More Flavors, More Fragments

I was invited by a friend to accompany him and his family on a Thanksgiving vacation out of the country.  He and his oldest son have the Droid Razor family, while the rest of his family all live in the iWorld (phones, pads, etc.)

The first thing was his problem of accessing the networks in the foreign land.  He had a world phone that he was assured could get the service he was paying for.  So I tinkered with the settings for a while and got everything working.  Again the Moto skin was a bit disconcerting, but once into the settings, I knew my way around.

However, as the vacation progressed, he saw more and more of my Nexus 7 and G Nex and the capabilities of Jelly Bean, especially the Google Now features (I was using both on Wi-Fi).  He was impressed, he liked them, and he wanted them on his phone.  I wish I could have given him the straight up answer that 'soon with a software update all this will be yours.'  But I couldn't.  He just bought the phones, and was kind of upset that he didn't have the latest and greatest, and no sure upgrade path.  He is a businessman, and while he understands the vagaries of contracts and services between providers and manufacturers, he was still laying this at the feet of Google.  He figures they produce Android, so they *should* control the implementation across the platforms.  He sees the rest of his iFamily with a standard software package on all their phones and pads, and wonders why his Google based devices can't say the same.  He and his wife liked the Nexus 7, but if they get one, he has to mentally reconcile that his phone and his tablet, both using Android, are going to be significantly different, and growing further apart with each update.

I, too, understand the philosophy behind the Google Android licencing.  But I am a geek.  I understand the differences in approaches, but it is geek philosophy.  He just wants the best experience from his devices.  I did show him the 4.2 "No December" bug as a way of saying that being on the bleeding edge sometimes hurts.  It helped a little, but he still wanted the Google Now features, and we just don't know when or if that is coming to his phone.

I'm agreeing with him more and more, and I think we're seeing that with all the folks who are trying to order the Nexus 4 phone right now.  The demand is swamping the system.  Is anyone noticing?

I'm also wondering about the new Microsoft WinPhone 8's.  Which path are they taking?  Microsoft is silent on this issue.