Sprint customers who are all over the Android scene are usually dead last in getting Android udates, but that’s only because both the HTC Hero and EVO 4G have Sense UI. And we all know how long it can take an Android device with a custom skin to get an upgrade. The only Android handset without a custom interface is the Samsung Moment, but even that seems to be lagging behind the update department.
Since customers bought the HTC EVO 4G in droves, making it Sprint’s most popular and really its best device to date, it looks like the carrier is moving a little quicker to help get Android updates to its devices. According to Sprint’s community blog:
As work on finalizing the software is under way, Sprint expects to launch Android 2.2 in the near future. It also will be available as an upgrade on the recently launched HTC EVO 4G.
With Android 2.2 comes the availability of full Flash support and new updates to the Sense UI for the EVO 4G. We’ve also seen reports across the web that version 2.2, or Froyo, is a much faster and more complete iteration of Android — something it should have been from the start. While there haven’t been reports of dramatic handset battery improvement with the version of Google’s mobile OS, we’re hoping that Sprint or HTC is working on getting 2.2 to help the EVO’s inexcusably poor battery life.
It might have taken a while, and for all we know “the near future” could still mean months away, but at least we know that Sprint has a plan to get its customers the latest version of the Android software. I’m thinking the update might come sooner than the promises that were made for the Hero given recent rumors about the EVO getting an update soon. Let’s just hope it keeps up with competing handsets that are set to get updates any day now, too.
[Via: Sprint]