saw this yesterday: ~1% of Android phones run the latest Google OS versus about 70% of iPhones. It's becoming a big issue for app developers because of the wide variety of Android OS versions in the wild.
http://www.informationweek.com/mobile/mobile-business/ios-7-adoption-rate-wallops-android-44-kitkat/d/d-id/1112910
The crux of the issue:
That's one of the reasons that Verizon initially rejected Apple when they were working on the first iPhone - Apple wanted control over software updates and not have to go through the carrier. That's also one reason I like having a Nexus device - updates direct from Google.
First generation Nexus 7 for 159
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230573&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL120613&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL120613-_-EMC-120613-Index-_-TestTabletPC-_-34230573-L0B
I have this model for anyone interested, and it is a solid tablet. I use mine daily, and after a year of solid use daily, the battery still provides me with 6+ hours of use as far as browsing the web and things like that. Playing games of course reduce that, but I don't do that often. As it's a Nexus device you'll be on the latest Android 4.4 kitkat, not the 4.1 version of jellybean as on the samsung. I'm not sure how often samsung will support making updates for the costco tablet linked, or if they even plan on updating it any more at all. I'm sure you could install a custom ROM like CyanogenMod to get newer versions if you'd like.
