HTC One S will not get updated to Android 4.2.2
According to an official statement from HTC, the HTC One S will not be updated to Android 4.2.2. The news first broke after the head of HTC’s Russian division tweeted that the device would not be updated due to technical constraints, and HTC France later confirmed this after a user inquired about the matter on its Facebook page. Subsequently, HTC released the following statement in English:
We can confirm that the HTC One S will not receive further Android OS updates and will remain on the current version of Android and HTC Sense. We realize this news will be met with disappointment by some, but our customers should feel confident that we have designed the HTC One S to be optimized with our amazing camera and audio experiences.
The HTC One X, along with the HTC EVO 4G LTE, is still expected to receive this update at some point in the near future, although it’s certainly disappointing news for One S owners who bought what amounted to T-Mobile’s flagship phone about one year ago. Gigaom’s Kevin Tofel also makes the good point that Google promised to work with manufacturers to ensure an 18-month update life cycle, and Google therefore should not allow this to happen.
While it’s debatable who ultimately “owns” the customer experience, this certainly reflects badly on HTC at a time that the company simply can’t afford any bad press, and it even looks poor that Google probably won’t step up and pressure HTC to update a device that is clearly capable of running Android 4.2.2.
What do you think of this news?
[The Unwired | Gigaom] Thanks, Bill!