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I5700 Galaxy Spica/lite officially gets Android 2.1

So after waiting and waiting and patiently waiting, and then getting fed up with waiting, I downloaded Odin and JCE and got myself all set to upgrade "unofficially". Then I read about lost APN settings, random reboots, bricked devices and voided warranties and chickened out. Rather than sit idly by though I thought I'd check out what T-Mobile (I'm in the UK) and Samsung had to say about it.

T-Mobile online help was useless. To be fair, they phoned in response to my email within five minutes, but explained that I should upgrade my phone by downloading 2.1 from AndroidMarket.com! A nonsense answer that I chose to ignore. The Twitter guys were much better (@TmobileUKhelp). "...we are awaiting confirmation... we will tweet and post on our forums T-Mobile Discussions - Discussions - UK Forums as soon as we hear." I'm not sure that they'll hear anything before we do, but if anybody's worth asking, they seem to be the ones who have some idea of what I'm talking about.

I've emailed Samsung three times.

First answer: "Please be advised that currently there is not an update available for the Samsung Android handsets to 1.6, 2.0 or 2.1 released in the UK.
"We do not have further information about future upgrades; however please refer to our website, www.uk.samsungmobile.com for further updates on this issue"

Second answer: "With regard to your enquiry, although some versions of the i5700 have
Android OS v2.1, these units are the Eclair variant - in the UK, we have the Cupcake variant, which is running OS v1.5.
"The best place to find out about updates available in the UK would be via the Samsung Mobile - Home website or by calling us. Alternatively, as these units are on T-Mobile, you may be able to obtain information from them.
"At this moment, we do not have a date for any updated version of the OS from v1.5."

Both, IMHO, pretty poor answers too. We all know there's no such thing as a Cupcake variant and I'm sure that Samsung does, in fact, have more information about future upgrades.

My latest question asks whether acquiring the JCE firmware and flashing with Odin is considered official. I'm pretty sure that I know what the answer will be, but I'm trying to elicit a meaningful response now that the official upgrade is available in ROI as well as France, Germany, Finland and Norway. Are there any other countries that anyone is aware of?

I'll let you know if and when they respond.
 
I don't think t mobile will have any thing to do with the update as the phone hasn't got any t mobile branding like web and walk or t mobile on start up I just think its just sim locked to them..but I might be wrong
 
Wow! 503 replies 29224 Views, This thread rocks!. When I started this thread I thought samsung will release its update soon and we all move on to queries related to 2.1 feature.

Thanks to samsung :-). If samsung goes at this pace we know we will talking same stuff on this 2010 Christmas as well. Wish you the same fate of i-mate

Thanks samsung-firmwares.com and odin for keeping us upto-date
 
Can i just check that people who have recently updated via odin still have a valid IMEI number on their phones since i have read of several people who phone had a blank number after upgrade.

Basiclly i really want to upgrade but living in spain on a teachers wage i really cant hoses my new phone 2 weeks into a 18 month contract. I have heard of no-one actually damaging their phones but a blank IMEI might get me barred over here on my network (Yoigo)

Any replies very gratefully recieved.

Lefizz
 
Effing Marvelous, did the update to JCF and now i have no 3g at all.

I tried adding the details for my operator in Spain, Yoigo manually and that hasnt helped.

Some choice words are flying about.

Should i try a different rom?
 
LOLOL!!! Samsung Canada just gave me the worst reply ever:

There is no support for the use of Android 2.1 at this time, nor do we have information about future development in this area.

Regards
Click to expand...

I obviously fired one back about the official press release ;)
 
got-petrol said:
im going to start another post up because members have taken over it with there unofficial flashing of there phones...i run my own forum for large scale petrol cars so i no what im taking about this post was set up for the proper release of 2.1 now if any body lookin for news on the official release all they are going to get is update by odin which is not official
Click to expand...

ideally it should be about the official release but because of Samsung's incompetence, it has become about non-release, broken promises and how else to get it
there wouldn't be ANY posts about odin if samsung would actually release
People have become SICK of waiting for samsung and noone has ANY clue IF and when theyre going to deliver

bigfredi said:
Hi all,

I just installed the upgrade on my bought free i5700 in Ireland using Magnet as ISP and NPC 1.5.

My review is... do it any other way. It took me 2 hours to do one (I still have to do my wife's) and 4 retries meaning 4 full downloads of the firmware software. And a couple of "what the hell am I suppose to do now" moments due to not everything working as the messages said (take into account that I would consider myself anything but a newbie).

Seriously bad software this NPC. I'm wondering if going through the same process for the second one or go the ODIN way.

Well I just wanted to know that it's available in ROI so it shouldn't take long to be available in UK.

Regards
Click to expand...

are you sure you don't mean npc 1.3?
I pulled up Samsung Ireland's Spica page here:
Download Center SAMSUNG
and theyve got
Kies/PC Sync 1.5
NPC 1.3

svkndv said:
Wow! 503 replies 29224 Views, This thread rocks!. When I started this thread I thought samsung will release its update soon and we all move on to queries related to 2.1 feature.
Click to expand...

wow thanks svkndv you rock!!!!

gusto5 said:
LOLOL!!! Samsung Canada just gave me the worst reply ever:

There is no support for the use of Android 2.1 at this time, nor do we have information about future development in this area.

I obviously fired one back about the official press release ;)
Click to expand...

samsung are taking the f-ing piss, they announce the upgrade and then say that
 
lefizz said:
Can i just check that people who have recently updated via odin still have a valid IMEI number on their phones since i have read of several people who phone had a blank number after upgrade.

Basiclly i really want to upgrade but living in spain on a teachers wage i really cant hoses my new phone 2 weeks into a 18 month contract. I have heard of no-one actually damaging their phones but a blank IMEI might get me barred over here on my network (Yoigo)

Any replies very gratefully recieved.

Lefizz
Click to expand...

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica]*#06# will show up the IMIE number, I too saw many people reporting their IMIE is showing us "0" in samsung kies and PC studio. Dont worry device shows the actual IMIE number, problem is with the samsung software which report wrong IMIE number.

These all proves that samsung is not competent enough to maintain android devices. They are in the learning phase.
[/FONT]
 
I've received a reply from Samsung UK concerning use of Odin and expected release of 2.1 in the UK:

Thank you for contacting Samsung Electronics regarding your GT-i5700.

I would advise against using any non Samsung software to update your handset. This could void your warranty and if you required repair, this could end up being costly.

I do not have a release date for the upgrading of the Galaxy Portal. I also cannot confirm what version of Android will be provided, nor whether this will be available via the website or our software or will require the unit to be seen by an engineer.

Please check the news section of our website for any announcements at

Samsung Mobile UK - News & Events - Press Releases
Click to expand...

D'Oh! I too have responded by pointing them at their own press release. Sigh.
 
It's only branding I reckon. No difference other than what's on the box.

In other news, I just got a note from T-Mobile saying that the update will come from them, not Samsung:

it will come from us. Once we have info we will tweet to let everyone know. Thanks
Click to expand...

So that explains the delay.
 
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