WITH THE RIGHT ANDROID™ TABLET, YOU ALWAYS ENJOY THE LATEST AND GREATEST EXPERIENCE Tablets built on the Intel® reference design for Android (IRDA) are updated within weeks of an Android update

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Google regularly updates the Android™ operating system (OS) to provide new features for better productivity, improved security, and a more enjoyable user experience. Unfortunately, many device manufacturers take months to push out the latest Android updates to your tablet. In fact, in some cases, your tablet might never receive the OS update. You can avoid that frustration by choosing a tablet built on the Intel® reference design for Android (IRDA) platform. IRDA tablets receive all new Android OS updates within weeks of release, for a period of two years. This means that you always have the latest features, bug fixes, and user interface (UI) enhancements as soon as possible.

Is Your Tablet Obsolete Days after Purchase? After a week researching tablets, you finally buy that fast, lightweight Android tablet that you have been eyeing. It’s perfect for commuting, travelling, and handling some of your basic work tasks, including e-mail. Less than two weeks later, Google releases a major update to the Android OS that adds some compelling new features, improves the UI for accessing settings, and patches a major security hole. The upgrade improves usability and security, while making tablets more fun to use. There’s only one problem: you can’t install it. Google announced the new version, but your device’s manufacturer has not yet rolled out the update. Weeks pass and you still don’t have the new OS. Finally, after several months, your tablet gets an over-the-air update with the new version of Android—a week after Google has shipped an even newer Android update! The cycle of waiting begins again.

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Upgrades Take Too Long Tablet owners look forward to each new OS release so that they can take advantage of new functionality, productivity enhancements, and improved security features. Unfortunately for most users, they won’t get those new features for months, if ever. That’s because most device makers aren’t able to quickly update, test, and ship a customized update for their tablet. You can easily see how significant that delay is by examining the devices accessing the Google Play™ store. In April 2015, only 5.4 percent of those devices were running Android 5.x (Lollipop), even though the OS shipped five months earlier. 40.7 percent of devices were still running Android 4.1–4.3 (Jelly Bean), an OS two full versions older than the current OS (Figure 1).1

Android™ devices by operating system, accessing the Google Play™ store on April 6, 2015 45.00% 40.00% 35.00% 30.00% 25.00% 20.00% 15.00% 10.00% 5.00% 0.00%

Lollipop

(Released 11/2014)

Kit Kat

(Released 10/2013)

Jelly Bean

(Released 6/2012)

Figure 1. Percentage of tablets and smart phones, by operating system, accessing the Google Play™ store on April 6, 20151

When It Comes to Android Updates, Don’t Get Left Behind Fortunately, there is a simple way to always stay up to date. If you purchase a tablet built on IRDA, you always receive the latest Android OS within weeks of release, for a period of two years after purchase. That means you’re never left struggling with old software bugs, outdated features, or incompatibility issues as apps are updated for the newer OS. Take another look at Figure 1; all those Kit Kat and Jelly Bean users were left with rapidly aging devices for months after Lollipop users benefited from a significantly overhauled OS. Users with IRDA-based tablets would have been able to upgrade quickly and enjoy the simpler, cleaner UI, in addition to numerous other improvements for increased efficiency, productivity, and security. For example, the Lollipop Android OS includes significant improvements to the UI that allow for a more productive, interactive experience for notifications and app switching.

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Owners of Intel® Reference Design for Android™ (IRDA) Tablets Received the Following Features within Weeks of Google Releasing an Update Material Design

Clear, simple, and responsive UI design gives users a consistent, intuitive experience across all devices running Android Lollipop OS

Overview

Provides a scrollable view of open screens for easier switching between apps

Notifications on Lock Screen

Users can interact with notifications directly on the lock screen, without needing to log on

Private Notifications

Keeps private information off the lock screen

Mute Notifications

Workers can stay more focused by temporarily hiding less important notifications that might be distracting

Priority Mode

Do-not-disturb mode prevents all but critical notifications from appearing

Guest Mode

Creates a clean, safe, and disposable workspace for a guest user, while keeping confidential files beyond their reach

Pin Apps Mode

Pins a screen to limit access to only the open app, so that all other apps and files are protected

Hand Off Apps

Makes it a breeze to hand off apps, songs, photos, and searches from one Android device to another

Table 1. New features in the Android™ Lollipop OS that quickly became available for Intel® reference design for Android (IRDA) tablet users

Not All Android Tablets Are Created Equal The following fictional real-world case studies illustrate just how different the user experience is for owners of non-IRDA tablets compared to the users of IRDA-based tablet.

USE CASE 1: KARLA WITH A SAMSUNG® GALAXY TAB® 4 7.0 NON-IRDA TABLET In the first example, Karla purchased a Samsung tablet running Android 4.4 (Kit Kat). After enjoying her tablet for several weeks, Karla read online that Google had released a new version of Android to manufacturers. If she had bought a new tablet that week, it would have come pre-installed with the newer OS. Unfortunately, her tablet is running an earlier version of Android, so she needs to wait for Samsung to roll out an update. Karla is anxious to get the updated version of Android because she read about several critical security flaws that put her tablet (and therefore, her personal information) at risk. She is also excited to try the newer UI, which has a cleaner, simpler design. As the weeks pass, she grows increasingly frustrated waiting for an update. She is stuck with the aging experience of the Kit Kat OS and coping with a growing number of appcompatibility issues, and she is increasingly worried about published security threats for the outdated OS. In addition, when Karla is at home, her six-year-old daughter loves to play with her tablet. Karla has installed several games for her daughter to play with and is happy to share the tablet. Unfortunately, on several occasions, the girl has accidentally opened other apps and unintentionally deleted or altered some critical files. Karla doesn’t have a convenient way to limit her daughter’s access to games in order to protect other apps and files. After several months have passed, Karla is still stuck with an aging Android OS. She’s envious of her friends and colleagues who purchased tablets built on IRDA, because they have been enjoying the fun, new UI and features for weeks already. Figure 2. The upgrade from Kit Kat to Lollipop offers many UI enhancements, including Overview, which presents open screens as cards that you can scroll through for easier access

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USE CASE 2: PAULO WITH A LENOVO® TAB 2 A7-30 NON-IRDA TABLET Paulo received a Lenovo tablet from his employer. It came pre-installed with the Kit Kat Android OS, even though Google had released Lollipop two weeks earlier. Paulo knew that other tablets were shipping with the newer OS. He assumed that the device maker would roll out an update soon, and he was looking forward to using many of the new productivity features. Unfortunately, many months have passed and he still doesn’t have an update. He is growing increasingly frustrated by several annoyances and problems. For example, he is routinely getting disturbed by notifications for unimportant personal items during work meetings. But if he turns off notifications completely, he might miss critical information.

USE CASE 3: BRIAN WITH A TREKSTOR® SURFTAB® XINTRON I 7.0 IRDA TABLET Brian bought a new tablet running the Android Kit Kat OS, but he had a very different experience than Karla or Paulo. His TrekStor tablet was built using IRDA. About two weeks after purchasing his tablet, he received an update to the Lollipop OS—before he even realized that Google had released it. By using an IRDA tablet, Brian was able to benefit from the greater performance and the updated features in Android Lollipop almost immediately. He’s thrilled that all the annoying bugs he was dealing with are gone, and he’s relieved that the security issues he read about online have been addressed with the latest update. Brian is enjoying all the new notification controls that allow him to turn off unimportant messages while at work. He also likes being able to view critical notifications right from the lock screen, so he can just glance at his tablet without even picking it up or logging on. When he sets his notifications to “do not disturb” mode, he can specify a time limit, so that he doesn’t have to worry about forgetting to turn off that setting. Thanks to the power-management improvements in Lollipop, Brian can easily work through the day without recharging his tablet. He now gets nearly 90 minutes of additional life on a charge compared to with the previous OS. At home, Brian occasionally shares his tablet with his family. His employer has strict rules on confidentiality, so Brian configures his tablet to use Guest Mode before handing off the tablet to his wife and kids. Guest Mode provides his family members with a clean workspace that hides and blocks access to his work apps and files. Occasionally, his four-year-old son clamors to play his favorite game on the tablet, so Brian just opens the game and uses the Pin App feature to lock the app. That gives him a quick, convenient way to limit his son’s access to anything other than the game. Time to receive an OS update from Android* Kit Kat to Android Lollipop Brian (TrekStor® SurfTab® xintron i 7.0)

Paulo (Lenovo® TAB 2 A7-30)

Karla (Samsung® Galaxy Tab® 4 7.0)

Less than 2 weeks2

8 Months3

Still unavailable after 9 months4

Table 2: Users of Intel® reference design for Android™ (IRDA) tablets enjoy new features and updates weeks or months faster than users of tablets built without IRDA5

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Get Android Updates in Weeks, Not Months

Tablets running the Android OS are popular for good reason: they offer great features for productivity and entertainment. However, if your tablet ages prematurely because you can’t get timely updates, you lose a lot of that value in exchange for frustration, loss of functionality, and the disappointment of not having the latest UI and features. Fortunately, there’s an easy way to avoid that disappointment; when you purchase a tablet built on IRDA, you always have the latest and greatest features at your fingertips.

With the upgrade to Lollipop on an IRDA tablet, users experience: • Notification controls • More intuitive UI • Stronger security to control guest access

• Bug fixes • Security updates

1

ZDNet. “KitKat and Lollipop Running Almost Half of All Android Devices.” April 2015. http://www.zdnet.com/article/kitkat-and-lollipop-running-almost-half-of-all-android-devices/.

2

Notebookbilliger.de. “TrekStor Spendiert Dem Günstigen SurfTab Xintron i 7.0 ein Android-5.0-Update.” November 2014. https://blog.notebooksbilliger.de/trekstor-spendiert-demguenstigen-surftab-xintron-i-7-0-ein-android-5-0-update/.

3

Lenovo. “Android Upgrade Matrix.” August 2015. https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/ht101396.

4

YouMobile. “Official Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 and Galaxy Tab 8.0 Lollipop 5.1.1 Updates to Start in July.” June 2015. http://www.youmobile.org/blogs/entry/Official-SamsungGalaxy-Tab-4-7-0-and-Galaxy-Tab-4-8-0-Lollipop-5-0-2-Updates-to-Start-in-July.

5

Exact time to update can vary.

The analysis in this document was done by Prowess Consulting and commissioned by Intel. Results have been simulated and are provided for informational purposes only. Any difference in system hardware or software design or configuration may affect actual performance. Prowess, the Prowess logo, and SmartDeploy are trademarks of Prowess Consulting, LLC. Copyright © 2015 Prowess Consulting, LLC. All rights reserved. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.