No Gingerbread snack for Desire owners, says HTC HTC today told Desire smartphone users they won't be getting a Gingerbread update after all because it didn't put enough memory in its handsets. Oops. The company made the announcement on its Facecrack page, claiming the handset lacks memory for both Gingerbread and the Sense UI. Solution: give users the choice to upgrade to …
Load something else on your phone if you want Gingerbread, I can't say I miss the Sense UI. Since i loaded Oxygen ROM and flashed the radio i get considerably more battery life, much improved responsiveness and a generally better functioning phone.
Yes its a somewhat hassle process but nothing the average user couldn't do easily. If you want Gingerbread and Sense, buy a more recent phone.
These companies need us to keep buying the handsets, it's their bread and butter, you can't tell me this was entirely an accident. No different to Apple shafting iPhone 3G owners still stuck on O/S 4.2.1 while everyone else moves on.
Drain the world of resource while flogging the latest shiny "must have" to the clamoring masses, myself included sometimes I might add.
If you were told at the time of purchase, or beforehand in any official ad or literature, that a Gingerbread update would happen then surely (IANAL!) a contract was formed that has just been broken.
If I had one of these phones (and now I will make sure to avoid HTC) then I would be requiring a free upgrade to a Gingerbread enabled model. I would not be afraid to sue for such!
If it's really an issue, then people can easily install Cyanogen mod. It's really just a case of buying Rom Manager Premium, and choosing to install. Not as clean as a real operator upgrade maybe, but I've used it on all my Android devices so far and the stable releases pretty much just work.
I think its time to try cyanogen mod 7 for the desire. android 2.3 and other goodies.
I liked sense at the start, but now I'm finding that other apps are slotting into where it fits (a few advertised/ reviewied here on the reg)
I'm now of the opinion that its overrated, at least the version I've got. Since I can't get the upgrade, time to leave!
...and am still wondering what took me so long.
Stuff looks much nicer, there's a ton of free memory, Google spyware is only there if you choose to install it separately, and (subjectively speaking) stuff is much faster, too. Took me about three hours to install CM7, restore my data and reinstall the most important apps.
If you're planning to upgrade too:
* I've found it much easier to install ClockworkMod via Unrevoked (google it) than following the instructions on how to build a gold card though. It goes like this: Download Unrevoked, wait till it has automatically rooted your HTC, copy CM7 .zip file to SD card, reboot into recovery, reset to factory settings, click Apply Update, reboot.
* Check out MyPhoneExplorer if you want to back-up your data. It does everything HTC Sync does, except suck. (Not associated with it, just a very happy customer).
* The Google apps (Market, Gmail, ...) will need to be installed via recovery mode as well. It's on the CM7 download page, just remember to scroll down a bit.
Also, screw you, HTC.
Overreact much?
This is a bitch though, because if there's one thing the Desire needs, with its crap battery life, it's Gingerbread. I guess now it comes down to which is more important: Sense UI or better battery life. I have the feeling my Desire users will go with battery life.
I would have been pissed off if they hadn't upgraded my 2.1 handset to 2.2 but they did. Getting 2.3 was always optimistic in my opinion. My next upgrade is planned for when 3.1 hits the phones and if I really can't put up with 2.2 until then, I'll finally get around to rooting the thing.
I don't like it when my gear becomes obsolete any more than anyone else does but that's the reality of tech. Especially when it's based on non-upgradeable hardware.
I've never had a phone that was still state-of-the-art more than a year after I bought it and I expecting Android to be some sort of magic bullet that fixed that situation just seems naive. Now if HTC released some tools to simplify the rooting process once they stopped providing updates, THAT would be a nice touch.
I'm sure most owners want the upgrade for vanity reasons but I'm more concerned about falling behind in the security stakes - and, as an Orange customer, that's already a very serious concern since they simply don't seem to issue any.
If I'm going to Samsung, it's because HTC and Orange are leaving their customers exposed.
I know this doesn't excuse HTC, but, there is always the considerably active XDA-Developers community. Gingerbread is available. Warranty is probably over now for most owner (barring new ones of course) and it is relatively simple to root. There is now no reason not to root. Warranty (on newer devices) withstading.
Xda-Developers being the divine being.
However HTC could issue a software update which roots and S-Off's the phone, but this will no doubt invoke a negative reaction from the press. - handing over to the developers community, abandoning the device. Although giving control to the community abandonment is better than straight off abandonment.
...this is all about the provision of an extra 192MB of RAM, the difference between the Desire's 576MB and the Sensation/Desire S/Desire HD with 768MB.
Personally I can live with my Desire for a while longer, because I will be waiting to upgrade until I see something with Android 3.1 (Ice Cream) since to buy any phone with a 2.x version is buying into obsolescence.
It would be nice to get an upgrade to my existing hardware, but I'm realistic enough to realise that the rate of development of Android has been so rapid, both in hardware and software terms, that to expect a platform to stretch more than one release ahead is asking a lot.
A bit pedantic, but 3.1 isn't Ice Cream it is Honeycomb. I suspect (although I'm not an insider) that Ice Cream will be at least 3.5, more likely 4.0. Anyway it's due by the end of the year so not long to wait, and you can bet your bottom dollar CyanogenMod will have a version based on it shortly after.
I've had the htc desire hd for 2 months now and have rooted it and loaded leedroid and tried several other mods and i have to say it's awesome, except for the fact that I can't access the internet through a secured proxy and this bug has been oustanding for over 2 years. Are the advantages of gingerbread over froyo significant? has gingerbread been tried? If there isn't enough memory in the phone can we ship it back for an update? are they going to fix the afformentioned proxy bug because if not i'm soon switching.
questions questions questions and they will need to be answered.
Basic cynical built-in obsolesence by htc, or just a simple shift of development priorities to focus on their current crop of handsets? Surely most users bothered enough to follow HTC on Facebook, and to be that concerned about Android 2.3 could probably cope with the hardly arduous process of installing a custom rom on their Desire? Gingerbread builds from Cyanogenmod and the rest have been available for months and run just fine on a Desire.
I'm using a Motorola Milestone with 256 MB of ram. After Motorola completely screwed up the update to 2.2 and then wrote it off as a supported product, I went to xda-developers who had Gingerbread (2.3) running nice and smoothly on the Milestone. that's with 256MB of RAM.
how much of a pig is this Sense thing?
Back in the Froyo days, a cow orker got fed up with his HTC Desire and replaced the ROM with a generic non-Sense one. He got 30% more battery life, and more free space due to not having any shovelware on it.
Cyanogen has a Gingerbread mod that supports the HTC Desire. See here: http://www.cyanogenmod.com/devices/htc-desire-gsm
Given that the original HTC Desire came out in around Feb 2010, and given that contracts are often 18 months long, that would suggest many of the most keen desire owners are likely to be upgrading their phones in the next couple of months. Surely HTC are ill-advised to upset their early adopters just before they are due to upgrade?
This is always the problem with HTC/Motorola/Samsung and their like, there is no incentive for them to offer any upgrade whatsoever with the android business model as it is. Of course it won't stop the techies from rooting/rom'ing etc but 99% of people won't do that, and HTC has screwed those people over.
Say what you like about Apple, but 3GS owners will have a 3 year support life with IOS5 being supported, that's value for money! These commodity phone vendors (lets face it thats all they are) could learn a thing or two.
A friend of mine has a custom ROM on his, it's been stable for a month or so. I've put off flashing mine because I've been content with 2.2.
With this news however, looks like I'll be flashing mine this weekend. Well done HTC. Because of your laziness Rovio will get zero revenue from me as I remove the Ad bollox.
PS. I'll be moving to Samsung once my contract is up. Love and hugs.
been saying this all along the desire doesnt have enough memory. im always geting message not enough memory. truely this is a absolute joke and a total screw up from HTC in the first place for only fitting 512 internal memory.
So now im stuck with was supposed to be a good phone, that wont be getting an update and as soon as you install more than 5 apps runs out of steam.
HTC should give all desire owners a free upgrade to desire S for this total and utter farce and balls up as a way of apology.
simple solution, upgrade to 3.23 and drop sense UI and let us have the vanilla Gingerbread.
truely pissed off with HTC over this, got this phone on contract 4 months ago in good faith thinking i was getting a quality phone that was promised the gingerbread update.
In my view this should qualify the phone as not fit for purpose and i will be complaining to consumer rights on this as a product not fit for purpose can be returned anytime within a year or more.
the official guide states
That’s a legitimate claim as long as you are using the item for the purpose for which it was intended. This is the principle of fitness for purpose. There is no point claiming that paint thinner has had adverse effects if it is not being used as paint thinner! Similarly, if you are commissioning the manufacture of a product and do not specify the purposes for which it will be used you will have no recourse if it fails to live up to your expectations.
Fact of the matter is the HTC desire is NOT fit for purpose as you are unable to run apps due to insufficient internal memory.
i will be putting this to both HTC and Virgin media who supplied the phone and if i have joy then taking it further.
The whole point of an android phone is to work as it should not just to make calls but for calendar appointments, emails, texts etc. as the memory usage in this phone on several occasions has stopped incoming mail due to insufficeint memory then the phone fails in what could be classed as normal usage.
HTC lets see your response on this.
Um. Don't quite know how to break this to you, Mr Anonymous, but I rather suspect you won't be seeing a response from HTC on this random comment post on a fairly obscure article in a relatively far-flung corner of the intarwebs. If you really, truly want a reply, you could try contacting them directly.
Let us know how you get on. I'm sure we're all rooting for you.
For myself, I've been enjoying my original Desire for simply ages; okay, there are newer models and funkier versions, but it's still a joy to use. Those actual physical buttons are a delight, too. At some point in the future I may have a go at rooting the old chap, but no hurry...
Users who care that much will probably root - I'm being pushed to it not by this but by the veritable tsunami of crap that comes with Sense. Shame - I quite like Sense as a UI.
It is the only major design fault of the Desire, and probably the main reason I'll look to upgrade soon. Shame - I really like this phone, even after over a year.
So how come the good folks at XDA have had Gingerbread + Sense running amicably together for quite some time now?
I think it's more to do with the shiny shiny new stuff HTC wants to sell, with Desire S replacing the original, HTC is dropping support for the recently discontinued model.
It must be stressed these devices are not simply phones anymore. So "it still does what it did when you got it from the store" argument is weak.
I got the Desire because it wasn't the iPhone, so I don't really give a crap about upgrading every six months to get the new 'ooh shiny'. It does a perfectly adequate job with Android 2.2 on it. When the time comes to upgrade to renew the contract in 14 months time, I'll get a new phone, with whatever's around then.
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