As of April 6th, Android v2.3/v2.3.3 (Gingerbread) — the latest version available for phones — has been available for 4 whole months. Care to take a guess at what percentage of the Android phones out there are running it? 20%? 10%? Maybe just 5%?
The answer: just 2.5%. Fortunately, that number should be going up soon, with two more handsets getting the upgrade treatment before too long: the Sprint HTC EVO 4G, and the just-released Verizon HTC Thunderbolt.
Word of the update schedule comes from an e-mail supposedly sent from an HTC customer service rep to a TalkAndroid reader. We generally tend to take everything that CS reps take with the finest grain of shenanigans-salt — but from what we’ve seen, it seems like HTC actually keeps most of their CS reps in the loop. According to them, both the EVO 4G and the Thunderbolt are scheduled to get some Gingerbread goodness by the end of Q2. In other words, sometime by the end of June.
The e-mail:
Good question, Derek! We understand how important it is to have the
latest updates for your device.I’m happy to inform you that both the Evo and the Thunderbolt are
definitely on our list to receive the 2.3 Android OS update.
At this time, we don’t have an exact launch date, nor are we .
However, we estimate that it will be available in the second quarter
of 2011 (anywhere from the beginning of April, to the end of June),
assuming that there are no major setbacks. Once we have a better idea
of when this update will be available for your phone, we’ll be sure to
announce it through Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/htc) and Twitter
(http://www.twitter.com/htc), and of course, HTC.com.We’re not aware of any immediate plans for a tablet for the Verizon
network. However, The Evo View will also have a wi-fi only version
that you will be able to purchase through Best Buy.Thank you for taking the time to contact us, Derek.
To send a reply to this message or let me know I have successfully
answered your question log in to our ContactUs site using your email
address and your ticket number 11USCW15ENA002820.Sincerely,
Megon
HTC