HTC Desire to get Android Gingerbread after all as HTC backtracks
Just hours after it broke Desire owners' hearts by saying the Android phone wouldn't be updated to 2.3 Gingerbread, HTC has changed its mind.
This morning we reported on HTC's Facebook announcement that there just wasn't enough room on the HTC Desire to support both Android 2.3 Gingerbread and its own HTC Sense user interface. Hours later, it has posted another update simply stating, "Contrary to what we said earlier, we are going to bring Gingerbread to HTC Desire."
We have no further information as to why the decision was overturned. But it could well have been in response to a huge user outcry, in a similar vein to its decision to unlock smart phone bootloaders.
Alternatively, someone with the keys to HTC's Facebook page is publishing things well before the company has had time to sit in a darkened room and really think through the consequences. The company is now second only to the coalition government in its U-turn rpm.
As expected, there are some incredulous responses to the announcement. While some commenters sarcastically note that the engineers must've received a sudden speed boost, others are concerned there may be some catch. Those that have rooted their device and are already running Gingerbread merely comment that HTC is too late to the party.
Perhaps there's a slight glimmer of hope that HTC will allow users to easily remove HTC Sense from the Desire and simply have plain Gingerbread on board. Sense isn't all bad -- far from it, it has some great widgets -- but most savvy users prefer an Android that hasn't been messed about with.
It's an impossible dream that companies will always get things right in the eyes of their customers. At least HTC seems to have listened to its fan base and done the decent thing. We are a little surprised that it seems HTC didn't see this coming -- perhaps it just enjoys hosting a lively discussion on its Facebook page.
There's the nagging feeling HTC will allow Desire owners to update their handsets to Gingerbread but that the experience will be so awful there's a "we told you so" moment. All smart phones have to drop off the update curve at some point -- look at Apple's iOS -- but not when the handset has only just celebrated its first birthday.
What do you think of HTC's recent gaffes? Are you still a loyal fan or are you planning to defect to another manufacturer for your next Android fix?