In an announcement Tuesday, AT&T says that all Android phones that were released in 2011 will get the Gingerbread update from Google. The phones include the HTC Inspire 4G, Motorola Atrix and the Samsung Captivate. The update coming, called “Gingerbread”, has actually been available since the Nexus S launched back in December of 2010. What is taking so long? Well, it is well documented that not all Android phones have seen the update yet, AT&T wants to get the phones on their network updated this year. The updates might not be able to get “over the air” and might require a user to connect to a computer to download.
The only phone on the list that was not released this year was the Samsung Captivate, but AT&T has decided to include it on the list. There are actually six total phones on the list and other than the three mentioned above, they include the Pantech Crossover, LG Phoenix and the Samsung Infuse 4G. The Motorola Atrix4G was updated last week and the Nexus S will come pre-loaded with the software update. Users of the phones that are on the list will likely not even notice the updates because each phone has a customizable interface which the updates do not affect. Some of the features different from Froyo include an enhanced touch screen keyboard, better interface and easy copy and paste feature.
AT&T says that most phones can be updated over the air, but some are a bit trickier to update and might require a computer connection in order to handle the larger file size. If you are looking for a release schedule, you will not find one and AT&T released a statement saying, “Factors such as manufacturer-defined software and other device-performance improvements result in each device requiring a separate update which will vary in timing.”
One of the features that will come with the Gingerbread update includes video chat. Most of the phones on the list will not be able to use this feature because they do not have any front-facing camera available. On the flip side, the improved battery life will be a plus, as well as the more efficient multitasking system included in the update. This announcement comes from AT&T in hopes of gaining some popularity with the Android crowd they sort of shunned at first when they lost the iPhone exclusivity.
