When Samsung officially unveiled the Galaxy S4, there was a lot of talk about how its specs and features were top of the line, state of the art. And when the Galaxy S4 is released, that'll be true for a while. But will the debut of Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie change that for the worse?
With the Galaxy S4 expected to be released near the end of April and Google expected to reveal Android 5.0 Key Lime Pier at its developer's conference in May, that's a question some have been asking.
"With the first carriers expected to get the Galaxy S4 in April, Samsung has a limited window before its best phone is running software that's no longer the latest and greatest," Roger Cheng wrote at CNET. "Samsung's dilemma underscores the broader problem that Android handset manufacturers face with Google: slow access to the latest version of the mobile operating system."
Of course, whenever Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie is made available, Samsung will deliver the update to Galaxy S4 users as fast as it can. But in the world of Android updates, "ASAP" can be a lot longer than users like.
"Android updates are complicated by the relationship between the handset vendor, Google, and the carriers," Cheng added. "The handset vendor has to wait for Google to release the code. The vendor in turn has to take that code and integrate it into its customized version of Android — in Samsung's case TouchWiz — which can take time. Finally, the altered version of Android has to be submitted to the carriers, which can take their time when it comes to approval and roll out."
This is probably a big reason why, even as Samsung profits heavily from being the number-one Android phone maker, the company is in the midst of developing its own operating system called Tizen. With Tizen, it would be able to break free from the need for Android updates, and it'd be able to more or less upgrade and launch its devices without worrying about when the next Android update is arriving.
Of course, that means Tizen would have to be pretty good to convince users a switch from Android is worth it. And that's a big question mark.
