[Linuxluver]

Starting a thread for discussion / queries on this. Android 2.0, 2.01 and 2.1 are now (or within days) on the market. Apparently, HTC will be updating Android from v1.6 for existing phones. That represents excellent value and a great reason to risk buying an HTC phone on a 2 year contract in a rapidly evolving market segment (smartphones). No one wants to grit their teeth through the second year of a contract with an "old" phone.

Rogers (a Canadian telco) has apparently elected not to provide their HTC Magic users with the upgrade to Android 2.0 (what a great reason to NOT be a Rogers customer!). T-Mobile, in the US are apparently rolling out Android 2.0 to the owners of their venerable (1 year old at most) HTC Dream / G1 users.

I'm assuming Vodafone / HTC will be supporting their existing customers by rolling out Android 2.0 or 2.1.

Can anyone from VFNZ confirm? :-)

LL

This post has been edited by Linuxluver: 30 December 2009 - 03:52 PM

[Peppery]

If worst comes to worst and Vodafone decide not to push out OTA updates for 2.x for Magic, you can always (possibly voiding your warranty) root your phone and do it yourself. Google is your friend.

The G1 runs pretty awful with 1.6 anyway (I found me wanting to throw mine at the wall. I was frequently missing calls because the phone would ring but the UI would not respond to allow me to answer it. GRR.)

[Linuxluver]

Thanks. I have two HTC Magic phones. One bought directly from Vodafone and one bought 2nd-hand via TradeMe. I've rooted the second phone and tried pretty much every image there is on it. :-) I've also tested restoring it to the original, as-sold, configuration several times and that works fine, too. I have not altered the SPL - "Hboot 1.33.0004 (SAPP10000)" or the radio. They are as-sold. You really can't brick your phone unless you mess with the SPL and get it wrong...and I don't plan to do either.

There are a couple of Android v2.0 ROMs (Drizzy's and Eugene373's) out there that are fast, reliable and functional in every respect on the HTC Magic, but for the camera not working as the source for the drivers is not yet public.

Cyanogen adds more pieces of Android 2.0 to his ROMs every few days, but they are still fundamentally Android 1.6.

Given how *very* well the two ported Android 2.0 ROMs I've tried already run on my sandpit HTC Magic, I'd expect to see an OTA update at some point. :-)

This post has been edited by Linuxluver: 04 January 2010 - 04:55 PM

[Jon]

I really hope this happens soon also, I have been running a 2.0 ROM on my Magic and it is fantastic! Everyone should get this

I wasn't sure at first if the Magic would be able to handle it, but it runs just as well (I spent a good half hour comparing to a 1.6 Magic ) when jumping through apps/screens/keyboard etc.

Perhaps the camera drivers is the last issue they need to fix before than can fully test a final OTA build

[Kelly]

Jon, on 08 January 2010 - 11:16 AM, said:

I wasn't sure at first if the Magic would be able to handle it, but it runs just as well (I spent a good half hour comparing to a 1.6 Magic ) when jumping through apps/screens/keyboard etc.

Perhaps a bit off-topic here, but I got my Magic about three days before the OTA update to 1.6. I was amazed at how much the phone sped up between the 1.5 and 1.6 releases! Let's hope it's just as fast with 2.0/2.1.

[Linuxluver]

Jon, on 08 January 2010 - 11:16 AM, said:

Perhaps the camera drivers is the last issue they need to fix before than can fully test a final OTA build

I'm sure they have a schedule of carriers, phones, priorities...and one day our phones will just say" Update available". ;-)

Generally (to the thread at large) There are now several Android v2.1 ROMs ported to the HTC Magic. They come in Nexus One flavour and the Hero "Espresso" flavour. Both now have the camera working for still photos, but no one has the video camera going yet. Bluetooth works in AOSP v2.4 from Eugene373, but not in Manup456's Eclair v1.5 ROM. Eugene373 also has does the Espresso ROM and that works pretty well once you get rid of all the widgets on the Home screens. This is where you REALLY notice the HTC Magic from Vodafone only has 192MB versus the 288MB of RAM in the HTC Magic (non-Google) and the HTC Hero. On the VFNZ Magic you need to get rid of extraneous stuff (Sense UI widgets in particular) and run fairly lean....at which point it's just Android and it all runs nice and fast. The sole serious advantage of the Espresso ROM is the browser includes Flash support....so you can see sites that have lots of flash......slowly. :-)

My favourite Android v2.1 ROM for the VFNZ HTC Magic, so far, is AOSP v2.4. Everything works except the video camera.

I have one phone on the stock Android load as a benchmark....and even the fastest alternate ROMs are only slightly faster. The real advantage to the alternate ROMs is all the extra functionality / flexibility you get from having root access (themes; tethering via wifi, bluetooth or USB; installing / removing packages you ordinarily can't touch; turn-by-turn GPS nav with the hacked Gmaps and the ability to partition the sdcard with a linux spwap file and a ext2 or 3 or 4 partition for storing apps on the sdcard instead of the in the phone internal storage.....and so on.)

This post has been edited by Linuxluver: 17 January 2010 - 06:14 PM

[Jon]

I was looking at the 2.1 roms the other day, the espresso one doesn't really appeal to myself but I'm about to load Eugene373's on my magic to see how she handles it.

[Linuxluver]

Jon, on 17 January 2010 - 08:59 PM, said:

I was looking at the 2.1 roms the other day, the espresso one doesn't really appeal to myself but I'm about to load Eugene373's on my magic to see how she handles it.

Eugene373 has 3 ROMs on the go at the mo'.

I really liked his AOSP v2.4. No video camera and I don't recall if the Bluetooth worked or not. It doesn't in most of the 2.1 ROMs. I went back to Cyanogen Mod 4.2.13 simply because I prefer to have everything working, stable *and* the additional benefits of root access.

When the 2.1 source comes out, all the problems will go away in a days.....but until then we're seeing frankenstein ROMs composed of bits stitched together from various sources all relying on Linux/Android's underlying consistency.

[cndnlink]

Linuxluver, on 30 December 2009 - 04:49 PM, said:

Rogers (a Canadian telco) has apparently elected not to provide their HTC Magic users with the upgrade to Android 2.0 (what a great reason to NOT be a Rogers customer!). T-Mobile, in the US are apparently rolling out Android 2.0 to the owners of their venerable (1 year old at most) HTC Dream / G1 users.

Where have you heard that?

After just releasing fixes for 1.5, Rogers have publicly confirmed that all HTC Magic users will get the 2.1 update by mid 2010. The upgrade path will be directly from 1.5 to 2.1 leaving out the update for 1.6.

However HTC Dream (G1) users will not but updated due to limitations of the phone itself.

I am not sure how the 2.1 will run on VF HTC phones as they are the ones with a smaller amount of RAM, so unless they're configured for that I am guessing they would run a bit slower compared to the Rogers phones which have more RAM

Linuxluver, on 30 December 2009 - 04:49 PM, said:

I have one phone on the stock Android load as a benchmark....and even the fastest alternate ROMs are only slightly faster. The real advantage to the alternate ROMs is all the extra functionality / flexibility you get from having root access (themes; tethering via wifi, bluetooth or USB; installing / removing packages you ordinarily can't touch; turn-by-turn GPS nav with the hacked Gmaps and the ability to partition the sdcard with a linux spwap file and a ext2 or 3 or 4 partition for storing apps on the sdcard instead of the in the phone internal storage.....and so on.)

Does the GPS work in NZ even with the hacked Gmaps, at this stage I thought it was only available in the US.

This post has been edited by cndnlink: 01 February 2010 - 11:33 AM

[Linuxluver]

cndnlink, on 01 February 2010 - 01:30 PM, said:

Where have you heard that?

It was the state of play according to HTC and was current at the time I posted it on December 30th. Since then, Rogers has announced free phone upgrades for G1 owners, tied to 3 year contract renewals starting on the day they receive their replacement HTC Magic 32A.

cndnlink, on 01 February 2010 - 01:30 PM, said:

Does the GPS work in NZ even with the hacked Gmaps, at this stage I thought it was only available in the US.

GPS navigation worked in NZ via a hacked version (usable on rooted phones) of Gmaps until December 7th when Google disabled it. A couple of days later another hacked version came out, but with some limitations. The latest hacked version can't give you the name of the street you are on at the moment (calling it "Unnamed street") and it only occasionally gives spoken instructions...and they are often rendered too late. But the screen presents the nav progress info and instructions just as it would in the US.

This post has been edited by Linuxluver: 03 February 2010 - 12:28 AM

[jasonw]

Ahhh, As I stupidly flashed my rom to a third party one to get some chinese input support I totally didnt get the push update from vodafone nz to 1.6. Now I guess I wouldnt get an auto update to 2.1 either!

Anyone here knows how I could get back to the sweet official google backed android rom? I could probably install a 1.6. But will that be recoginised by Vodafone so that I can get a future update if there will be any?


Appreciate.

This post has been edited by jasonw: 03 February 2010 - 11:23 AM

[Cowpatz]

Any news on when Vodafone will release a version 2 or higher update for the Magic?
Seems to have been out for a while now...why drag the chain?

[johnr]

Cowpatz, on 12 February 2010 - 03:09 PM, said:

Any news on when Vodafone will release a version 2 or higher update for the Magic?
Seems to have been out for a while now...why drag the chain?

Who advised Vodafone are?

[Linuxluver]

jasonw, on 03 February 2010 - 01:10 PM, said:

Ahhh, As I stupidly flashed my rom to a third party one to get some chinese input support I totally didnt get the push update from vodafone nz to 1.6. Now I guess I wouldnt get an auto update to 2.1 either!

Anyone here knows how I could get back to the sweet official google backed android rom? I could probably install a 1.6. But will that be recoginised by Vodafone so that I can get a future update if there will be any?

Appreciate.

There is a solution for your problem. If you can get a copy of a Nandroid backup of a stock ROM that has just been factory reset, then you can "restore" this to your phone and it is just like you have taken it out of the box from Vodafone. It contains no unique info about any individual phone. Provided you have not flashed your SPL, you may be able to just "checkin" and receive any update you have missed. Or...you just flash tha already-updated ROM from the nandroid backup...and you have it.

HTC also supply ROMs for phones so users can update them themselves...so this isn't anything bad or wrong. But HTC do not supply the Vodafone NZ version. You'd need to restore that from a backup taken from another phone.

If you need advice, let me know. andluver at gmail dot com.

You must be a cowboy to flash your phone without a backup! See cliff, go jump?? I admire your reckless courage if not your sense. :-)

This post has been edited by Linuxluver: 12 February 2010 - 02:40 PM

[Linuxluver]

johnr, on 12 February 2010 - 04:27 PM, said:

Cowpatz, on 12 February 2010 - 03:09 PM, said:

Any news on when Vodafone will release a version 2 or higher update for the Magic?
Seems to have been out for a while now...why drag the chain?

Who advised Vodafone are?

People assume Vodafone are fronting it so Vodafone are driving it. I suspect this a service provided to / through Vodafone globally by HTC as part of their value proprosition? The last OTA started in Europe and rolled out our way over the following week or so. It went really well.

We had an update in September. Sometime in the next 2-4 months would be nice...but no one should be panicking. This thread was started by me just to share any info we gleened from any / many source(s). :-)

I'm not going to bag Vodafone NZ. They are selling the only vendor-fronted Android phone in NZ....and I'm happy about that. Otherwise I would have had to parallel import or, worse, submit to Steve Job's restrictions as to what I'm allowed (and not allowed) to do with my phone.

This post has been edited by Linuxluver: 12 February 2010 - 02:39 PM

[rob_nz]

@Cowpatz, it's a little more complex than that.

Generally the hardware vendor have to optimise the build and then apparently the updates are sent back to google who somehow make the Over The Air updates available in conjunction with the carriers

Presumably after carriers testing and signoff the updates are released.

For some handsets, sold independently of carriers with stock manufacturer images, I believe you can get updates from the hw vendor.

I see on Phandroid the HTC have announced that the HTC Hero is getting 2.1 in March, and as the Hero is basically the same as the Magic from a hw spec point of view (apart from the RAM difference between the VF and vanilla Magics) it shouldn't be a big ask to get it on the Magic.

[Cowpatz]

rob_nz, on 12 February 2010 - 09:20 PM, said:

@Cowpatz, it's a little more complex than that.

Generally the hardware vendor have to optimise the build and then apparently the updates are sent back to google who somehow make the Over The Air updates available in conjunction with the carriers

Presumably after carriers testing and signoff the updates are released.

For some handsets, sold independently of carriers with stock manufacturer images, I believe you can get updates from the hw vendor.

I see on Phandroid the HTC have announced that the HTC Hero is getting 2.1 in March, and as the Hero is basically the same as the Magic from a hw spec point of view (apart from the RAM difference between the VF and vanilla Magics) it shouldn't be a big ask to get it on the Magic.

As far as I am concerned I bought this phone from Vodafone....I don't give a toss about what tie up they may or may not have with Google. It says Vodafone and HTC on the phone. When asked the sales person said yes it is fully upgradable...it was specifically requested. Yeah I guess I got 1.6 but is that it? I see on the HTC website that a 2.0 version for the Magic is available but it seems not for this version...more likely some sort of commercial reasoning other than whether or not it will run on it.
It makes it very hard to research smartphones like the Magic when there are so many different versions of it. Seems they go from a Lada to a Ferrari in specs. Vodafone's website is very poor when listing phone specs.

As for the previous Administrators very helpful post.....is there to be a further update to this phone or not? Simple question and a simple (helpful) answer should suffice.

[rob_nz]

Linuxluver, on 30 December 2009 - 04:49 PM, said:

Starting a thread for discussion / queries on this. Android 2.0, 2.01 and 2.1 are now (or within days) on the market. Apparently, HTC will be updating Android from v1.6 for existing phones. That represents excellent value and a great reason to risk buying an HTC phone on a 2 year contract in a rapidly evolving market segment (smartphones). No one wants to grit their teeth through the second year of a contract with an "old" phone.

Rogers (a Canadian telco) has apparently elected not to provide their HTC Magic users with the upgrade to Android 2.0 (what a great reason to NOT be a Rogers customer!). T-Mobile, in the US are apparently rolling out Android 2.0 to the owners of their venerable (1 year old at most) HTC Dream / G1 users.

I'm assuming Vodafone / HTC will be supporting their existing customers by rolling out Android 2.0 or 2.1.

Can anyone from VFNZ confirm? :-)

LL

There is an unconfirmed report on Phandroid (sourced via a tweet from a Spanish VF employee) that the VF Magic will at least get 2.0 soon.

Hardly definitive, but somewhat encouraging.

This post has been edited by rob_nz: 25 February 2010 - 07:05 AM

[Paul Brislen]

Just so you know, we don't control the timetable for roll out of updates for Droid... that's all handled by Google itself.

Cheers

Paul

[Linuxluver]

Paul Brislen, on 25 February 2010 - 03:11 PM, said:

Just so you know, we don't control the timetable for roll out of updates for Droid... that's all handled by Google itself.

Cheers

Paul

Androidspin.com is also reporting Vodafone in the UK will be rolling out an Android v2.[something] as soon as a week from now. If it goes like last time, we in NZ will follow a week or so later.

This post has been edited by Linuxluver: 26 February 2010 - 04:21 PM