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Topic: IT Employment

Verizon is teasing Droid Incredible owners with Froyo

Summary: Stop teasing me Verizon! Give me Froyo or give me...ummm...an iPhone?

Christopher Dawson

By for Googling Google |

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?

Topics: IT Employment, CXO, Verizon

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16 comments
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  • Fair Dink...

    Mobile devices are now becoming so technical, they are fast getting out of the average Joe or Jane's understanding. Sounds like the average person may have to spend a week learning how to drive them when all they want to do is phone someone or send a text message.<br><br>I find it quite annoying when something should be (and once was) a simple thing to do but now it has been made very difficult by smaller keys, too busy a keyboard and frustration trying to get a key to do an action but because it has been programmed to do 3 things, finding, holding and activating the one you want becomes a game of chance!
    Minbani
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Verizon is teasing Droid Incredible owners with Froyo

      @Minbani <br>Not all mobile devices are that technical. You can still purchase phones that do nothing more than text and make phone calls. It all boils down to everyone trying to keep up with the Jones's. You as the customer have a choice on the phone that you purchase from your carrier. All carriers have a broad spectrum of phones to choose from. On your other point, if the button did not do the 3 things that you mentioned you would gripe that it doesn't have the capability that you want. Just buy a JUNEBUG and you will be happy. :)
      mcfant
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Verizon is teasing Droid Incredible owners with Froyo

      @Minbani
      Add:
      "You kids get off my lawn"
      "kids today are so lazy..."
      "back in my day, we..."
      and you would have the makings of a proper geezer rant!
      Lots of phones with the basic feature set are available. Smart phones get smarter, and better and consequently more complex! That is, I claim, a good thing!
      MrXcellent
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Verizon is teasing Droid Incredible owners with Froyo

      @Minbani
      I'm pretty sure I saw an ad on TV for you then. There is this phone with really big buttons and a simple LCD that displays the number you are dialing.
      You should recognize the ad by all the people your age that are coughing up their teeth to tell you how "Simple" it is.
      "Keep it Simple" is just an excuse for people unwilling to learn anything new because to them what came before will always be better despite mountains of evidence.
      kwabinalars
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Verizon is teasing Droid Incredible owners with Froyo

    Verizon or other phone carriers shouldn't be given the option to upgrade software, Google should do that to avoid such delays.
    bluemountainco@...
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Verizon is teasing Droid Incredible owners with Froyo

      @bluemountainco@... Isn't the problem with the upgrades the software that the manufacturers install on top of Android? I thought that was what was delaying all these updates and the reason Google couldn't just offer the updates as a download.
      non-biased
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Verizon is teasing Droid Incredible owners with Froyo

    I find it interesting that the sales page has the D Inc updated with 2.2 but they are still fritzing and futzing around rolling the update out to current D Inc users. Nice phone though. I'd go back to VZW for either that or the DX but I can't make up my mind which one I like bettr so I'm just going to stick with my clunky old T-Mo dash until my contract ends, then we'll see.

    BTW, did it ever go SLCD or is it still AMOLED? And if so, which screen is better (touch response, sensitivity, scratch resistance, color fidelity, etc)?
    podstolom
    Reply Vote

  • Why are they waiting?

    Umm... maybe they want to TEST it first? Or perhaps their customer service department is still getting people over the Droid 1 Froyo update if they had problems? As someone who recently got Froyo on their Droid 1, I promise you, there will be a number of things you will be disappointed in. The Exchange situation is barely better... some bugs were fixed and it now handles the calendar, but at the same time, deleting an item on the phone still puts it as "unread" in the Exchange deleted items bin. If you have a contact synced from Facebook, you still need to make a secondary version of the contact with an identical name to add or edit information and let the phone merge the two. The new menu button looks like it should bring up a dialpad, and I hit it all the time thinking that it will let me dial a number. The phone *still* does not consistently lock. And so on and so on...

    Android is STILL very, very buggy and STILL feels like beta software to me.

    J.Ja
    Justin James
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Verizon is teasing Droid Incredible owners with Froyo

      @Justin James
      You are insane. I don't know how you can spread FUD like that.
      Droid101
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Verizon is teasing Droid Incredible owners with Froyo

        @Droid101

        It's not FUD, it's my personal experiences. If you don't like it, please feel free to come over and fix my phone for me and make it work right.

        J.Ja
        Justin James
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Verizon is teasing Droid Incredible owners with Froyo

        @Droid101 God forbid somebody is out there spreading FUD (if it actually is) about your beloved Android like you do about everything Apple.
        non-biased
        Reply Vote

    • RE: Verizon is teasing Droid Incredible owners with Froyo

      Android am I. Buggy I am. iOS 4.2 I am not. I wish my mommy Apple and my daddy Verizon would get married so I could retreat back into hibernation.
      markomd
      Reply Vote

  • What do you mean "lowly first-generation Droid"?

    There is nothing "lowly" about the first generation Droid phone. I'm glad us "low-lifes" got it before you. :P
    Speednet
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Verizon is teasing Droid Incredible owners with Froyo

    DroidX froyo please. k thx bye.
    howardgr
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Verizon is teasing Droid Incredible owners with Froyo

    iphone4. where is the iphone4? i need an iphone4. if it's not an iphone why would I want it?
    Olderdan
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Verizon is teasing Droid Incredible owners with Froyo

    i got froyo on the droid incredible this morning... OTA..
    fc.acforever
    Reply Vote
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