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Don't you just love when your device gets a new version of CM? It's like getting an update from the Android gods, because who knows when the manufacturer/carrier is going to send one out.
After initially deciding it wouldn't update Galaxy S phones to Ice Cream Sandwich last week, Samsung has now (supposedly) given some semi-official lip-service to vocal Galaxy S and OG-Tab owners who have been clamoring for an official update to Ice Cream Sandwich. The English-speaking side of Samsung's media arm hasn't commented on the alleged statement as of yet.
Verizon Samsung Fascinate has finally joined the official ranks of the ever-growing CyanogenMod custom ROM empire, following its brothers Captivate, Vibrant, Nexus S 4G, the original Galaxy S, and Nexus S.
Netflix this evening appears to have quietly unleashed the Android app on 16 more previously unsupported devices, all without updating the application at all.
P3Droid of MyDroidWorld has scored an early (debug) Gingerbread build for the Samsung Fascinate, and it's apparently quite polished. So far P3 and Justin (of AndIRC) are the only two to have laid hands on the build, but the issues they have found are that Tetris force closes, Google Maps isn't pre-installed, and some market apps don't show. Otherwise, they say it's a very solid build. P3 has provided a quick (37 second) video preview:
Owners of the Samsung Fascinate on Verizon should be getting prompted to install an OTA update pretty soon - but it's just a maintenance update with a couple of bug fixes. When I say a couple, I mean it in the most literal of ways - it fixes two things. The two things in question? It improves the delivery of over-the-air updates and incoming call connectivity. That's it. I do find it ironic that they're sending out an OTA update to improve OTA updates, though.
Galaxy S owners, you may have a reason for some early celebration. CyanogenMod 7 for the GS variants, which has been around in relatively unsupported early alpha stages for the last couple of months, has just gone quite a bit more formal with the introduction of the new "captivatemtd" device branch.
Update: It looks like we jumped the gun on this one. The Inspire 4G will not be offered for free, it will be the Samsung Captivate.
What an incredible day for Samsung Fascinate users on Verizon Wireless - earlier this morning, we reported that the coveted Froyo update was finally set to arrive tomorrow, April 21st. Looks like someone at Verizon pulled the trigger a little earlier, as we are seeing multiple reports of the update rolling out as we speak write.
All that time Fascinate owners spent waiting for Froyo has not been in vain - your day is finally coming. Officially announced by VZW via Twitter, all the frozen goodness that you can handle should start rolling your way first thing tomorrow. Assuming that it's handled the same way that past VZW updates have been, this update should drop in stages, so be sure to leave us a comment when you get yours.
We all know about the update woes that owners of Samsung handsets have faced over the past several months - owners of the VZW Fascinate are still waiting on their update to Froyo. It looks that wait may be coming to an end as the source code has finally shown up on Samsung's Open Source Release Center. Even if the official OTA doesn't hit phones soon, you can rest assured that XDA devs will be hard at work hacking and compiling this source, so you'll be able to enjoy all of the Froyo goodness that you can handle soon enough.
We have some somewhat good news for Fascinate owners: a new, official, very final-looking Froyo build DL30 for the Samsung Fascinate has been leaked, and it's been released completely unmolested (short of pre-rooting it). Even the bloatware has been left intact.
Whether you believe the rumors about Samsung's Android upgrade plans or not doesn't really matter - the company has proven again and again that when it comes to older devices (read: released more than 3-4 months), your chances of an update drop dramatically. Froyo has been around for over 6 months now, but 3 out of 4 flagship Galaxy S devices in the U.S. (Captivate, Fascinate, Epic 4G) are still sporting outdated and Flashless Eclair builds, while the rest were only just upgraded in the last month or so. And this is just Froyo - let's not even talk about Gingerbread.
Based on the press release and official video, Verizon's new VZ Navigator VX is awesome. Really awesome. Potentially better than Google Maps 5/Google Navigation - and yes, I can hardly believe I'm saying that either, since the new GMaps combo provides a hell of a punch. But check out the short (just over two minutes) promo video, and you'll see what I mean:
A few weeks ago, Samsung USA tweeted that Froyo updates for the Galaxy S phones are being delayed due to further testing. Then, just 4 days ago, AndroidSPIN reported that the Vibrant update (if not others) wasn't rolling out so that the Vibrant wouldn't steal the Vibrant 4G+'s thunder. And now the saga continues, as a new anonymous source has stepped forth to clarify the issue.
If you've been waiting for Android 2.2 "Froyo" to officially hit your Samsung Galaxy S device, be it Fascinate, Vibrant, Epic 4G, or Captivate, prepare to be disappointed, as Samsung is still stuck doing complicated testing required for the upgrade to go live. Countless over-promises and delays have upset many Galaxy S owners over the last months, but after releasing and pulling back Froyo upgrades in Canada, Samsung wants to really do things the right way this time. Back to the waiting room we go.
Take a look around Google and you can see that people are seriously peeved by the lack of notification LED in the Samsung Galaxy S line of devices (excluding the Epic 4G). Developer and i9000 owner Michael R. - better known as neldar on the XDA forums - was annoyed enough by the glaring omission that he decided to come up with a solution. The result: BLN (BackLight Notification).
