By Vodafone’s taking on quite the beating from their customers lately. Two (seemingly big) issues come to light here. Firstly, Nexus One owners with the carrier are angry because they’ve yet to receive the upgrade to Android 2.2 as timely as those in America have. With the delay comes the question “so what’s taking you so long?”.
That’s where problem number two comes into play: Vodafone’s modifying the firmware upgrade before they gear up to launch it for their Nexus-toting customers. Afraid that Vodafone might be omitting key Android 2.2 features such as internet tethering and hotspot capabilities, those customers have taken it to the official FroYo Nexus One thread on the carrier’s forums.
After a large thread of confusion and miscommunication, it’s said that the modifications are to ensure MMS and Voicemail features are working properly before Vodafone would have to eventually deal with a large influx of customer complaints. Who wouldn’t want their carrier looking out for the best interest of their device, right? Wrong!
A lot of the uproar stems from the supposed fact that Vodafone promised Nexus One purchasers (in voice and in writing) that they would not be touching any firmware updates for the device (and apparently they don’t care if that right would come at the expense of a buggy launch). As they understand it, all updates should be coming directly from Google.
It’s not unreasonable to want that, while at the same time it’s unreasonable to expect Google to bake FroYo in such a way that it behaves perfectly on any carrier in the world without a hitch. Sometimes things need a little bit of tweaking, and if what Vodafone says is true, then it’s just a harmless precaution. When they finally push the update out and you can’t find an option to tether for the life of you, then we’ll begin to panic.
[Thanks, Remy!]
welcome to the party, i never got ANY update on my HTC Magic, thanks to vodafone/proxims. all we’ve been hearing, for over half a year, is “sorry, we dont have any information at this time”
Glad I got my Nexus One directly from Google even if I am with Vodafone UK.
Why buy a carrier locked phone?
In the UK you can buy just about any phone unlocked and able to work with any carrier. If you buy a service plan with it at the same time you will nearly always get it a lot cheaper than you would buying it directly from the carrier.
It then means you can get updates direct from the manufacturer, swap your SIM to a local SIM while travelling, choose the best carrier for you regardless of whether they are stocking the phone yet or not. You can also choose one of the hundreds of Mobile phone sellers who are in massive competition to provide the best deal.
The only downside is that if they never stock the phone you might not get the level of support you might otherwise get.
Example: I bought my unlocked, unbranded HERO when they were first available from an online store, got it for Free with a 24 month Orange Service contract (600 free minutes, unlimited text, 500Mb data), got £195 cashback (as well as the free phone), a free Jabra Bluetooth Headset and a month’s free insurance and gadget support.
I can tether it to my PC, am running the official Android 2.1 and can get all Orange Apps including free Orange Maps navigation software. I’ve never had any problems from Orange with supporting it as though it is one they supplied.
Therefore, I can’t see any reason why I would buy a phone direct from a carrier.
News flash folks. If you want a carrier locked phone then you are at their mercy! So enjoy..
This is rocket science.
I’m happy with my nexus one in Australia because I bought it directly from google and manually updated to froyo. Even though I manually updated, the more recent small update came OTA.
Here in Italy still no sign of Froyo. We Italians are thinking of doing a class action to ignite the Vodafone stores.Keep in touch!
Actually the Nexus One bought through Vodafone isn’t carrier locked.
Tried it with an O2 sim and it worked perfectly fine.
@Adam C: No the phone is not carrier locked in the conventional sense of the term, in fact no Vodafone phones are (or have been for a number of years for that matter). It is carrier locked in the sense that although Vodafone are trying to pass the blame, they are responsible for approving the firmware before it is pushed to devices.
hi people,
I bought my phone from Google directly while in the US, but now I returned to Israel and last Saturday I received the Froyo OTA update directly from ERE27 to the FRF91 build. Since Israel is not even covered by the Nexus One it means that the update has nothing to do with your location. It has everything to do with the company selling you the phone!
Your story is full of very very bad info. If you have read all the comments on the Nexus One support forums thread then you would know that 2.2 has gone out to all the T-mobile ERE27, FRF50, FRF72, FRF83, FRF85B models and the AT&T EPE54B models which were sold all around the world. They were all updated at the same to the day FRF91 was sent out people from Europe, India, Africa, Mexico, China, Singapore, Australia, Canada and America etc were all reporting that they were getting 2.2 over 1G, 2G, 3G, and WiFi. The Vodafone part is wrong because if those other people aren’t reporting any problems than why do they need a “custom” version of Froyo. If anybody is on a Vodafone version and is tired of waiting check this post from the support forums:
ganesh86 has posted an answer to the question “when will be available the Nexus One update to Android 2.2 Froyo? Will be the OTA? Thanks”:
rooted my Nexus one and upgraded to Froyo 2.2… Trust me, firstly, even the ERE27 ROM is much better than the EPF21 and EPF30 and you get access to all the applications in the market .. I’m sure vodafone will restrict many features..
My Advice to all the people in EUROPE: F%#K VODAFONE and upgrade it yourselves..
Follow this guide: http://bloginblack.de/2010/07/how-to-upgrade-your-vodafone-google-nexus-one-from-epf30-to-froyo-today/
(takes 15 mins) as long as you have all the files..
By waiting you’ll are just making a mistake.. Enjoy your freedom
@jdog The story is not full of bad info… The story is about Vodafone customers that received the device from Vodafone – not Google – subsidized. Just as you said, Vodafone users are wondering why they can’t get the update if people in other countries can with no problems. In the article, I explain that Vodafone users are angry because they feel they should have the update by now and that Vodafone shouldn’t be tinkering with the OTA. I’m not sure where that was lost in the translation, as you’ve pointed out the exact same thing that I did.
I bought the Nexus One from Vodafone because it was meant to be unlocked and untouched by Vodafone. If the update does not arrive soon or when it does has been customised I will be cancelling my contract under the ‘sales of goods act’.
If you want a laugh I emailed Vodafone asking when I would get the Android 2.2 update and this is what they sent me:
I am sorry to learn about the difficulties you are facing with your phone.
I’ve checked our system and noticed that Android is supported with Google Nexus handset.
As Vodafone does not have any Android application. To get this application, you need to download the application from any Android market which is supported with your handset.
I trust the above information is helpful.
Kind regards,
Abha Vyas
!!!EPIC FAIL!!!
@Claudio Many people from the Nexus One support forums already reported last week that they were getting 2.2 in Italy.
Why can’t people be patient? Its only a simple update and until we receive it in the UK via Vodafone we shouldn’t complain as to what is or isn’t included in it. Just enjoy the as it is for now, its still amazing.
@Quentyn Kennemer “It’s not unreasonable to want that, while at the same time it’s unreasonable to expect Google to bake FroYo in such a way that it behaves perfectly on any carrier in the world without a hitch.”
What I’m trying to point out is that Froyo is behaving perfectly on carriers around the world. You should probably correct this story.
@Jdog yes, but on “some” carriers. If Vodafone’s to be believed, then it apparently doesn’t apply to them. It’s still perfectly valid speculation.
To those saying its the purchaser fault.. Voda not only sold these as carrier unlocked they made clear assurances, in writing and in store, that this was going to be an untouched google phone, with the obvious google updates, which they are now blocking.
They lied… Pure and simple.. Its a fair grievance.
Just root the damn phone, and update to Froyo.
@jdog
I know, However i don’t own a Nexus one. I just got an Htc Wildfire! :-(
I’ve manually upgrade from a Vodafone EPF21B to Froyo FRF91 and it works perfectly.
No need to tweak or change anything with the network settings. Vodafone is lying.
The German VF customers are just as upset
https://www.vodafone.de/forum/posts/list/2223.page
All the best
MM
@Quentyn Kennemer Your speculation is just that “speculation” I’m just trying to provide some truthful info and not guess about whats happening. I have read all 4413 posts on the Froyo thread from the Nexus One support forums and just like comment #19 said Vodafone is lying I also just saw this comment in the thread:
Doume83 has posted an answer to the question “when will be available the Nexus One update to Android 2.2 Froyo? Will be the OTA? Thanks”:
Doume83:
@jdog25 : SFR and Voda have same build version epf21b. I did the manual non official update and I can tell you my N1 works perfectly. My version is that issues mentionned by mobile operators are lies and lies. One weeks and all things runs smooth, I do not know what they are thinking about when saying “phone won’t work properly”…
@Anon, How did you manually upgrade? did you downgrade to the non vodafone build then upgrade to 85b/91 or just straight from epf21b to frf91?
Already got the 2.2 OTA on my Nexus One and I’m on UK Vodafone… but I did buy it directly from Google however.
As a Vodafone UK HTC Magic owner I have already experienced the pathetic lack of updates from Vodafone who have always pointed at Google and HTC being responsible, and I am stuck with a buggy 1.6. As far as I can tell this is all because they basically want to put their own bootsplash on there and a custom app which does nothing whatsoever.
My contract is coming up for renewal and I was considering sticking with Vodafone to get the N1, simply because they said specifically that they would not be touching any updates which would come direct from Google instead. This was obviously a lie. I will now go to another carrier once my contract is up, Vodafone just do not understand what Android is about.
And yes, I realise there are issues with the hardware of the HTC Magic and 2.x because Vodafone decided to sell a crippled version to its unwitting customers.
I have to say that in general I am extremely disappointed with the update model Android has adopted, there are far too many hands in the update pie and it is a major glaring flaw that Android has. They need to offer a way to download updates directly bypassing the carrier (even if it invalidates the warranty etc). It doesn’t help that Google denies any fragmentation issue either as this just plays into the carriers hands.
I have tried rooting and it ended-up being more unstable than stock firmware.
I’m curious, can’t the Vodafone folks who are impatient just manually update their phones, esp. if it’s an “untouched” (supposedly) phone?
There’s plenty of links to the Google OTA files in the various formus. And the official files do not require rooting your phone.
I even found an “Upgrade from anything” file, but that was to FRF85B and the link for that file is now dead; I’d assume there’s one like that for the FRF91 build…
Just wondering
_Mark
I would be pissed too! Glad I live in the good ol’ USA. Been enjoying my tasty froyo for almost 2 months. I would root if I were without 2.2 at this point.
This is getting to be the norm. People flood message boards because they want it and they want it NOWW!!!!! Buncha ingrates if you ask me. Buy your phones because of how they work out of the box and you will never be disappointed. Updates are an added bonus. The fact that you can get free updates to these mobiles multiple times a year is awesome. Also, if you really want the updates ASAP regardless of possible compatibility and performance issues, why not just install a custom ROM? These aren’t iPhones here. They’re pocket super-dee-duper computers. Why do you need to be spoon fed updates if you are so eager to be on the bleeding and untested edge?
@mark, the upgrade from anything file does work from anything…….apart from a vodafone contract phone, I already tried it myself, and the reason we dont all just root our phones so we can install it is that we instantly void our warrantys by doing this.
Seeing as vodafone are now moderating all posts on the eforums i think they are concerned with the publicity this is giving them. However although they seem to have more than enough time to moderate all posts, they do not have time to respond to customers emails. There customer service in this case has been absoloutly abismall, my only hope now is consumer direct will force them to act.
It is even worse.
On the Vodafone forum NL (the Netherlands), you are kick out when asking a question to Vodafone about Froyo.
I was not attend to root my handset, but Vodafone almost don’t leave me an other choice
To reply to @jerbear I really don’t think its ungrateful of us to be annoyed. This phone wasn’t a gift to me. I payed for it after having been given the impression… That it would be receiving updates along with all other nexuses… They are after all the same phone… Testing and checking is unnecessary by vodafone. Google have been testing it for months… Software like this really doesn’t need to be network specific or the whole concept of an open unlocked phone would be impossible despite it having been google’s original mandate. The split between the software on vf phones and directly bought phones is unnecessary. If there’s no update I’m happy… But if you spend the whole time telling me about how great the update is going to be… That I’ll have it in weeks… But throwing up hurdles is a real carrot and stick job… Being treated like that sucks!
To people who have said it is our own fault for buying the vodafone version. There are many factors needed to consider before you condemn us mainly we were told we could get updates the same time and that it wouldnt be edited in anyway, now for me I got my n1 free for £35 a month 24 month contract and working it out this was slightly more expensive.
How ever buying it on contract seemed better for me in the short run because i did not have £500 to pay out in 1 payment for a phone.
Hearing reports that vodafone have not even received froyo from google yet is worrying as they only test it when they have it and testing can take up to a month so we are not looking at getting froyo till august even september which in my opinion is completely out of order as when choosing the n1 i was told updates faster however my friend on his g1 is going to get froyo around september.
If i recieve froyo 2 months after its n1 release and at the same time as other android phones get it I shall be getting vodafone to release me from my contract as they gave many of us inaccurate information leading us to buy these phones
It’s phenomenal how badly both google and vodafone have messed up this roll-out for us voda-customers. The fact is the update would have worked fine on all nexus one phones around the world. I find it hard to believe there would have been a negative impact in any way if it were to be released straight away. If vodafone want to optimise froyo for their network this should be done through a service patch and not by keeping us waiting while they fart about. It’s negative PR from delusions of adequacy.
Vodafone have delayed the release two months and counting by interfering with the code, after many users purchased contracts with Vodafone on the assurance updates would be released immediately without interference from Vodafone.
Vodafone have since modified all advertising claiming there would not be any interference, and are making it difficult for customers to prove otherwise.
Furthermore, Vodafone forum moderators only post unhelpful, misleading or conflicting advice which is often edited or removed to cover their tracks as well as deleting genuinely helpful advice from the community.