When a typical user looks into buying a smartphone, major factors influencing the purchase are price, connection speed, carrier reputation, and the hardware. But what about the availability of the operating system (OS) updates? The Android operating system releases with operating system upgrades about every 3 or 4 months. Usually, devices that are released just prior to a new OS release can be upgraded to the new version if the carrier is planning for this–it is crucial to help buyers know they are getting a phone that will stay current after they buy it. Some carriers don’t perform this upgrade in a timely fashion, even after the OS has been released for a while. This leaves the user with the original OS on the phone, and as time goes by that same phone is prematurely obsolete as higher OS phones come out. We at ClearSync suggest checking for availability for upgrades as this may very well be the key to continue using applications on the phone and have a faster device in general. Android Power by JR Raphael finds that HTC, Motorola and Samsung top the list for timely upgrades to the current operating system on their phone releases in 2010.
http://blogs.computerworld.com/17649/android_upgrades
