HTC Kills Android Updates for One S, Tells Customers to Stay Confident

From DailyTech: In a troubling sign, HTC Corp. (TPE:2498) has officially killed updates support for One S Android smartphone, long before its second birthday even arrived. The mid-range smartphone had first aired back in Feb. 2012, going on sale at the start of April 2012. Just 15 months in, and owners already find themselves no longer receiving critical security and usability updates.

In a post HTC writes:

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 year old device will now be stuck on Android v4.1.1 Jelly Bean. Android v4.2 Jelly Bean v2 came out in Nov. 2012 -- just a little over half a year after the One S went on sale. But it appears HTC will never work with carriers to officially push this update to customers.

The problem of slow-to-nonexistent updates has been a much discussed issue with Android and has even sparked lawsuits. But companies seem intent on continuing to abandon support for Android devices midway through their lifespan leaving customers to fend for themselves or be "confident" in settling for aging interfaces.

It is unclear whether the HTC One X and One V, which launched alongside the One S, will share in this updateless purgatory. What is clear is that the only HTC handset to have the promise of life-long updates (until the hardware can no longer support it) is the HTC One Google Play edition, which ships direct from Google Inc. (GOOG) unlocked.

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