Dell Streak owners enraged by O2's flawed Android upgrade

Some O2 customers who've upgraded their Dell Streak from Android 1.6 to 2.1 are encountering problems.

The Register reported that the operating-system upgrade has actually taken away more than it's added, with some Streak users reporting that they've lost features such as Windows Media Video playback, PC syncing and the Facebook widget.

Other issues include problems with the touchscreen, Internet browsing and voice commands, the appearance of back-to-front volume keys, and wiped contacts. For some people, the update didn't work, and caused problems with the existing Android 1.6 OS.

On the Dell forum, some users vented their spleen about the situation. Nsaspooks said: "There are a lot of very unhappy Streak owners out there -- some like me, who got their Streak from their network operator only to be left with a pretty-looking, next-to-useless phone."

"This is going to be a hard act for Dell to recover from. [It requires] either a mass recall, or bug-free software and free 32GB memory cards for everyone who's experienced a problem," Nsaspooks continued.

On the O2 forum, Jasyjason claimed to have spoken to Dell, with the manufacturer saying that an extra update would be available this week due to the mass of complaints.

The issues with the Streak update come only days after O2 customers reported problems with upgrading their HTC Desire to Android 2.2, resulting in the update being suspended. Indeed, there have been numerous woefultales concerning Android upgrades over the past few weeks.

Part of the problem is a chaotic system in which Google releases multiple versions of the Android OS to different manufacturers, who then pass it on to different networks.

PC Pro quoted an analyst from VisionMobile as saying: "'[Google] has released five pretty major upgrades. That's way faster than any other OS vendor has been able to manage and that creates software issues for vendors and developers. By the time they get up to speed... there is a new version to work with."

Who's to blame for this darned mess and how do you think it should be rectified? Let us know in the comments section below.