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FCC/FTC PROBING WHY SECURITY UPDATES ARE SLOW

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Agreed. I'm sure Google's happy about this too. Hopefully something comes of it in the next year or so.
 
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epicrayban said:
Agreed. I'm sure Google's happy about this too. Hopefully something comes of it in the next year or so.
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It would be great if out of this vendors like Samsung can update their phones without carriers getting in the way. But then there will be no excuse for slow updates as all the onus will be on the OEMs to get their updates out faster.
 
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jamezr said:
It would be great if out of this vendors like Samsung can update their phones without carriers getting in the way. But then there will be no excuse for slow updates as all the onus will be on the OEMs to get their updates out faster.
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Yep!

Like I said, I'm reasonable. I understand the nature of Android. If the carriers eventually get out of the way, the OEMs could promise a 2-3 month window when a new OS version is available. That should be ample time to adapt whatever they have to adapt, QC, and get it approved to push out.

Of course... I don't think this battle will happen easily. This is just an investigation for now, right? We won't see anything come out of this for a year or two. I suspect ATT and Verizon, especially, will be putting up a huge fight.
 
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epicrayban said:
Yep!

Like I said, I'm reasonable. I understand the nature of Android. If the carriers eventually get out of the way, the OEMs could promise a 2-3 month window when a new OS version is available. That should be ample time to adapt whatever they have to adapt, QC, and get it approved to push out.

Of course... I don't think this battle will happen easily. This is just an investigation for now, right? We won't see anything come out of this for a year or two. I suspect ATT and Verizon, especially, will be putting up a huge fight.
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yep...these changes won't happen any time soon. Then as you pointed out VZW and AT&T will no doubt fight it every step of the way.
 
jamezr said:
It would be great if out of this vendors like Samsung can update their phones without carriers getting in the way. But then there will be no excuse for slow updates as all the onus will be on the OEMs to get their updates out faster.
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Agreed. I think the OEMs like Samsung are just fine hiding behind the carriers taking this on the front line. But there are PLENTY of carrier free unlocked phones out there not getting OS or security updates. Take out the carriers, and the blame is fully on the OEMs. They will feel the pressure directly.
 
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Surf Donkey said:
Agreed. I think the OEMs like Samsung are just fine hiding behind the carriers taking this on the front line. But there are PLENTY of carrier free unlocked phones out there not getting OS or security updates. Take out the carriers, and the blame is fully on the OEMs. They will feel the pressure directly.
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So far, Samsung has been good with the updates with Tmobile. I think with the right carriers, both carrier and the OEM can work together to deliver fast updates. My S7E has the May security updates, for example. No excuse why ATT, Verizon or Sprint can't accomplish the same if Samsung/Tmobile can.

That's the question, are carriers like ATT/Verizon willing to do this?
 
Surf Donkey said:
Agreed. I think the OEMs like Samsung are just fine hiding behind the carriers taking this on the front line. But there are PLENTY of carrier free unlocked phones out there not getting OS or security updates. Take out the carriers, and the blame is fully on the OEMs. They will feel the pressure directly.
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Agreed.....I think they have been hiding behind a broken process too. Let's eliminate one hurdle then make the OEMS responsible for faster updates!
 
epicrayban said:
So far, Samsung has been good with the updates with Tmobile. I think with the right carriers, both carrier and the OEM can work together to deliver fast updates. My S7E has the May security updates, for example. No excuse why ATT, Verizon or Sprint can't accomplish the same if Samsung/Tmobile can.

That's the question, are carriers like ATT/Verizon willing to do this?
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The question is how long will Tmo provide those monthly updates for your 7 and how long until it gets N? I wouldn't call it a success for Tmo/Samsung customers yet.
 
Surf Donkey said:
The question is how long will Tmo provide those monthly updates for your 7 and how long until it gets N? I wouldn't call it a success for Tmo/Samsung customers yet.
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I thought we're talking only about security updates. But even then, you're right, who knows how long this will last and how long they'll keep it up for, but so far so good. My point was mainly, it's entirely possible for OEM/carrier to work together to push timely security updates. For example, the May security patches came like May 2nd or 3rd or something. It was very timely.

As for Android N, ya, forgetaboutit. Lol. Ain't holding my breath on that. Of course, for me, though, my solution is just to move to the HTC Nexus. ;) Which is why I'm hoping Google/HTC delivers later this year!
 
epicrayban said:
I thought we're talking only about security updates. But even then, you're right, who knows how long this will last and how long they'll keep it up for, but so far so good. My point was mainly, it's entirely possible for OEM/carrier to work together to push timely security updates. For example, the May security patches came like May 2nd or 3rd or something. It was very timely.

As for Android N, ya, forgetaboutit. Lol. Ain't holding my breath on that. Of course, for me, though, my solution is just to move to the HTC Nexus. ;) Which is why I'm hoping Google/HTC delivers later this year!
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Is the S6 and Note 5 getting the monthly security updates as well on Tmo?
 
jamezr said:
My N5 was getting all the monthly security updates. The S6 too from what I have read.....
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So you have the May update on the Note 5? I was reading they just put the April update in with the MM upgrade. Good sign if they are moving that fast and regularly on the older devices on tmo.
 
epicrayban said:
S6 is on April's security update. Also T-Mobile.
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Yeah, likely also packaged with the MM update.

Well now that they have MM, they should be getting these monthly unless tmo is holding them back. Samsung is making them:

http://security.samsungmobile.com/smrupdate.html

Models for Monthly Updates¹:

  • Galaxy S series (S7, S7 edge, S6 edge+, S6, S6 edge, S6 Active, S5, S5 Active)
  • Galaxy Note series (Note 5, Note 4, Note edge)
  • Galaxy A series (A5x)
 
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