Check out the New Galaxy Note 6 Leak Missing Feature that is very Disturbing
Would Samsung hobble its key hardware release by offering it with an older operating system. Would it be ready to accept the headaches of trying to force an update through the various carrier certification processes? In other words, will the cutting edge Galaxy Note 6 release with last year’s version of Android?
That’s the intriguing prospect raised by SamMobile’s look at the user-agent profiles showing up around the web from the next phablet from South Korea. The expectation is that Samsung would be the first commercial vendor to release a device with Android N – the seventh major version of Google’s operating system – which would sit nicely with the new technology that is being crammed into the chassis to take on the might of the iPhone.
Instead the user agent profile notes the SM-N930A is running Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow.
It’s also worth noting that the serial number suggests that this is a flat screened version of this year’s note, and not the curved screen version that is reminiscent of the Galaxy S6 Edge and S7 Edge. Given that Samsung has been testing multiple version of the phablet that’s not as much of a surprise as expected. At some point Samsung will have to decide which model to go with (or to run a dual model strategy).
Asked about the choice of operating system for the Galaxy Note, Samsung declined to comment. Whatever choice is made on the physical hardware, the decision to go with an older version of Android is a curious one.
Android N has only recently been made available and no matter how much testing is done in-house by Google and Samsung, there can be no substitute for a public debut and hundreds of thousands of users stressing the OS in the hours after launch. The chances of the code needing an immediate patch will be high, and that means trying to roll out an over-the-air change while under some pressure. And the Android ecosystem has historically had many issues in achieving timely updates.
There’s a certain level of pragmatism in going with Android Marshmallow for the Galaxy Note 6 launch. The phablet is a key 2016 device launch for Samsung and will boost interest in the overall Galaxy brand after the S7 and S7 Edge release in the spring. With Apple’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus expected to launch three to four weeks after the Note, the last thing the South Korean company needs is a problem with the software coming to light just as Tim Cook takes to the stage.
With so much new hardware going into the Note (I’m expecting the curved screen on some devices, dual-lens camera and the return of microSD to name three notable areas), going with Marshmallow is a safer option. Marshmallow is a known quantity, it has been tested by millions of users for the last year, and Samsung’s software engineers will understand intimately how it works. A switch to Android N throws away those comfort factors.
Yet moving forwards with Android N feels like the right thing to do. The Samsung Galaxy 6 (or perhaps the Note 7, the jury is out on the name) is packed with new features, innovative design, and screams ‘progress!’. To have those hardware advancements backed up by the latest software techniques in Android N will present a united front and a statement that the Galaxy Note is the future of smartphones.
It’s harder to make that statement if Samsung uses Marshmallow and then organises a piecemeal roll-out of Android N at some point in the future. Now is not the time to play safe, now is the time to be aggressive and redefine the smartphone market on Samsung’s terms while the competition is weak.
Samsung should not be playing it safe with the Galaxy Note 6.
Source: Forbes Tech
That’s the intriguing prospect raised by SamMobile’s look at the user-agent profiles showing up around the web from the next phablet from South Korea. The expectation is that Samsung would be the first commercial vendor to release a device with Android N – the seventh major version of Google’s operating system – which would sit nicely with the new technology that is being crammed into the chassis to take on the might of the iPhone.
Instead the user agent profile notes the SM-N930A is running Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow.
Samsung Galaxy Note branding (image: Getty)
Asked about the choice of operating system for the Galaxy Note, Samsung declined to comment. Whatever choice is made on the physical hardware, the decision to go with an older version of Android is a curious one.
Android N has only recently been made available and no matter how much testing is done in-house by Google and Samsung, there can be no substitute for a public debut and hundreds of thousands of users stressing the OS in the hours after launch. The chances of the code needing an immediate patch will be high, and that means trying to roll out an over-the-air change while under some pressure. And the Android ecosystem has historically had many issues in achieving timely updates.
There’s a certain level of pragmatism in going with Android Marshmallow for the Galaxy Note 6 launch. The phablet is a key 2016 device launch for Samsung and will boost interest in the overall Galaxy brand after the S7 and S7 Edge release in the spring. With Apple’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus expected to launch three to four weeks after the Note, the last thing the South Korean company needs is a problem with the software coming to light just as Tim Cook takes to the stage.
With so much new hardware going into the Note (I’m expecting the curved screen on some devices, dual-lens camera and the return of microSD to name three notable areas), going with Marshmallow is a safer option. Marshmallow is a known quantity, it has been tested by millions of users for the last year, and Samsung’s software engineers will understand intimately how it works. A switch to Android N throws away those comfort factors.
Yet moving forwards with Android N feels like the right thing to do. The Samsung Galaxy 6 (or perhaps the Note 7, the jury is out on the name) is packed with new features, innovative design, and screams ‘progress!’. To have those hardware advancements backed up by the latest software techniques in Android N will present a united front and a statement that the Galaxy Note is the future of smartphones.
It’s harder to make that statement if Samsung uses Marshmallow and then organises a piecemeal roll-out of Android N at some point in the future. Now is not the time to play safe, now is the time to be aggressive and redefine the smartphone market on Samsung’s terms while the competition is weak.
Samsung should not be playing it safe with the Galaxy Note 6.
Source: Forbes Tech
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