There’s a reason we always recommend Nexus devices over all other Android smartphones. Not only do you get to enjoy Android the way Google intended it to look, but you’re also put first in line for updates to the platform. Case in point, owners of the Nexus S have slowly been getting an over the air update to the latest version of Android, codenamed Ice Cream Sandwich. Turns out that something has gone awry with the update process however, and that ICS runs well on some Nexus S units while on others it sucks the battery dry faster than you can say lithium-ion. Because of this issue Google has suspended updates to the Nexus S temporarily while they investigate the situation. Now according to “trusted sources” who spoke to The Verge, what’s happening right now is standard procedure. Google does updates in batches to make sure that everything is running smoothly. Whatever the case may be, chances are that if you have a Nexus S you’ll be running ICS before the world’s second ICS running smartphone hits the market.
While we’re on the subject of software updates, we’d like to point out that Apple and Microsoft do a fantastic job at making sure their devices are up to date. Smartphone vendors who make handsets running Android however are notorious for taking months to issue updates just because they need to make sure that their silly little skins work properly. Some of you may like HTC Sense or Samsung’s TouchWiz, we get that, but you pay the price. We simply don’t understand why companies can’t offer stock ROMs to the enthusiast community. It would make recommending a device like the HTC Sensation XL much easier since we could blast off the crud HTC likes to call innovative and just run a pure Google experience.
Is that too much to ask?