We all know that Motorola will release the Android Ice Cream Sandwich update for selected devices initially and owners of those devices are indeed very happy.
But what about the others who are still waiting for the company to announce an update of ICS for them too, well we don’t know how lucky you may be or not but Motorola in a recent blog post went on to explain the whole procedure in detail as to how a new OS update reaches you. Read on.
“Step 1: Merge and adapt the new release for different device hardware architecture(s) and carrier customizations:
This means that we take the source code and incorporate it into upgrades for devices on which this can perform well, along with making sure the carrier requirements are met. Silicon partners such as Qualcomm, TI, and Nvidia adapt this to their chipsets in parallel and we incorporate these as they become available. This is also the time when we begin integrating all of the Motorola-specific software enhancements into the source code. Features like MotoCast, Smart Actions, and our comprehensive enterprise solutions are integral parts of our device experiences, and we want to make sure we continue delivering differentiated experiences for our consumers with these software upgrades.
Step 2: Stabilize and ‘bake’ the result to drive out bugs:
This means that we will prepare the upgrade to meet the quality and stability requirements to enter the wireless carrier’s certification lab.
Step 3: Submit the upgrade to the carriers for certification:
This is the point in the process where the carrier’s lab qualifies and tests the upgrade. Each carrier has different requirements for phases 2 and 3. There may be a two-month preparation cycle to enter a carrier lab cycle of one to three months.
Step 3.5: Perform a Customer pre-release:
We may perform some customer testing before a final release is delivered publicly to our user base.
Step 4: Release the upgrade:
We are planning on upgrading as many of our phones as possible. The ability to offer the upgrade depends on a number of factors including the hardware/device capabilities, the underlying chipset software support, and the ICS support and then the ability to support the Motorola value add software.”
So this is the whole process that happens behind the closed doors just so that we have a great experience using the upgrade on our devices. I hope now you understand that it’s really a painful and rigorous process to release an upgrade for you device and hopefully now you curse your mobile device manufacturer a little less for not releasing the update for your device.