Here's a chart showing a number of models and how out of date the software versions are on them. There doesn't seem to be much that can be done about the update problem since it's per vendor, but you may want to be very careful about what you do on your phone if you are using an out of date OS.

Like Windows of old, out of date OS installs are open to security problems. In other words you may want to rethink doing your banking on them among other things. heh.

the understatement: Android Orphans: Visualizing a Sad History of Support

If you want to hear the author of the post talk about how he developed the chart, he was interviewed by Patrick Gray of Risky Business and you can listen to the podcast here.

Posted by: Teresa in WebTech at 10:44 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
Post contains 141 words, total size 1 kb.

1 I have an Android-based phone, but I'd never, ever dream of conducting my financial affairs on it. Lord have mercy, people do that?! I check my email, play Backgammon, and take the occasional cell phone pic with my phone. Oh, and then there's my Yoda and "All in the Family" apps that come in very handy in certain situations...but banking? Yikes. I'd never, ever do that.

Posted by: Erica at November 09, 2011 11:37 PM (PY2l4)

2 E - lots of people do lots of things on smartphones that are rather scary.  It's amazing, but they don't seem to realize that it's a phone and easily lost much less not secure.

Posted by: Teresa at November 10, 2011 09:15 AM (jxg4K)

3 I'm with Erica.  I check the weather (hurricanes), check sales at Jo-Ann's fabrics (quilting), use the calculator (math tutoring), play scrabble with a gf and if I'm really bored waiting for my kids at school and forgot my book, I play some stupid game called clouds and sheep.  I'd absolutely NEVER conduct my financial business on the phone, or anything else of that nature.  

Posted by: Bou at November 11, 2011 08:16 AM (DkNsp)

4 Bou - you and E are among the minority. 

Posted by: Teresa at November 11, 2011 06:26 PM (jxg4K)

5 Kind of off topic, but if you have your "Go Home" address programmed into your GPS, and it is lost or stolen, they know where you live. Two sides to this...maybe a decent person would return it, maybe a bad guy...well, you know what I  mean.

Posted by: Yabu at November 13, 2011 07:02 AM (7fYoi)

6 Yabu - depends on how they got hold of the GPS.  If they broke into the car to get it, your home address is already on your registration written down. If you're carrying it with you, they might also have access to other stuff in the carrier (purse, briefcase) that would give them the same info. 

If it's a phone and they stole it and it's not locked with "erase data" set, they have access to the entire contact list.  Etc, etc.

So, it's not something to forget, but it's one of those things that, in most cases, isn't as big a deal.  If one really has to worry about that kind of thing - there is tons of other data that need protecting too.

Posted by: Teresa at November 13, 2011 12:29 PM (jxg4K)

7 Teresa, I was thinking just of my Garmin. That's why I use the local police station down the street as my "Go Home" address. It's close enough that the mileage and directions don't change.

Posted by: Yabu at November 14, 2011 11:58 AM (7fYoi)

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