Google’s Android operating system is considered to be one of the most impressive and promising mobile platforms. With plenty of features, Google web services, support for various formats and a large and growing app store, it is no wonder that Android devices are among the most sought after phones of today.
Of course, not all Android devices are made alike. These phones vary greatly with the hardware specs and what version of the OS they have installed. While most of the newer high end Androids come with version 2.1 Éclair, Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA X10 and the X10 Mini are still stuck with the older 1.6 Donut operating system.
When compared to phones such as the HTC Desire, HTC Legend, Samsung i9000 Galaxy S, Dell Streak and other high end devices, the XPERIA X10 loses out on account of its operating system The other devices already have version 2.1 and are waiting for the Froyo 2.2 update. The HTC Desire is already getting a patch this week and other phones are expected to follow shortly after.
According to reports, the first update for the X10 will not arrive until later this third quarter. And by then, the patch will only update the OS to version 2.1 instead of 2.2. While it has been announced that the 2.1 patch would make the X10 one of the fastest handsets in terms of performance, it still loses out to the new features that will be present in the pother phones –mainly with support for Flash.
While it is assumed that the XPERIA series will be updated to the newer version 2.2 eventually, the delay is already something that is discouraging many phone enthusiasts from choosing Sony Ericsson’s products. And with no confirmed date for an update to the latest version of the OS, things are really looking bad for SE’s Android phones.