Froyo finally coming to the Epic (and maybe Captivate)

When the whole Samsung Galaxy line launched, they were all running Android 2.1, Eclair even though Froyo was already available. Samsung and the carriers told everyone not to worry, that an update to Froyo would be provided very soon. Well, the devices have all been out for over 6 months now and the updates are finally starting to arrive. The Vibrant on T-Mobile was the first to receive the Froyo update, and now the Sprint Epic (and maybe the AT&T Captivate) are joining the fun.



The update to the Epic will begin rolling out on Monday and Sprint promises that all customers should receive it by Friday the 25th.

The update to the Captivate was briefly available on Samsung's website, but has since been pulled down. Hopefully this means that the update will be arriving very soon, and someone simply posted it on the website a bit too soon. We'll have to wait and see.

It's important to note that Froyo is already running on nearly 60 percent of phones, and that Gingerbread is also available. Since the Galaxy S devices are receiving Froyo so late, what can be expected for updates to Gingerbread and beyond? Nobody knows.

Yeah, I'm not going to buy a Samsung product anytime soon. But it's important to remember that the vast majority of customers don't have any clue what version of Android they're running, and that those that do care have likely already rooted and updated their phones manually. So, even late, it's good to see these devices receiving updates at all, unlike some.

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I'm getting really tired of long overdue updates being news. It's such a sorry state of affairs, and it always makes me angry and annoyed. And although Ryan's right that not many people are aware of or care what version they have, there are features that come with the upgrades that would seriously improve customer perception of the Android brand. I feel bad for everyone who doesn't know what they're missing.