Is Samsung Keeping Froyo From Galaxy S Users?!?
So we all know that the Samsung Galaxy S line of phones consists of some of the hottest selling devices among all carriers, and worldwide. Every month we've seen reports of how many millions of Galaxy S phones Samsung has sold. Every major carrier in the US has one version of them, whether its the At&t Captivate, T-Mobile Vibrant, Sprint Epic 4G, or Verizon Fascinate. When these phones were released, they came loaded with Android 2.1 Eclair with promises that they would be getting Froyo. Some rumors even speculated on dates, saying it would be pushed out before the end of 2010. Unfortunately, that rumored promise left many owners frustrated as that time has come and gone now.
While this original leak/tip came from T-Mobile, we can't help but wonder if the same thing applies to all US carriers since none of the US versions of the Galaxy S phones have gotten an official Froyo update. AndroidSpin got a tip from someone they consider a reliable source that basically says T-Mobile has a working Froyo OTA update, but Samsung has told them not to release it because they feel it will hurt sales for their upcoming Vibrant 4G+ (which is rumored to be a Vibrant with a front-facing camera and support for HSDPA+). The report even says that the original Vibrant can support FULL 4G speeds with this update.
We've seen Froyo being pushed out to the European versions of the phones, just nothing in the US. GPS is still broken for many users, which was also promised to be fixed. I've read on many forums where people say the Galaxy S will be their first and last Samsung phone, and I, personally, feel the same way. Most of my previous phones have been HTC or Motorola, even a Nokia was thrown in there. This was my first Samsung phone, and because of the way this has been handled, it'll probably be my last. I have At&t, so I have the Captivate. When Windows Phone 7 came out, I wanted to try it out. My choices were between the HTC Surround and the Samsung Focus. Even though everyone was jumping on the Focus, I went with the Surround purely because it WASN'T made by Samsung.
Dare I say it (let the flaming begin), but this sounds a little too Apple like...adding a few features to an existing phone and releasing it as a new device and holding back on OS upgrades for the previous models until the new one comes out. Sound familiar? Just my opinion of course.
How do you feel about this news? Do you think its real, or real fake? If you own a Samsung smartphone, will it be your last one?
Source: AndroidSpin
© 2011, mindfrost82. All rights reserved.
I know someone who is going to be sad to hear the news sorry gTen (BB Style FTW)
Sammy still has time to make this right but if there isn’t a significant change from the current this will be my last Sammy phone ever.
I am 32 and a former Omnia owner who stayed loyal from a crap phone, I will buy probably 50 more smartphones in my lifetime so my feeling is sammy should start thinking about me instead of ppl still with a feature phone.
sad to say but I believe this is true, even the low end samsung intercept has froyo, so sad samsung.
Galaxy S = beautiful phone; poor customer service
As I said in the forums, the Galaxy S is one helluva phone specs wise. The problem I’ve been saying all along is that don’t EVER buy a phone unless you can live with it “as is”. XDA does great things but it’s never guaranteed that they will solve any or every problem we run into–and shouldn’t have to for CORE feature sets to work. If the manufacture won’t support their phones, we shouldn’t support the manufactures who make them…
I can see this as being plausible. This has been my first Samsung phone in like 8 years. I think I’ll go back to HTC for my next one.
Just got the Samsung Epic 4g, replacing my HTC Touch Pro 2. It was a difficult decision between HTC Evo and Samsung, mainly because I wanted a Evo-style phone hardware wise, but a WP7 interface. My wife has the Evo, so I figured if I didn’t like the Samsung within 30 days I could get the Evo, but at least with her having the Evo, I can do a side-by-side comparison.
I’m not too surprised by Samsung’s actions, but I still am upset. I don’t get the way manufacturers and carriers do business. Kind of like how they marketed smart phones like the Evo to the people who text all the time and live on YouTube and FaceBook… then become overloaded with users and need to charge a $10 4G premium for something that should be standard service upgrade.
Well, at least I have 30 days to decide if this will be my last Samsung phone
@Eigenbroetler the premium data service charge was there from day one, they didn’t spring it on anyone.
also, get the evo – only phone in a long time that is still at the top 7 mos after launch and still will be for 2-3 more months…