Newsletter
HTC were the first (and I believe the only!) manufacturer to stick their head up over the parapet and promise that their 2013 and 2014 flagship models, the HTC One M7 and M8, would receive the update to Android 5.0 Lollipop within ninety days of the source code being dropped. This is a brave promise for three main reasons. The first is that any Android update will require plenty of work from the software engineers at the business and there may be hardware incompatibilities that have to be worked out. The second reason is that it assumes the source code will work as planned and Google won’t make any major revisions inside the first few weeks. And the third is that the promise is subject to the vagaries of the world’s carriers, as many customers bought their One via a carrier and therefore any software update has to go through the carrier first.
HTC subsequently had to admit that some devices weren’t going to receive the update inside the ninety days and it appears that they didn’t pass the blame on to the carriers, but given that some carriers had the updates rolling by day eighty, it’s easy to point the finger. It would appear that HTC delivered the software update to its global carrier partners with time for testing but some took longer than they had and of course, did not make HTC’s promise. Verizon Wireless are one such carrier where HTC One M8 owners are still waiting for their update to Android 5.0 Lollipop, but we now at least have some visibility thanks to a tweet from Verizon’s Vice President of Product Management, Mo Versi, who states that the update is “in the lab.” It’s expected to be released in the first week of March, so still a couple of weeks away.
Verizon Wireless have worked hard in the last few months to provide customers with assurances concerning their extensive device and software testing because they have a reputation for taking longer than their carriers. The old rule of “if it has your name on it, make sure it’s to your quality” rings true here (as Verizon brand most of their devices too). And whilst it is a little frustrating that the Verizon version is going to have to wait four to six weeks for the update, I’m pleased that they have told customers when to expect the update.
Do you have a HTC One M8 with Verizon? If so, have you been frustrated by the lack of update to Android Lollipop? Are you pleased that now you know you only have a couple of weeks to wait? Let us know in the comments below.