Fragmentation at its Best

[Citizendino]

So, Best Buy called me that my Nexus S was in. Went and picked it up. Awesome.

Put in the battery, turned it on.

Said that I my phone had an update available to ICS.

So, that is awesome. The other phone did not have one. But this phone does.

ATT says they have no idea. Samsung says, of course.

No one knows anything about android, not even android.

Amazing.

 

[epidenimus]

So you got a Nexus device and it had an OTA to ICS available. And the problem is...?

 

[Citizendino]

The problem is that ATT denies that they are doing them. So, no one knows where it came from. No one knows what is going on. There is no one to ask, no one to answer.

You ask ATT, they say they are not doing OTA because it is an unsupported device. Then the OTA shows us.

In recent news, that lasted about 3 hours, then the radio stopped working, and the battery life was so bad it was actually dropping while i looked at it.

So, I ended up taking the device to ATT to check to see if my phone was synced properly to my account, and that my sim card was set up properly. It was.

Then I went across the road to Best Buy, and they had nothing to offer me. ANd they simply took my phone to send it back. Leaving with me some god awful loaner nightmare.

i9020XXKi1 was the model number.

I wonder if this is even a phone that is compatible with ATT.

But the whole thing stinks. If my Sim card is ATT, then it would make sense my device uses the ATT network.

Then we run into the disconnect between the list of OTA devices from Samsung and ATT.

Factor in horrific service at Best Buy, and this phone has been a failure for me.

 

[epidenimus]

Your first mistake was going to Best Buy and expecting customer service. They are to electronics what Wal-Mart is to menswear, except that the challenged person wandering around isn't wearing a smock.

Carriers--or rather the salesmen at their corporate stores--are not up on support and update info for all their devices. They usually concern themselves with what is on the shelves and how to put it in your pocket. GSM transfer by simply switching a SIM card makes support even less likely there, whether it is a dumbphone or a smartphone.

Stock ROM updates are pushed through Google and especially since you are dealing with a Nexus device, they would be the best source for info about updates. Or you could try... Android Central, which has a new feature: The forums are now good for more than just ing venting.

 

[Citizendino]

See, that is not accurate. Google does not have access to my phone the way Apple does with the iphone. So, it pushes updates to manufacturers, who make alterations, then send to devices or to carriers.

in the case of ATT, Samsung has said they do not have access to the ATT airwaves, so they have to submit the software to ATT, and ATT presses it to the phone.

If this is not accurate, a lot of people over the last month and a half are all saying the same thing.

Sure, Best Buy sucks.

But what is worse for me is that Google does not actually support android in any way. If I have problem with an iphone, I can call Apple.

I cannot call Google.

Sure, I can go to the rich developers forums, and seek out advice on my own. But that advice really comes down to rooting, and that breaks the warranty on your device. Which is a hell of a means to get people to void warrantys.

I think ATT is sort of on okay ground not supporting a device they do not sell. Fine.

I think Best Buy is a bunch of liars and thieves.

I think Android as an actual product is a myth.

The reality is I bought a Samsung device that Samsung cannot support anything save for the hardware. It has software created by a company I cannot call, email, tweet, + or anything else.

I have carrier that made a business decision.

The nexus S is just a perfect storm of mistakes for ATT people. But, so it goes.

 

[Citizendino]

And to comment further, the people at Android Central, the Nexus S forums, other sites, none of them are writing about this. So, there is no incentive for anyone to change.

 

[jvai]

The problem is that ATT denies that they are doing them. So, no one knows where it came from. No one knows what is going on. There is no one to ask, no one to answer.

You ask ATT, they say they are not doing OTA because it is an unsupported device. Then the OTA shows us.

In recent news, that lasted about 3 hours, then the radio stopped working, and the battery life was so bad it was actually dropping while i looked at it.

So, I ended up taking the device to ATT to check to see if my phone was synced properly to my account, and that my sim card was set up properly. It was.

Then I went across the road to Best Buy, and they had nothing to offer me. ANd they simply took my phone to send it back. Leaving with me some god awful loaner nightmare.

i9020XXKi1 was the model number.

I wonder if this is even a phone that is compatible with ATT.

But the whole thing stinks. If my Sim card is ATT, then it would make sense my device uses the ATT network.

Then we run into the disconnect between the list of OTA devices from Samsung and ATT.

Factor in horrific service at Best Buy, and this phone has been a failure for me.

~thinking~ ... try the prior phone update via **wifi**, instead of the at&t network... leave it on over night on wifi for a few weeks.. see if this helps...

 

[wpbfjr]

And to comment further, the people at Android Central, the Nexus S forums, other sites, none of them are writing about this. So, there is no incentive for anyone to change.

that is because you are in a vacuum chamber of discontent.

wpbfjr from the road

 

[Citizendino]

So, I am the only person on ATT who owns a Nexus S, and would like to have an OTA to ICS? I find that hard to believe.

 

[Ry]

So, Best Buy called me that my Nexus S was in. Went and picked it up. Awesome.

Put in the battery, turned it on.

Said that I my phone had an update available to ICS.

So, that is awesome. The other phone did not have one. But this phone does.

ATT says they have no idea. Samsung says, of course.

No one knows anything about android, not even android.

Amazing.

I'm confused.

Is the Nexus S you now own prompting you to install an update?

 

[wpbfjr]

So, I am the only person on ATT who owns a Nexus S, and would like to have an OTA to ICS? I find that hard to believe.

you got the ota ics update on your replacement phone.now your disenchantment is not knowing whom the ota was sent via. move on (as promised) to iApple and be gone from Android world.

added: i 'had' to have ics update, so i did the no root, 2 step update. no voided warranty. big waste going to ics.


wpbfjr from the road

 

[Ry]

See, that is not accurate. Google does not have access to my phone the way Apple does with the iphone. So, it pushes updates to manufacturers, who make alterations, then send to devices or to carriers.

in the case of ATT, Samsung has said they do not have access to the ATT airwaves, so they have to submit the software to ATT, and ATT presses it to the phone.

If this is not accurate, a lot of people over the last month and a half are all saying the same thing.

Sure, Best Buy sucks.

But what is worse for me is that Google does not actually support android in any way. If I have problem with an iphone, I can call Apple.

I cannot call Google.

Sure, I can go to the rich developers forums, and seek out advice on my own. But that advice really comes down to rooting, and that breaks the warranty on your device. Which is a hell of a means to get people to void warrantys.

I think ATT is sort of on okay ground not supporting a device they do not sell. Fine.

I think Best Buy is a bunch of liars and thieves.

I think Android as an actual product is a myth.

The reality is I bought a Samsung device that Samsung cannot support anything save for the hardware. It has software created by a company I cannot call, email, tweet, + or anything else.

I have carrier that made a business decision.

The nexus S is just a perfect storm of mistakes for ATT people. But, so it goes.

Someone please correct if I'm wrong but I don't recall the Google Nexus S being officially available from AT&T - as in AT&T corporate stores and the AT&T website never sold the Nexus S.

 

[Citizendino]

That is correct. It was a best buy exclusive.

 

[Ry]

That is correct. It was a best buy exclusive.

I tried to do a quick search on the AT&T website for an support documents on the Nexus S and couldn't find anything.

Even though Best Buy sold you the phone with an AT&T contract, it doesn't seem like AT&T officially supports that device so to me, it's not surprising that AT&T knows nothing about the OTA update.

Whatever your beef is, it's with Google. Just because an update comes via OTA, it doesn't necessarily have to come from a carrier.

 

[Citizendino]

I know that. But, in the case of ATT, and Android, the carrier does the OTA. it is not apple.

ATT says they do Android OTA, Samsung agrees.

 

[Ry]

I know that. But, in the case of ATT, and Android, the carrier does the OTA. it is not apple.

ATT says they do Android OTA, Samsung agrees.

That doesn't mean they do all OTA updates.

You can buy the latest Nexus phone, the Galaxy Nexus, direct from Google and use it on AT&T. When an update for it is ready, it won't come from AT&T - it'll come from Google.

I understand that you bought the Nexus S with an AT&T contract. But it came from Best Buy. And I truly believe that the the Nexus S isn't an officially supported device for AT&T so they'll have no hand whatsoever with any software updates for that phone.

 

[Citizendino]

How will Google get access to my phone OTA? Samsung says that is not how it works.

I think the Apple model, which many people think is the Android model as well, with the Google people having access to your device, is what is happening. But, it is not.

Clearly they hand ICS to manufacturers of hardware.

Who pass it along to carriers.

Who either give it back to in my case Samsung, or shoot it out like Sprint did to the NExus S people.

But, ATT handles OTA.

I would love to see where google official talks about sending OTA direct to handsets.

If that is the case, then why hasn't it just sent it to every Nexus S user out there? The phone did not sell well, so why not just dump it on us? Sprint has it. Why not the rest?

 

[mattg67]

It depends on which model device you have who handles the OTA's, the i9020T receives updates from Google also as previously stated if you buy an unlocked nexus from the play store again Google handle's it. Also the I9020XXKI1 looks like your baseband not the model number. Pop the battery to find the model number. I'm not sure why you keep bringing up apple's method of updates which until recently were not OTA's at all, it was all though itunes, even now they only push deltas OTA.

 

[pmoser]

Can you try explaining the problem here, I can't seem to figure it out myself

 

[Citizendino]

Sure. We can do it again.

I bought a Nexus S from Best Buy. I am an ATT customer.

ATT stated that they are not going to do an OTA to ICS.

They also said that rooting the phone voids the warranty.

The Nexus S was at one point the flagship phone. Said to get the next operating system before all others.

Clearly this is not the case.

Best Buy cannot do system updates, nor any software support.
The Nexus S is not supported by ATT. So they do not either.
It is not like you can call Google and ask for help.

Recently my phone was returned to Best Buy for service (soup spill). I got a new phone Nexus S from Best Buy. Put in SIM, this new phone updated to ICS. Then promptly stop having any bars or any radio transmission at all.

So, my carrier is not doing software updates. My vendor is not doing software updates. And Android does not have access to my phone.

The Nexus S, in this regard is a total failure for me.

I liked the phone for the year that I owned it. But, the inability of Android to have any sort of coherent or supported delivery model, that is a massive failure.