HTC cancels Desire HD Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade

[BandwidthAddict]

Bad news for HTC Desire HD owners. Looks like HTC have done it again.

http://phandroid.com/2012/07/14/tel...cream-sandwich-update-cites-poor-performance/
http://news.softpedia.com/news/The-...for-HTC-Desire-HD-Gets-Cancelled-281232.shtml

HTC Desire HD might never receive an update to the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, it seems.

The handset, made official almost two years ago, was initially said to be en-route to provide its users with the benefits of ICS, but it appears that HTC might have cancelled such plans.

The smartphone was expected to get a taste of the newer platform release in the July-August timeframe, but Canadian wireless carrier TELUS is now listing (PDF file) the update as cancelled.

“HTC has cancelled the HTC Desire HD ICS upgrade due to poor device performance during testing,” the operator explained.

No info on whether this is only an isolated incident or not has emerged so far, but chances are that it is, in fact, something that would affect all Desire HD units out there.

HTC IS LYING!

The HTC One V has the same processor, same GPU, less RAM yet has ICS.

http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=4575&idPhone2=3468

See a ROM ported from the One V working on the HD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIYlhmZwglc

Every issue but the camera has been fixed in the port. The camera issue is due to the lack of apropriate drivers as the One V most likely has a different camera module. If HTC is not lying through their teeth on this one, and they did produce an ICS kernel, all the port needs is that kernel to have a rocking ICS experience for the HD. Somehow I don't think HTC will do the right thing.

This is not the first time that HTC has promised an upgrade and then lied about it. HTC said much the same thing when it cancelled the HTC Desire GSM (bravo) Gingerbread upgrade (on a ~1 year old model) yet I am running CyanogenMod 7.2 on my bravo and it runs much better than stock 2.2.

I will never buy another HTC phone again and anyone that does after reading this is doing so knowing that HTC has no intention of supporting older phones (older being pretty relative for this crowd). I've also had many problems with HTC hardware.

On the other hand, my Galaxy Nexus just upgraded OTA to Jelly Bean; no worries, no fuss, no excuses. Google experience only from now on.

 

[Mercury12]

They canceled it only on Telus......

 

[Frikkenator]

I love my Desire HD, but I must be honest this is really ridiculous from HTC's side, and it will definitely affect my decision on a next phone. Even if it's not cancelled, they've had more than enough time to make it work by now.

 

[DominionZA]

I am running ICS on my Desire HD and it runs almost as well as my Galaxy Note.

What a load of k@k.

 

[FaSMaN]

Like the op said above they did the same thing with the normal Desire last year and as a result left me stranded even though the phone was more than capable of running ICS , I eventually just switched over to custom roms, MUIU ran wonderfully on it.

And as a result I switched over to Samsung when my contract expired.

 

[wily me]

Well then it will be Nexus next. NO MORE HTC for me or my family!

 

[Rocket-Boy]

Yeah they better actually deliver on the ICS update for that phone otherwise it will be the last HTC I ever buy.

 

[reactor_sa]

And here I was bitching about Samsung pondering jelly bean for my s2....

 

[wily me]

No change on their site?

http://www.htc.com/www/help/android4faq/?cid=android4blog

 

[HapticSimian]

If you want the best out of your Android you have to be willing to slap a custom ROM on it. I was running OneX software on my Sensation before the former was released to market.

If you're not willing to risk it buy a Nexus device, or an iPhone... *shudder*

 

[twicode]

I can't live without the camera that is why I have been holding back going the custom ROM route.

Surely the hackers will get their hands on the ICS OEM image sooner or later then the problem will be solved.

 

[SDSmurf]

I read somewhere that One X sales weren't doing too well. If it's correct, and also correct that ICS CAN run on the DHD, then I'm guessing HTC are trying to force (stupid) people to the new phone to also get ICS.

I guess I'll just give Samsung a try then, HTC. See how your plan worked for me...

 

[twicode]

Although that Canadian cellular operator said it is HTC that cancelled the test it still isn't clear from that announcement if it was HTC or the individual telcos who is talking through its arse. I'll wait for next week to see what the other operators do or if HTC clarifies the matter to believe the update has been cancelled. Either way the update will surface through official channels or otherwise.

 

[Elimentals]

WTF?

Been running 4.0.4 now for well over 2 months thanx to modding comunity, and 4.0.3 for some time before then. Guess they just do not feel like porting it. Oh well typical OEMs

 

[kingrob]

WTF?

Been running 4.0.4 now for well over 2 months thanx to modding comunity, and 4.0.3 for some time before then. Guess they just do not feel like porting it. Oh well typical OEMs

Think it's more a case of what SDSmurf described above....HTC wants you to buy a new phone.

Hell, even HTC's new Desire C with a 600Mhz CPU & 512MB RAM (new Wildfire S) is running ICS!!

Not a good way to keep your loyal customers, HTC!

 

[Vulk]

Do you think the Desire S will also not updated? That would suck.

 

[mizteeq]

Do you think the Desire S will also not updated? That would suck.

The Desire S already got an OTA update in China, so now everyone is just waiting for Europe (and the rest of the world) to release the OTA as well.

 

[Vulk]

If you want the best out of your Android you have to be willing to slap a custom ROM on it. I was running OneX software on my Sensation before the former was released to market.

If you're not willing to risk it buy a Nexus device, or an iPhone... *shudder*

People always say this, and I always find it to be incredibly annoying:

1. I have never found a custom ROM that was as reliable and stable as a factory ROM.

2. Rooting and flashing a custom ROM voids the warranty. If you're paying R6,000 or R7,000 for a phone, you should not have to choose between having a warranty and getting decent software support - you should get both!

3. The vast majority of users are not tech savvy enough to unlock a bootloader, root a phone, or flash a ROM. And yes, they deserve proper software support too.

 

[HapticSimian]

People always say this, and I always find it to be incredibly annoying:

My most humble apologies for having annoyed you...

1. I have never found a custom ROM that was as reliable and stable as a factory ROM.

That just means you haven't found the right one, not that it doesn't exist. I can only judge based upon my own experience but with both my old Desire and my current Sensation the custom ROMs I've ended up with have been smoother, lighter on the battery and rock-solid stable. The only exceptions have been early iterations of new software versions, but there's always a choice between running the latest and greatest (but possibly less polished) or sticking with the tried and trusted until the kinks are worked out.

2. Rooting and flashing a custom ROM voids the warranty. If you're paying R6,000 or R7,000 for a phone, you should not have to choose between having a warranty and getting decent software support - you should get both!

...and reversing the flash and root washes away any trace that the phone was tinkered with.

3. The vast majority of users are not tech savvy enough to unlock a bootloader, root a phone, or flash a ROM. And yes, they deserve proper software support too.

The 'vast majority of users' wouldn't give an airborne rodent's posterior that they're not running the most current version of Android. Unless there are major functional shortcomings in what's on the phone, the 'vast majority of users' will be quite happy to use a phone in its out-of-box state. It is only because you aren't an average user that you even know that Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean aren't just sweet treats.

Some people's definition of what constitutes 'proper software support' pushes the boundaries as far as I'm concerned. The Desire HD's nearly 2 years old and, if this proves to be true, I can understand that HTC would be tapering off support for it.

 

[Vulk]

The 'vast majority of users' wouldn't give an airborne rodent's posterior that they're not running the most current version of Android. Unless there are major functional shortcomings in what's on the phone, the 'vast majority of users' will be quite happy to use a phone in its out-of-box state. It is only because you aren't an average user that you even know that Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean aren't just sweet treats.

Some people's definition of what constitutes 'proper software support' pushes the boundaries as far as I'm concerned. The Desire HD's nearly 2 years old and, if this proves to be true, I can understand that HTC would be tapering off support for it.

The problem is, you're setting up a false dichotomy here, where Android users are either a) smart people who want the latest software and are totally comfortable with rooting, or b) stupid people who don't know what rooting is and don't know or care what version they're on.

While I agree that probably the majority of Android users fall into the second category, and there's also small minority (probably about 1-2% of Android users overall) who fall into the first category, I would argue that there is also a much larger minority that falls somewhere in between: semi-advanced users who download apps, browse the web, use many of the more advanced features on Android, and want to be the on the newest version of the OS, but don't feel comfortable rooting their phones.

While I can't cite statistics to prove it, I suspect that these semi-advanced users constitute a large portion of Android users overall - definitely larger than the XDA-dev crowd. In real life, just about I everyone I know who has a smartphone falls into this category. And I would sort-of classify myself into this category this too. Both of my previous phones were rooted and ran custom ROMs, but I wouldn't say I'm exactly comfortable with rooting: partially because of the concerns over stability and warranties that I mentioned before, partially because I fear ending up with a situation like this, and partially because I believe as a matter of principle that phones ought to be updated by their manufacturer for at least the two-year duration of a typical cellular contract.

Yes, the Desire HD is an old phone. But this isn't just about the Desire HD: it's about the fact that Android's update process is so broken and skewed by perverse incentives that only 11% of the users were on ICS when Jelly Bean was released, and the fact that version adoption for each new version of Android is actually getting slower with every release. And frankly, why shouldn't the Desire HD get an update? It was a flagship phone when it was released; many people who bought it are still under contract; and the hardware is capable of running ICS, whatever HTC may say. The problem is that OEMs are short-sighted: they cease to care about their customers the instant they've walked out of the cellphone store, and they're more interested in forcing users towards their next upgrade than building lasting loyalty towards their brand.