Upcoming Android 2.1 update

[#1]

There is a lot of talk propagated on forums that the jump from 1.6 to 2.1 is much bigger than that from 2.1 to 2.2. This is an absolute falsehood. I have been doing some fact finding and have discovered that this is totally untrue. There is in fact very little difference apart from the performance boost between 1.6 and 2.1. Live wallpapers are not exactly going to make that big a difference to the end user experience. Indeed most of the settings and functionality changes in 2.1 from 1.6 were compensated for by SE by adding road sync and the back up and restore app to the X10 family.

Now with 2.2, there is a much to talk about that would improve the end user experience for example, the built in flash support (end user can watch almost all of online video content). Wifi and USB tethering straight out of the box. This will greatly reduce the need by many to root their phones as rooting can cause problems for some especially when it comes to software updating. I know because I have experienced these problems and know that others too have experienced the same from different forums. I could not unroot my phone by re-installing the software using SE update service or PC companion which are the prescribed methods of unrooting. I had to flash my phone with the generic uk firmware using omnius. Finally 2.2 allows you to install apps directly onto the SD card which is just great.

Taking all these things into consideration, the 2.1 update from SE would totally useless unless SE as they did with 1.6 compensate by adding a few apps to perform these functions. This is unlikely with flash support and possibly the installation of apps to SD card, but I think an app for wifi and usb tethering would be an almost necessary addition to make their 2.1 update anything other than just defunct.

[#2]

The first thing I want from 2.1 is the HD video recording. I'm not one of those fellows who keeps watching some silly online videos all the time. I find that a waste of energy resources and a general waste of time. so with or without Flash is no big deal with me. In my opinion, it is best to stay away from Flash, force them to innovate faster.

[#3]

Well 720p HD video recording is not specifically part of 2.1 eclair. Its just an addition by SE to keep up with its rivals. For me personally, that is not really a big deal. You say flash is not important, but most of online video content is flash and its not going to change any time soon. So a good web experience must include it even if its not the best performer. My post was really in response to all those comments I have read about the update from 1.6 to 2.1 being the big jump while the update from 2.1 to 2.2 being only a minor upgrade. Its almost as if they are judging it by version numbers rather than feature set. I still remain convinced that the 2.1 upgrade is going to really improve the experience you get from using the x10 family. SE really misjudged things with the x10...its a shame that a phone released in 2010 would not get an update released early q3 of the same year. I must say, after having checked out the feature set of 2.1, it just does not excite me at all. The SE custom 1.6 is pretty much 2.1 without a few minor tweaks. The 2.1 update will only really matter if sony improve on it considerably because as I have found out, there is a big gap between 2.1 and 2.2.

[#4]

Right, I see your point and taken it.

Most sites, especially Youtube, do not require flash to be present anymore. However you need a competent browser to be able to use HTML5.

Flash has been holding the world of the internet hostage for long enough with little to no progress on its x64 player and code, so the world has to go around. This is what happens when one company becomes all too powerful and start ignoring its consumers' demands (You too! SE).

From my point of view, taking a half-baked OS and launching it, then take their time to fix it up, that's the way of almost all manufacturers. I would rather have a device that require absolutely no update at all then one where we anticipate it.

Does it really matter what is updated when from the onset what we have is only half? No matter the additional features, we should have had them (most of them anyway) from the beginning.