Verizon Galaxy S4: KitKat update

[medic673]

I spoke to my friend at Verizon and he said not to expect a update till at least a month after the S5 comes out on April 9,2014. The update would potentially discourage people from buying the S5.

It's stupid but they did the same thing with the S3 and S4.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[kfres39389]

Re: Kit Kat update

That makes sense from a business standpoint; but it's a slap in the face to the consumer. It's also rubbed in by the fact that they made you upgrade eligible every two years instead of every year, like in the past. No wonder so many are switching to T-Mobile.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[johnriii]

Re: Kit Kat update

I spoke to my friend at Verizon and he said not to expect a update till at least a month after the S5 comes out on April 9,2014. The update would potentially discourage people from buying the S5.

It's stupid but they did the same thing with the S3 and S4.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using AC Forums mobile app

I wouldn't put too much credence into what a verizon employee says, even if he is your friend. I've spoken to 5 or 6 verizon employees in KC, and most of them don't even know what KitKat is. and even if he is telling the truth, I wouldn't hold my breath. this update will be out when it's out. I'm guessing June-ish.

 

[japetty]

Re: Kit Kat update

I wouldn't put too much credence into what a verizon employee says, even if he is your friend. I've spoken to 5 or 6 verizon employees in KC, and most of them don't even know what KitKat is. and even if he is telling the truth, I wouldn't hold my breath. this update will be out when it's out. I'm guessing June-ish.

Most of VZW employees in the stores are lucky to find the same door every morning and only hand out canned responses told to them by the superiors of VZW. This is about the only ones VZW will hire. Did not used to be that way though and not so long ago. VZW on cares about the bottom line but if they loose to many customers because the treat customers as badly as they have been treating them, they are going to loose many more. Some like me just have no other choice though. I live in very rural NM and have 4G/lte no other carrier that is here has 4G/lte. I also still have unlimited data which I don't really know how much longer I will have that as I RV a bit and use it for the wife and I to connect to the internet. RV park wifi is so crappy and some RV parks charge outrageous amount for wifi that is somewhat above crappy. I usually buy my phones on Swappa or ebay and don't deal with VZW people unless it is just mandatory. I have not had a new contract in several years. I look once in a while on the VZW board and there are many there very unhappy with the way they are being treated by VZW reps. Many people complaining about updates but that is just the way VZW does it. If you are on VZW you are just about the last ones to get updates. VZW is just about always the last one to release new phones. There are exceptions though from time to time, not many.

 

[Leo G]

Verizon was on of the first to get the 4.2 update. Only to find out that they locked down the bootloader. Which of course was the only reason the update was immediate. It served the bottom line for them.

The last update to 4.3 got me upset when they removed the radio controls so now I can't force my phone to use only 3G in my office where 4G is really slow because of a degraded signal through the metal building and surrounding metal structures. 3G is faster in my situation.

 

[japetty]

Verizon was on of the first to get the 4.2 update. Only to find out that they locked down the bootloader. Which of course was the only reason the update was immediate. It served the bottom line for them.

The last update to 4.3 got me upset when they removed the radio controls so now I can't force my phone to use only 3G in my office where 4G is really slow because of a degraded signal through the metal building and surrounding metal structures. 3G is faster in my situation.

They had to get as many phones up to 4.2 so they could maybe sell many of them the Galaxy gear. They had a business reason for that. I think that one was the one they really screwed up many working S3's and then blamed Samsung and it took VZW 2 weeks to get the update out that people could use their S3 as a phone again. It did not screw up every ones S3 but many.

 

[Motaba#AC]

Make no mistake, I agree with you 100%, but from a business aspect it is a logical decision. And most of us here are, well, most know how to program roms, etc. We are the ones who are anticipating this with more eagerness than most of their user business. They probably have the 4.4 rom all set to go and are just not releasing it for the purposes stated. It's rough, they sold I don't know how many million S4's, great earnings, but their stock stayed stagnant because even though selling (I don't know official figure) 10-20-30 million, they fell short of what they predicted. I don't know who to place blame on, Samsung may have an agreement with Verizon, or it may Verizon's call. Any way it sucks but there are good reasons.

If you happen to run across said ROM drop me a line on where to find it.

Jonnie

 

[Motaba#AC]

Something needs to be done so far as Google putting their foot down and working with carriers, perhaps even google subsidize the 40-50% of people running versions of android lower than 4.0 on phones that have no plans for updates to defragment. No one wants to look like the bad guy forcing people to spend money. But with the carriers focusing on updates, etc. for phones that for all purposes should be trashed. If you have a Verizon contract you have the $ to upgrade your phone to a higher middle line phone to not interfere with SG5 sales.

Verizon's sluggishness of upgrades on flagship models is most taxing.

Jonnie

 

[Cardboard_Tube_Knight]

I don't know why anyone would switch carries to get the updates faster. My 4G speeds are faster than anyone else's I know (I have Verizon) and my coverage is better.

We're talking about an update that's messed up Sprint phones and a few AT&T phones too. Sure Verizon is slow, but would you rather get it faster and have potential problems?

Posted via Android Central App

 

[japetty]

I don't know why anyone would switch carries to get the updates faster. My 4G speeds are faster than anyone else's I know (I have Verizon) and my coverage is better.

We're talking about an update that's messed up Sprint phones and a few AT&T phones too. Sure Verizon is slow, but would you rather get it faster and have potential problems?

Posted via Android Central App

Many will get messed up phones after a VZW firmware update as many of us has experienced in the past with other updates. Lets not forget all the bloat VZW will add to help jam up our phones with something we can't remove only disable. I like my VZW phone service and phone second to none IMHO but customer service from VZW JUST SUUUUCCCCKKKSS BIG TIME for the prices we pay and timely updates are part of customer service. I would not change carriers over an update or much else for that matter as long as the service stays the same or gets better where I live and travel.

 

[Jwhistler]

Many will get messed up phones after a VZW firmware update as many of us has experienced in the past with other updates. Lets not forget all the bloat VZW will add to help jam up our phones with something we can't remove only disable. I like my VZW phone service and phone second to none IMHO but customer service from VZW JUST SUUUUCCCCKKKSS BIG TIME for the prices we pay and timely updates are part of customer service. I would not change carriers over an update or much else for that matter as long as the service stays the same or gets better where I live and travel.

Just playing devil's advocate here, but where does Verizon say that they promise to provide "timely updates?? And, regardless, Verizon will decide what constitutes timely.

Let's face it: Verizon only promises to provide you with satisfactory cell and data service. Beyond that, their customer service extends only for as long as you continue to pay your monthly bill. Doesn't matter if you've been a customer for 14 days, or 14 years...we're all the same.

They will not provide a software update to you phone until they are quite satisfied that it will suit THEIR OWN BEST INTEREST!

 

[bluzman]

^This - spot on.

 

[Murph5150]

I'm in no rush for 4.4. My Nexus Tablet is running KitKat and the only major difference I've noticed is the smoothness of the KitKat UI. I use Nova Launcher on my S4 and it makes my UI damn smooth. I'm waiting for Motorola to release a phone with a processor on par with Samsung. Motorola has the best radios, bar none. If they could combine that with a quad core processor pushing somewhere in the ballpark of 2 gigs, that would be the big winner. I'm upgrade eligible, but the S5 hasn't been upgraded enough to make it worth my while and the HTC M8 has a non-removable battery. Batteries usually become crap after a year of charging cycles. Though the specs are impressive, I like the option to purchase a replacement battery or, if offered, an extended life battery. Android = choice.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Brandon Tobias]

KitKat leak http://sxtpdevelopers.com/samsung-sch-i545-verizon-kit-kat/

I'm using it now it's smooth

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