This is quite insane. After shocking the developed world with yesterday’s announcement that it wasn’t going to release an official Android 2.3 update for the HTC Desire, HTC now says… it is. The Gingerbread update will come to the Android phone.
Here’s what the hardware maker has just put up on its Facebook page:
So perhaps yesterday’s wording was indeed hinting that an unskinned version of the OS, without HTC’s memory-consuming Sense interface additions, could still make it out? Or maybe there’s just been a very stressful meeting this morning?
Thanks to Stephen and the lightning-fast commenters for the tip.
HTC’s 4.3″ dual-core Android model, powered by Qualcomm’s all-new S4 processor. It’s smaller than the enormous One X, but is it as nice as its bigger brother? (SPOILER: Yes it is).
HTC is very much B-A-C-K at the top of the Android world with this, its quad-core flagship for 2012. Great camera, huge 4.7″ display and Android 4.0 running beautifully well.
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?
MrChaz
/ June 15, 2011When was the Desire release? I wonder if they might have breached that new 18months update policy thing
Nirave
/ June 15, 2011The Desire was released last March, T-Mobile UK got it first followed by other UK networks.
Comfortably within the 18 months period.
Hope this helps.
k0zmic
/ June 15, 2011I don’t think that policy is valid for phones in 2010.
It’s for 2011 Q2 onwards.
mintvilla
/ June 15, 2011True its for the phones in the future, also its more a guidelines, theres nothing stopping them doing whatever they want, google isnt exactly going to hold back android… an open sourced system… if they miss an update to a phone.
shrinkwrapped
/ June 15, 2011YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY
Jonny
/ June 15, 2011Have HTC bowed to public pressure again? If they have this will be the second time that they have down a high profile 180 degree turn on their policy!
First unlocked bootloaders, and now Gingerbread for the Desire! HTC we love you! :)
Peter
/ June 15, 2011I might love you HTC or I might think you are a player. Not sure yet.
Gary C
/ June 15, 2011Oh well. Storm in a tea cup. At least it boosted everyone’s stats for a day. It’d be amazing if it does offer an unskinned 2.3 upgrade.
mintvilla
/ June 15, 2011It will be skinned, it will just be sense 1.0.
I think mis-information got posted, whats most likely is that some one would of asked if the original desire was getting the sense 2.1 update, which the reply to that was NO theres, not enough room in the desire. Which would be true as theres only 250mb partition for the OS, and for an example the desire HD theres 350mb required for that OS.
Therefore someone posted yesterday that they wouldnt be getting the gingerbread update, which was un-true. It will be getting the gingerbread update, it just wont be getting the sense 2.1 update.
Gingerbread will come to the desire, with sense 1.0 (and thus it wont look any different in the slightest)
This would make sense as a leaked rom was released a fair few months ago, which included sense 1.0 and android 2.3.3, which runs perfectly fine, and i dont see why they dont just release that.
Gary C
/ June 15, 2011Sounds right. I would vote you up, if I had installed the relevant plug-in. Cheers.
k0zmic
/ June 15, 2011Maybe they’ll throw in something like the lock screen from Sense 3.0?
mintvilla
/ June 15, 2011no they wont, there really is no room, sense 1.0 on gingerbread really does take up every bit of room. They wont be able to just add the lockscreen or anything like that.
TBH you wont notice the difference in the slightest, but you will sleep soundly knowing you have the latets (ish) version of android.
k0zmic
/ June 15, 2011I don’t even own a Desire, I was simply curious.
But fair enough, I thought it may have been feasible since Gingerbread with Sense (and the 3.0 lockscreen) have been squeezed onto the Hero. I assume the custom ROM’s must’ve cut a few corners which HTC obviously can’t do.
If I remember correctly HTC said ‘parts’ of Sense 3.0 would make their way to older devices so I felt they might’ve added the lockscreen as one of those ‘parts’.
Paul
/ June 15, 2011This news i do care for as opposed to yesterdays, which gave me gas
Stephen
/ June 15, 2011We’ve got all their email addresses now :)
Bombarded their facobook page all morning asking people to email the ceo etc and HTC UK kept deleting it. At least we kept them busy :)
Ed
/ June 15, 2011So I have rooted my phone for no reason. Nevermind
Matt C
/ June 15, 2011I will not be resigning…..
I resign.
Talk about doing the hokey-cokey.
david
/ June 15, 2011You’re shitting me right? I spent last night rooting and flashing my phone, thought I’d bricked it and now they’re telling me I’m gonna get gingerbread anyway?
Now I have to learn how to unroot? Aarrrrrgggghhhhh!
Claus
/ June 15, 2011Learn to unroot? It’s one-click :3
mintvilla
/ June 15, 2011if you want more room for apps, you best leave yourself rooted.
ChrisMav
/ June 15, 2011Power to the people!
Dan
/ June 15, 2011You get served up a big shit sandwich and are forced to take a bite. Some of you see the light and root their device and take a step into the bigger world of custom ROM’s and then you are talking about unrooting? Why would you do this?
It’s like winning the lottery and then offering to hand the money back. I don’t get it.
david
/ June 15, 2011Agreed. But the lottery is having to try a million different custom roms and all the time wishing that I could have had the update to the one I am used to – the htc rom.
I have flashed CM7 and it’s really good, but I don’t like the feel of it as much and I did like the sense experience of stock, now. I am gonna have to try a gingersense rom etc and go through the whole process again. I think I might just be a bit lazy.
Dan
/ June 16, 2011Just as slight recommendation if you haven’t looked at it already take a look at LeeDroid’s HTC Desire ROM’s (available via XDA) I think they are currently running Gingerbread 2.3.3 maybe even 2.3.4 now with Sense.
Personally I prefer running stock. I have pretty much all the similar HTC’esq widgets I need and I have the added bonus of none of the bloated crap that HTC ship.
You are right though, finding the right ROM can take a while but once you find the one for you it’s really really worth the effort. I personally could never go back to stock. It just doesn’t cut it for me.
Simon
/ June 15, 2011Sorry HTC but I sold my Desire and picked up a nice Huawei U8800 instead. I’m weird like that.
Whoever is in charge of customer service at HTC needs firing.
Dean
/ June 15, 2011well make your bloody minds up then!
I was down and now I’m up again
Seriously HTC need to get a grip on their press releases,
either that or they really listen to their user base when they publish seemingly unpopular decisions..
Denzil
/ June 16, 2011Samsung is getting such good press with the SGS2 that HTC can’t
afford to get negative press coverage…I suspect that helped in them
doing this 360…same with the locked bootloaders when Samsung is sending
handsets to Cyanogen….Competition…we all win for it :D I suspect Iphone 5
will have slightly more significant upgrades to iphone 4 as opposed to their previous upgrades ( i.e. marketing spin on basic features)