Anyone else worried about all the different versions?

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Frankly, the number of different versions there's going to be of this phone is starting to worry me.

• CPU/GPU: Samsung Exynos / Nvidia Tegra 2
• Display: SAMOLED+ / SLCD
• NFC: yes / no
• Radio: GSM / whatever legacy system the US still insists on using
• Carriers: regular international version / a gadzillion heavily branded and slightly but incompatibly modified vanity versions for the major US carriers

That's a lot of possible combinations, even if only a fraction actually come into existence. Probably each will require their own firmware variant as well, resulting in

• customer confusion
• slower and fewer official updates, with more bugs
• fragmented ROM dev community, resulting in reduced ROM choice and maybe even quality
• a lot more bricks due to flashing incompatible stuff
• even incompatible apps, to viz Tegra optimised games
• ...

IMHO, this phone alone is worse for Android's dreaded 'fragmented' image than the core OS versions ever were.

Discuss.
(Yes, I like being provocative, no, this is not intended as a troll. Maybe even some good can come of it, like not splitting the XDA forums that much, this time.)

Well like most phones at minimum there will be 2 variants one for GSM other CMDA like the Korean version which includes NFC and also TV (lucky buggers!)

Originally Posted by fallenguru

Frankly, the number of different versions there's going to be of this phone is starting to worry me.

• CPU/GPU: Samsung Exynos / Nvidia Tegra 2
• Display: SAMOLED+ / SLCD
• NFC: yes / no
• Radio: GSM / whatever legacy system the US still insists on using
• Carriers: regular international version / a gadzillion heavily branded and slightly but incompatibly modified vanity versions for the major US carriers

That's a lot of possible combinations, even if only a fraction actually come into existence. Probably each will require their own firmware variant as well, resulting in

• customer confusion
• slower and fewer official updates, with more bugs
• fragmented ROM dev community, resulting in reduced ROM choice and maybe even quality
• a lot more bricks due to flashing incompatible stuff
• even incompatible apps, to viz Tegra optimised games
• ...

IMHO, this phone alone is worse for Android's dreaded 'fragmented' image than the core OS versions ever were.

Discuss.
(Yes, I like being provocative, no, this is not intended as a troll. Maybe even some good can come of it, like not splitting the XDA forums that much, this time.)

SLCD Never confirmed. Rumor only. Tegra-version in Hong Kong gets Super Amoled +.

Agreed! Its going to be very confusing, Hopefully Samsung says to the various carriers this time around that they are not going to release different versions of the phone, but i dont see that happening. More Options= More Phones sold= More money for Samsung.

Originally Posted by EleCtrOx666

SLCD Never confirmed. Rumor only.

True, but seeing as the SGS1 and the NS got an SLCD version, I find it to be credible, at least.

Originally Posted by nikzDHD

version which includes NFC and also TV (lucky buggers!)

I'm rather relieved that there's no DVB-H receiver or the like in the phone - wouldn't want to have to pay the TV tax. :)

Originally Posted by fallenguru

Frankly, the number of different versions there's going to be of this phone is starting to worry me.

• CPU/GPU: Samsung Exynos / Nvidia Tegra 2
• Display: SAMOLED+ / SLCD
• NFC: yes / no
• Radio: GSM / whatever legacy system the US still insists on using
• Carriers: regular international version / a gadzillion heavily branded and slightly but incompatibly modified vanity versions for the major US carriers

That's a lot of possible combinations, even if only a fraction actually come into existence. Probably each will require their own firmware variant as well, resulting in

• customer confusion
• slower and fewer official updates, with more bugs
• fragmented ROM dev community, resulting in reduced ROM choice and maybe even quality
• a lot more bricks due to flashing incompatible stuff
• even incompatible apps, to viz Tegra optimised games
• ...

IMHO, this phone alone is worse for Android's dreaded 'fragmented' image than the core OS versions ever were.

Discuss.
(Yes, I like being provocative, no, this is not intended as a troll. Maybe even some good can come of it, like not splitting the XDA forums that much, this time.)

I disagree with you a lot...

1. The term "Android fragmentation" as it is used in the community has nothing at all to do about a single hardware manufacturer's different hw-configurations. Android fragmentation is about the problem for developers to make their apps compatible with different Android versions (API-levels) and different resolutions/display sizes. App compatibility is not affected by different base-band chips or different display types with same size and resolution.

2. Having different models for different markets has been common for many years, nothing new here. E g Korea has had TV as standard on high-end phones for years.

3. A modern smartphone platform is modular and similar to a PC (Android is Linux-based). There is probably no-one in the world who has exactly the same PC components in their PC as I have in my PC (e g exactly the same CPU, GPU, TV-card, sound card, mouse, memory etc), but stilll my PC works flawlessy. Removing a peripheral circuit as NFC in certain markets to save cost is a no-brainer for testing, integration, developing Custom ROM etc.

4. So far all rumours indicates that i9100 is with Super AMOLED+ and Exynos. So there will probably not be a Tegra 2 in i9100. Tegra 2 seems to be used in i9103 Otherwise it could be a bit confusing since Exynos & Tegra 2 are different SOC's with quite different GPU's.

5. All your stuff about different carriers etc is just strange, there is nothing new concerning Galaxy S2 here compared to other phones. Having different base-band chips in different market (I don't know if Galaxy S2 needs that) is not a problem and could even improve performance since it is easier to tune the antenna for fewer frequency bands.

6. I don't know if a versions with S-LCD will be called i9100 or not, I'd prefere not to have S-LCD with model name i9100, but we'll see what happens. HTC did this with Desire, and that is one of the most popular phones for modding at XDA. So nothing new here.

Originally Posted by tjtj4444

I disagree with you a lot...

1. Do you really think that app compatibility won't be affected in practice? The way I see it, if a developer wants to be able to say "compatible with / tested on Samsung Galaxy S 2" they'll have to a) know of and b) test on all variants, or at least the major ones. Take Skype as an example, which works from 2.1 on most phones but needs 2.2 on most / all versions of the SGS1. If you want to use the NDK it gets worse - every major game developer'll need a lengthy FAQ about which version of the game goes on which version of the SGS2.
   A lot of apps needed fixes to work on low res devices like the original HTC Wildfire, etc.
   On phones that are entirely different or at least perceived as such, this is less of a problem - devs can cope, but when technically near-identical phones are sold under different names (or quite different ones under the same name), there's bound to be a lot of consumer confusion atop of that.
2. Granted, maybe the other markets' models weren't as visible to me before Android. From a consumer perspective, the borders between markets are disappearing, though, thanks to the internet.
3. That would work, if there were, as for the PC, a common framework for the development of drivers, which are (also) distributed seperately from the hw. Sometimes drivers can be re-used on another phone with minimal modifications, but nowhere near all the time.
   I agree with you insofar as I would love to be able to get just a phone, built to order (within limits), that I could install a variety of different Android distributions on. Sadly, that's not a reality yet.
4. Yes, we'll see.
5. Maybe it isn't new, but it's still absurd, at least from an European perspective. GSM vs. CDMA is one thing, but limiting specific models to certain frequency bands of the same standard is done purely for market seperation. It's even more stupid than the DVD region codes.
6. Again, we'll see.

I think having carrier specific versions with ultra minor changes is completely idiotic (looking at you America). It seems the networks there want to get you onto them because of the specific phone instead of having good plans/pricing.

I think the iPhone has it right, one model released worldwide, I wish every other company did that.

As an American, it irritates me, too, that there can't be one version that works in Europe, Asia, and US. Each unit might cost more to make, but it could save money by not having to mfr. 6 different phones instead of one.

I also wonder if Android will ever be truly compatible across multiple devices. Every pc is different, yet they can all run the same Windows or Linux versions, just with different drivers.

Originally Posted by Scared27

It seems the networks there want to get you onto them because of the specific phone instead of having good plans/pricing.

Good pricing/plans in not the philosophy of an american corporation, maximizing profits and keeping share holders happy at all costs is.