Wall Street Journal says that Sprint has committed to buy at least 30.5 million iPhones

[thebruce44]

I certainly wouldn't expect current devices to be updated with every new feature. For example, you mentioned that Siri doesn't run on an iPhone 3GS. Actually, it doesn't run on an iPhone 4 either. For these devices, I think that iOS 5 falls back on the previous speech recognition technology, which I believe was licensed from Microsoft.

 

If features have to be designed for the least common denominator, progress would be hindered. However, I think it's reasonable to expect security and bug fixes while devices are still under contract. Generally, that would mean two years from the point that a device was discontinued.

It appears now some hackers have gotten Siri to work just fine on the iPhone 4. This article speculates that Apple did not allow iPhone 4 users to have Siri because they either wanted to drive sales of the 4s or because the server that Siri uses couldn't handle the volume.

So for all the uproar your previous article was making about the Nexus One not getting the ICS update, here is a key feature being left out of their last phone for no apparent reason.

[1992casey]

I certainly wouldn't expect current devices to be updated with every new feature. For example, you mentioned that Siri doesn't run on an iPhone 3GS. Actually, it doesn't run on an iPhone 4 either.

 

I never mentioned that. I know Siri doesn't run on the iPhone4. Not really sure what you are getting at here.

You're right. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif You said "iOS5 runs on the 3GS I've heard (though not with all the features)." By the time I posted, I somehow read in "Siri." The point I was trying to make is that not all iOS 5 features are available on every device. I'm fine with that, just like I'm fine with Android-based devices not including every new feature.

 

However, security updates need to be made available expeditiously to those who don't want to root their devices, and they should be made available for all devices that are likely to still be under contract. It'll be interesting to see how well Apple does with the iPhone 3GS. At the point that the 3GS is likely to be discontinued, three years will have elapsed since its release. With two year contracts being required, it'd be reasonable to expect two more years of security updates.

 

thebruce44

wrote:

---

So for all the uproar your previous

article was making about the Nexus One not getting the ICS update, here

is a key feature being left out of their last phone for no apparent

reason.

I agree that there's no "apparent" reason. Apple hasn't said anything to clue us in. So as you say, it could be to drive 4S sales or to limit network traffic. It could also be that Apple tested Siri on the older devices and wasn't satisfied with its performance on the older hardware. I suppose that the "beta" nature of the software could be part of the equation, too.

 

While there's certainly motivation to drive sales of the 4S, according to Bloomberg analysts Jitendra Waral and Anand Srinivasan, there's plenty of profit to be made on the 4 and 3GS. While not everyone totally agrees on the actual amount of profit, Srinivasan says “The older the iPhone, the better the margin." This would be due to the much lower cost of parts for the devices that have been out for a year or two.

[thebruce44]

I certainly wouldn't expect current devices to be updated with every new feature. For example, you mentioned that Siri doesn't run on an iPhone 3GS. Actually, it doesn't run on an iPhone 4 either.

 

I never mentioned that. I know Siri doesn't run on the iPhone4. Not really sure what you are getting at here.

You're right. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif You said "iOS5 runs on the 3GS I've heard (though not with all the features)." By the time I posted, I somehow read in "Siri." The point I was trying to make is that not all iOS 5 features are available on every device. I'm fine with that, just like I'm fine with Android-based devices not including every new feature.

 

However, security updates need to be made available expeditiously to those who don't want to root their devices, and they should be made available for all devices that are likely to still be under contract. It'll be interesting to see how well Apple does with the iPhone 3GS. At the point that the 3GS is likely to be discontinued, three years will have elapsed since its release. With two year contracts being required, it'd be reasonable to expect two more years of security updates.

Agreed about the security updates, and as I said before, there is no indication Android phone makers are doing this at a rate worse or better than Apple.

[thebruce44]

Sprint Nextel is working with Apple to figure out the connection issue affecting some iPhone 4S devices on its network, but doesn't yet have an answer for the problem.

Some Sprint iPhone 4S users have reported suffering dramatically slow connection speeds--an issue that sprung up almost immediately after the device hit stores. The problem remains a top topic on Sprint's support message board, garnering more than 1,200 responses and 235,000 views. Adib said the complaints represent a single-digit percentage of the base of iPhone 4S users on Sprint.

The speed bump has sullied a bit what had been a coup for Sprint. Languishing as a distant third player in the national wireless game, the company got the chance to stand toe to toe with its rivals when Apple announced last month that it too would offer the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4.

"The real issue for Sprint will be how quickly they can repair any perceptions of issues and actual issues," said Maribel Lopez, an analyst at Lopez Research. "If there is even the lightest perception of a stumble the market will latch on to it and declare Sprint dead."

 

This could be bad for sprint if they don't figure this problem out.

Link

[1992casey]

Agreed about the security updates, and as I said before, there is no

indication Android phone makers are doing this at a rate worse or better

than Apple.

 

Is the research in the article I posted flawed? Wouldn't the lack of a current version also mean the lack of security updates? OS X doesn't necessarily update its version number when a security update is issued, and Windows certainly doesn't. But I thought that both iOS and Android bumped the OS version number with every update.

 

 

This could be bad for sprint if they don't figure this problem out.

 

I agree, especially with the reported investment that the company made. If I were encountering these network issues, I'd be returning my phone while I could still cancel the contract and get my money back.

 

 

Since this has turned into kind of a general thread, I'll post this here:

 

Exclusive: Adobe ceases development on mobile browser Flash, refocuses efforts on HTML5

Sources close to Adobe that have been briefed on the company’s future

development plans have revealed this forthcoming announcement to ZDNet

Our future work with Flash on mobile devices will

be focused on enabling Flash developers to package native apps with

Adobe AIR for all the major app stores. We will no longer adapt Flash

Player for mobile devices to new browser, OS version or device

configurations. Some of our source code licensees may opt to continue

working on and releasing their own implementations. We will continue to

support the current Android and PlayBook configurations with critical

bug fixes and security updates.

This is definitely hearsay, but if it's confirmed to be true, there'd be a lot of logic behind it, especially since Microsoft has stated that Windows 8 Metro won't be supporting Flash or any other browser plugins. I'd love to see Flash go away; I'd rather not run it on a Mac or PC either.

[1992casey]

This is definitely hearsay…

 

It's not hearsay anymore.

 

Flash to Focus on PC Browsing and Mobile Apps; Adobe to More Aggressively Contribute to HTML5

Our future work with Flash on mobile devices will be focused on enabling Flash developers to package native apps with Adobe AIR for all the major app stores. We will no longer continue to develop Flash Player in the browser to work with new mobile device configurations (chipset, browser, OS version, etc.) following the upcoming release of Flash Player 11.1 for Android and BlackBerry PlayBook. We will of course continue to provide critical bug fixes and security updates for existing device configurations. We will also allow our source code licensees to continue working on and release their own implementations.

[thebruce44]

Agreed about the security updates, and as I said before, there is no

indication Android phone makers are doing this at a rate worse or better

than Apple.

 

Is the research in the article I posted flawed? Wouldn't the lack of a current version also mean the lack of security updates? OS X doesn't necessarily update its version number when a security update is issued, and Windows certainly doesn't. But I thought that both iOS and Android bumped the OS version number with every update.

Again, many updates are provided beyond just updating to the new version of the Android OS. The chart in your link has something for getting support updates and most of them go on past a year. I'd think after a year or so most phones would have the kinks worked out so they wouldn't need additional service updates, so I'm not too sure what that chart shows other than some of the phones not being updated to the latest Android OS.

So no, I don't think the research is flawed, I think the wrong conclusions are being drawn.

[thebruce44]

Well, the over 2 year old OG Droid is getting two security updates. I hope that puts to rest the idea that security updates aren't provided when needed. As I said before, just because the phone doesn't receive a security patch after 1.5 years, doesn't mean it isn't being supported. It means no new issues have come to light that need to be addressed.

Link