Sprint: Android 2.1 update for Hero, Moment coming in early Q2
By Donald Melanson 
posted February 16th 2010 12:34PM
posted February 16th 2010 12:34PM
And there you have it, folks -- word straight from Sprint that the much-anticipated Android 2.1 update will be coming to the HTC Hero and Samsung Moment "early" in the second quarter of this year. As you may recall, Sprint has actually been talking about this update since December, but "early 2Q10" is at least slightly better news than the previous "1H2010" estimate the carrier's been dishing out.
Update: Sprint has posted a follow-up tweet saying that OTA vs. PC-based or in-store upgrades are "still TBD upgrade options."
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Update: Sprint has posted a follow-up tweet saying that OTA vs. PC-based or in-store upgrades are "still TBD upgrade options."
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
@mark3306
That'd be Q1..........
And it isn't march yet..........
@GenericMessage
From WIkipedia:
The U.S. government's fiscal year begins on October 1 of the previous calendar year and ends on September 30 of the year with which it is numbered. Prior to 1976, the fiscal year began on July 1 and ended on June 30. The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 stipulated the change to allow Congress more time to arrive at a budget each year, and provided for what is known as the "transitional quarter" from July 1, 1976 to September 30, 1976. As stated above, the tax year for a business is governed by the fiscal year it chooses.
For example, the United States government fiscal year for 2010 ("FY 2010" or "FY10") is as follows:
1st Quarter: October 1, 2009 - December 31, 2009
2nd Quarter: January 1, 2010 - March 31, 2010
3rd Quarter: April 1, 2010 - June 30, 2010
4th Quarter: July 1, 2010 - September 30, 2010
@mark3306 Gack.
@mark3306 That's a fiscal year for the US Government. It has no bearing on calendar year dates.
@mark3306 That's the US governments fiscal year. Companies (and governments) fiscal periods can and often vary widely. My last company started August-October as Q1.
Typically when a company talks about releases it's in the actual term of the year as follows:
Q1 - January - March
Q2 - April - June
Q3 - July - September
Q4 - October - December
@mark3306
Manufactures do not use this system.
Q1: January 1 - March 31
Q2: April 1 - June 30
Q3: July 1 - September 30
Q4: October 1 - December 31
@Serus
Thanks for the clarification.
Do the phones directly from google update faster than this?
I waited all last year to get my hands on a hero, and ultimately it has it's chin stripped. Then the week after everyone's crazy over the droid and the hero is already obsolete. Now it's next year and a dozen more better phones have come out. I want Google to just provide phone service and updates to the phone, I don't like all of these hurdles with waiting on HTC to make sense UI work with Google's latest update and then an extra step of converting it to Sprint. Meanwhile, Droid and Nexus One have what I would have only if I voided my warranty.
I'm loving Android, but overall the experience with Hero has been extremely disappointed, from not getting the chin version, to vaguely timed updates (with the constant threat that they're not obligated to do so), to being outshined a week or two later by droid.
It makes me not want a new phone at all if I'll never be able to purchase one that will stay up to date.
@Cru Unfortunately this is the state of Android right now. Updates for existing handsets are few and far between.
Take a look at the MyTouch 3G on T-Mobile for an example. The hardware is capable of running 2.1, it's vanilla Android (no Sense UI), and as for a 2.1 update? Not a word.
If you want to buy a phone and be confident that it will be regularly supported with timely software updates then you have to consider a platform other than Android. The track record so far is not very pretty and I hope that Google fixes the problem.
The fact that 1.5, 1.6, 2.0, and 2.1 are all in the wild and on millions of handsets is a serious issue. Is the problem only going to get worse when Froyo hits, or are they somehow going to get this under control? Handset consumers and application developers alike are dying to know the answer.
Well I guess those two hours I spent last night researching when Sprint would be releasing 2.1 was all wasted when I should just be reading Engadget! The phone could certainly use an update, especially the YouTube app with its timeout problems. Does anyone think it odd that Sprint uses Twitter as a primary messenger for these updates? Guess I never got into it myself.
All I have to say is WOOHOO!
Nuff said
it's times like these that I feel like I'm the only one with an Eris and there is never any news on it receiving a much needed upgrade.
"early 2Q10" pretty much means April to me. I guess that's better than the orginal "1H10" statement which could be June 30.
My Sprint Hero is the best cell phone I have ever had and I have been a user since 1998. My Hero is not slow or sluggish... not sure what everyone else is doing to theirs. Maybe mine is special. :-)
@nickff
That's what all the parents say :)
Something is wrong in Android World!
You have Google pushing out new updates all the time. From 1.5 to the recent 2.1. In between there are several releases. As a HTC Hero user, I have not yet been fortunate to use anything but the stock ROM. (I'm paranoid and don't trust other people with my login information haha)
So Google is improving Android all the time, but the handset makers are holding back because of the modifications they are allowed to make.
Granted, SENSE is amazing and Android 2.1 with SENSE is even better. But it tech world, Android 1.5 with stock SENSE is getting pretty darn old.
It's not Google's fault, if you don't take into account that they were the ones who made it this way from the start. It's HTC who's too slow at adapting new Android versions to their "skin". This has to be resolved, because users are getting a bit......they are...they don't like the situation.
This is what makes the iPhone such a great device. You all get the updates when you get it. It's simple, it's clean and it works.
Android is just getting messy....like a kindergarten party with donuts, cupcakes, eclairs and gingerbread cakes.
If HTC told us from the start "this phones comes with this version of Android only (stupid) we couldn't complain. But they don't, so we can and should complain.
Fckuk I hate lag!
Is everyone here complaining so young that they don't remember the mid-late 90s with computers?
Look, the smartphone is a computer that fits in the palm of your hand. The advances from one handset to the next are exponential increases in power and capability, as well as operating systems.
In the same way you knew when you took home that Compaq PII 350 with 128mb of RAM and tried to run more than 3 programs at once that it would lag out of the box, understand that the evolution of phones is at a similar state. Rapid advancement of both hardware and software, incredible innovation.
If you don't want to get left behind, if you don't want to deal with updates, if you just want to buy the best phone and have it be the best phone for a long time, don't buy a phone for five years or so. The technological growth should have settled more to your tastes by then.
There should be a better integration between Android and handset makers own skin/layer.'
If HTC has problem porting Sense to a new version of Android, Google should be stricter with changes in the system so each version doesn't deviate too much from each other.
Bottom line.......Q2 2010 in Sprint talk = anywhere between Q4 2010-Q2 2011. besides, 2.5 will probably debut around that time and Sprint/HTC will decide to start from scratch (yet again) and the update can be postponed even longer. No thanks Sprint, the guys at XDA will have 2.1 with all features working well before then.
Eff this all I want is flash
well, this certainly spooks me as a potential android customer...basically you have to pray that there will be a timely update to whatever phone you purchased. that sucks balls.
The problem stems from the top- i have yet to see a universal update calendar, which makes everyone look around at each other saying when, where?
google is making it crazy for everyone by sticking in completely new functionality in tiny updates- as a manufacturer, i'd rather see new functionality added at key points in the year, and save the maintenance for the smaller updates that can just be rolled out to any manufacturer. I would imagine this would be easier on them as well, and a more reliable calendar for end users.
the inability to - as someone posted- update your phone whenever something new comes out is just asking for problems, like there is now with incredibly splintered os versions out there.
IMHO - If the 2.1 upgrade does not improve the:
1-Web Browser
2- Facebook integration
3- Google Maps
4- Flash
5 - Camera options
6 - Sluggishenss
Then I can wait. Even though I prefer not to.
Will this mean the seemingly insurmountable feat of syncing outlook tasks and notes will be finally achieved? I'm no programmer, but it seems like those to would be a total cake-walk in comparison to the calendar, email and contacts. I guess I'm just the only one on the planet that ever used 'em. It's the only thing that makes me miss my P.O.S. winmo phone.