We know how much owners of the Samsung Droid Charge want an update to Android 2.3 Gingerbread. However, please don't download and install leaked Android updates. We will explain in this Wireless and Mobile News "Bogus-Pocus Focus."
Here are the reasons why. The updates are not official, not supported by your carrier and are downright dangerous. Installing an unstable update can be a total waste of time.
An Android website posted detailed instructions of how to install a leaked update for the Samsung Droid Charge. They posted a little disclaimer that said "proceed 100% at your own risk."
Bloggers linked to the instructions, telling their readers to download the dastardly firmware.
No one checks back to the original article that is updated to say that the leaked software cripples the ability to send/receive text messages, kills mobile hotspot functionality, and disables the HDMI-out feature. The leaked software is so bad that the link to it is removed with the advice to flash back to Froyo, which could take hours. The instructions to get the phone back to where it started are not posted.
The bogus software was used as an exclusive release promotion for buyers of
an app, which the blogger thought was unfair, so he released it to the
general public with instructions.
There's more. The leaked update, in the process, erased all the data on the original Samsung Droid Charge.
We understand that Samsung Droid Charge owners would like the new Gingerbread features that include download management, better on-screen
keyboard with multi-touch/auto-correction, improved cut/paste, icons,
app groups, updated
calendar options, security features, camera improvements, and improved
email synching (read top Gingerbread tips). However, it's not worth spending hours trying to get your Samsung Droid Charge back to its original state.
Nobody likes to wait, but we know that there is a video showing a Samsung Droid Charge
running Gingerbread with Netflix and other enhancements suggesting a
release date soon. Verizon roughly tests updates, which takes a long
time, but once they're launched, they are usually pretty solid with few
glitches.
The Samsung Droid Charge original works well and will be a little better when the update is released.
The Samsung Droid Charge is part of the Verizon Awesome
4G-Threesome, and we recently learned in a "Dare 2 Compare Update" that
ThunderBolt beats it for data speeds but not battery life.
Yesterday, we took a lot of flack for calling an out-of-focus photo of some kind of Motorola smartphone, supposedly a Droid Bionic, bogus. Later, someone suggested that it was blurred on purpose. The originators don't care because they are laughing all the way to the bank with massive hits and increased ad revenue.