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HTC Desire Gingerbread update released, excludes owners in US, Canada, Germany, Japan, and more

HTC Desire Gingerbread update released, excludes owners in US, Canada, Germany, Japan, and more

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In response to user backlash, HTC has just issued an Android 2.3 update for the Desire handset. There's a catch though, several actually. Per HTC's warning, the update is only recommended for "expert users who want to experience Android 2.3 and understand the limitations which apply to this update." What limitations, you ask? Well, for one, the update is not available OTA but as a downloadable ROM upgrade utility from HTC's developer site. Oh, and you're excluded from the update if you own a regional variant of the Desire sold in North America, Germany (Deutsche Telekom), South America, South Korea, and Japan. For those still eligible, HTC suggests backing up before flashing the ROM -- a procedure that will wipe any customizations and data not stored on the SD card. Even then, HTC warns that certain functions, like MMS and SMS, may no longer work after flashing.

As you'll recall, HTC originally stated that the Desire was not eligible for the Gingerbread update due to memory limitations. So it's no surprise to find HTC's 2.3 update missing several applications (like Facebook and operator applications), customizations, and wallpapers. The removed wallpapers and HTC applications are available for download from HTC's developer site while the removed Facebook application is downloadable from Android Market. Better than nothing we guess, and there's always the option to flash one of the unofficial Gingerbread builds for those excluded from this official release.

Source: HTC, Thanks Jani K.