New Phones Still Sold With Old Versions of Android

Two weeks ago when Buddy Roark bought a brand-new HTC Eris smartphone from Verizon, his first Android device, it was a big step up from his feature phone. But it wasn’t until a few days later that he realized part of his new phone wasn’t so new after all. The Eris was running a version of Android that came out almost a year ago, which means many of the newer apps available in the Android Market won’t work on Roark’s phone.
“I didn’t know that I had an older operating system until I compared it with my friends,” Roark says. “They said my Android Market looks very different from theirs.”
At the store, Roark had never been told that his HTC Eris has Android 1.5, nicknamed “Cupcake.” Until told by a reporter, he had no idea what features he’s missing as a result. For instance, free turn-by-turn navigation is available in the latest version, Android 2.1 (”Eclair”), but is only available to Cupcake users for $10 a month from Verizon.
“I didn’t know that,” he says. “I think I will be pretty disappointed if I can’t upgrade to a higher version.”
Like Roark, many Android customers are discovering that their new smartphones do not have the latest version of Google’s mobile operating system. Despite state-of-the art hardware and design, many new Android phones are shipped with older versions of the firmware, cutting off consumers’ access to newer features and apps that require the most recent versions.
For instance, Motorola’s Backflip, released last week on AT&T, runs Android 1.5, while the just-launched Devour on Verizon runs Android 1.6, aka “Donut.” A slew of new Sony Ericsson phones, set to hit the market in the next few months, will ship with Android 1.6. Of the phones that are available today, only Google’s Nexus One has the very latest version, Android 2.1. Motorola’s own Droid phone, launched in October, has Android 2.0.
The profusion of versions is bad enough. But adding to the confusion is the fact that carriers and handset manufacturers rarely explain which version of the OS their phones have, or what that means.
“I can’t figure out why the handset makers are doing this,” says Chris Fagan, an Android developer who owns an app development company called Froogloid. “I find it very peculiar that they release new phones on older firmware.”