An internal HTC road map for future firmware updates has leaked online. The document reveals when the company plans on releasing future Android updates, including the just-announced Android L.
When Apple unveiled iOS 8 at WWDC 2014, Apple CEO Tim Cook took great delight in pointing out that 89 percent of Apple's installed base is running the most recent version of iOS, while only 9 percent of Android users are on the latest version.
Android fragmentation has been an issue Google has been trying to remedy for years. Android licensees like Samsung and HTC run a separate user interface on top of Android to add features and make the OS more user friendly. Since these devices aren't running stock Android, updating to a new version requires testing not only on current hardware but also with the manufacturer's customized software like TouchWiz and HTC Sense.
This testing can leave many Android users on older versions of the OS and is the reason why Android fragmentation is a huge problem for Google. When the company announced its next-generation Android L OS, HTC announced that it would release an Android L update for its HTC One smartphones within 90 days of receiving final software from Google.
The leaked HTC road map reveals upcoming firmware updates for HTC's smartphones. The latest version of Android 4.4.4 KitKat is expected to be released in August and September for the HTC One M8, One, One mini 2, One E8 and One mini.
The document also reveals that HTC is currently evaluating the next major update to Android, Android L, on all of its latest smartphones. Google released a preview of Android L for developers at Google I/O in June and will release the OS sometime in the fall. While this road map provides tentative dates for Android software updates, nothing is official until HTC makes it so.
Hopefully more smartphone and tablet manufacturers will follow HTC's lead and provide a timeline on when and if those devices will be receiving an update to Android L.
