Google's Nexus One Not Getting Android 4.0 Update
by Andrew Cunningham on October 26, 2011 3:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Android
- Ice Cream Sandwich
- Laptops
Google's Nexus One phone, manufactured by HTC and originally released in January of 2010, will not be receiving the Ice Cream Sandwich update along with other phones, says Google's Android product management director Hugo Barra, because the device is "too old."
The Nexus lineup has traditionally been used to showcase new, "stock" versions of Android without added manufacturer customizations, and as a result they typically receive access to new Android updates before other handsets. Google's decision not to support less-than-two-year-old Nexus One with its newest mobile OS stands in contrast to Apple's strategy for the oldest phone in its lineup, 2009's iPhone 3GS, which received most of iOS 5's new features when the update was released earlier this month.
Barra said that the Nexus S, the immediate successor of the Nexus One, would be getting the update over the air a few weeks after the launch of the new Galaxy Nexus next month. Nexus One owners hoping for an update will need to rely on the open source community to hook them up after Ice Cream Sandwich's source code is released to the public.
Source: PCMag
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
62 Comments
View All Comments
tipoo - Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - link
Cyanogenmod. They already have a working-ish port for the Nexus S, I'm sure they'll give the One some love.gevorg - Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - link
Google is obsoleting their phones like their browsers. Should learn a thing or two from iOS. My iPhone 3GS from 2009 is still rocking with 2011 iOS 5 and will probably support iOS 6 from 2012. Thats 3 years of major upgrades!dagamer34 - Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - link
The Nexus One was last sold July 2010. The iPhone 3GS is still being sold. I think that's a major difference right there.Guspaz - Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - link
Except Google was still selling the Nexus One to carriers in Canada well into mid 2011. If you bought your brand new Nexus One a mere six months ago, you'd probably be pretty pissed off not to be getting any OS newer than 2.3.4 (at least for Videotron customers).The fact that some Nexus One customers will never get even 2.3.6 is one of the major flaws of Google allowing carriers to mess with releases.
sprockkets - Thursday, October 27, 2011 - link
What does 2.3.6 have to do with not getting 4.0?robinthakur - Friday, October 28, 2011 - link
Agreed, what a complete PR disaster. It's no surprise when many of the bigger Android OEMs think it's fine to orphan their phones from new releases in favour of pushing their latest model when Google behaves this way. They haven't said that it is a hardware limitation, just that it is "too old", and this is simply not good enough when Apple have set the bar so high with their iOS updates, which despite the sneering from some quarters do a sterling job and support theircustomers far better. I guess you get what you pay for in the end. Oh, and relying on a user community and Cyanogenmods is not a realistic prospect for 99.9% of users, especially corporate ones (if any corporates used the Nexus One)solipsism - Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - link
That's a good point. The iPhone 3GS could still be selling more per quarter than all the Nexus One's currently in use. Last i read they sold 135k in just over 2 months. There is no financial reason Google should be supporting such a failed device.hardwareguy - Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - link
It's a pretty big assumption to say that the 3gs will support iOS6 when iOS5 is not even a month old. I'm happy if my phone can get 2 years of OS upgrades. After that I'm looking for a new one anyways./me has a year left to wait on replacing his iPhone 4.
kronarq - Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - link
The thing that no one seems to be pointing out is the last major update to the Nexus One came out February 2011. So the device only actually received 13 months of updates if you bought the phone at launch and 7 months if you bought it in July 2010. This is a major fail on Google's part and they handing more ammunition to Apple.Dug - Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - link
How is this a major fail?Google never promised updates for life. 95% of people won't even care because the phone already does what they need it to.
I'm sure someone will port it over to work on the Nexus like every other phone. So don't get your panties all in a bunch.