Discrepancies?

It seems that every few months software updates are coming out for phones and new features are being added all the time. This was made more apparent with the release of the Iphone and widespread knowledge of new versions of Iphone OS and its new features. Android, a similar smartphone platform also debuts new versions of its Android OS every so often, however I find it to have great discrepancies based on the actual device and the service provider. This is somewhere where I would say the Iphone beats Android devices.

See, when Apple releases a firmware update, it goes through to AT&T and then its pushed to the devices via iTunes updates. Because the Iphone is locked to AT&T, firmware updates need to only go through one round of testing with the service provider, meaning a much quicker update sent to the actual phones. Android phones on the other hand are on every service provider and come from a number of handheld manufacturers. Not only does Google have to send out its updated firmware to the handheld manufacturers, but it also needs to get approved by the service providers as well. Usually it isn't that big of a deal, since many of the higher end phones receive much greater priority and therefor get updates passed quicker through testing. However, as a user of a lower-end Android phones I see that phones like the Droid Eris, the HTC Hero, and the Mytouch 3G and G1 all get overlooked when it comes to software upgrades. Android 2.0 itself was released when the Motorola Droid was released November 6th, and the Droid Eris was released the same day with Android 1.5. It took until April for 2.1 to be pushed to phones for an OTA update. The Droid itself is already on firmware 2.1, with news of 2.2 being pushed on it sometimes in the next month. Why are there so many discrepancies with Android phones, that upgrades need to be sent directly to the Service provider for approval and editing before it allows for them to be transferred to the phones? This nonsense makes Android weaker to the Iphone in my opinion.

The flexibility to choose a phone on any service provider is great, but the options of firmware and software updates makes Android lacking in the performance market. I believe that if Google wants to topple Apple's grip over the smartphone market something needs to be done to ensure that all of their current handhelds have the same software version.