An interesting question came up while in a conversation with a customer about which Android devices they should purchase for their staff. They were about to purchase about 500 devices and needed guidance about the upgrade path for the Android devices they were seeking to purchase.

So this is a serious issue for the Android platform. In the world of Apple iOS the updates are distributed by the operating system vendor (Apple). But in the world of Android those updates are pushed down by the carrier. And each carrier has to develop their own image. So just because you purchased the latest and greatest Android device it doesn’t mean that it will receive a new version of the Android OS.

The latest Android smartphone platform is Gingerbread, which is version 2.3. The next major revision is called Ice Cream Sandwich, and will be numbered version 4 (Google skipped 3 because  it was released only for tablets). So if you buy a 2.3 device today will you be able to upgrade to 4.0? Not necessarily.  One vendor, Motorola, openly discloses which devices will receive Ice Cream Sandwich, as stated in this News.com article.

Bottom line – Check with the vendor first before investing in an Android platform. If you need the upgradeability of the OS check the upgrade path for the device you are purchasing.