The HTC Magic shall be REBORN! Vodafone UK, which launched the sweet little Android phone in the UK, has today confirmed long-running rumours of an Android update for the phone – announcing it’ll launch the 2.2 “FroYo” upgrade for the phone. And it’s available from today.
Other versions of the Magic hardware in other regions have received OS upgrades, but it was thought the memory-restricted Vodafone version had been abandoned after the network updated it to Android 1.6 last year. But it LIVES. Here’s the quote from Vodafone:
Android 2.2.1 (Froyo) is now available to Vodafone HTC Magic customers
Android 2.2.1 will give customers a number of improvements including: latest Gmail and Android Market clients; ability to save applications directly onto an SD card; support for USB tethering so the phone can be used as a modem; improved support for Active Sync Exchange (email, contacts and calendar sync); enhancements to Bluetooth; and enhancements to the camera. The update also includes the latest Google security patches.
How will customers get the latest software?
Customers’ devices will receive an automatic notification when the update is available for their handset. They can then choose to accept the update by following the on screen prompts or perform it later.
The roll out of the software is phased, so not all customers will receive this notification at once.
Because it is quite a large update, we’d recommend customers carry it out over WiFi, although it is possible to download it over 3G or GPRS.
The update is a two step download which will be triggered by automatic notification to the customer’s handset. The first step will change the bootloader. The second step will install FroYo after the phone has rebooted.Checking software versions
To check which version of software the HTC Magic has:
1. Press the menu key, then touch “Settings”, scroll down to and touch “About phone”
2. The software version will be displayed here
Unbelievable. We’ll get our old HTC Magic out of the sock drawer and see what’s up. Link via Techradar.
It’s smooth to use, the 1080p display is sharp, clear and bright, the device is extremely light and thin and therefore very pocketable and portable — much more so than other 5-inch phones we’ve used. And yet… we’re a bit unimpressed by the overall package…
A relatively high-spec smartphone, with a 4.5″ display running at 480 x 854 resolution and powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, plus the Ascend G510 arrives running Android 4.1.1 — albeit potentially hindered by Huawei only sticking 512MB of RAM inside it..
The Panasonic Eluga marks the company’s return to the European mobile phone scene years after several years of absence, and it’s come back to us with a moderately high-spec Android model that features a rather stylish, slim case.
Sony returns with an all-new mobile design for 2012, pairing a dual-core processor with a 720p display. It’s a lovely phone, but is it enough to end our Samsung and HTC obsession?
LG’s updated Prada phone comes with an absolutely crazy black & white theme, but is it just for fashionable suit wearers who want to make themselves look a bit more interesting?
Ryan
/ December 15, 2010I have not had any luck with mine, i got through stage one at about midday yesterday and the actual update never arrived. I checked and its still running 1.6. Anyone had any positive experiences?
Gary C
/ December 15, 2010You’re nearly 24 hours ahead of me
A couple of users on the Vodafone forum have it – it’s a 42MB download.
Typing *#*#checkin#*#* seems to force the phone to check for an update. Nothing happening for me yet, though.
Ryan
/ December 15, 2010I have tried that and I get the ‘checkin success’ reply but no update follows (well as of 20mins)
Gary C
/ December 15, 2010Same here. How far north do you live? I’m in Scotland and suspect the update slowly radiates out from central London.
Dave
/ December 15, 2010I just got mine this morning. Got phase 1 at about 11am and the second bit was at about 1pm, live in the Reading area. It’s made the phone SO much better!
Gary C
/ December 15, 2010*Checks train times to Reading area*
Pete
/ December 15, 2010I’m in the same boat – said ‘ready for update’ about an hour ago and went through an update process, including reboot, but still appears to be on 1.6. For what it’s worth, I live just outside London!
Pete
/ December 15, 2010fantastic! Just checked again and step 2 was waiting for me….so all done now
Jenn
/ December 16, 2010I still haven’t got mine, my boyfriend did this morning, and he keeps rubbing it in my face. Any tips for forcing it through?
Gary C
/ December 16, 2010I refuse to believe that’s a genuine comment.
rachel
/ December 16, 2010i have updated mine but my whole phone is running slow .. i cant text or anything i hate this update does anyone know how to fix this?
jansoon
/ August 30, 2011vary god