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April 26, 2012, 5:48 p.m.
Sam Rosen Practice Director

​ I’ve been a happy user of a Samsung Galaxy S phone since 10/19/12 (or so T-Mobile tells me). I’m a heavy and regular user of productivity apps, including Gmail, Outlook, Google Reader, the web browser, and Google Maps. I’ve had my share of fun with some games, including Angry Birds, Doodle Jump, Plants vs. Zombies and even Drag Racing (why, I don’t know). My kids (3 & 5) love to pry it from my hands to watch the Cat in the Hat, color with Zebra Paint, do puzzles, play Chuzzle, etc. As a TV & Video analyst, I’ve tested and/or used a number of video applications on my phone, including Netflix, HBO Go (far and away the best UI and experience), Cox Connect to program my mom’s DVR (ugh! In so many ways) as well as sideloaded some movies from DVD and/or Digital Copy onto it – not to mention watching the pre-installed Avatar on it while stuck in the car for too long.

I just read that Ice Cream Sandwich won’t be supported on my phone . While I understand the need to have more recent specs to get a more recent OS, and the device fragmentation that exists within the ecosystem, it seems that if operators are trying to decrease the financial impact of phone subsidies on their business, they should be upgrading as many phones as possible.

Now, there is absolutely nothing I need about Ice Cream Sandwich. Sure, some of the improved UI might take a few less keystrokes to do some common things. But all in all, the biggest thing I’d want out of a new phone is a faster processor (my phone gets laggy in processing keypresses if I’ve been doing too much on it and/or haven’t rebooted it in a few days) as well as 4G speeds (for tethering and responsiveness when loading up the news). So -- T-Mobile tells me that I’ll soon (4 months) be eligible for the “lowest upgrade price” on new phones – having had my phone for 22 months. The only thing more frustrating that a 2 year wait for a new phone with all the whiz-bang features is waiting for a refresh on your Cable DVR – that’s totally out of your control!