Jun 15 AT 12:49 PM Alberto Vildosola 27 Comments

Gingerbread finally arrives on Verizon’s Droid 2 Global, tons of improvements in tow

Droid 2 Global’s users rejoice. You can now join the somewhat exclusive club of people that own a Gingerbread-powered Android device. Verizon announced this morning that Droid 2 Global users can now download the much-desired OTA update right from their phones. Menu Key > Settings > About phone > System Updates > Download, and that’s it. Thirty to sixty minutes later you’re rocking Gingerbread on your phone like nobody’s business.

Aside from the usual stability and performance improvements, this update also brings a handful of new features to the Droid 2 Global, like:

Download Manager App
App and Power Management Details
Multi-Touch Key-Chording
Improved Word Selection and Copy Functionality
New User Interface and Color Scheme
Customizable Dock Icons
Custom App Groups
Device and SD Card encryption
And a whole lot more. Just take a look at Verizon’s website.

The Droid 2 Global is now part of a growing list of devices that run on Android’s latest and greatest. Still, only 9.2% of Android devices have Gingerbread. Compare that to the massive 64.6% that are powered by the year-old Android 2.2 Froyo. Or the 21.2% that are still running Eclair.

It’s even worse than it looks when you consider Gingerbread’s source code was released seven months ago. Think about that for a second. Seven months after release, the OS is only running on 9.2 percent of all Android devices. That’s ridiculous. It’s like OEMs decided Froyo is good enough and just stopped there. I don’t know if Google feels this is a problem for the platform, but it’s definitely not helping.

Source: Verizon

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27 Comments Join the discussion!

BillGuest 06/15/11 12:57 PM

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Sooo, where is the Droid 2 (non-global) update????

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- RDGuest 06/15/11 1:04 PM
  
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  Seriously. I am pissed! Lets ready the torches!
  
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RalphGuest 06/15/11 1:09 PM

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Seriously, the Droid 2 came out before all of these other phones…..so where’s our update?!?!?!?

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- RalphGuest 06/15/11 1:12 PM
  
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  ….besides the Droid X
  
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KevinGuest 06/15/11 1:25 PM

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“I don’t know if Google feels like this is a problem for the platform, but it’s definitely not helping it.” Um…of course they think it’s a problem. They specifically addressed it in the Google I/O keynote. Remember? 18 months of support, OEM partners?

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DanielGuest 06/15/11 1:59 PM

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It’s not true that only 9.2% of devices are running Gingerbread, as this information is out of date. The Galaxy S update alone easily bumps this number to about 12%. Couple that with new phone releases and the Evo 4G and Droid X updates, and if the Desire update launches by the 25th I’m sure next month stats will be well above 20%.

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- GeauxLSUGuest 06/15/11 2:08 PM
  
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  And don’t forget all the rooted custom roms. I’ve had Liquid Gingerbread on my Droid for a long time.
  
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AlanGuest 06/15/11 2:08 PM

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In the grand sheme of things, Froyo isn’t half bad. Its when I would say that android got out of beta, its certainly good enough for most people. You wouldn’t say that those 64% are stuck on froyo, like you would with eclair. Gingerbread isn’t the huge jump that froyo was

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JeffGuest 06/15/11 2:08 PM

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hmm. i have the d2 global and i don’t see the update as being available at all.

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JonGuest 06/15/11 2:30 PM

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Another useless bait and switch article. It is NOT available on all D2G devices yet. Guess the idiot who wrote this has zero inside information…

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- 72 Alberto Vildosola 06/15/11 2:40 PM
  
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  You should know by now that these updates don’t hit all phones at once. It’s a gradual roll out instead.
  
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JeffGuest 06/15/11 3:24 PM

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actually, after looking at a few other sites, it is NOT rolling out this week. this week is a SOAK test to see how it performs and to work out any of the last little bugs. the OTA will happen sometime either next week (at earliest) or in the coming weeks. i also called my brother who has been working at big red for 17 years and also confirmed this. also, the VZW support page still has no word about the update or what it will bring.

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- DHGuest 06/15/11 7:15 PM
  
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  Actually Jeff it does right here http://support.vzw.com/system_update/droid_2_global.html
  
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  - JeffGuest 06/15/11 10:27 PM
    
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    umm, that page is ALWAYS there. the d2 global was updated a few months ago and showed the same page. the page STILL doesn’t show anything about Gingerbread. show me that page and i will retract this reply.
    
    i’m telling you my brother works for verizon and JUST the soak test is going to be going out to a few trusted people. after they work the bugs out (if any) they will schedule a date for the OTA.
    
    hell, even Phandroid reported this back on the 13th. This article is just a re-post of that with the same link.
    
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Greg BGuest 06/15/11 4:33 PM

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I definitely consider the industry’s failure to get updates out to equipment a definite anchor attached to Android’s ankle, but it also hurts the carriers and manufacturers that delay or fail to implement upgrades.

I got a Samsung Moment when it came out in November 2009. By May 2010, Sprint had announced that the software upgrade path would end at the recently released 2.1 update.

That meant that buyers would spend 75% or more of their contracts locked out of the features and applications that were offered/required by successive versions.

Combined with the little gotchas in the Moment (terrible battery life, quietly slipping into an Airplane Mode coma and requiring a reboot to get it out), I won’t buy Samsung ever again and am contemplating leaving Sprint when my contract is up. Android phone manufacturers are rushing inadequately debugged hardware and software to market and then abandoning support for it so they can focus on chasing the release cycle.

I’m probably going to wait for the Nexus 3 (unless Samsung’s making it).

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Daniel WrightGuest 06/15/11 8:00 PM

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I received an email about the soak test. As of 8:00PM the soak test hasn’t started.

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JayMonsterGuest 06/15/11 10:26 PM

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What everybody seems to overlook is the production cycle for these things. Just because a new version of the OS is released, the manufacturers, don’t just stop on a dime, halt what is already through QA and just throw a different OS onto these devices.

For example, Motorola had most likely been working on the Droid X2 since the original was released, so it was designed and tested with Froyo long before Gingerbread was released.

Yes, i think they should show Better job of turning these around and getting the OS updated in a much more timely fashion, but that is whole other issue. We saw this same cycle with Eclair where Donjut was still shipping on devices, and again with Froyo. It is time to stop with the chicken little whining about when the next version wil ship on more devices. You have to look at it realistically, other than one flagship device basically with each release, Google is not giving the source to developers earlier than the release, so naturally it is going to take time for them to hit the market. ( And please don’t use iOS as an example, Appe doesn’t do announcements until the device is ready.)

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Android all the way but..Guest 06/16/11 12:33 AM

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The only reason I respect Apple is becuase they are quick with updates and fixes when it comes to os/software. If Android would do this then they would do so much better and have a better chance on winning Apple customers over.

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TGeezy86Guest 06/16/11 2:35 AM

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Not that I’m trying to justify the OEMs slacking on getting updates onto their handsets, but to be fair Gingerbread doesn’t have nearly the kinda major improvements that the jump from Eclair to Froyo did.

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DomdymGuest 06/19/11 2:55 AM

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I loathed my phone by the time ginger bread came to it. now I love it

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DomdymGuest 06/19/11 3:41 AM

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Droid x.
Btw the best improvements are in graphics and os stability. plus It adds slither api to the system. I think out hd to do with nfc maybe

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CamBRockGuest 07/24/11 9:11 PM

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Well here it is end of july and where is my update?

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RDSGuest 08/06/11 8:14 AM

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Posting 06 July. Still no update available.

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MatthewGuest 08/08/11 12:02 PM

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it’s. August 8 and I still don’t have my update for my DROID 2 global

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JasonGuest 08/12/11 9:30 AM

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August 12 and still no update for my DROID 2 Global. Waiting for six months to fix problems on phone is ridiculous.

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Evan SteinGuest 08/14/11 8:02 PM

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14th and still not here. So embarassing for Verizon. I really, really hope we see it this month.

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MachDroidGuest 09/06/11 10:58 AM

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Finally, I am receving the OTA update for my Droid 2 Global phone over a GSM network outside USA. Right now it is been downloading 90%…

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