Samsung Galaxy S to get Android FroYo upgrade
Samsung South Africa revealed that their flagship Android device, the Samsung Galaxy S I9000, would receive an operating system (OS) upgrade by the end of the year.
At launch the Galaxy S ran on Android 2.1 “Éclair”, the previous OS on which most newer Android devices still operate, and until now there’s been no confirmation of whether the device would be receiving an upgrade for its operating system.
News has started breaking internationally that handset owners can expect the upgrade during November, but locally Samsung isn’t committing to anything earlier than “before the end of the year.”
This may be due to testing and certification the device needs to undergo once the new ROM has been finalised.
Brett Laubscher from Samsung South Africa said that Galaxy S owners in South Africa could look forward to an upgrade to Android 2.2 “FroYo” for their devices before the end of the year.
According to Laubscher you’ll be able to upgrade your Galaxy S through Samsung Kies, their new PC suite that shipped with the Wave and Galaxy S.
Kies only runs on Windows PCs, however. Laubscher said that those who use other operating systems could go to Samsung service centres to have their devices upgraded.
Upgrading “over the air” (OTA) is also not an option at the moment. Laubscher explained that the practicalities of firmware OTA (FOTA) makes it a difficult decision for operators.
Another exacerbating factor locally is that Samsung also don’t have any FOTA infrastructure installed in South Africa yet, but it’s reportedly in the pipeline as the equipment and details have been requested from Samsung’s headquarters in Korea.
We also asked whether the Galaxy S would eventually be upgraded to Android 2.3 “Gingerbread” and Paulo Ferreira from mobile product and business solutions at Samsung SA said that while they always try to provide support for their devices as far as possible there is currently no plan to upgrade to Android 3.0 at this time.
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