odafone customers beware!!

Evil Genius said:

nit picking? not really.

you "warned" about this:

...all those people that have purchased a phone directly from their network operator that currently have generic firmware pre-installed may end up with a network branded phone after the update to Froyo...

which would never happen because if you have generic firmware, you will get generic updates from HTC.

what really happened is that Vodafone customers were looking out for FroYo 2.2 and Vodafone sneaked out an update to their own 2.1 firmware at the same time which caught people out.

Click to expand...

What he means is the original firmware on the handset had absolutely no branding on there at all, so many would have believed it to be a generic firmware. So when seeing that there is an update available you would believe it was the generic 2.2, when in fact it was a vodafone firmware with a load of vodafone branding and what appears to be a new bootloader that prevents us from flashing any other roms!

official word on it:

Yesterday, 3rd August, Vodafone released a pre-planned Android 2.1 update to our Desire customers. This was originally scheduled for release a couple of weeks ago but was delayed to technical reasons.

We are still working on the Android 2.2 update with HTC and Google and are planning to release this as soon as possible.

Yesterday's Android 2.1 update gives customers access to Vodafone 360 products and services, which brings the experience on the Desire in line with other devices supplied by Vodafone. This means that customers have the choice to use 360 services as they wish to.

It is not currently possible for the customisations to be uninstalled from the device.

Please feel free to continue to discuss this matter here or raise any queries regarding perceived faults or features here. We'll be merging all other discussions about this topic into that thread.

We'd also recommend watching this particular topic, as any updates will be posted here.

Thanks,

Tom

eForum Team

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lekky said:

official word on it:

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"Posted Yesterday, 01:54 PM
Hi

Thanks for your post. There are a number of factors that influence the timescale of firmware releases. As any information on dates would always be subject to change, we do not provide this information. However, here are a few frequently asked questions that will be helpful:

Why does Vodafone have its own software on phones?

We customise phone software to optimise customers' experience of the device on the Vodafone network and to enable access to our services. At a basic level, this can involve ensuring services like MMS, voicemail and data connections are set correctly. In other instances, our customisation is more extensive such as the preloading of services (People, My Web, 360 Shop, etc), but this varies from device to device.

Why does Vodafone delay the issue of future software updates?

Prior to releasing or approving any software update for customers who have bought a handset through Vodafone, we test it thoroughly to ensure it provides customers the best possible experience on our network. Our testing process begins as soon as we receive the software, which often happens once the manufacturer has already released the open market version of the software. During the review process, we report any issues with the software back to the manufacturer for them to address. Once the firmware is approved by Vodafone, we return it to the manufacturer and they will then distribute the software to customers through the appropriate channels.

We undertake this process with every device that we sell to customers, regardless of whether or not the handset contains Vodafone branded software.

If you have purchased the device from another company (Phones 4U, Carphone Warehouse etc) it is possible that the device may not be on the Vodafone version of software. In this case the manufacturer would be in control of releasing any future updates.

Do you add or remove anything compared to the standard firmware?

To ensure the handset is optimised for performance on Vodafone, we will sometimes add or remove certain functions. As an example, we would remove an App that only worked in America (e.g. Netflix) to avoid confusion for people trying to use it in the UK. We also remove other operators' settings from the handset to free up onboard memory.

When will the update be available?

As mentioned above, there are numerous factors which influence a release date which means we cannot give a date; even an estimate would often change. The best option is to use the following link to check for available software updates on your phone

What happens if I update my phone to an unofficial (non-Vodafone) version of software?

Any mobile phone we sell is covered by a Vodafone warranty in addition to a manufacturer warranty. Any device upgraded to a non Vodafone approved version of software which then becomes faulty may then not be covered by warranty.

Firmware Feedback

As there is nothing more we can add we won't reply to this thread again, however, we are happy for you to discuss the above and any other firmware related topics. We will always leave one main thread open per phone and then direct any new queries about the same issue to the original thread. As this is the first thread about this specific phone, we will now link any new posts to here. This makes sure any interested eForum members will know where to come to discuss any firmware feedback. As this is a discussion thread we won

STANNY said:

What he means is the original firmware on the handset had absolutely no branding on there at all, so many would have believed it to be a generic firmware. So when seeing that there is an update available you would believe it was the generic 2.2, when in fact it was a vodafone firmware with a load of vodafone branding and what appears to be a new bootloader that prevents us from flashing any other roms!

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no, sorry. the only way you would get the prompt from VF to update would be to have VF firmware so the original firmware was from VF not HTC.

you mean that the phone had no signs of branding (splashscreen, logo, apps, bookmarks etc). that is something different.

if you had generic HTC firmware, you would have been prompted to update to 2.2.

So this has affected any phone with a voda SIM in it, or did they have a ROM version that appeared generic, but had a different software version number - and its these that are affected?

got duped into downloading this now i cant download apps from the market. its just sticks saying download started.
any ideas?

damn im pi$$ed off

Don't think I've seen this mentioned but ahs the upgrade made anyone elses SMS work a lot slower? It takes about five seconds for my inbox to open up. Also, my message tone has stopped working which, as you can imagine, is a real pain!

I've rung Vodafone and the technical department was closed, so the guy said I can either ring back tomorrow or restore my phone to factory settings which, once again, is a right pain! Guess I'll just ring tomorrow and take it from there.

Evil Genius said:

no, sorry. the only way you would get the prompt from VF to update would be to have VF firmware so the original firmware was from VF not HTC.

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We know all this, but the point is, a lot of people believed they had generic HTC firmware and thought they would get generic HTC 2.2 as thier phones showed no signs of VF branding even though their phones where supplied by VF.

Evil Genius said:

you mean that the phone had no signs of branding (splashscreen, logo, apps, bookmarks etc). that is something different.

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Yes, hence why they believed they had generic firmware.

Evil Genius said:

if you had generic HTC firmware, you would have been prompted to update to 2.2.

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I think most people know this already and the above explains why they thought they had generic HTC firmware and where expecting 2.2.

Read the OP and you will see what i'm talking about, this is why people are up in arms about this update from VF.

nx1977 said:

...or did they have a ROM version that appeared generic, but had a different software version number - and its these that are affected?

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Yes, this about sums it up.

d.chatten said:

We know all this, but the point is, a lot of people believed they had generic HTC firmware and thought they would get generic HTC 2.2 as thier phones showed no signs of VF branding even though their phones where supplied by VF.

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then they should have checked their firmware OR the update before updating.

d.chatten said:

Read the OP and you will see what i'm talking about, this is why people are up in arms about this update from VF.

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yes, the OP was correct. yes, i understand the uproar.

however, my original comment was regarding your so-called warning.

d.chatten said:

I warned this may happen, but it seems that my post was mostly ignored, Link > http://androidforums.com/1266225-post964.html

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d.chatten said:

Does HTC determine which firmware update you get by the firmware you currently have installed?, or, do they use a product code like Nokia to determine which network branded or generic firmware updates you get?

If they use a product code then all those people that have purchased a phone directly from their network operator that currently have generic firmware pre-installed may end up with a network branded phone after the update to Froyo.

Just a thought.

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you said that people with generic firmware who used VF may end up with a branded version of 2.2. that could never happen. that is my point.

nx1977 said:

So this has affected any phone with a voda SIM in it, or did they have a ROM version that appeared generic, but had a different software version number - and its these that are affected?

Click to expand...

this guy said the same thing as i did and you confirmed it!

that's all folks.

i just heard the update isnt there anymore, can anyone confirm this?

You are correct!
After reading all the posts on here, I checked on Monday and the update was there. Wasn't listed as 2.2 so left it. Also disabled auto-updates, just in case!

Checking now - manually searching, its says "there are no updates available for your phone"

A bit bittersweet - well done those who's activism may have prompted VF to pull it, but commiserations that you had to learn the hard way!!

well i now have 2.2 on my vodafone branded desire, or should I say my ex vodafone branded desire
Followed the guide on here to root it then flashed it with a custom 2.2 rom from xda.

It went very well and I have never done anything like that before, well worth doing to get away from voda crap.

lolbug said:

USB brick/rickrolled/b0rked -> FIXED! - Android @ MoDaCo

There might be something there that might help you.

Good luck.

Click to expand...

Thanks but no joy. All I get is the ClockworkMod Recovery screen but I'm unable to go any further. I try a nandroid restore and it can't mount the sd card, I try apply update.zip and get the same error - is my phone completely dead ? Anyone with any help to get my phone working again I'd be very grateful. Thank You!

Hi,

Just to add my 2p worth - reading this forum scared me into contacting the ceo as well just in case they got any ideas about loading me with it too. This is what I said:

"Hi,

You may well have read a number of emails on this subject already but I'm writing to complain about the update Vodafone are sending out to people on Android phones which in effect is underhanded vandalism and a real own goal by vodafone.

I've not received my update yet but by chance was looking on the internet and found a number of people complaining about the fact that your company have been sending out their own update under the guise of an important update we're all waiting on - an update most others already received but we haven't as Vodafone have controlled the release to us. This is undoubtedly to trick people into sticking unwanted garbage on our phones. It effectively rebrands the phone full of junk from Vodafone that nobody will ever want and are unable to remove. Not only are you wasting your own firms time by putting together this kind of garbage but you are also wasting your customers time, which equals money, and truly annoying them.

To make matters worse moderators on the Vodafone forum are removing this feedback link to you - undoubtedly as they don't want you to find out how much their department have been annoying and alienating your customers. Unless of course you don't really want feedback from customers and you've asked them to do this.

I'm a Vodafone business customer running a small business that I'm doing my best to grow. I spend good money with you and would look to spend more but underhanded activity like this alienates me from Vodafone and makes me want to use another firm and at present I will not be adding any more contracts to the Vodafone network until this matter is addressed.

I look forward to your response,"

Let's hope they kick this into touch.

Id be really pissed if i hadnt read up, and installed this vodafone update. Thank the starts for this forum, and others like it. I got annoyed and put on froyo myself earlier today.

Thank heavens I heard about this in time...

This absolutely stinks, and unless there is a major retraction and promise never to do it again, it's the last time I get do business with their company.

Screw you vodafone.

I'm also warning others to steer clear of the company, and not to 'up' grade.

Nick

The thing is when the 2.2 update comes, you just know they are gonna include this crap in it.

We should keep the pressure on to make it totally optional and be able to remove splash screens etc as well. There is no justification for enforcing apps that you cannot remove.

As far as the bookmarks go I expect they get paid for doing it by the companies they are linking to. If there are adverts in the 360 app I expect its sold to advertisers on the basis it will be put on every VF phone..

I never received a notification for the update luckily. My phone has no branding on it at all and I'll do my best to keep it that way.

Just one note: I have the places app on my phone but did not get this update. I'm thinking this might of been part of a recent google maps app update ?

Crafty said:

Just one note: I have the places app on my phone but did not get this update. I'm thinking this might of been part of a recent google maps app update ?

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Yeah youre right, for some reason people are confusing places with this VF upgrade - Its just from the latest maps update, which I guess VF might have put in this ROM. Either way its a google app - its not VF bloatware.

Seems they have pulled it for now, I imagine it'll be back though, probably just fixing the stupid messaging bugs it caused for a lot of people.

If they were gonna push out crap like this they could have at least tested it.

Crafty said:

The thing is when the 2.2 update comes, you just know they are gonna include this crap in it.

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They've already said they will;

Vodafone's Desire update irks Froyo-hungry users | Mobile IT | ZDNet UK

second from last paragraph.

The sad reality is that I don't think that this will prevent them from either a) removing the branding in the 2.2 update, or b) ever doing it again.

Cross company publicity is a massive market for telecoms - effectively free advertising that also brings additional revenue streams (i.e. as some have mentioned, you are forced to use GPRS rather than WiFi, the music store, additional advertising on the 360 apps). Its a massive part of their business plan.

Those of us on this forum and elsewhere represent a tiny percentage of vodafone customers and probably a small percentage of Desire users anyway. It would be nice to think that our activism leads them to change their ways, either short or long term, but I'm not holding my breath!

MF DROID said:

anyone had the problem with text messages all being duplicated after this VF update?

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Hi MF i had this problem and have created a work around which i have just posted in this thread http://androidforums.com/htc-desire/142779-sms-duplicates-after-vodafone-bloatware-update.html if your interested

Evil Genius said:

then they should have checked their firmware OR the update before updating.

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I absolutely agree, it's just most people thought they had generic firmware so didn't bother checking, naive? yes.

Evil Genius said:

however, my original comment was regarding your so-called warning.

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This is the reason why i said i could have worded my post differently, but this seems to have been completely overlooked when you quote me about my so called warning.

Evil Genius said:

you said that people with generic firmware who used VF may end up with a branded version of 2.2. that could never happen. that is my point.

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I know exactly what your point is.

The problem is, we both agree on everything apart from my so called warning, yes i could of worded my post differently as i said earlier, but i didn't, but shurely you can understand where i'm coming from, can't you?

d.chatten said:

...but shurely you can understand where i'm coming from, can't you?

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oh hell yeah. those sneaky VF so and so's.....

TonyHTC said:

Totally out of order for Voda to release this while the whole community of Desire owners are waiting of Froyo.

If we had 2.2 and could install apps to SD it wouldn't be so bad but to throw a load of S**T on everyone's phone that takes up internal memory is a P**S take!

Message the CEO of Vodafone on the link here and have a rant if you're a bit annoyed. Apparently someone will respond by way of a phone call - still haven't had my call yet though.... I don't think i'll stay up waiting tonight!

Feedback to the Vodafone UK CEO

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Brilliant! Thanks for the link!

Just stuck my bit into there - temptiong though it is to rant and swear, they will probably just filter those. So I said that unless they reversed it, and promised not to repeat, I'd be recommending all friends and colleagues to avoid their company.

Lost business will upset them a lot more than swearing!

Hey, if they are calling links to dating and flirt sites a 'service', maybe we could provide them with a similar 'service' in the vodafone forums?