By JR Raphael (@jr_raphael)
I know, I know: It's been an all-Samsung show around here lately. But good ol' Sammy's been making a lot of Android noise, and there's one more piece of unfortunate decision-making that needs to be called out.
This morning, Samsung published a press release on its global blog touting its Android 4.0 upgrade efforts. The document gloated about the start of the Galaxy S II's Ice Cream Sandwich rollout (or pseudo-Ice Cream Sandwich rollout, as it were) and assured us all the company's engineers were "working very hard to bring a secure and pleasant Ice Cream Sandwich experience to users as soon as possible."
Fair enough, right? Sure. But then Samsung gets to the heart of its message: the Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade status of its heavily marketed Galaxy Note device. From the press release:
Today, we are proud to announce that we will be offering a Premium Suite upgrade for Galaxy Note users worldwide from Q2. The software package includes extra multimedia features and a range of new S Pen optimized applications in addition to an OS upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
Did you hear that? Samsung is proud to announce its Galaxy Note Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade. It'll even include some extra multimedia features and optimized applications.
But buried in those oohs and ahhs are six characters that spell out this press release's real news: "from Q2." The Galaxy Note, you see, was slated to get ICS within the first quarter of the year.
You can still view Samsung's original promise on its website, dated December 20, 2011:
Samsung Electronics plan to provide the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update for Galaxy devices. The platform update for Galaxy S II and Galaxy Note will start in the first quarter 2012, and other Galaxy devices will soon follow.
So now, as the end of the first quarter approaches, Samsung is effectively reneging on its commitment. And even worse, instead of simply saying that it's delaying the Galaxy Note's ICS upgrade -- that it's failing to deliver on the time frame it promised -- it's spinning the news to make it sound like a good thing. It's proudly announcing the plans. It's bundling in a bunch of extra apps (that you may or may not want, of course, and could probably just as easily download yourself). This is a positive message, people.
Except that it isn't. Let's see the news for what it really is: Samsung missed its own self-imposed deadline. If you have a Galaxy Note, you're gonna be waiting longer than what you were promised for Ice Cream Sandwich. Samsung screwed up.
Tell it like it is, Samsung. At the very least, your customers deserve that.
JR Raphael writes about smartphones and other tasty technology. You can find him on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.
Article copyright 2012 JR Raphael. All rights reserved.