Bionic update on Punit Soni's Radar.

[welsalex]

Last Official words heard on his G+:

Punit Soni
9/23 1:47 AM

I genuinely do feel the pain of folks here. And we really do want to change things. Based on the four weeks I have been around, I can say that two things are going to happen in the future: we will make informed commitments and once we make them we will do everything we can to meet them. Second, we will as transparent as possible given the constraints that software pushes like these are complex and have many dependencies. We have a plan, according to that plan, Bionic is going to ICS soon. I will next dig into ATRIX and we will have updates/clarity soon. Now I also know no answer I give is going to assuage everyone and things cannot be made right overnight.
I also can't say I will be able to be as plugged into the community all the time because it just doesn't scale. But I hope you see that Motorola- Google really does care. Even if we are not able to make everyone happy all the time at least in the short term while things are still being fixed.

So prettymuch what we already know. The main thing I get from this and all his other posts is that Motorola is changing; for those who have or are giving up on Moto, stick around. It will take some more time but I see Moto making some serious changes!

 

[Dave12308]

Well, we're not going to hear anymore on that particular G+ thread, as it seems to be full. It hit 500 posts, which I believe is the maximum. Maybe it's the longest G+ thread to date *LOL*

 

[welsalex]

His other posts are getting flooded. Seems less bionic posts as we seem to be getting attention, but now Atrix owners are up in arms!

 

[josh1980]

His other posts are getting flooded. Seems less bionic posts as we seem to be getting attention, but now Atrix owners are up in arms!

I've noticed that. The thing is Atrix was released Jan 2011. The Atrix had been out for 11 months when ICS was released. I didn't keep up with the Android OS too much back then, but I'm fairly sure that nobody even had a clue when ICS would be released. Honeycomb wasn't even released when the Atrix hit the market!

To me, I would have NEVER expected that phone to get ICS. It would have been nice, but expecting it is a REAL stretch. At some point you have to draw the line on when you stop providing updates. If the Atrix gets ICS then the Bionic better d*mn well get JB. Just from a time frame point of view, the Bionic has less time betweeen its release and JB than Atrix has to ICS.

 

[Dave12308]

His other posts are getting flooded. Seems less bionic posts as we seem to be getting attention, but now Atrix owners are up in arms!

I'm actually upset about the way some people are flooding all of his posts. The guy cannot even discuss a MOVIE without someone turning it into a "When is my phone getting XXX Operating system?" discussion. Some of this is bordering on harrassment, IMHO. For one thing, I am SICK of seeing people talk to him like he has ANYTHING to do with the old Motorola.

 

[josh1980]

I really hope for Punit Soni's sake they come out with an "official" answer for the Atrix owners with an explanation. Just saying "Will not get ICS" won't do if he wants his G+ posts to calm down. LOL.

Edit: In reality, even if they decided to put ICS on the Atrix, more than likely most of the owners will have upgraded to new hardware by the time ICS comes out. It would almost certainly be right at 2 years since the phone was released by the time ICS hits the market in a best case situation.

 

[livinginkaos]

His other posts are getting flooded. Seems less bionic posts as we seem to be getting attention, but now Atrix owners are up in arms!

Atrix owners, to my knowledge, were never slated for a promised ICS from Moto. I know that Verlozin sales were touting at the time that it "should" get the update, but I am sure they were just pushing sales.

I don't understand the thought process in some of the comments on Mr. Soni's posts. The poor guy just got on the scene. He came in with a plan, let him execute....... Feedback makes sense, criticism doesn't. Also, cross talk between forum posts and his page really shouldn't be happening. Come on people, you have a brain, use it.

 

[nomadh]

When I bought my Bionic in Nov I was thinking ICS was expected by around Feb. I thought that was somewhat official at the time. IT seemed reasonable at the time so I bought one. Was I imagining that or was I reading the posts from dreamland or what? Does anyone recall the official or unofficial buzz from then?

 

[josh1980]

When I bought my Bionic in Nov I was thinking ICS was expected by around Feb. I thought that was somewhat official at the time. IT seemed reasonable at the time so I bought one. Was I imagining that or was I reading the posts from dreamland or what? Does anyone recall the official or unofficial buzz from then?

I was skeptical before I purchased mine. It wasn't on paper that I was guaranteed anything in any period of time. I wasn't about to think Verizon would give us something they weren't required to do by contract. Companies aren't out for "the benefit of society". They are there to make money for the top brass and the investors in the company. That's all. I really wish 90% of society would make this realization. The markets would really change drastically if people stopped thinking companies like Apple invented the ipod because they wanted to do "good for society".

 

[livinginkaos]

When I bought my Bionic in Nov I was thinking ICS was expected by around Feb. I thought that was somewhat official at the time. IT seemed reasonable at the time so I bought one. Was I imagining that or was I reading the posts from dreamland or what? Does anyone recall the official or unofficial buzz from then?

I bought mine in Nov. as well and had the same quoted "expectation" of early spring, but I didn't base my decision on that fact alone. Having 14 days to decide if I wanted to stick with the Bionic or switch, I gave it a run and was quite pleased with it even on GB. The thought of ICS was just a bonus for me at the time and I felt no harm in waiting. My unit runs strong every day. I haven't had any data issues what so ever. One of the lucky ones.

 

[SnydersWeb]

Frankly this is one area where Punit can really make a difference.

One thing that helps Apple a lot is the fact when you buy the latest iPhone, that you know with a certain level of certainty that your device will be supported for a period of time. That when IOS(blah) comes out, that your phone will get it if (date of phone release) <= (date of IOS release) - (18-24 months). Apple has done a great job of setting up a positive ownership expectation.

Android has been fragmented. Badly so. On the plus side, it moves faster and it supports new technology much faster than Apple usually can. On the downside - yeah, many of us had the tacit understanding our Bionics would be getting ICS soon after release.. and then.. nothing. The fragmentation is caused by exacerbating circumstances - first the manufacturer not being aggressive and that compounded by the carrier often being a "blocker".

If the drama we heard on that removed thread is true, I feel that that + the "jellybean" $100 guarantee means that we're seeing Google make efforts to change the footing on which Android stands.

In other words to handle phones in a similar way Apple does, Android first needs to redefine the relationship between carrier and device manufacturer. Once the carrier is removed as an impediment we can then start to see what we as owners had expected.

 

[josh1980]

Frankly this is one area where Punit can really make a difference.

One thing that helps Apple a lot is the fact when you buy the latest iPhone, that you know with a certain level of certainty that your device will be supported for a period of time. That when IOS(blah) comes out, that your phone will get it if (date of phone release) <= (date of IOS release) - (18-24 months). Apple has done a great job of setting up a positive ownership expectation.

Android has been fragmented. Badly so. On the plus side, it moves faster and it supports new technology much faster than Apple usually can. On the downside - yeah, many of us had the tacit understanding our Bionics would be getting ICS soon after release.. and then.. nothing. The fragmentation is caused by exacerbating circumstances - first the manufacturer not being aggressive and that compounded by the carrier often being a "blocker".

If the drama we heard on that removed thread is true, I feel that that + the "jellybean" $100 guarantee means that we're seeing Google make efforts to change the footing on which Android stands.

In other words to handle phones in a similar way Apple does, Android first needs to redefine the relationship between carrier and device manufacturer. Once the carrier is removed as an impediment we can then start to see what we as owners had expected.

I just read an article yesterday that IOS 6 adoption is at 25% while JB is 2 months old and has an amazing 1.2%. I do think this is comparing apples to oranges, but it does show a main difference between iThings and androids.

I truly think this is why Google bought Motorola. It's not a secret that the Android market is fragmented like crazy. It's one of the biggest pitfalls for Android. Google now owns a major share of the top of the line phones. If Google starts keeping phones up to date and providing good update schedules for phones, other companies will have no choice but to start doing the same. This seems very evident from the comments from Punit as well as the info from the deceased 244 thread that Google is trying to turn the ship around.

The real question is how long will it take to change things. Unfortunately, I'm somewhat expecting the phones released before this summer to likely be kicked to the curb and not supported very well. But the next generation of phones may have amazing support IF my hypothesis of Google/Motorola is true.

In any case, it's a known fact that Android's fragmentation may be its downfall in the future and something needs to be done before its too late.

 

[josh1980]

.... what is this about the JB + $100 promise? I keep seeing "$100" thrown around. Did someone make a promise and use that number or is that made up by someone as a hypothetical situation?

 

[Dave12308]

.... what is this about the JB + $100 promise? I keep seeing "$100" thrown around. Did someone make a promise and use that number or is that made up by someone as a hypothetical situation?

Direct from the horse's mouth:

https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/ci/documents/detail/2/motorola-jelly-bean-rebate_en-US

 

[avlambo21]

.... what is this about the JB + $100 promise? I keep seeing "$100" thrown around. Did someone make a promise and use that number or is that made up by someone as a hypothetical situation?

Motorola to Offer $100 Credit to Owners of Devices Not Eligible for Jelly Bean Update (Update) – Droid Life