Samsungs Web Site is saying the US Fascinate runs 2.2

[Joel S.]

Oh well... You sell a product that doesn't live up to it's billing and this is what you get.

I don't get how the Fascinate not having Froyo equates to it not "liv[ing] up to it's billing".

 

[sjenkins1009]

I agree with you Chris. A supervisor just called me and we spoke at length about the rep's behavior on the phone and Samsung's posting of this on their website. She was more than helpful and even stated it might be in my interest to return my wife's and my Fascinates and exchange them for a different phone. Considering we were the first customers to buy these phones way back when they were released, and we are well outside of our 30 day exchange time, that was a nice gesture. Perhaps all is not lost for customer service.

That is surprising. Though the real question would be if they give you problems with attempting to make the return. I know the phone teams have let people out of their contracts early to get new phones, never seen the return option that far out. Hope it works out for ya Anarch no matter which way ya go.

I don't get how the Fascinate not having Froyo equates to it not "liv[ing] up to it's billing".

Verizon sold the phone with the words "To be upgraded to 2.2 in Fall of 2010..." That is the part of not living up. I understand QA and testing set backs, but this has been rediculous especially with 2.3 just released and Honeycomb on the Horizon

 

[Joel S.]

They've changed the page back to say 2.1.

 

[NickA]

I don't get how the Fascinate not having Froyo equates to it not "liv[ing] up to it's billing".

Because it was touted as getting the update soon after it was released. The accessories they sold (like my home dock) says the output won't work until 2.2. It mentioned Flash when it was released. Some people may have bought the phone thinking they were getting those features soon. And by soon I don't mean 3-6 months (or who knows) down the road.

 

[drberezin]

They've changed the page back to say 2.1.

Wow! That's pretty pathetic for Samsung. They can obviously make a great phone (and great TV's - I have 3 Samsung's) but their software people suck.

See ya next year Froyo.

 

[NickA]

Notice how the ad says it fully integrates with Google, even mentioning Google Maps. Nothing about Bing. The phone didn't come with Google Maps, right? We had to download/install from the Market, then set it as the default?

 

[sjenkins1009]

@Nick, yeah and thankfully we will be getting that Option back in Froyo is what i heard.

 

[Kevin Gossett]

I can't wait for 2.2 to be released, so we can see all of the "is this really what we have been waiting for all this time?" threads.

2.2 isn't something groundbreaking and major. I think a lot of people will be disappointed.

 

[TheANARCHY]

I don't get how the Fascinate not having Froyo equates to it not "liv[ing] up to it's billing".

Just refer to the other posts... In the Verizon store when I purchased these phones the little placard beside it said "Will upgrade to 2.2". The sales rep even opened his little book to show the page you can find in an earlier post on the site verifying it was coming. I'm a smart enough shopper to research before I buy. So I knew when I bought the phone what was on it... BING included. However, the fact that here we are months away from that time and where's the update? I could really care less about the GPS issues, but the Flash support and the annoying battery drain and those capacitive buttons not staying lit up, those issues should have been addressed long ago. But like I said, as a responsible consumer I notch it up to lessons learned. HTC, Motorola, or gasp... Apple (assuming they get the iPhone 4) will get my business from now on.

 

[Joel S.]

Because it was touted as getting the update soon after it was released. The accessories they sold (like my home dock) says the output won't work until 2.2. It mentioned Flash when it was released. Some people may have bought the phone thinking they were getting those features soon. And by soon I don't mean 3-6 months (or who knows) down the road.

The phone was sold as an Android 2.1 device with a fast hardware core and a pretty slick SAMOLED screen (it has Flash Lite too, so while that's not full up Flash, I do have flash elements on various sites I browse). That's what it was billed as.

I purchased mine for what it IS, the coming update is gravy, and considering the carrier (Verizon has to be the slowest carrier when it comes to device/update releases) I expected a wait.

I'm not really defending them, I just don't understand people knocking the phone itself because of the lack of an update.

I work in the software industry, so maybe I'm a little more empathetic toward the dev teams when it comes to time frames for these devices. It's flat out impossible to set a firm release date for software until its about ready to go final (as in the final code has passed all testing). There are countless examples of buggy software, or software with corners cut, because companies rushed to hit a deadline.

Wow! That's pretty pathetic for Samsung. They can obviously make a great phone (and great TV's - I have 3 Samsung's) but their software people suck.

See ya next year Froyo.

No kidding, I can't really blame them for pulling the plug on the site. Hopefully it means they're getting ready to roll out.

And yea, their software dev teams are awful in comparison. It's wild how on the cutting edge their hardware is, but their software techs are all college drop outs or something.

 

[baron4406]

OMG they did change it on their website already, amazing what a few calls from Android Central will do lol

 

[Joel S.]

Just refer to the other posts... In the Verizon store when I purchased these phones the little placard beside it said "Will upgrade to 2.2". The sales rep even opened his little book to show the page you can find in an earlier post on the site verifying it was coming. I'm a smart enough shopper to research before I buy. So I knew when I bought the phone what was on it... BING included. However, the fact that here we are months away from that time and where's the update? I could really care less about the GPS issues, but the Flash support and the annoying battery drain and those capacitive buttons not staying lit up, those issues should have been addressed long ago. But like I said, as a responsible consumer I notch it up to lessons learned. HTC, Motorola, or gasp... Apple (assuming they get the iPhone 4) will get my business from now on.

It absolutely IS coming.

Again, how is the lack of an UPDATE a sign that the PHONE isn't living up to it's billing? It was very clear what the phone was when you bought it.

There's no argument the device probably should've shipped with Froyo, but that doesn't change the above.

P.S. I'd rather stab myself in the eye with a shard from my Fascinate's screen than give Apple my money.

 

[ChuckG73]

What has happened to accountability. I love my fascinate but do wish it had 2.2. Hopefully sooner than later.

 

[JaeKar99]

This impending ‘update’ that has been the only thing slowing down the push to put a different ROM or kernel on my phone.. Guess I will just push into DJ05 and let the Froyo hit the fan later.. It was an irritation – now it is just plain irresponsible of Verizon to wrap this thing and get it out there.

 

[ChuckG73]

I think I might root

 

[DroidXcon]

I'll stick with Samsung, my phone runs freaking great even with 2.1....meanwhile if you hang around the forums most of the problems are coming from HTC and moto. the only real contender in my eyes is LG. Ill just stick with this phone regardless what happens till either a galaxy 2 line comes up or i get a Nexus S.

I'm going to spend my time enjoy the amazing things my phone can do and not focus on 2.2 that when i we get most of us wont notice much of an upgrade. Besides lower battery life and you will be able to see advertisments on a new level in the form of flash.

And as far as ever going to Iphone. how boring is that phone its like going from a SAMOLED to Washed out LCD.... No thanks. im happy where i am and when Froyo comes, great. until then im not going to envy any other phone for ex Moto with their horrible gallery settings, corrupting videos, ringtones that play on your music players, and lagged interface.

Happy exactly where i am.

 

[quiklives]

My wife has the Fascinate, and she loves her phone. I'm jealous of her screen, though overall I prefer my phone - but the most frustration for her comes from the little things. I often forget which things are Froyo only, like Chrome-to-Phone. Flash isn't as important, I think, to being able to use the various things that just won't run pre-2.2.

I do agree that the misrepresentation of when you guys could expect your update has been unfair and possibly even false advertising.

For comparison's sake, I bought my Droid X on release day in July, and was promised Froyo by the end of summer. I think it was literally the last day of summer (maybe a day or two earlier), but they did actually keep to their release schedule. So you guys have been waiting through at least two deadlines already - but I would be totally unsurprised if this update came out on New Year's Eve.

 

[joebob2000]

Unfortunately most companies do not make this easy on them, but based on the three different conversations...there is alot more information they do have they arn't telling us. At least in my thoughts.

Having worked at/worked with/fought with/etc a number of support teams, I can tell you what they were ALL doing is giving you a "talk off" since you are asking them something they dont have information on. If you try to ask some skewed question like "well what if i buy it from you and get it and then go to use it with xyz carrier and it doesnt have 2.2 on it?" you will get a weird response since they don't have that in their manual. So, they make something up to make you happy so you will gtfo.

They refuse to give a date because the worst thing you can do is give a date; people will be happy for about 10 minutes then they will hang you when the date slips. Given the mountains of paperwork that says "fascinate with android 2.2" they ARE definitely committed to releasing it, just don't hold your breath as to when. They got skewered by not having it ready by the end of the year, and even if it takes them until june to release it they dont want to set themselves up for more criticism by giving a date of any sort.

 

[sjenkins1009]

I too worked in a support team, even provided phone tech support for a web hosting company. We use to submit bugs all the time to our administrators and the developement team, most of the time these bugs weren't even looked at for at least a month. However our managers told us it doesn't matter, give them a date of 1 week and keep adding to that saying that ran into problems. Let me say we did get hung alot with it.

The issue i have with Samsung is that they have released 2.2. On the Tab, (almost the exact same hardware as the facinate just bigger screen) in Europe and in Canada. There is no logical reason i can find in my IT mind, or my software developer mind as to why they are delaying it's release so long except if they just intend to tease us with it forever and not release it.

 

[Clak]

I too worked in a support team, even provided phone tech support for a web hosting company. We use to submit bugs all the time to our administrators and the developement team, most of the time these bugs weren't even looked at for at least a month. However our managers told us it doesn't matter, give them a date of 1 week and keep adding to that saying that ran into problems. Let me say we did get hung alot with it.

The issue i have with Samsung is that they have released 2.2. On the Tab, (almost the exact same hardware as the facinate just bigger screen) in Europe and in Canada. There is no logical reason i can find in my IT mind, or my software developer mind as to why they are delaying it's release so long except if they just intend to tease us with it forever and not release it.

It has to be something with the carriers at this point, I think Samsung has done it's part. I don't know if it's some sort of business agreement or what, I just know it's ridiculous.