HTC axes Gingerbread for Desire due to memory issues

HTC will not be able to upgrade its Desire handset to accommodate the Android 2.3 'Gingerbread' operating system update, it said on Tuesday.

In a Facebook post, the HTC UK team wrote that the company's 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", but had failed.

"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," the team wrote. "We're sincerely sorry for the disappointment that this news may bring to some of you."

Responses to the post were quick and vitriolic, with comments including: "should have gone for that iPhone after all"; "so much for consistent upgradability"; "it's seriously reduced the chances of me getting another HTC... well, that and the randomly self-deleting text messages"; and "I've had 2.3 for a while... Cyanogenmod!"

UPDATE (Wednesday): HTC has now reversed its stance, saying in a subsequent Facebook post that it will indeed bring Gingerbread to the Desire!