Thinking about getting Atrix, Motorola's lack of updates

[ElliottG]

Hey guys

Currently deciding between BB and the Atrix and I can't decide but honestly comments like this one I read on CNET are pushing me more towrads support of RIM for their phones over the Atrix...

Motorola is the only company which drops support to their products after 3-6 months of release. They even have people gathering in forums, social networking sites etc. Did you google for MotoFail lately? if not please go ahead and try.

Because of that, when you buy this tablet, it will be the best thing ever, after 3 months not so much anymore.

Motorola could provide Android upgrades to Android 2.2 Froyo, to only 2 Android phones they produced within all their Android models and ONLY in the USA. Anywhere else, people still using 2.1 or lower versions. It is unlikely that they will be able to support more newer products when they cant even manage to properly support their older products. This is ridiculous, especially considering even iPhone is able to run Android 2.2 Froyo with custom ROMs. Motorola's Android support is worse than iPhone's Android support!!!
http://www.idroidproject.org/forum/announcements/idroid-mojo-1-0-5-release-announcement/

If you want to save money, buy a phone from another manufacturer which can provide upgrades. Nowadays since Motorola locked/encrypted their bootloaders/kernels, you can not even run 3rd party upgrades on Motorola Android devices. So I suggest you to stay away from Motorola (especially since they might even go down soon, they split the company in two after a failed attempt of selling mobility division which nobody bought obviously eh...)

What do you guys think of this? Is it still worth it to get one? I just don't want to get a phone and within 3-4 months have it outdated already because of lack of software updates...

Thanks,
Elliott

 

[attweco]

When you buy one of these things, you are completely at the whim of the manufacturer and the carrier. These businesses are under no obligation to do anything more for you, apart from warrantee service.

Sometimes you are pleasantly surprised, but it is equally possible that your expectations for the future may well go unsatisfied. It's a crap shoot...you never know how things will go, when it comes to ongoing support. Their promises are worth nothing.

I buy based upon what the device can do, right out of the box. If it serves my needs, right now, then it's a go. I think it's a mistake to buy in the belief that there will be further improvements to your device by the manufacturer/carrier. Even if there are updates, who is to know whether the updates will address your particular needs, or if they will make the device bug-ridden and unstable. You never know. You buy, wait and see...

I just came over from a Palm Pre+. Everyone in that stinking Palm/HP organization, from the senior exec down, promised a truck load of improvements, for more than a year. Instead, after all the delaying tactics, without any warning, they announced they were not only ending support for what they sold us, their future devices, OS and apps would not be backwards compatible to our devices. They suggested we buy a new Palm Pre, instead. The Palm Pre buyers bought a dead end, instead of a future.

That's the way it goes, sometimes....

 

[BrianTufo]

I would think Motorola would support the Atrix and the upcoming Bionic for a little while as they are the cream of their crop now. Just my thought on the topic.

 

[kid108]

When you buy one of these things, you are completely at the whim of the manufacturer and the carrier. These businesses are under no obligation to do anything more for you, apart from warrantee service.

Sometimes you are pleasantly surprised, but it is equally possible that your expectations for the future may well go unsatisfied. It's a crap shoot...you never know how things will go, when it comes to ongoing support. Their promises are worth nothing.

I buy based upon what the device can do, right out of the box. If it serves my needs, right now, then it's a go. I think it's a mistake to buy in the belief that there will be further improvements to your device by the manufacturer/carrier. Even if there are updates, who is to know whether the updates will address your particular needs, or if they will make the device bug-ridden and unstable. You never know. You buy, wait and see...

I just came over from a Palm Pre+. Everyone in that stinking Palm/HP organization, from the senior exec down, promised a truck load of improvements, for more than a year. Instead, after all the delaying tactics, without any warning, they announced they were not only ending support for what they sold us, their future devices, OS and apps would not be backwards compatible to our devices. They suggested we buy a new Palm Pre, instead. The Palm Pre buyers bought a dead end, instead of a future.

That's the way it goes, sometimes....

Well said.

 

[TuxDotKing]

I disagree. Most of the phones that Moto disowned were usually low end devices. They've provided updates for each high end device they made so far. I myself am surprised at how long they've supported some of these devices, as the Droid 1 (if I may divert your attention to the front page) has been out since 2009 and is still being updated. I don't think you'll have any problem as far as updates seeing as this is Moto's flagship phone.

Lemme just say that even within the Android community there are fanboys who like to bash and complain a lot about other manufacturers. There are very legitimate reasons to not like Motorola (I'm not crazy about their bootloader policy, and they were shafting Milestone owners until very recently) but the post you quoted sounds like a fanboy, and I think it's worth mentioning that that's not the last animosity towards Motorola you'll see from those fanboys. (I also tend to see all of these fanboys being for one manufacturer in particular, but that's a topic for another day.)

 

[jd914]

The original Droid just got an update this week.

http://m.androidcentral.com/motorola-droid-receives-ota-update-frg83g

 

[varsityhacker]

As others have said the Atrix is a flagship phone and will get updates. They have too much invested in the Atrix to let it die.

 

[BrianTufo]

As others have said the Atrix is a flagship phone and will get updates. They have too much invested in the Atrix to let it die.

Exactly and I think us Atrix owners are also a little rowdy and would crush Motorola if they abandoned us haha.

 

[annihilator_4]

I have to agree with everyone it's typically a crapshoot. I used to own the Motorola Cliq and for the longest time that phone only got firmware updates with a promise to be updated to eclaire (2.1). I had that phone with 1.5 for almost a year and a half before they finally released the update (Online manually mind you), while the newer version Cliq XT was promised the 2.1 update and ended up being dropped from support.

I just hope since the Atrix is a flagship phone for AT&T that we get consistent support for 1 year+. I wouldn't put it past Motorola to release a newer phone and divert focus to it away from the Atrix with all the recent 4G issues.

 

[Maestro1#AC]

Even if Motorola updated the Atrix only one time, say to gingerbread, it would still be lightyears ahead of any BB OS no matter how many updates rimm does.

For timely updates we all know you gotta go the nexus route if you are interested in an android phone. you don't want to go to BB just for timely updates because android is way ahead of it no matter how limited the updates your device gets.

 

[element526]

The phones BB currently have out and planned for the foreseeable future are stone age compared to Android. Look at the specs on the BB phones coming out later this year. They do not even match the specs on Android phones from last year.
With BB I was always worried about updates and getting one that would make my 9700 work better and faster. With my Atrix there is no need to worry because this phone does everything I want it to plus.

 

[ElliottG]

Thanks for your inputs guys. I also just found out that the Atrix only supports up to 2 touches in multitouch...wow! That's kind of disappointing.

How does this effect things like N64oid playing Zelda or something like that? That sucks!

From the AndroidCentral review:

Other than a few games, this isn't going to make much of a difference -- for now. The way things change so fast in Android I worry that more than two input points may soon become the norm for gestures and on-screen controls. If so, the Atrix will never be able to use them. It seems strange to me to use this hardware on a phone so future proof. I'm sure Motorola has a reason to use the digitizer hardware they did, and I hate to second guess them, but it seems like an odd omission.

 

[Ricky Babalu]

Quote:
"What do you guys think of this? Is it still worth it to get one? I just don't want to get a phone and within 3-4 months have it outdated already because of lack of software updates..."

No offense. Ok here it comes.................The minute you get a BB you are light years behind in the mobile technology. The "Flintstones" operating system (BB) which has not kept up, is struggling with a high rate of attrition because so many customers have moved away. Your statements so far seem to slight the Android OS.
All this mind you, from a former BB user.

 

[ElliottG]

"What do you guys think of this? Is it still worth it to get one? I just don't want to get a phone and within 3-4 months have it outdated already because of lack of software updates..."

No offense. Ok here it comes.................The minute you get a BB you are light years behind in the mobile technology. The "Flintstones" operating system (BB) which has not kept up, is struggling with a high rate of attrition because so many customers have moved away. Your statements so far seem to slight the Android OS.
All this mind you, from a former BB user.

I realize it might sound like that.

What I was really trying to say is that RIM will almost always have upgrades for their phones. For example, the 9700 just recently got an OS6.0 update (a phone that is a year and a half old now)...will Motorola do the same thing; or will I be dead in the water after they release a new "flagship" phone?

 

[Ricky Babalu]

But what good is several upgrades to an OS system that pales in comparison to an Android? I myself have the X and it has already been laid to pasture; Not even a year old, but still a relevant phone in my opinion. The Atrix for now is a flagship phone, it too will not be able to avoid the pitfalls of continuous advancements in technology.

 

[Ricky Babalu]

Just ran across this, RIM is dead last!

"For the fifth time running, Apple has topped J.D. Power’s smartphone customer satisfaction survey. The iPhone earned a score of 795 out of a possible 1,000 points. In line with the last survey published in September 2010, Motorola and HTC followed Apple with scores of 763 and 762, respectively. Here’s how J.D. Power weighs the various categories:

Operation (30%); physical design (30%); features (20%); and battery function (20%). For smartphones, the key factors are: ease of operation (26%); operating system (24%); physical design (23%); features (19%); and battery function (8%).

Palm (736), Nokia (734), and Samsung (734) all scored below the industry average score of 761. RIM’s BlackBerry smartphones ranked lowest on the survey with a score of 732. Hit the jump for a chart of the results along with the full release."

 

[ElliottG]

But what good is several upgrades to an OS system that pales in comparison to an Android? I myself have the X and it has already been laid to pasture; Not even a year old, but still a relevant phone in my opinion. The Atrix for now is a flagship phone, it too will not be able to avoid the pitfalls of continuous advancements in technology.

I agree about BB being behind in the times but it's the thought that they still care that counts. It seems to me like Motorola just says "screw them" and drops support for the phones when they want. Trust me no one else knows better than I do that every piece of technology will always be outdated sooner or later, but having a phone that is outdated with software that is still being updated is better than having an outdated phone with outdated software to boot.

Just ran across this, RIM is dead last!

"For the fifth time running, Apple has topped J.D. Power’s smartphone customer satisfaction survey. The iPhone earned a score of 795 out of a possible 1,000 points. In line with the last survey published in September 2010, Motorola and HTC followed Apple with scores of 763 and 762, respectively. Here’s how J.D. Power weighs the various categories:

Operation (30%); physical design (30%); features (20%); and battery function (20%). For smartphones, the key factors are: ease of operation (26%); operating system (24%); physical design (23%); features (19%); and battery function (8%).

Palm (736), Nokia (734), and Samsung (734) all scored below the industry average score of 761. RIM’s BlackBerry smartphones ranked lowest on the survey with a score of 732. Hit the jump for a chart of the results along with the full release."

Thanks for that.

Surprising considering all the angry Motorola Android customers that never got upgrades to higher versions of Android...

Elliott

 

[BrianTufo]

I agree about BB being behind in the times but it's the thought that they still care that counts. It seems to me like Motorola just says "screw them" and drops support for the phones when they want. Trust me no one else knows better than I do that every piece of technology will always be outdated sooner or later, but having a phone that is outdated with software that is still being updated is better than having an outdated phone with outdated software to boot.



Thanks for that.

Surprising considering all the angry Motorola Android customers that never got upgrades to higher versions of Android...

Elliott

The only Motorola Android customers that get angry about not getting the newest release are people who read this site and follow other tech stuff. The average consumer could careless as long as it "works."

Also the BB Torch tech specs are laughable for a phone released in 2010. The resolution is 360x480 which is laughable at 3.2 inches, the processor runs at a MAX of 624MHz which is just embarassingly slow, and it has 512MB of RAM which isnt too bad. Add onto those specs the terrible App World they have and that alone would tell me to stay away from BB all together. However the choice is yours and yours alone.

 

[stray]

When you buy one of these things, you are completely at the whim of the manufacturer and the carrier. These businesses are under no obligation to do anything more for you, apart from warrantee service.

Sometimes you are pleasantly surprised, but it is equally possible that your expectations for the future may well go unsatisfied. It's a crap shoot...you never know how things will go, when it comes to ongoing support. Their promises are worth nothing.

I buy based upon what the device can do, right out of the box. If it serves my needs, right now, then it's a go. I think it's a mistake to buy in the belief that there will be further improvements to your device by the manufacturer/carrier. Even if there are updates, who is to know whether the updates will address your particular needs, or if they will make the device bug-ridden and unstable. You never know. You buy, wait and see...

I think that's the rationale manufacturers of Android phones went in with, I think the reality is that devices that don't get upgrades are going to leave a bad taste in consumers mouths. Even Sony Ericsson acknowledged that upgrades are more important than they realized.

You're already seeing some degree of market fragmentation with processor specific software, which is good in a sense for power users, but for the average consumer... they want to download an app and just have it work. If their phone is stuck on 2.1 when the rest of the world has moved on to Gingerbread or Ice Cream sandwich... if new apps don't work, or don't work correctly; if they're limited in their experience, and still under contract... they're going to have a bad taste in their mouth over the whole Android experience. And Android is going to end up where Palm was, or where Symbian is now. Honestly if I had an experience like yours with Palm, I'd know never to buy another Palm device again.

TL;DR - In this day and age, where Apple, RIM, and even Microsoft can support their phones, updates should be an expectation, not a 'bonus.'

To OP: I saw Atrix as a flagship phone, which will be supported for a fairly long while... which is why I decided to pick it up. If I do get burned by a lack of updates, I'll probably move on from Android, myself.

 

[Rickroller]

I agree about BB being behind in the times but it's the thought that they still care that counts. It seems to me like Motorola just says "screw them" and drops support for the phones when they want.

Ummm..what about the Storm line up? The Storm 2 is only a year and a half old and they never got the OS6 upgrade. How do you think their owners feel? The only older phone from the BB lineup to get OS6 was in fact the 9700..and that is solely due to the fact it was the only one with enough RAM capable of running it.

And guess what..do you really think the Bold is going to be getting the latest OS 6.1 upgrade? I'd fall over from surprise if they did. What about those that just bought the Torch, 9780, Style..are they going to be getting OS6.1? I highly doubt it..seeing's how from the testing i've heard about..things are still running "laggy" with 1.2Ghz processor and more baseline RAM.

I'm sure alot of people will be complaining if their year old phone doesn't get the OS6.1 upgrade..but like most BB users..they will take the b!tch slap that RIM gives them and keep coming back for more..