Epic's future OS potential?

[idiotbox37]

Hey all,

i'm eligible for an upgrade and i've been researching the epic. i know CES is a few days away and a bunch of new devices will be announced but i know nothing will be released in q1 of 2011 (except the Evo Shift). best case scenario is we'll see the new devices start to appear around june. hardware wise, is the current gen going to be able to support android updates for the next year or so? from what i've read, the epic (most of the galaxy s line) has the exact same hardware internals as the nexus s so it should have the same OS potential. also, w/ that thinking, shouldn't it be fairly easy to compile Nexus S android updates for all of the galaxy s line?

thanks!

 

[Paul627g]

As we have all read the Galaxy S line is probably more than capable of running Gingerbread and possibly even Honeycomb. The question is, will Samsung support the new OS's on the Galaxy S line or force people into buying newer devices as in the Nexus.

I think its fair to say Froyo is no where near done. We still have no official on any Galaxy S in USA. Once it is released I would expect a few updates to tweak out any bugs as other devices have had to do. If we do get Gingerbread I would think that would carry us well into the end of 2011 and I'm not even putting Honeycomb on the radar yet because its simply to far off and only been shown on a Tablet if I remember correctly.

The Epic is a solid device. Its processor's capabilities I think have just begun to be truly discovered and utilized by developers. Graphics are very nice in just about any game I've tried. Movie/video playback is also tops in the market. I think it comes down more to your own choice. If your happy with what the Epic has to currently offer then stick with it. If your a person hungry for the newest tech possible then you may want consider another device, but that "hunger for the newest/best" is something that is hard to always satisfy the way new tech outdates the current so quickly. This all comes down to your choice of carriers preferences too as to what devices are available to you.

In answer to you last line, yes we already have many different add ons/themes available from the Nexus S and Gingerbread available to us on the Epic from different devs if your a person willing to root your device.

 

[idiotbox37]

thanks for the info!

i'm not so much a "latest and greatest" person, especially w/ the hardware. as long as it can run the apps/supports the OS updates of the next couple years, i'll be satisfied. but thats where my worry comes in. take webOS for example. palm promised flash support like a year ago and it is still unrealized. android 2.2 has been out since May and it is still not supported by samsung's galaxy s line. my main concern is google announcing a pimpin feature that i get all excited about but no phones support it because they are waiting for the next hardware cycle. seems like my best option is to get some quality hardware and then root it so i can get the better features of new OS updates.

also, i'm stuck w/ sprint

 

[Paul627g]

I understand what your saying. I think the Epic will be supported for time to come. Sammy is just slow as usual about the updates. Rooting is your best option if you would like to enjoy some of the new OS add ons/themes and eventually roms.

The latest is the new EXT4 filesystem which many of the devs are incorporating into their roms. It is a much better management filesystem and already has great proven quad scores and user commented speed increases. This is what is offered on the new Nexus device and was just recently in the last few days put into use on the custom roms. Of course you have to be rooted, but its sounding to be a excellent step in the right direction utilizing the power of the Epic.

 

[|-KGB-|CaptHowdy]

yes the ext4 is supa pimp. I love it...

 

[Skunkape60]

The epics hardware is top notch and will IMO support the needs of the new OS's coming out. If you don't mind rooting your phone, the Epic would be an excellent choice.