As Android fans everywhere eagerly await news of when they’ll be getting Android 4.2, the latest iteration of Google’s popular mobile OS, we’ve gotten word today that two popular devices will not be included in ‘for upgrade’ lists anytime soon.
Jean-Baptiste “JBQ” Queru, Google AOSP technical lead, said on the Android Building Google forums the source code for Android 4.2 is ” being pushed to AOSP right now.” He reveals that it should show up under the name “android-4.2_r1” once it completes. However, wrapped in between all the good news, JBQ also announces that the Google Nexus S and Motorola Xoom have reached the end of the line:
“There is no support for 4.2 on Nexus S and Xoom. Those devices should continue using 4.1.2.”
The news may come as a disappointment to owners of these devices but it isn’t entirely surprising. These two are, after all, quite ancient in gadget years. Still, one can’t help but wonder if Google decided not to support these devices because they can’t handle the transition to Android 4.2 or if they just didn’t see the effort in updating 2-year old machines. Whatever the case, it’s undeniable that these two had a pretty good run. As a Google Nexus S owner myself, I was pretty amazed how I was first in line when it comes to updates while friends who owned more powerful non-Google-branded phones had to wait a while.
JBQ also gives several updates relating to the status of the three Google devices, the Nexus 10, Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 32 GB, in relation to Android 4.2. He says that of these 3, Nexus 10 is “the best choice for AOSP work” as practically everything on it is open source:
“Nexus 10 is now the best choice for AOSP work on 4.2. Everything except the GPU code is Open Source, and the only proprietary binaries besides the GPU libraries are firmware files that get loaded into the various peripheral chips. No flagship device so far has been so open, and no flagship device so far has had that level of AOSP support at launch.”
Google Nexus S and Motorola Xoom owners — is it finally time to upgrade? Which new Android devices are you eyeing to replace your beloved smartphone and tablet? Share your thoughts in the comments below!.