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Topic: Android

No Android Gingerbread update for HTC Desire

Summary: HTC changed its mind on updating Eclair-running Desires to Gingerbread. Now Desire users may wish they could change their phones.

Gloria Sin

By Gloria Sin for The ToyBox |

Bad news for HTC Desire owners: HTC has just announced on its Facebook page that it won't be providing an Android Gingerbread update at all, citing insufficient memory for both the HTC Sense UI and Gingerbread on a device with 512 MB of ram.

This is the statement posted from HTC on Facebook:

Our engineering teams have been working hard for the past few months to find a way to bring Gingerbread to the HTC Desire without compromising the HTC Sense experience you’ve come to expect from our phones. However, we’re sorry to announce that we’ve been forced to accept there isn’t enough memory to allow us both to bring Gingerbread and keep the HTC Sense experience on the HTC Desire. We’re sincerely sorry for the disappointment that this news may bring to some of you.

With so many different Android handsets running various generations of the OS in the marketplace, the capability to update to the latest version is key to customers' decision on which smartphone and tablet to take home. Some Desire users probably chose theirs with the understanding that it "will be upgradeable to Android 2.2. (Froyo)," as reported in CNET's review last year. Plus, carriers like U.S. Cellular had already told Desire users to expect the Gingerbread update by April or May, according to Android Community.

Thanks to the active community of Android xda developers, there are already some unofficial updates that combine Gingerbread with HTC's interface available through the Android forum. Of course, these home-brew updates are not guaranteed to work and users would be installing them at their own risk. But for some Desire users, tinkering with their phones to prove the HTC engineers wrong could be the best therapy yet.

[Source: HTC Desire's Facebook page via SlashGear, Android Community]

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Topics: Android, Google, HTC

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28 comments
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  • RE: No Android Gingerbread update for HTC Desire

    I honestly think that this is a ploy to make you scrap your Desire and pick up a new HTC device.
    Bates_
    Reply Vote

    • RE: No Android Gingerbread update for HTC Desire

      What do you think is the best <a href="http://www.preciolandia.com/mx/android-0-srch1/deno1.html">Android cell phone</a> out there? Does it even compare with the <strong><a href="http://www.preciolandia.com/ar/ipad-y-tablets-ipad-1ze1/deno1.html">Ipad 2</a></strong>?
      <strong><a href="http://www.preciolandia.com/ve/">Oportunidad</a></strong>
      mkt54
      Reply Vote

  • Sorry

    Sorry guys but it sucks to be you! Another reason I left Android, I could not get Froyo! with iPhone 4 I will be able to pick up all the wonderful features on the first day!!!! no need to wait for ATT or Verizon to test it and test it and delay it etc
    Hasam1991
    Reply Vote

    • RE: No Android Gingerbread update for HTC Desire

      @Hasam1991 There are too many things wrong with what you just said. I wonder if you've got ios5 yet :p
      Sam1989
      Reply Vote

      • RE: No Android Gingerbread update for HTC Desire

        @Sam1989

        Can you point out his errors?
        msalzberg
        Reply Vote

      • RE: No Android Gingerbread update for HTC Desire

        @Sam1989 Like what? Anyone that has an iPhone 4 will be able to use all of the features of iOS 5. The Desire - which came out a few months after the iPhone 4 if memory serves me correctly cannot get the latest Android OS. iOS does NOT have to be tested by the carriers for deployment which is unique to iOS as Android and WP7 have to be "carrier approved".
        athynz
        Reply Vote

      • Errors like what?

        @Sam1989

        Errors like Apple has taken control from the carriers?

        Google has delivered the faithful sheep with promises of words like "open" and "free" when "free" simply means being a product and not a customer?

        With iOS 5 beta released, I am sure if he wanted to, he could find an image someplace. Personally, I will wait and download the second beta from Apple when released to start testing.
        Bruizer
        Reply Vote

      • RE: No Android Gingerbread update for HTC Desire

        @msalzberg and @Bruizer

        Examples would be the expectation that iOS5 and whatever updates come can be run on the iPhone4. Apple said the same thing when iOS4 came out about the 3g (with the exception of the hardware items that didn't exist). Apple was way wrong - they released it, but it made the 3g almost unusable. I had mine replaced by Apple (under warranty) which they had loaded with 3.1.3.
        tbuccelli
        Reply Vote

    • After paying the premium apple tax...

      @Hasam1991
      yea they better be worth it.
      cym104
      Reply Vote

      • Is Apple a government?

        @cym104

        What is this "Apple tax" you dream about? The cost of an iPhone on AT&T for 2 years is basically the same price as an Android phone?

        Is this "Apple tax" a delusion to help you sleep better at night knowing you are a product of Google?
        Bruizer
        Reply Vote

      • Are you nuts?

        @Bruizer
        A Desire costs around 2000 RMB while a iPhone4 costs around 6400 RMB
        cym104
        Reply Vote

  • RE: No Android Gingerbread update for HTC Desire

    2.2 is froyo. 2.3 is gingerbread. The unofficial updates use a hack where the memory card is partially used to store the firmware in combination with the system memory. Theres no way HTC can physically format and configure people memory cards so they cant fit gingerbread on the Desire.
    Sam1989
    Reply Vote

    • RE: No Android Gingerbread update for HTC Desire

      @Sam1989 how do you work that out! the firmware goes onto the ROM which might I point out on the desire is bigger than the wildfire S which has the gingerbread OS. That being the case why cant gingerbread fit?
      matt_harwood
      Reply Vote

      • RE: No Android Gingerbread update for HTC Desire

        @matt_harwood The issue isn't just gingerbread - it is gingerbread PLUS HTC Sense.
        tbuccelli
        Reply Vote

  • RE: No Android Gingerbread update for HTC Desire

    Whats all this fuss about? raw google power (Android 2.3.4) for HTC Desire at: http://www.cyanogenmod.com/devices/htc-desire-gsm

    Very Stable Rom. Android 2.3.4 = ios 5, Google ahead of the game. Period .
    saab74
    Reply Vote

  • RE: No Android Gingerbread update for HTC Desire

    If you don't mind tinkering the Desire a bit, there actually a lot of custom Gingerbread ROMs for you to choose:

    http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=628
    Samic
    Reply Vote

  • RE: No Android Gingerbread update for HTC Desire

    HTC are lying scum who are about to lose customers big time check out there facebook page people will vote with there feet, facts are out there wildfire s supports gingerbread but has less Rom and the same Ram so I think somebody is lying.
    you stink HTC
    matt_harwood
    Reply Vote

    • RE: No Android Gingerbread update for HTC Desire

      @matt_harwood This is not HTC's fault but Google's fault for allowing the carriers to dictate anything concerning the updates... And the carrier's fault for keeping with the same old "want to update the OS get a new device" paradigm.
      athynz
      Reply Vote

      • Like the iPhone 3G S not getting iOS 4... I mean iOS 5....

        @athynz

        Wait, never mind.
        Bruizer
        Reply Vote

      • RE: No Android Gingerbread update for HTC Desire

        @athynz how do you work that out HTC have stated the following " However, we?re sorry to announce that we?ve been forced to accept there isn?t enough memory to allow us both to bring Gingerbread and keep the HTC Sense experience on the HTC Desire " yet HTC can fit gingerbread onto an inferior lower spec phone with less ROM space and the same Ram Please explain how the carriers are at fault here HTC have been lying to customer for months, fact is they are trying to force people onto the desire S by making the Desire obsolete.
        matt_harwood
        Reply Vote
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