I've had a Transformer Prime for several months and have been enjoying the supposedly unobtainable Android tablet experience that everyone is waiting for. It runs stock ICS and has a 10.1" screen, and I actually wish it had a bit more of a bezel. I really don't understand why people are ignoring the Transformer Prime.

And the Transformer Infinity is coming out tomorrow, with a 1920x1200 screen, fixes to the Transformer Prime's GPS/Wifi issues (which I have not personally seen), and a micro SD slot & HDMI out (two of the things missing from the Nexus 7).

Ignoring good products seems to be a big issue with Android - with phones, people are complaining about skinning and lack of updates when the Galaxy Nexus is just sitting there waiting for buyers (I've already got Jelly Bean running on my GN).

> Ignoring good products seems to be a big issue with Android - with phones, people are complaining about skinning and lack of updates when the Galaxy Nexus is just sitting there waiting for buyers (I've already got Jelly Bean running on my GN).

One of the main selling points of the Android ecosystem is "Look at all the device choice you have".

It's hardly surprising that if you sell people on that then turn around and say "Of course if you want an experience that doesn't suck, here is a list of about three devices that will provide that experience" they don't exactly heed that advice.

Pinning the issue on consumers just doing what they're told both misses the point and passes the buck. The market shouldn't be flooded with shitty Android devices that are quickly abandoned by carriers and have no reason to exist. Having HTC or Motorola written on the back doesn't mean anything. Google should be holding their hardware partners to a certain standard and they aren't.

That isn't the consumer's fault, that blame lies squarely on Google. They have the power to enforce this via their Google services contracts and they choose not to. It shouldn't be a choice between getting the device you want and getting one of the good ones.

I bought a Galaxy Nexus phone for my girlfriend so we wouldn't have to worry about updates anymore.

It's still stuck on 4.0.1 with no update in sight...

That doesn't sound right. I had to root and install a custom ROM to get Jelly Bean on my (Verizon) Galaxy Nexus, but I have family members with (also Verizon) Galaxy Nexuses that are unrooted and have locked bootloaders. They've already got 4.0.4.

Have you tried checking for updates in the settings? Maybe your girlfriend dismissed the update notice.

I checked the update notice. It says it just checked now and there are no updates.

Google Nexus is actually not a phone model but a collection of many models which are only invisibly different. Some of them get updates, some don't, even though all are advertised in the same way.

This is the model:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005XYU45E/ref=oh_details_o...

And it is a "yakjudv" (Australian build) according to the System Information app. It seems I'm waiting for some Australians to let the updates through (if they go through at all). When I bought it from Amazon, it was advertised as a "Pure Google Experience".

I think Google really messed up again. The "Google Nexus" should have been a simple and uniform experience, and not a bunch of branded-phone-hell.

I understand your eagerness. I had been mashing my update button for several days after the OTA update was announced. Evidently these things roll out over the course of weeks, which is not necessarily what you would expect if Windows or Apple o/s updates are your frame of reference.

I was able to "trick" my nexus into updating, by clearing the data from the Google Data Services Framework. That seems to work for some people. Unlocking and flashing is an option that some power users take--particularlly those with LTE phones where there is no OTA yet.

I just cleared the data again, forced-stop, and checked for update again -- and it successfully checked and says I'm still up-to-date with my 4.0.1 Android.

It's probably not the answer you want to hear, but you should root it. Rooting and upgrading my cheapo 2.3 phone to 4.0/CCM9 completely revitalized it. Rooting is the true magic of the Android ecosystem.

Jelly Bean is a development preview at the moment. I suppose that, like iOS 6, you have to enroll into the developer program to get it.

No it isn't? OTAs for Jelly Bean have been going on for a few days now.

http://thedroidguy.com/2012/07/google-releases-jelly-bean-ot...

That OTA is for the GSM model of the Galaxy Nexus, which is for T-Mobile, AT&T, (and most of the non-US countries) and gets its updates directly from Google. The post above is talking about the Verizon model, which does not get updates directly from Google (because you didn't buy it directly from Google), and is instead forced to wait for updates from Verizon. The only other option is to unlock the bootloader and install a community ROM.

4.0.1 is multiple versions behind even the 4.0 branch though. 4.0.4 is already available in the Galaxy Nexus models that run the Google-maintained version.

The Galaxy Nexuses (Nexii?) we have at work updated to Jelly Bean on Friday. Check hers again.

I checked it today.

Damn, not sure what's up then. Are you in the US? Ours got the updates just sitting on wifi, no SIM card inserted.

I'm in Israel, got phone from http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005XYU45E/ref=oh_details_o...

It is a "yakjudv" firmware which doesn't get updates.

Apparently Google is advertising their Nexus line as auto-update (http://www.google.com/nexus/#/galaxy/features) but then does all of the "yakju" 3rd party firmware fragmentation which invalidates their own promise.

I doubt I'll buy a Google phone again.

Hi, running iOS 6 Beta 2 on my iPhone 4. We have it running on an iPhone 3GS too.

I used to own a really nice Android HTC G2. 'Cept the updates didn't seem to be rolling in.

Got tired of that quickly.

I will second this, I had an iPad, sold it, hot a transformer prime and it's pretty much the perfect device. I've never had a problem with it, it's powerful, Android is just great, I'm generally very very happy with it.

To put it bluntly, people so accustomed to the iPad form factor aren't a market it would make sense for Android manufacturers to chase.

Hell, there's an Android 13" tablet out there (toshiba?) - more sizes by far than Apple's offerings... that's never been a gripe, IMHO.

Probably because Apple has sewn up all of the suppliers of high-quality 10" LCDs.

I was under the impression these screens are made in giant sheets and cut to size.

Yep. And all the vast majority of those sheets probably go to Apple...

Never fight on the enemy's ground.