HTC Desire to get Gingerbread soon!

HTC has announced that its Incredible S phone would be getting Gingerbread update in the month of June. The phone was unveiled at Mobile World Congress a few weeks back. At that time, the company said that the phone will be updated to Android 2.3 ‘quickly’. Seems like, for HTC, 4 months of time period for software update come under the realm of ‘quick’.

Anyhow, Incredible S is not the only lucky HTC phone. Apparently, the company’s older models such as Desire HD and Desire Z would be getting 2.3 update as well. And let’s not forget the grand old daddy of Desire series, the original HTC Desire. All these phones will be upgraded alongside Incredible S. As for the recently announced HTC phones, Wildfire S and Desire S, these babies will come pre-loaded with Gingerbread flavor of Android.

When you purchase an Android phone chances are it won’t come pre-installed with the latest version of the popular mobile operating system. This isn’t Google’s fault as their engineers are great at getting the latest versions of Android out of development and onto the streets but instead the manufacturers and wireless carriers. Luckily, as of late, those involved seem to be kicking things into high gear getting the Android 2.2 update out for many devices that have lagged behind.

Vodafone HTC Desire Android 2.2 update landing 23 August

Vodafone has confirmed that it will be releasing the Android 2.2 update for HTC Desire owners from 23 August. The rollout will begin from next week, where users will be prompted to download the new Android 2.2 firmware for their HTC Desire. However, the rollout will be phased, so Vodafone customers might have to wait up to two weeks to get the new upgrade.

Vodafone said: "Our priority has been to make sure that the software does what we said it will do. This meant testing took a little longer than anticipated."

A few things to take care while updating you HTC Desire:

1. Longer than first thought

It's a little outside of the earlier 7-10 days time frame promised, but at least it's coming soon. It will also scrub away the much-maligned 360 update - although it's a little trickier than just deleting the applications from your phone.

First of all, check your software version in Settings, About Phone, Software information. Your software should either be 1.19.161.5 if you haven't downloaded the recent Vodafone 360 software, or 1.24.161.3 if you have accepted the update.

If you have accepted it, but not opened the applications, then their functionality will be removed, although you'll need to delete any icons and reset any bookmarks/home page choices manually.

You can perform a factory reset too to remove the 360 update, but be warned this will erase all data stored on the handset, so make sure you're fully backed up if you take this route.

2. What if I did click the icon?

If you have opened and updated any Vodafone 360 applications, then the same process will work, apart from "360 updates" and "Shop" applications, which to get rid of you'll need to 'uninstall the update' in Settings, Applications.

It might sound a little complicated, and we're sure that Vodafone regrets offering the 360 update for HTC Desire users - but at least it's offering a way out, and users can now enjoy longer battery life, HD video recording and Wi-Fi sharing.

So get your HTC Desire updated and enjoy more effective Android!!