LG

Posted by TrueFlaNative on 07 Jul 2010 07:00 AM:

Not to keep making my point or create a problem for LG PRO but has LG announced an "LG ALLY like" device that will deliver with Android 2.2 and potentially upgrade to 3.0? If this is true then LG should be upfront with LG ALLY owners and those potential owners that 2.1 is the only release for this phone. I for one with this knowledge would hold off on any new device until Andriod 3.0. This is not an issue about having the latest and greatest as much as resolving known issues that should have been accounted for in the LG ALLY device design.

Thanks for the Feed Back, and Keep the comments coming.

>>"has LG announced an "LG ALLY like" device that will deliver with Android 2.2 and potentially upgrade to 3.0?"

LG Announced the other day the Optimus line of Android Phones. I don't know if they will come to the US and if they do, I don't know which carriers will take one. We develop the phones but ultimately it's the Carriers that decide IF, WHAT and WHEN they will sell.

WHEN a new Android phone does come to the states, it will just be an addition to the LG line for whatever Carrier decides to take it. I suspect the Ally will be around for a long time due to the market it appeals to.

>>This is not an issue about having the latest and greatest as much as resolving known issues that should have been accounted for in the LG ALLY device design.

A Patch will come for the Ally System... NOT the Android OS, But an LG Patch it is being worked on now. Hopefully it will address any outstanding issues, like the Exchange Calendaring Sync.

The issues you report on this site are being reported to LG Development and I'm assured that NOW these comments go all the way to San Diego and Korea...

I hope I haven't missed you point and if I have I apologize.

Posted by gndmepyon on 07 Jul 2010 06:35 AM:

True touched on my revelation so here it is in full.

From a technical standpoint, Operating Systems (OS) have always used ever increasing amounts of system resources. What does this mean in relation to this discussion?

IF the Ally cannot handle running 2.2 then it WILL NOT be able to handle running ANY future versions of the OS. Plain and simple. Android will not be becoming a resource lighter OS.

What I would like to know (yes I know there's little chance I'll find out) is when they tell Pro "not enough memory" are they talking RAM or ROM? Either way I find memory to be an invalid excuse since the Ally has the exact same RAM AND ROM specs as the Motorola Droid, which runs 2.2 beautifully. The biggest difference between the 2 handsets is the processor architecture, which is a whole other topic. This "unofficial statement" (which thanks for going out on a limb Pro) pretty much confirms what Adobe has already said, "the Ally can't handle Flash".

Hopefully I'm proven wrong but I would advise everyone, get used to 2.1 it's the best your gonna get.

(Sorry these replies are disjointed)

>>IF the Ally cannot handle running 2.2 then it WILL NOT be able to handle running ANY future versions of the OS. Plain and simple. Android will not be becoming a resource lighter OS.

You're probably right. But don't get the OS Upgrades confused with System Updates from LG. A Patch is being worked on for the Ally to address the outstanding issues and if needed others will follow. I'm sure when the Ally was designed it was meant to be an inexpensive entry model into the Ally world, and designed to handle Android 2.1... The release date of the any Handset HAS to coinside with Verizon's schedule. All manufatures compete for Wall Space and Mindshare with the Carriers. When they decide to take a Handset they tell us when they will sell it. It is unfortunate that the Ally came out so close to the Android 2.2 Update, but that's the Schedule we were given. Yes we probably should have been more aware of the update and our message about Android 2.1 verses 2.2 However it doesn't diminish the Ally's features or it's ability to run the current OS, but yes it is disappointing for those of US looking for Android 2.2

TECHNICALLY??

The Ally only has 108MB of User accessible RAM, the Moto Droid has about 240MB. The Moto Droid also has a Dedicated Graphics processor which helps with display power and memory.

I don't have all of the Techie Stuff in from of me but I can probably dig it up for you... But the Bottom line is that an Android 2.2 update for the Ally is not looking good.

I was just trying to be upfront... In a Politically correct way (I Like my Job)

Don't get me wrong. I appreciate all the info you've given us.

I was just sharing all the research I've been able to find. Comparing hardware to hardware from the specs listed on Verizon's site. Both phones have 512 MB of ROM and 256 MB of RAM. And yes your absolutely right the major difference is the dedicated GPU. It does create the larger RAM buffer for the Droid. B/c Ally doesn't have a dedicated GPU it has to use the system RAM and the CPU to process graphics. Yes Ally does do everything I want it to. I don't use exchange (for now at least) so that little bug doesn't bother me. It's great to hear that even with the wave of new phone launches coming up LG is still willing to update their software as needed. Also let's face it. Those of us who really understand and appreciate what FroYo can do are not the target audience for this phone. It's place in the market (which it does beautifully) is to be a low cost bridge from the Multimedia Phone user that brings them over to being Smartphones users.

All-in-all never getting any of the Android OS updates isn't a deal breaker for me, otherwise the phone would already be on the way back to Verizon. Is it an annoyance, yes. If I could pass on advice to the R&D guys it would be this: Don't rush so fast to get a product out (especially 1 with an infinitely upgradeable OS) that you don't take into account what short term updates may be available.

Pro, thanks for all the great info, and for letting us rant. Hopefully none of it got ya in trouble.

hey pro, do u have an estimate "eta" on that patch, week,month, anything??? that u can tell us.. thanks

My kids love the ALLY so my concerns are really not important. Keep us informed on any developments and that is all we can expect. Thanks!

Pro is there any chance of a Hardware version 2? (Feel free to not speculate and answer, I know this is a dangerous question for you to answer) The price difference at bulk pricing between a 256mb and 512mb NAND chip is neglegible (sp?). In theory that should be more than an adequate jump in memory to facilitate future upgrades to the OS. Of course those of us who purchased V1 would be on the bad end of that but in my opinion it would be a great customer service move for Lg.

Perhaps if this was mentioned to the correct dept........

Posted by gndmepyon on 09 Jul 2010 06:52 AM:

Pro is there any chance of a Hardware version 2? (Feel free to not speculate and answer, I know this is a dangerous question for you to answer) The price difference at bulk pricing between a 256mb and 512mb NAND chip is neglegible (sp?). In theory that should be more than an adequate jump in memory to facilitate future upgrades to the OS. Of course those of us who purchased V1 would be on the bad end of that but in my opinion it would be a great customer service move for Lg.

Perhaps if this was mentioned to the correct dept........

LOL, yes finally your comments are getting to the "Right Dept"

There is a lot of Movment right now which is fascinating, but nothing I can speculate about... The first thing I am working on is getting the FINAL answer to the FroYo issue... I'm about 80% sure that the answer won't be what WE are looking for, but at least we'll know.

Now I'd like to post some "Tips and Tricks" for 2.1, and some of the Fun Apps that we have found. I want to get the most out of my Ally :-)

Thanks for your contributions to the Forum, it's appreciated and it makes things more lively.

Posted by elkido122 on 08 Jul 2010 16:45 PM:

hey pro, do u have an estimate "eta" on that patch, week,month, anything??? that u can tell us.. thanks

I'm trying to get the FINAL 2.2 Update word within the next day or two... As for the Patch, yes everybody is anxious for it, even internally, so we are really pushing to get it an answer on it as well... Apparently there was a patch about ready but it turned out to introduce a new problem, so it's being reworked. That's why the delay. But I'm hoping for an answer "Real Soon" ... Yes I'm tired of hearing that to. :-)

I'll keep you updated.

Posted by TrueFlaNative on 08 Jul 2010 18:57 PM:

My kids love the ALLY so my concerns are really not important. Keep us informed on any developments and that is all we can expect. Thanks!

I'll keep everyone in the loop as soon as I have any information.

So I take the the Socialite is being fixed too, or is that still a Verizon issue as you stated before??

When all is said and done, while the prospect is exciting that the 2.2 update will come magically to my phone someday, I purchased this phone because I had GREAT luck with my LG Dare and wanted a taste of Droid mania. I seem to have my phone performing quite well considering it's not stocked with the latest hardware, and the LG quality is there. I've seen posts in this and other forums reading the rants of those who are basically saying "I'm done with LG". Why? Even with 2.1, this is a very useable phone that seemingly is built well and it makes phone calls to boot...lol.

Warren

Posted by outlaw.99 on 09 Jul 2010 09:41 AM:

So I take the the Socialite is being fixed too, or is that still a Verizon issue as you stated before??

There is a patch due next week, It is currently in Verizon's hands for testing. I don't have the details yet on what it addresses, but I'll try to see if I can find out if the Socialite App is addressed or if it will have to come from the Publisher.

When the Patch is available for download (Update) your Ally should notify you through the Notification Bar.

Stay Tuned for more info.

Posted by wgbeatty on 09 Jul 2010 10:21 AM:

When all is said and done, while the prospect is exciting that the 2.2 update will come magically to my phone someday, I purchased this phone because I had GREAT luck with my LG Dare and wanted a taste of Droid mania. I seem to have my phone performing quite well considering it's not stocked with the latest hardware, and the LG quality is there. I've seen posts in this and other forums reading the rants of those who are basically saying "I'm done with LG". Why? Even with 2.1, this is a very useable phone that seemingly is built well and it makes phone calls to boot...lol.

Warren

Thanks for the comments... I'm quite happy with 2.1 as well, but still drooling over the features in 2.2

Well its just like when I had the Devour, where everyone is screaming for 2.1.... With Android being fragmented, it will be a never ending story... Getting an upgrade should be a bonus and not assumed... I got my Ally with 2.1 (upgraded from 1.6 devour) and dont really EXPECT anything but bug and Socialite fixes....I really like the device like I bought it , and still like fixing the older LG env, dare, and voyager series phones....

This thread is very helpful. Just got 2 Allys and spent the better part of vacation this week getting customized with various apps. I have had 1st generation iPod touch for a couple of years now. However too old to upgrade to iOS4. Eventually some (many?) apps will require that OS. Android seems in its infancy compared to iPhone OS. Still hoping for a Verizon iPhone and hope the rumors are true. But needed new phone so going with Android for now. I initially chose the Ally because a friend with Droid had poor voice quality on phone calls. I thought a smart phone should work well as a phone so was willing to sacrifice "some" horsepower for good phone quality. However, the thought of the OS not being updateable out of the box is extremely disappointing. The phone is being abandoned from an OS standpoint before it gets started due to lack of hardware foresight. At least I am within the 30 day return period and now have a difficult decision to make, but most likely will return the product. Since I will have to live with this 2 years I am hopeful for something that will accommodate a few OS upgrades before being obsolete. I have multiple PC and Mac computers and the thought of not being to update the OS 2 weeks after I purchase the product is unimaginable and unacceptable to me.

outlaw.99

I've been trying to track you down to find out how you like the ally. I'm still on the Devour and i'm either waiting for a devour update, which lets be honest isn't going to happen this year i don't beleive, or until the lg ally releases an update for the outlook calendar, as i use the calendar with my work. Can you tell the major differences in the devour and ally? I hate to jump ship but i want 2.1 badly. Does this phone to automatic e-mail push? the Devour does sync every 15 minutes..., Does it have a facebook app built in that will sync my facebook pictures with my contacts? and also show status updates in a widget like the devour did? thats the biggest issues i'm a little skeptical about. Also how is the battery life and the camera on the ally? we both know they are horrible on the devour, though i usually get through a full day on a single charge. Also is your call signal better stronger with the ally?

Also I think you had said that you traded your devour for the ally after the 30 days had expired, how did that work? If this phone gets the calendar fixed next week, then i'm very liable to change this coming week. Did you go to a verizon store or call verizon about it? I've heard both sides of things.

Also LG Pro i'm interested in whether this phone is getting froyo within the coming months.... Trust me coming from 1.6 devour, 2.1 is a dream of ours, But if anyone can answer hwo E-mail syncs and how does hotmail do with the ally, With the devour it is a one way sync with hotmail, but i hear hotmail is upgrading to correct that issue. Also facebook contact picture sync and app is important to me as well. Thanks for anyones help in responding to help me make the jump to the ally. I like to have all my ducks in a row before i switch to a phone, I just didn't realize the devour would stay at 1.6 with no mention of an upgrade when i bought it back in march.

Posted by outlaw.99 on 09 Jul 2010 11:47 AM:

Well its just like when I had the Devour, where everyone is screaming for 2.1.... With Android being fragmented, it will be a never ending story... Getting an upgrade should be a bonus and not assumed... I got my Ally with 2.1 (upgraded from 1.6 devour) and dont really EXPECT anything but bug and Socialite fixes....I really like the device like I bought it , and still like fixing the older LG env, dare, and voyager series phones....

I have to disagree. That's like saying when you buy a computer you shouldn't expect any updates to windows (or osx). This was a bit of poor planning on the R/D team's side. No big. There are plenty of things that Lg can do to remedy the situation. The real question becomes, how much do they value their reputation of having a very high customer service rating?

Also you don't think they update (not upgrade) the OS for a reason. It's to fix bugs and resolve issues that have been reported. So if you're expecting bug fixes then you're expecting updates to the OS.

Posted by jlcochran1 on 09 Jul 2010 19:21 PM:

The phone is being abandoned from an OS standpoint before it gets started due to lack of hardware foresight.

You have verification from LG on this?

I don't believe anything is set in stone yet if you've been reading here at all.

Warren

So for those of you wondering what's so great about FroYo, or if you're trying to decide if it includes "must have" features this is the update notes taken from Wikipedia's (I know not the best source) page on android However I did confirm on the release notes on the android home page which is here: http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-2.2-highlights.html

On 20 May 2010 the 2.2 (Froyo) SDK was released.[2] On 28 June 2010 an OTA (over the air) update to Android 2.2 build number FRF85B commenced to T-mobile customers with a Google Nexus One phone. Changes included:[49]

* General Android OS speed, memory, and performance optimizations[50]
* Additional application speed improvements courtesy of JIT implementation[51]
* Integration of Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine into the Browser application
* Increased Microsoft Exchange support (security policies, auto-discovery, GAL look-up, calendar synchronization, remote wipe)
* Improved application launcher with shortcuts to Phone and Browser applications
* USB tethering and WiFi hotspot functionality
* Added an option to disable data access over mobile network
* Updated Market application with batch and automatic update features[50]
* Quick switching between multiple keyboard languages and their dictionaries
* Voice dialing and contact sharing over Bluetooth
* Support for numeric and alphanumeric passwords
* Support for file upload fields in the Browser application[52]
* Support for installing applications to the expandable memory[53]
* Adobe Flash 10.1 support[54]

Now if you look at the list and the the various Ally issues on this forum, guess what......2.2 fixes almost everyone of those issues. So, 2.2 is just and "upgrade" NOPE. It's an UPDATE that resolves a ton of the issues we're seeing being brought up on these forums...including the Exchange issue. Also noted is the addition of voice dialing via Bluetooth which has been a complaint about Android from the get go.

@Nascar2555

Here was a post I did on the Android forums....

Ive had both... I returned the Devour twice and on its third time they gave me an Ally....I could sit here all day about differences, but you really need to go to a corporate store and hold them both... Winners:

OS - Ally 2.1 ( Motorola too busy to make a Blur 2.1 for its Devour & Backflip series)
Overlay - Devour with Blur ( Socialite is broken but its optional unlike Blur)
Vanilla Android - Ally
Weight - Ally (close)
Keyboard - Devour (spaced and raised keys)
Screen - Ally
Look - Devour ( many thought it was a titanium Droid)
Form - Tie

Basically the 2.1 puts the Ally one over the top... The Devour is an awesome phone for first time Androiders and social types though but I think they have already discontinued it in some stores....