upgrade - 11/11 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

May

Leaked Sprint HTC Hero Android 2.1 Update Surfaces, Sprint Reportedly Confirms It's Real But Not Yet Released Officially

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Hero (Sprint, HeroC), HTC, News, Sprint

Wow, did this day finally come? After months and months of waiting, and after seeing Samsung Moment get its update today, we have gotten word from AndroidCentral that there is a leak of the official Android 2.1 update for the Sprint HTC Hero available to download.

Judging from initial reports, this is the real deal.

allanon80 from AndroidCentral even posted this:

Ok guys just got off the phone with Sprint. THis is the official release they have just not put it up on Sprint yet. Sprint got the release just at about the same time as the leak. The Advance Tech support actually sent me to this site for the release since it is not at Sprint yet.

May

Samsung Moment Android 2.1 Update Now Really Officially Released By Sprint, Too Big For OTA (Over-the-air)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Moment, News, Samsung, Sprint

Yesterday we reported on the Samsung Moment 2.1 update arriving early due to a Sprint's goof - the update page showed no sign of the update but the file you would download was that one and only long awaited Android 2.1.

We later saw reports that the update was pulled, though could not find any evidence of that, as the .exe file seemed to remain at 100MB+, which was the same as the 2.1 file.

Well, now it doesn't matter as today, Sprint officially released the update and updated the Samsung Moment software page with this information:

Software update for the Samsung Moment

Enhance the features and capabilities of your Samsung Moment with this software update, including 2.1 Android update.

May

"And One More Thing…" For HTC Hero Owners. Alright, A Few Things - Some Hands-On Notes On Android 2.1 On The Hero

HTC Hero Owners - Here Are A Few Subtle But Awesome Changes Android 2.1 Brings To Your Phone

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, Hero (Sprint, HeroC), HTC, Sprint

Last Updated: May 14th, 2010

As you may have seen, I've been running Android 2.1 on my Sprint HTC Hero for a few weeks now, and I'd like to follow up the mega [p]review of all the new features with a few subtle observations that made me, a long-time Hero user, happy.

These may be small things but it takes only a few of them to take the overall phone experience to a new level.

By the way, if you want to experience Android 2.1 on your Hero without waiting for Sprint/HTC to release it, you can proceed to this how-to that I compiled just for you: To All Complaining About Android 2.1 On HTC Hero – Step 1: Chill Out.

May

HTC Droid Eris Should Be Getting The Android 2.1 OTA Update Today

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Eris, HTC, Verizon Wireless

It's finally here - today should be the day when Verizon starts rolling out the Android 2.1 OTA (over-the-air) update that we reported on a few days ago.

The update page on Verizon's site, which provides benefits of the new 2.1 OS as well as the update instructions, still mentions "Coming Soon!" as the release date.

That last part, however, apparently means today, May 11th, according to a MobileCrunch tipster who sent in this internal memo screen:

We know it says "tentatively scheduled" and Verizon doesn't exactly have the best track record with releasing 2.1 when it says it is, but we have a hunch that it will actually begin on time this time around.

May

To All Complaining About Android 2.1 On HTC Hero - Step 1: Chill Out. Step 2: Do Something About It And Install 2.1 Yourself - Full Tutorials Inside

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, Hero (Sprint, HeroC), HTC, News, Sprint

Maybe

Many of you are complaining about Android 2.1, even though Sprint is well within the promised June timeline.

I understand - it's frustrating to see phone by phone get upgraded with your Hero sitting on the sidelines, ever since its release last October.

I know how you feel but the truth is, we don't know whose fault it is.

Maybe it's Sprint's evil plan for everyone to buy more EVO 4Gs.

Maybe it's HTC's evil plan for everyone to buy more EVO 4Gs.

Maybe it's HTC's development/testing problems that have left Sprint powerless in this situation.

Maybe. We just don't know.

May

Motorola Milestone UK Android 2.1 update

Motorola Milestone Android 2.1 Update Finally Rolls Out In The UK, Brings 9 (!) Home Screens

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Milestone, Motorola, News

Last Updated: May 7th, 2010

About 40 minutes ago, Motorola posted a message to its Motorola Europe Facebook group announcing the launch of the Android 2.1 update in the UK for the Motorola Milestone (known as the Droid to the US users).

The ~~update is not OTA~~ is now available both OTA (over the air) and by executing a .exe file which seems to require a Windows computer and a MicroUSB Data cable (non-Windows users are out of luck?). Here is all you need to know:

The page with instructions
Android 2.1 software update file (.exe - download this to your PC)
The "What's New in Android 2.1 " PDF

The update brings, among other things:

Animated (live) Wallpapers - this additional wallpaper option enables you to select from a number of wallpapers that can move on your home screen<s>.

May

[Updated] DamageControl (Android 2.1 on Sprint HTC Hero) 2.08 Is Released, Fixes Bugs, Brings New Features, Apps2SD, Promises MUCH More In The Next Version

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, Hero (Sprint, HeroC), HTC, News

damageless and TrevE, the developers behind the DamageControl ROM which brings Android 2.1 to Sprint HTC Hero CDMA, have been silently working on a new version of the ROM for the last few weeks.

DamageControl 2.08

Yesterday night, the world saw the newly updated ROM v2.08 finally go live with the following changelog:

Changelog v2.08:
New DConfig tweaker tool

Theme Server

New beefed up apps2sd. If any errors are encountered post /data/dcboot.log

Scheduler tweaks

Working Friendsync

Gallery3d fully working

Newer XDA keyboard

Fixed sprint NFL

Optimized Even more/Cleaned up directories

Connection tweaks

Fixed Facebook sync

Ring delay fixes

More dalvik tweaks

Potential audio fix & battery life fix

**First boot will take awhile if upgrading.

Apr

Exclusive: Google Android 2.5 Froyo ROM And Upcoming Features Leaked!

Posted by Android Police Team in News

In the land of Android, things are really happening today.

Verizon continued to roll out Android 2.1, not without some smart folks figuring out how to skip the whole OTA business and install it without waiting in line.

A few confirmed reports of HTC Hero successful upgrades to 2.1 have surfaced as well, even though the latest rumored rollout date was thought to be April 9th.

But that was not the biggest news of the day.

Thanks to an anonymous tipster who works for Google, we now have a leaked document with planned Android 2.5, codenamed Froyo, features as well as the alpha version of the Froyo ROM.

Mar

Don't Wait For Verizon To Update Your Droid To 2.1 - Do It Yourself And Do It Now

Posted by Android Police Team in Development, Droid (Sholes), Motorola, News, Tips & Tutorials, Verizon Wireless

Yesterday, Verizon released the Motorola Droid 2.1 update schedule which turned out to be so drawn out that by the end of it, we would have seen Android 5.0 (OK, not really but it could take 2-3 weeks).

Who wants to wait this long? It didn't take long for some smart folks over at AndroidForums to figure out where the update was located on Google's servers and provide instructions on how to accomplish it in a few easy steps. Here they are:

If you have rooted your phone, the 2.1 update will unroot you back.

Download https://android.clients.google.com/updates/voles/signed-voles-ESE81-from-ESD56.fa406da6.zip onto your computer.

Nov

Sprint And HTC Release The First HTC Hero Firmware Update 1.56: Fixes Major Bugs, Adds Small Tweaks

Posted by Android Police Team in Hero (Sprint, HeroC), HTC, News, Sprint

This post and all its comments were migrated from Artem's personal blog beerpla.net when Android Police launched. If you would like to visit the original post there, please click here.

Only 2 days after I posted the list of problems with my HTC Hero (The Not So Good, The Bad, And The Ugly: My List Of 20+ Problems With HTC Hero) Sprint and HTC released the first firmware update.

The Update

To update your Hero, go to Settings->About phone->System updates->Firmware update.

The update took about 10 minutes to install, weighed 3.7MB or so, and rebooted the phone twice - once to install and once to reboot after the installation, so make sure you don't need to make any important phone calls during that time.