Froyo not coming to Droid Eris

A Verizon spokesperson recently confirmed to ComputerWorld that the Droid Eris will not be receiving any further Android updates and will not be updated to Android 2.2, Froyo. The Eris is nearly identical to the Sprint Hero, which also will not be updated past 2.1, Eclair.

The news that the Eris (and Hero) won't be receiving Froyo updates is disappointing, but sadly, not surprising. Froyo runs just fine on old hardware, as root users will tell you. Even the G1 and original MyTouch are perfectly capable of running Froyo, so it's sad that Eris and Hero users won't get official updates.



But both the Eris and the Hero are older devices, being released last year, so it's not surprising that Verizon and Sprint have decided to leave them behind, especially with newer, faster, and better devices now for sale. Verizon even said so in their statement: "We have other options in Android devices, so this is part of the normal evolution of our portfolio."

So, for all Eris and Hero users, it looks like the only way to get the latest and greatest version of Android, (and be able to use things like Chrome to Phone, Voice Actions, etc.), you'll have to root. [via Androinica]

I think it's sad that devices that are very capiable of being updated are being abandoned, especially devices like the Eris and Hero that were so heavily hyped in their day. But such is the nature of this market. The G1 was left behind long ago and is still officially stuck on 1.6, so it's not surprising at all that the Eris and Hero are going to remain on 2.1.

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Gah! I hate this. While a lot of users are ready for a new phone after a year, I don't think that should give carriers the green light to abandon them. Most people have contracts for two years anyway, and some people will choose to keep their phones far beyond that. And especially if those phones are still available for sale, they should be kept up to date.