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Verizon is teasing Droid Incredible owners with Froyo

Stop teasing me Verizon! Give me Froyo or give me...ummm...an iPhone?
Written by Christopher Dawson, Contributor

Android 2.2 will unlock some incredibly (no pun intended) useful hardware/software features on the Droid Incredible. Since I happen to have one, I'm ready and willing to download it. The lowly first-generation Droid has it now. When will those of us with Incredibles get to enjoy improved battery life? 3G WiFi hotspot capabilities? Improved performance? Wireless N connections? Some folks are saying Friday. I'm not holding my breath. In fact, I think Verizon is just teasing us.

Check out this PDF that they posted on their new Droid Incredible Software Update site. It tells us all of the great things to expect from the upgrade that we haven't received yet. It doesn't mention the Incredible memory errors, but since the update provides improved mail and SMS applications (the two biggest offenders that appeared to be causing the memory issues), it's probably safe to assume that a fix is in there. It does, however, tell readers where they can find out how to perform the update:

For step-by-step instructions on how to perform the download, please visit verizonwireless.com/droidincrediblesupport.

Go ahead...click on it. What do the instructions say? Not "Go to the settings menu on your phone, choose 'About phone', and check for system updates. Nosirree Bob. It tells you

You will be notified that a system update is available on your device. Press "Install now" and your device will power off and back on and the installation process will begin.

I needed an entire website and two PDF documents to tell me to wait for the update to push down? Seriously?

While this certainly suggests that an update is on its way soon, it feels a bit deceptive to me. As PCWorld pointed out,

I wouldn't put Friday on your calendar just yet, though: Remember, the date is not confirmed, and we've seen plenty of false alarms from blog-published rumors before. With the Droid Incredible alone, previous reports have claimed the Froyo upgrade would begin by the "first part of August" and, more specifically, on August 18. Until Verizon announces anything, take the date with an optimistic grain of salt.

Why are carriers dragging their butts on this one? Very few phones are running the latest version of Android, despite the horrific battery life of most non-Froyo Android phones. What was that I was saying about fragmentation?

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