no ICS upgrade for Atrix 4G - disappointed that Google/Motorola goes back on their promise

[gheitman]

So Google/Motorola just announced that they are going back on their promise and there will be no Android 4.0 (aka Ice Cream Sandwich) upgrade for the Atrix 4G. This is very disappointing news but not necessarily all that surprising. I've seen technology companies before find it either too challenging or not economical to release software updates for hardware that is no longer being marketed and my guess is that somebody at the company came to the decision that maintaining goodwill with the customers isn't worth spending the money to complete the development. I've been pretty happy with my phone since I got it eighteen months ago and was really looking forward to getting ICS but my contract expiration date is coming up soon and I will be looking to get a new phone. I can tell you that It won't be a Google/Motorola phone though nor will I recommend one to my friends.

 

[BKKunz]

That's a shame. I have been anxiously waiting for the Q3 update.
Wow! I'm so disappointed and no longer want anything to do with Motorola.

Sent from my MB860 using Android Central Forums

 

[jzapatah]

What a Shame for motorola/google. Those phones have a really good hardware and they can run ics ir jb without problem . Thankfully i exchanged My atrix 4G last week for a Sony Xperia S. I hope Sony update this phone yo jb and dont let the users down

 

[anon(301129)]

Is this really bad news? What does your phone not do now that ICS will make it do? I have had my 4G since the pre-order days and have been happy with it. My wife also has one that I purchased later an it too is doing everything we want. The only problem we had with her's was she lost it by dropping it in the ocean and I doubt that ICS could have prevented that.
I should note that I am a bit of a geek and have a lot of stuff installed on mine to run my business totally from remote. Both our phones are rooted. Of course I wish it was a bit faster but I doubt that ICS can make it process much faster. I also wish that I had a 20" screen while using it but a 4" screen when I have to carry it everywhere.
I have found that the telephone is as good as you can get and much better that many other brands I have tried, especially in fringe areas, where we us ours daily.

 

[gheitman]

I use my phone more for the apps (I have 137 installed) and internet access than I do to call someone and there are some apps I want that are only compatible with ICS or higher. There are also some features present in ICS that make it easier to use. I was also hoping for an update to the webdock software since I use that with my phone. These are some of the reasons that I was looking forward to getting ICS for my Atrix 4G.

 

[BKKunz]

This wouldn?t be a big deal if I wanted to use my smartphone only to make calls. Today?s social and music apps are optimized when using Android 4.0 or higher.
Some of the benefits of Android 4.0 are a refined evolve UI with Home screen folders and favorites tray. Not only can you resize your widgets, but have a new lock screen with advanced actions. For those times you cant answer your phone you can use Quick responses for incoming calls. Swipe to dismiss notifications, tasks, and browser tabs and Improve text input and spell-checking make daily use faster and smoother. If you ever use voice input, you would love the new engine that offers continuous "open microphone" experience and streaming voice recognition.
With a powerful web browser and improved email and the abovementioned, I can honestly say yes ? this is a big deal.

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

ICS and Jelly Bean would make it faster. While disappointing it's not a surprise. I think every company has gone back on at least one phone getting an update now.

Sent from my HTC One X using Android Central Forums

 

[the good guy]

I have always been with motorola but now it is time for a change. They dont care about their customer so why should i care about them. They are the worst ever,i will never buy another motorola doesnt matter how impressive the specs look.

 

[bugslife_2000k]

Yes me too. Long loyal motorola user. Razr v3, rokr, charm, and atrix 4g. My charm stuck in eclair and i move to atrix, but its also stuck with gingerbread, while im seeing even experia mini pro as sony ericsson already dead but still got ics update. Im tired, and previously loking for razr m, but considering my experience with charm and atrix, i think i will wait experia v or htc one s instead. Time to new one

 

[the good guy]

I agee Motorola sucks never again i am buying another one dont care if it is can fly to the moon

 

[videorx]

It is amazing that the iPhone 3GS still gets the newest OS, but this phone a year and a half old and they drop it. All my phones were Motorola - that is going to change now. I'm thinking a Nexus phone for my next one - at least I know it will get its upgrades.

 

[Flazer]

Well, this makes it official. Nexus will be my next phone. I've grown tired of waiting for updates with new features, and I know, it may be unrealistic to expect my old (not even 18 months), phone to have the latest software, but if the older nexus devices can support newer Android iterations, then I would hope mine would as well. Maybe they'll release source code for hardware so that we may be able to get some dev support for an unofficial, but hardware optimized version of ICS or JB. I guess Motorola just wanted to move forward, even though this will alienate some of it's more diehard supporters.

Farewell Moto

 

[Fistandantilus]

I am pretty disappointed with Motorola when I found out thuey were leaving the Atrix on gingerbread in Canada, but now not updating it all. It's not, IMO, unrealistic to expect this phone to be updated considering it is still half decent in power. I will never buy another Motorola phone and when the Note 2 comes out in Canada I'll be tossing this away.

 

[falconmaltese]

I think for the greater part you are correct its no big loss, had my Atrix 4g for a year, was a good price and it has served me well and it is still a very good phone. If Motorola had not said they would release ICS I would not have given this a second thought . So thanks a lot for teasing us Motorola. Guess if I really want ICS I will root my phone. To be fair it still works fine.

 

[imarek3]

I am disappointed too, but not suprised. I don't think this is unique to Motorola and as said before, every manufacturer has gone back on their word of upgrading a phone at some point.

I would not be suprised if they ran into some problem with some of the hardware, such as the webtop or the fingerprint scanner and decided to cut their loses.

Really eventhough they stated that the phone was upgradeable to ICS, (which it is by 3rd party devs), you should not expect that you would see it from Motorola for you phone. Buy a phone for what it has at the time you get it, not for what it might get latter.

I think that the Manufacturers and Carriers have created this mess, by putting out so many different phones that it really makes it impossible for the manufacturer and carrier to realistically think about upgrading their phones, which hurts us the consumer. For all we know, AT&T may have been the ones to put the brakes on the ICS upgrade.

I wish that my phone was a little speedier and had some of the neat bells and whistles that come with ICS, but my phone is working perfectly fine and if it never sees ICS, I am fine with that. My phone was rooted and the bootloader was unlocked and this weekend I tried putting an unofficial Jelly Bean ROM on it and at one point I thought that I had Borked my phone. It scared the B'Jesus out of me thinking that I had a nice shiny paperweight. Well, I finally got Gingerbread back on it and for the time being, I am glad to stay there.

How many times do you hear of a manufacturer pushing out an update and have problems with phones getting borked or for some reason the update gets pulled back. My son has a Samsung Captivate Glide which got ICS (through Kies software which is a horrible mess and a pain to deal with). There were some issues with the update and it was pulled and now my son has minor issues with his phone that weren't there before ICS and we don't know when it will get fixed.

If you want a timely and generally reliable update, quit complaining and go get yourself and iPhone because the way Android, the manufacturers and the carriers are, you will never get a timely update unless you have a Nexus phone (which is Google's reference phones).

Come April, I will be getting me the best and most current Android phone out there that I can afford, be it HTC, Samsung, Motorola, etc. (Not really fond of the way Samsung and AT&T update their phones through Kies).

Well, I probably said too much but that was my 2 cents. So, in the immortal words of Frank Barone: "Suck it up, Nancy".

 

[Paul627g]

I know you Atrix owners are very aggravated with this decision at least focus your anger on Motorola and not Google. This one is basically all in Motorola's hands and not Google.

 

[Az Syndicate]

DAMN YOU MOTO!!! Bring back Galvin....

 

[dorelse]

I don't get why Android Central, is giving Moto such a free pass on this! Not one mention on Mobile Nations 'Monday Brief', the story has already rolled off into oblivion on the AC site and AC staff just say 'Huh...yeah, that's disappointing' and 'Not a surprise'.

If you'll refer back to your own predictions for ICS...the Photon, Atrix and Electrify were all predicted to get ICS by your own staff.

I'm sorry, but when I spend my hard earned money on a phone from a manufacturer, who's a member of the Android Upgrade Alliance, I have a reasonable expectation that they are going to hold up their end of the bargain, and not use it as some marketing tool to sell more phones. Sure its only $200 for the phone...however, I also locked in on a 2 year contract...and that's what's burning me.

I'm sure someone on AC staff has a number/email for someone at Moto and could inquire asking more of an explanation than just giving them a free pass...or is AC only a PR extension for Google, and by default, now Moto?

Don't get it guys. If Samsung does this for the SGSIII in 9 short months from now...everyone would be screaming, including AC staff.

The lesson for me here is that Android isn't the platfrom I'll be investing anymore $ into...3 of our 4 lines will be off contract in 2 months, and they won't be Android phones after that...guess who still has 13 mos on his contract?

 

[dorelse]

AC Staff - you guys do realize you 'fell for it' right? Moto released their 'screw them' decision late on Friday, hoping it'd be buried by Monday, and ... they were right. Ya fell for it.

 

[Ry]

I don't get why Android Central, is giving Moto such a free pass on this! Not one mention on Mobile Nations 'Monday Brief', the story has already rolled off into oblivion on the AC site and AC staff just say 'Huh...yeah, that's disappointing' and 'Not a surprise'.

If you'll refer back to your own predictions for ICS...the Photon, Atrix and Electrify were all predicted to get ICS by your own staff.

I'm sorry, but when I spend my hard earned money on a phone from a manufacturer, who's a member of the Android Upgrade Alliance, I have a reasonable expectation that they are going to hold up their end of the bargain, and not use it as some marketing tool to sell more phones. Sure its only $200 for the phone...however, I also locked in on a 2 year contract...and that's what's burning me.

I'm sure someone on AC staff has a number/email for someone at Moto and could inquire asking more of an explanation than just giving them a free pass...or is AC only a PR extension for Google, and by default, now Moto?

Don't get it guys. If Samsung does this for the SGSIII in 9 short months from now...everyone would be screaming, including AC staff.

The lesson for me here is that Android isn't the platfrom I'll be investing anymore $ into...3 of our 4 lines will be off contract in 2 months, and they won't be Android phones after that...guess who still has 13 mos on his contract?

Sometimes a prediction doesn't work out. It's just a prediction.

People need to get over it and move on.