Yay... a minor update that took MONTHS to release

[mobilemedic20]

Does anyone else find it repulsive that this 4.0.4 garbage is being pushed out in JUNE? I wasn't even an early adopter of this phone, and I've had it for 4 months already with ZERO updates. I don't particularly care because I rooted and flashed my 4.0.4 radios months ago, but if I hadn't or couldn't for some reason, I'd be upset.

I'm glad SOMETHING finally got released, but this is pretty underwhelming. I'm very concerned about the future of updates for this phone, which I thought was supposed to be at the front line of OS updates. Seems that's not going to be the case. And there's not even anything else on the horizon, so it'll be what... December before we see something new?

 

[anon(596177)]

Does anyone else find it repulsive that this 4.0.4 garbage is being pushed out in JUNE? I wasn't even an early adopter of this phone, and I've had it for 4 months already with ZERO updates. I don't particularly care because I rooted and flashed my 4.0.4 radios months ago, but if I hadn't or couldn't for some reason, I'd be upset.

I'm glad SOMETHING finally got released, but this is pretty underwhelming. I'm very concerned about the future of updates for this phone, which I thought was supposed to be at the front line of OS updates. Seems that's not going to be the case. And there's not even anything else on the horizon, so it'll be what... December before we see something new?

When you think of the phone is a rooted perspective it IS front of the line, but you really should have known that with Verizon behind the wheel of this thing the updates were going to be delayed.

Its a disgrace, I know, but enjoy your Rooted and custom ROMmed GNex for all its worth as it was made to allow people who like to tinker to tinker away.

 

[Paul627g]

Its not just Verizon.... Sure they have their own share of issues but Sprint has them too... Not sure how things are going to go for the Sprint GNex users but I remember back on the Samsung Epic 4g waiting forever for an update to drop, now its happening again for the SGSII Epic Touch folks, waiting on ICS update that was promised...

Not sure why but when its left up to the carriers things just seem to take forever before they are satisfied with their own internal testing before they are content to release.

 

[MrSmith317]

Carriers seem more worried about flooding their network with traffic than they do giving people what they want...Go figure. This is why the FCC and the federal government needs to "own" the pipes and let content providers provide what they will/do over top of the regulated pipes. That way the money grabbers can't tell us what we can do with the data we're paying for.

 

[Paul627g]

Carriers seem more worried about flooding their network with traffic than they do giving people what they want...Go figure. This is why the FCC and the federal government needs to "own" the pipes and let content providers provide what they will/do over top of the regulated pipes. That way the money grabbers can't tell us what we can do with the data we're paying for.

Agreed at least to the point of getting the darn things pushed out in a timely fashion. At best if your going to make us wait then when you finally do push the update let it be worth a darn... How many times on ANY device have you gotten a solid update without needed work arounds, bug fixes and hacks from the devs in custom ROMs or kernels to resolve issues....

It just seems like the carriers go round and round with their testings, bouncing demands back at the manufacture for help to resolve issues and after a while they just say "Thats the best its going to get.... Lets push it..." We see the end result and then the "hackers/un paid developers, self taught I might add" go in and fix what they couldn't....

Just doesn't make sense ...

 

[upz3]

Minor update?!? You tell me is there a newer version out there that's not 4.0.4? Come on... even Google said it they were going to limit releases of Android to avoid fragmentation.

 

[NickA]

I know it's easy to blame the carriers, but then I think of Apple and the iPhone. They all get the update on the same day, all devices, not just the iPhone. Windows Phone was supposed to be the same way, and we see how that worked out. Too many Android phones and too many different versions of the OS. That's the nature of open source though.

And carriers also play the game of holding back an update to an older phone, and releasing a newer phone with the latest OS, hoping consumers will buy the new phone. The Razr Maxx is a good example: I have a feeling the Maxx HD (or Fighter?) will be released with ICS before the current Razr sees the update.

Bottom line is it's a small percentage of consumers that even know what version of an OS their phone (any phone) is on. They don't care.

 

[Paul627g]

Agreed. If you pay attention to people in general out and about you see people doing battery pulls and reboots, cursing their phones out.... So its just become a common thing with technology, everyone knows its always changing and today's best is tomorrows old news...

Those of us who are in the "know" just get frustrated because were so on top of things we expect it to be here, now and perfect when it arrives but it rarely seems to work out that way...

 

[NickA]

Agreed. If you pay attention to people in general out and about you see people doing battery pulls and reboots, cursing their phones out.... So its just become a common thing with technology, everyone knows its always changing and today's best is tomorrows old news...

Those of us who are in the "know" just get frustrated because were so on top of things we expect it to be here, now and perfect when it arrives but it rarely seems to work out that way...

Good word: "expect". I'm a PC user, and even Windows has regular updates/service packs now. I've come to expect to be notified monthly of updates. I guess I think of my phones and tablets the same way.

Even though it seems like it's been forever, Android is still young, and I think it will get better. And I'm hopeful for a Google/Motorola phone in the future and the ability to push their own updates, regardless of carrier.

 

[Revolutionary]

Given the outrage and vitriol that many users have spewed at Google, Samsung, and Verizon over the "signal strength," "call drop," "4G handoff," and "one way audio" issues, among others -- and the fairly technical, makes-it-useless-as-a-phone nature of these problems -- I am not at all surprised that Verizon didn't let the code through until they were confident it actually killed as many of those bugs as possible without introducing more. (That is, of course, assuming that it actually does kill any of those bugs). The PR was just too tough to manage on the first go -- if they hadn't exercised all due care, it would be worse on the second.

 

[dmmarck]

Given the outrage and vitriol that many users have spewed at Google, Samsung, and Verizon over the "signal strength," "call drop," "4G handoff," and "one way audio" issues, among others -- and the fairly technical, makes-it-useless-as-a-phone nature of these problems -- I am not at all surprised that Verizon didn't let the code through until they were confident it actually killed as many of those bugs as possible without introducing more. (That is, of course, assuming that it actually does kill any of those bugs). The PR was just too tough to manage on the first go -- if they hadn't exercised all due care, it would be worse on the second.

I agree with you 100%.

 

[mobilemedic20]

Given the outrage and vitriol that many users have spewed at Google, Samsung, and Verizon over the "signal strength," "call drop," "4G handoff," and "one way audio" issues, among others -- and the fairly technical, makes-it-useless-as-a-phone nature of these problems -- I am not at all surprised that Verizon didn't let the code through until they were confident it actually killed as many of those bugs as possible without introducing more. (That is, of course, assuming that it actually does kill any of those bugs). The PR was just too tough to manage on the first go -- if they hadn't exercised all due care, it would be worse on the second.

NOPE. I don't buy that for a second. This phone was a piece of GARBAGE when I first got it as far as usability as a smartphone. The data would cut out every 10 minutes, and sometimes not come back for hours. That should have been an emergency for Verizon. They should have pushed an update out within a week or two tops when it was identified, and if that update had a problem, then fix it and do it again. Instead, they were typically vague and denied there was even an issue! There is no way it took them this many months to figure out the perfect, flawless fix for that problem, or any of the other myriad problems they supposedly addressed with this update. This is the result of inefficiency and poor customer service, plain and simple.

 

[dmmarck]

NOPE. I don't buy that for a second. This phone was a piece of GARBAGE when I first got it as far as usability as a smartphone. The data would cut out every 10 minutes, and sometimes not come back for hours. That should have been an emergency for Verizon. They should have pushed an update out within a week or two tops when it was identified, and if that update had a problem, then fix it and do it again. Instead, they were typically vague and denied there was even an issue! There is no way it took them this many months to figure out the perfect, flawless fix for that problem, or any of the other myriad problems they supposedly addressed with this update. This is the result of inefficiency and poor customer service, plain and simple.

But see, you inadvertently explained some of the "reasoning" behind the delay--while you thought this was a piece of garbage, not everyone with one had that type of critical data loss issue. As such, how can you update a phone if, at first, only X amount of phones have Y issue?

That's not saying that the data drop issue is (1) non-existent, or (2) minor. It's just saying that upon release, pushing an update that's not tested is a bit, well, unnecessary.

 

[NickA]

But see, you inadvertently explained some of the "reasoning" behind the delay--while you thought this was a piece of garbage, not everyone with one had that type of critical data loss issue. As such, how can you update a phone if, at first, only X amount of phones have Y issue?

That's not saying that the data drop issue is (1) non-existent, or (2) minor. It's just saying that upon release, pushing an update that's not tested is a bit, well, unnecessary.

Forget about testing, I don't even think they know what the issue is or how to go about fixing it right now. Look at how many ex Nexus users are now on a Razr or Razr Maxx. They are giving those phones away to Nexus users. When have you known VZW to so easily and eagerly let you swap phones, for arguably a better one.

I called VZW yesterday because I still can't hold a 4g signal after the update, and they freely admit there is an issue with the signal strength and offered me a Maxx (after I told them I was already on 4.0.4). I already have a Maxx and just asked for a replacement Nexus because it's really the phone I want to use.

Anyway, I'm sure if they knew a solution to the problem, we would have seen it fixed a lot earlier.

 

[Revolutionary]

But see, you inadvertently explained some of the "reasoning" behind the delay--while you thought this was a piece of garbage, not everyone with one had that type of critical data loss issue. As such, how can you update a phone if, at first, only X amount of phones have Y issue?

That's not saying that the data drop issue is (1) non-existent, or (2) minor. It's just saying that upon release, pushing an update that's not tested is a bit, well, unnecessary.

Totally agree. For every person on this forum ing about their GNex, there are 15 who said "not my phone." If Verizon and Google had rushed to judgment and pushed something out haphazardly to address the 2%, there would have been a lot of potential to just make things worse for everybody else.

 

[dmmarck]

Forget about testing, I don't even think they know what the issue is or how to go about fixing it right now. Look at how many ex Nexus users are now on a Razr or Razr Maxx. They are giving those phones away to Nexus users. When have you known VZW to so easily and eagerly let you swap phones, for arguably a better one.

I called VZW yesterday because I still can't hold a 4g signal after the update, and they freely admit there is an issue with the signal strength and offered me a Maxx (after I told them I was already on 4.0.4). I already have a Maxx and just asked for a replacement Nexus because it's really the phone I want to use.

Anyway, I'm sure if they knew a solution to the problem, we would have seen it fixed a lot earlier.

I think the issue may be faulty hardware, so while a software update can do some good, it doesn't get to the root of the problem. That also explains (1) why so many people have differing experiences, (2) why some users with multiple devices (me included) experience a gamut of different signal readouts in the same location with different devices, and (3) why it's been very hush hush. For this last point--keep in mind, Samsung, right now, is the leading Android manufacturer. If anyone is going to play ball with Apple, Samsung looks like the "best" candidate. They have a bit of sway right now, and I think we're seeing them getting the "benefit of the doubt" a bit more than perhaps they should.

Of course, terrible radios and great screens are Samsung's forte, and the GN fits that like a glove .

But alas, it's all conjecture .

 

[Undertoad]

Carriers seem more worried about flooding their network with traffic than they do giving people what they want...Go figure.

Carriers are governed by the laws of physics, even more than the laws of the FCC. At this point they know they are going to have to buy unused TV spectrum to get bandwidth in many places. It's gonna be a tightrope act to provide people speed, until there is another round of innovation.

 

[byrds8]

I think the issue is with the radio hardware itself more than anything. It seems with the lack of signal only some are getting that either A. the sensitivity of the radio is off or B its being way to selective about the signal its receiving. Either one of those would kill the radio reception. Personally being that its only some people with the issues and not all, I think they had a huge batch of bad hardware that no one caught on QC.

 

[Ken7]

This minor update that took 6 months to release has now killed my ability to get 4G in my house. I never had an issue prior.

I'm going to scream bloody murder at VZW and demand they give me a new, different phone. I have so so had it with the Nexus. The radio was crap before and now it's horrific!

It's enough already.

 

[Ken7]

Forget about testing, I don't even think they know what the issue is or how to go about fixing it right now. Look at how many ex Nexus users are now on a Razr or Razr Maxx. They are giving those phones away to Nexus users. When have you known VZW to so easily and eagerly let you swap phones, for arguably a better one.

I called VZW yesterday because I still can't hold a 4g signal after the update, and they freely admit there is an issue with the signal strength and offered me a Maxx (after I told them I was already on 4.0.4). I already have a Maxx and just asked for a replacement Nexus because it's really the phone I want to use.

Anyway, I'm sure if they knew a solution to the problem, we would have seen it fixed a lot earlier.

That's good to know. At least I'm not the only one who got screwed by the 'update'. I'll jump at a Razr Max in a swap!! I will just jump! The reception was crap before, but this has crossed over to intolerable.