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Galaxy Nexus owners petition for taste of KitKat

A Change.org petition is calling on Google to reverse its decision not to update the Galaxy Nexus to the latest flavor of Android.

Lance Whitney Contributing Writer
Lance Whitney is a freelance technology writer and trainer and a former IT professional. He's written for Time, CNET, PCMag, and several other publications. He's the author of two tech books--one on Windows and another on LinkedIn.
Lance Whitney
Google

Google has revealed that Samsung's Galaxy Nexus smartphone will not receive the Android 4.4 update. But one Nexus owner isn't taking that lying down.

An enterprising Galaxy Nexus owner named Max Duckwitz recently launched a Change.Org petition urging Google to reconsider its decision. Apparently, others feel the same way. The petition has garnered more than 14,000 supporters.

On Monday, Duckwitz said he printed and mailed all of the petition signatures and comments along with a brief letter and the text of the petition. The entire package is addressed to Google Senior Vice President and Android Chief Sundar Pichai.

Last week, Google said that it wouldn't flavor the 2-year-old Galaxy Nexus with Android 4.4 KitKat because the device falls outside the usual 18-month time frame for updates. However, sources "close to Google" told Engadget that the problem is due to the Texas Instruments chipset the Galaxy Nexus uses. TI no longer makes chips for mobile devices and so wouldn't be able to support upgrades for the phone.

Duckwitz could be fighting a losing battle. Unless another company can step in to develop a fully working upgrade, Google may not be able to reverse its decision.

In the meantime, Galaxy Nexus owners willing to try an unofficial update can download and install a ROM created by third-party developers. Further details are available on a Web site called GalaxyNexus.Root.com

(Via PhoneArena)

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