Thinking about buying an Android phone?

Thinking about a new Android phone? Worried that you'll buy at the worst possible time, just before a great new phone is released or just before a new version of the Android operating system? Well here is some guidance, both for iPhone and Android! Not sure this helps or hurts, but here it is.

From Phandroid:
"How to Buy Into Android at the Worst Possible Time"
http://phandroid.com/2011/01/14/how-to-buy-into-android-at-the-worst-possible-time-humor/

This humorous guide touches on a troubling trend in Android phone sales. While Google keeps updating the Android operating system regularly, many Android phones, even very high end Android phones, don't see those updates.

Why? It's because phone manufacturers develop custom builds of the open source Android operating system, to differentiate their phones from those of competitors. But once the phone has been sold they would much rather see you buy a new phone to get the new OS than have you keep your old phone.

Furthermore, who pays to develop the new OS for the old phones--given that there is no payback for a phone that has already been sold???


There was a recent spat about this involving Samsung (although this applies to some degree to all manufacturers and cell carriers). From XDA Developers formum:
"The Samsung Secret - Why U.S. Galaxy S Phones run Android 2.1 Still"
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=913045

The only solution is to buy devices with the pure Android OS, unmodified by the manufacturer or carrier. Phones such as the Nexus One or Nexus S.

Buy a Google phone, select your carrier, possibly with a pay-as-you-go cell phone plan. Use your phone on WiFi whenever possible, to minimize cell tower data usage. Save money in the long run. And get updates directly from Google when they become available.