. On the other hand, why would you buy Moto again after this crap?

 

[MarkLuvsCS]

Wtf (via many XDA threads)!? (It was originally scheduled for Q3 -- that is, by next week.) Seriously, the original Atrix was their flagship for like six months.

On the one hand, anyone who bought the Atrix near release is due for an upgrade soon anyway. On the other hand, why would you buy Moto again after this crap?

You know, I was wondering what was going on with that. The "$100 towards a new moto phone if we don't upgrade the device" campaign makes total sense now. I bought my atrix the day it was released full price and I've been pretty happy with it, but I will definitely not buy another moto device if it wasn't a Nexus. This BS is obviously a way to get more revenue, but I hope people vote with their wallets and say that won't be tolerated. The phones are certainly capable (and would probably have a bit of a smoother experience), but IMO they are shooting themselves in the foot breaking a commitment.

Either way my phone still works fine, I occasionally surf the web/youtube and text a bit, but I would love more than a day or two of light usage. Oh well, lesson learned for android: buy a Nexus ($350 is so cheap too!).

 

[foghorn67]

Having 2nd thoughts on the RAZR MAX HD

 

[ViRGE]

I'll take "WTF?" for $2000, Alex...

 

[ponyo]

This is what I dislike the most about Android manufacturers and the US carriers. You have to rely on them for the official updates and the brief history has shown they do piss poor job and can't be trusted for timely support if you get any support at all.

My experience with Samsung Vibrant left a very bad taste in my mouth with the whole official update thing. That phone was abandoned 6 months after release with one official update (2.1 to 2.2). And it took big Twitter/ Facebook campaign with lot of bad press to get Samsung/T-Mobile to quickly rush out the update after 6 months of promise. And the official update ended right after that since Samsung and T-Mobile released new phone, Vibrant 4G. The only thing different about the 4G? Slightly faster HSPA+ radio and working GPS. I was pretty fed up with Android and would've left for iOS and the iPhone had I been able to get 3g signal on T-Mobile. Galaxy Nexus and ICS restored my faith in Android. Nexus has been such awesome experience that I can't see myself using anything but the Nexus line in the future.

So this Moto and Atrix canceled update is pretty standard shitty practice in the Android world. The only guarantee of not getting potentially screwed by the Android update lottery is to only consider and buy Nexus phone. Ignore all other Android phones, no matter how tempting the hardware might be on some of the other phones. There is Nexus and nothing else. Many of us had to learn this lesson the hard way. Don't make the same mistake. Repeat: There is Nexus and nothing else.

 

[Skurge]

Seems like you guys in the US get screwed over pretty hard with updates. International phones usually have good support from the manufacturer. Samsung is updating all their dual core devices to 4.1.1 I'm not sure about other manufacturers though.

 

[shortylickens]

I have an Atrix 2 and while its nice I dont think its fast enough to properly enjoy 4.0. And you shoudlnt buy a phone specifically for the OS you think it may have down the road.
AND, if it really matters so damn much just root the freakin thing and put your own ROM on it.

 

[dguy6789]

Can anyone name a phone that predates the Atrix(Feb 2011) that received official ICS?

 

[s44]

Nexus S

Perhaps more to the point, the Xoom has the same SOC (Tegra2) and is currently on official JB.

 

[dguy6789]

It does suck that the Atrix isn't getting official JB but I don't think it's fair to single out Motorola specifically when neither Samsung or HTC have a non Nexus*(Xoom was more or less the Nexus tablet without the Nexus name) device that is as old and is getting ICS.

 

[s44]

SGS2 was released a few months later and it's getting official Jelly Bean.

Also, it's not just the lack of update... it's the absolute lie that the update was coming, followed by a "ha ha, no it's not" the week before the deadline.

 

[Dulanic]

SGS2 was released a few months later and it's getting official Jelly Bean.

Also, it's not just the lack of update... it's the absolute lie that the update was coming, followed by a "ha ha, no it's not" the week before the deadline.

Sprint is still doing updates as of a few days ago internally for ICS, they haven't even started testing JB for Sprint. Kind of makes me wonder how long the carriers will delay JB for the SGSII... if ever,

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Motorola also still hasn't updated the Xyboard 8.2 to ICS and even removed it from their update schedule despite the fact that the international market Xoom 2 ME which is identical got an ICS update.

I think the simple solution is buy Samsung or HTC devices.

 

[NutBucket]

I have an Atrix 2 and while its nice I dont think its fast enough to properly enjoy 4.0. And you shoudlnt buy a phone specifically for the OS you think it may have down the road.
AND, if it really matters so damn much just root the freakin thing and put your own ROM on it.

On your last two points I couldn't agree with you more. However, point 1 is definitely misleading. ICS runs pretty damn well on a GalaxyS which is quite a bit less powerful than an Atrix. Now, maybe it wouldn't run as well with Samsung's "improvements" but that's besides the point.

I still blame carriers more than manufacturers. If basement dwelling nerds can come up with ROMS that are 95% useable then sure it wouldn't be impossible for a major manufacturer to achieve that final 5%.

 

[podspi]

This is what I dislike the most about Android manufacturers and the US carriers. You have to rely on them for the official updates and the brief history has shown they do piss poor job and can't be trusted for timely support if you get any support at all.

My experience with Samsung Vibrant left a very bad taste in my mouth with the whole official update thing. That phone was abandoned 6 months after release with one official update (2.1 to 2.2). And it took big Twitter/ Facebook campaign with lot of bad press to get Samsung/T-Mobile to quickly rush out the update after 6 months of promise. And the official update ended right after that since Samsung and T-Mobile released new phone, Vibrant 4G. The only thing different about the 4G? Slightly faster HSPA+ radio and working GPS. I was pretty fed up with Android and would've left for iOS and the iPhone had I been able to get 3g signal on T-Mobile. Galaxy Nexus and ICS restored my faith in Android. Nexus has been such awesome experience that I can't see myself using anything but the Nexus line in the future.

So this Moto and Atrix canceled update is pretty standard shitty practice in the Android world. The only guarantee of not getting potentially screwed by the Android update lottery is to only consider and buy Nexus phone. Ignore all other Android phones, no matter how tempting the hardware might be on some of the other phones. There is Nexus and nothing else. Many of us had to learn this lesson the hard way. Don't make the same mistake. Repeat: There is Nexus and nothing else.

I agree except for the fact that Motorola is OWNED by Google. I am pretty much floored by this decision, not because I care directly, but because I am having a hard time believing that Google and Motorola are having trouble getting ICS to work with these devices. I mean, independent devs do incredible things incredibly quickly, and that is without the benefit of any official documentation on the hardware.

Why can't these companies do the same? It was only a few weeks ago we were promised a new Motorola, well where is it Google?

 

[NutBucket]

Seems to me that Google and Moto are still operating as nearly completely separate entities. Doesn't appear that any Google influence has percolated into Moto.

 

[Mopetar]

Seems to me that Google and Moto are still operating as nearly completely separate entities. Doesn't appear that any Google influence has percolated into Moto.

I don't think Google ever wanted them for anything more than their patents, so it doesn't come as any big surprise that they're not trying to take more control over Motorola. Also, if they do try to be more active in managing Motorola, it might start to annoy the other hardware manufacturers.

. . . I hope people vote with their wallets and say that won't be tolerated.

Haven't people already kind of done that? I don't think Motorola has been profitable in the last few quarters so it would seem as though their devices are being passed over. However, that probably has less to do with them keeping their promises and more with their device selection being less appealing than their competitions.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Nexus has been such awesome experience that I can't see myself using anything but the Nexus line in the future.

Ditto. After my wife's experience with her Nexus S, I'm definitely getting the next Nexus phone. Great phones and near certainty of updates.

 

[AlexAL]

damn it, moto

 

[dagamer34]

If you care about updates, get a Nexus. There literally is no way around it. It's the only reason why the Nexus S has Android 4.1 and that thing came out December 2010.

 

[jhu]

Wtf!? (It was originally scheduled for Q3 -- that is, by next week.) Seriously, the original Atrix was their flagship for like six months.

On the one hand, anyone who bought the Atrix near release is due for an upgrade soon anyway. On the other hand, why would you buy Moto again after this crap?

here you go. Just run Cyanogenmod. It lacks preinstalled crapware too.

 

[lothar]

Can anyone name a phone that predates the Atrix(Feb 2011) that received official ICS?

It does suck that the Atrix isn't getting official JB but I don't think it's fair to single out Motorola specifically when neither Samsung or HTC have a non Nexus*(Xoom was more or less the Nexus tablet without the Nexus name) device that is as old and is getting ICS.

No, but I can think of a Samsung device that was released just only 2 months after that and will be getting JellyBean.

Do you want me to give you examples of numerous Motorola devices that were released after that Samsung device and still won't be getting ICS?

 

[Phynaz]

No update for a year and half old phone. That truly sucks.

 

[BenSkywalker]

I have an Atrix 2 and while its nice I dont think its fast enough to properly enjoy 4.0.

My son smashed his Atrix and ended up getting an Atrix 2 in exchange, it was a pretty big downgrade overall. Slightly larger screen, close to comparable GPU but slower CPU and locked down bootloader(battery is terrible on it too). I have an Atrix here running 4.1.1, to say it handles it with ease would be a bit of an understatement. Moto cancelling ICS for the Atrix is for no other reason then them pinching pennies and not supporting their customers. They unlocked the bootloader, so geek customers shouldn't be too upset as they should be running JB by now anyway

 

[shortylickens]

My son smashed his Atrix and ended up getting an Atrix 2 in exchange, it was a pretty big downgrade overall. Slightly larger screen, close to comparable GPU but slower CPU and locked down bootloader(battery is terrible on it too). I have an Atrix here running 4.1.1, to say it handles it with ease would be a bit of an understatement. Moto cancelling ICS for the Atrix is for no other reason then them pinching pennies and not supporting their customers. They unlocked the bootloader, so geek customers shouldn't be too upset as they should be running JB by now anyway

Well see thats the thing, how many normal customers do you honestly believe purchased an Android device EXPECTING it to be upgraded to a specific OS later on? I seriously doubt its that many. The folks who are really concerned about getting a much newer operating system know they can root and install whatever they want.