I love Android but damn it why do phone makers have to be slow damn slow at rolling out updates?
I've owned Samsung and HTC phones and you can tell their own user interface software (Wiz and Sense) is bloating and making updating phones an issue because when android make a new update it causes their UI to have issues and so an update gets delayed or never see's the light of day...
It makes me GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!
I feel your pain. Having had the Nexus One for all of a week and a half back in 2010 I wanted to love Android so much because of the hardware, the OS and the possibilities. That however an issue when it came to the actual hardware. (Which is still a gripe of mine to this day...)
However, here we are at the end of 2011. Samsung has sold over 11-12+ Million Galaxy S2's world wide and there are a ton of S2 variants out there that should tide the most skeptical Android person over. I recently jumped ship from my 3GS to a GS2 Skyrocket. Having had the thing now 2 1/2 - 3 weeks, I wish I had come over sooner.
What we must all start to realize are some small but encouraging facts.
1) Samsung having the most smartphones out there in the globe today running Android 2.3.x variants and at least TouchWiz 3.5 or 4 (depending on where you are)--- in tandem with Samsung getting the orders for the Galaxy Nexus (The first Android 4.0 phone) makes for an impressive combination. This ensures that Google has given Samsung Android 4.x code months in advance and means that the worker bees at Samsung are going to get serious about updating their product lines because I believe they do (as well as others) view them as a top tier phone manufacture now. Samsung (I also believe) has a personal grudge with Apple of which getting Android 4.x onto most of their devices will make sure people don't buy an iPhone. (Speculative, but relevant.)
2) With Google purchasing Motorola Mobility, we will see direct Android updates through new products that Google/Moto bring out. The rumor of the Nexus tablet this summer and lord knows what else should calm any fears about older tech getting left in the dust since Google has a vested interest in seeing Android succeed. I would imagine the Bionic and Razr will be some of the first phones to get Android 4.x because of this new push.
Where does this leave everyone else?
HTC? LG? Pantec? LOL? Honestly I think this year we've seen the shake down of who the top 2 companies dominating the Android scene for 2012 are going to be. Samsung has a vested interest in seeing their products continue to sell and have legs while Google and Moto want to continue to push the industry and the channel partners of creating compelling products for consumers.
Back to your comment about TouchWiz and others... I actually am using TW on my Skyrocket and have tried other launchers but found they really weren't needed for the fluff. TW isn't a bad add on, however I believe other manufactures who have added UI skins that have slowed down the phone or have slowed down the updates because of the UI skin need to re-evaluate what their doing. Once Android 4.x comes with hardware acceleration, this will be a thing of the past I believe.
My opinion, get a Samsung or Moto phone if you want to stay current on the updates and don't plan to root or ROM your phone. That's my plan thus far and I am very pleased.
