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Gingerbread and Ice Cream for Incredible?

So I'm looking for information from Verizon folks in regards to Gingerbread 2.3 and Ice Cream 2.4 coming to the Incredible.

There is quite a bit of rumors going around that the Incredible EOL (end of life) will be in March 2011.

Does that mean no more OTA upgrades to Android 2.3 or 2.4? The hardware is still quite awesome though it may not support features like visual calling due to lack of a front facing camera.

I do hope that Verizon will support Android upgrades for this phone. HTC says that they are willing to but as always it's up to the carrier. So please don't throw away this phone in order to only support new phones. Otherwise, the removal of upgrade every 2 is absurd and "fragmentation" will only make more people go towards iOS.

Google really needs to make the license for 2.3 and 2.4 having unmodified cores and manufacturers are ONLY allowed to skin over and not modify/lock down the actual OS from key upgrades. Competition against the trendy Apple monolith is needed.

Comments

demmo86rt

The DInc will be EOL by march but that does not necessarily mean no more OTA updates. I would expect it to, at least, get Gingerbread at done point. By the time 2.4 is released, it may depend on how many are still in circulation and how much of a jump that os version is for HTC/Verizon to determine whether our not it's worth it to start work on porting that one over. It sounds like Google is working on dealing with fragmentation on the app development end of things, so that may not be as much of an issue with future os releases.

AZSALUKI

In all honesty though....a year is starting to seem like a LONG time for a phone. The moto Droid and HTC Eris are less than a year and a half old....yet still seem fairly ancient and I wouldn't expect either of them to get 2.3. I was just thrilled to get 2.2 considering the MUCH anticipated galaxy s line has yet to get it. I will likely start doing one year contracts once I figure out if they still exist and how they work, since vzn has changed everything up?

ArDarsh81

If a year is too long, then Verizon needs to allow upgrade every 1yr. What is the point of buying a phone that won't be supported to fullest extent possible for the term of the contract. And I'm not paying full price for another phone in 1 year ($500!!).

Google hopefully fixes this upgrade scheme by limiting manufacturers and carriers to optional programs/skins on top of the core that they cannot touch. I don't want your bloatware. This will only lead to more people jumping to the iPhone boat. Hopefully not since I hate to see trendy beat versatility.

Licenses for 2.3, 2.4, 3 should LOCK Android being modified at core levels. Sense/Blur/whatever can be thrown on top, but should be an option that can be turned off. Or bye bye Android it will be in a couple years secondary customer frustration.

AZSALUKI

you actually always have been able to do one year upgrades. you don't get the full discount, but you do gat a discount. so if you could get, for example, an X for $200 on a 2 year contract....it may be $300 on a one year contract.

loonatik

I've messed with Gingerbread and I do NOT like it. It adds some hardly noticable features like better copy and past functions and a better browser, and totally screws up the keyboards. Also, there is NO 2.4 on the horizon, and it's NOT called Ice Cream. That's 3.0. Ice Cream will first show up in Verizon stores on the Motorola Xoom and is taylored for use on tablets, but will eventually come to phones. If you REALLY want to try Gingerbread, it's out there and ported to the Incredible. If you want something with a little more snap and gusto, there's plenty of better options than the Gingerbread ROM's being developed. Many are incorporating features of Gingerbread, like the keyboard that I HATE with a passion... but that's easy enough to fix.

So, my two suggestions would be: be happy with the best rated Android phone on the market today OR void your warranty, root the phone, load up some bare-bones stripped Gingerbread ROM, then wonder why you weren't happy with an OS that CNET described as better than iPhone4.

demmo86rt

loonatik wrote:
I've messed with Gingerbread and I do NOT like it. unless you were playing on a Nexus S, you had an "unofficial build" which may or may not be a true testament to Gingerbread's real capabilities. It adds some hardly noticable features like better copy and past functions and a better browser depending on how much you use these, I wouldn't call them hardly noticable, and totally screws up the keyboards again, "unofficial builds" may or may not have full functionality of all components. Also, there is NO 2.4 on the horizon yes, there is, there are at least three phones that were announced at MWC that are set to release with 2.4 and a handful others that will get it shortly after release, and it's NOT called Ice Cream (Sandwich?) You're right, 2.4 is a continuation of Gingerbread, much like 2.0 was Eclair and was only released on the original Droid, with 2.1 and 2.1.1 also being Eclair. That's 3.0. No, that's Honeycomb. Ice Cream Honeycomb will first show up in Verizon stores on the Motorola Xoom and is taylored for use on tablets, but will eventually come to phones Probably not, Honeycomb is for tablets (for now) and Ice Cream (Sandwich?) will combine parts of Gingerbread and Honeycomb and will be for phones. If you REALLY want to try Gingerbread, it's out there and ported to the Incredible. If you want something with a little more snap and gusto, there's plenty of better options than the Gingerbread ROM's being developed. Just remember, those are ports and not official builds and may not run to the full extent capable. However, we are not supposed to be having this discussion here anyway. Many are incorporating features of Gingerbread, like the keyboard that I HATE with a passion... but that's easy enough to fix.

So, my two suggestions would be: be happy with the best rated Android phone on the market today OR void your warranty, root the phone, load up some bare-bones stripped Gingerbread ROM, then wonder why you weren't happy with an OS that CNET described as better than iPhone4.

Sorry about the puke green editing here, but that is how this post made me feel. Gingerbread on my Eris, while an unofficial build, runs like a dream. For the most part, the changes from Froyo to Gingerbread (at this point, we'll see what 2.4 brings) are UI changes (which most running manufacturer provided OS's will probably never see due to lay-over UI's like Sense on the DInc) and some performance/battery life improvements. The thing will HTC phones, however, is that they have revamped their Sense UI and, IMHO, that is where you will see the biggest changes/improvements for the DInc, assuming that they haven't (and I don't think they have) pushed the OS beyond the phones capabilities. I don't blame you for not liking Gingerbread, to each his own. I, however, love what it has done to my "legacy" phone and, if you are going to come in here and crush everybody's hopes and dreams about life with an upgraded OS on their phones, at least do your research and check your facts.

AZSALUKI

all this talk of honeygomb and froyo and ice cream sandwiches is making me hungry!

Teiru

Sadly there has been no word if the incredible will get a newer update. The last update in October was to fix a few software issues. But it would be nice to have maybe 3.0

mdram4x4

Teiru wrote:
Sadly there has been no word if the incredible will get a newer update. The last update in October was to fix a few software issues. But it would be nice to have maybe 3.0

3.0 is honeycomb, its tablet only

later build will combine honeycomb and gingerbread, maybe 4.0?

dont look for it on any current phones is my guess

AZSALUKI

do you think we'll get gingerbread though?

nimiaj

HTC recently came out and said that it will be updating the Incredible S (read S) and its Desire line of phones to Gingerbread with the latest build of Sense UI. Suddenly there is no mention of Incredible (no S) being part of any updates :smileysad:. I am still hopeful that they will make us all Incredible users happy. However, to be very frank, I'm a happy camper if they give me the latest verison of Sense UI (with themable skins and local navigation etc etc), even if it is with Froyo.

And before anyone points out, yes I know that there is an unofficial build of that out there which is pretty stable now, but rooting and flashing unofficials ROMS is not my style (yet!)

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