Vodafone lose the plot
The beauty of Android, well one of the beauties, is the level to which you can customize your handset. The open source nature of the platform means custom ROMs that can transform your phone, provide added functionality and make it feel like it’s truly yours and not just on loan from some nice billionaire. In these days of unbridled branding, Android offers an almost anarchic level of libertarianism.
Vodafone UK don’t get it though and are cancelling carrier warranties and refusing to provide any in store assistance for phones that have had unofficial middleware installed. Coming from a company that has struggled to keep up with official updates this is not just cheeky but downright mean spirited.
Despite the fact that their HTC Desire users are getting Froyo (OS 2.2) OTA today or tomorrow I’d have to say do not buy Vodafone. If you already have, its worth bearing in mind that middleware installations shouldn’t affect your manufacturers warranty, just the carrier warranty you got from Vodafone.
Syncronized Europe
HTC have made their Sync service available to European customers at last, via their support site. HTC Sync brings MS Exchange, Outlook and stuff like playlists to your phone, although I can’t seem to get it to work. Little help anyone?
Lots of new UK upgrades
The average Android operating system in the UK is gradually growing up. This week Orange will roll out 2.2 for their HTC Desire users (27th) and 3UK are bringing 2.1 to the HTC G2 (Hero) as I type. Finally T-Mobile UK will update the Samsung Galaxy Portal to 2.1 next month.