US Cellular HTC Flyer Honeycomb Update – Do It the Same … But Slower!

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Just as it seemed we might be seeing some critical mass in the move towards updating Android devices to ‘Ice Cream Sandwich’ almost nine months after release, ‘Jelly Bean’ arrived and threw things back into a fragmented turmoil where the overwhelming majority of devices are TWO VERSIONS BEHIND. Oh well, at least we continue to see updates rolling out on pretty much a weekly basis.

The HTC Flyer was an intriguing 7″ tablet that combined excellent performance from a single core chip with a full HTC Sense-ified Android 2.3 Gingerbread interface. Late in 2011 OS updates were initiated by HTC for the core system and we have slowly seen specific versions roll out ever since. This week the U.S. Cellular version of HTC

The problem? The update is to Honeycomb, NOT Ice Cream Sandwich!

Well, I went through the process and here are a few thoughts:

– First, the HTC Flyer really isn’t meant to hook up to a computer. To do the update you need a PC (Mac won’t work for this, but you can access USB storage from a Mac … curious). Also, you need to specify the USB mode each time you connect as ‘HTC Sync’ … not the default ‘Charge Only’ or the ‘Disk Mode’ I prefer to use. Honestly … this is worse than hooking up the HP 200LX or Newton 20 years ago!

– Once you are connected, you will learn that you need to install HTC Sync on the PC (150MB) before you can proceed with the update. OK … about 10 minutes later you are ready to update. As a note, I could connect but never successfully synced my stuff. Now, run the update. Provided you have done everything else, this should all go smoothly. And your HTC Flyer will reset.

– Note that you lose EVERYTHING doing this. You are setting up a fresh device, from WiFi login to Google Accounts to Facebook to … well, everything. You will need to set up all of your apps, and so on. The HTC site tells you all of this … but I want to make sure you are ready! I expected it to happen, and sometimes it is good to start fresh.

– Unfortunately … you get Honeycomb. The Vista of the mobile world. The worst operating system I have used since … well, the Windows Mobile 6.5 update on the HTC Touch Pro 2! The Honeycomb update changes up the interface, but not in a way that is useful or efficient. It feels different for different’s sake – and SLOW. Everything is still done largely the same way, but everything is slower. Remember the feeling of running Vista on a netbook then going back to XP? It is like that in reverse!

If nothing else, the HTC Flyer update allowed me to pull out my Google Nexus 7 and think … WOW Google has come a long way in tablet interface usability in 18 months. Sadly there is no ‘undo’ button, because I WOULD go back to the ‘obviously-made-for-smartphone’ Gingerbread.

Head to the HTC site in order to get more information and the update (if you really want to do that)!

Source: AndroidPolice

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About the Author

Michael Anderson
I have loved technology for as long as I can remember - and have been a computer gamer since the PDP-10! Mobile Technology has played a major role in my life - I have used an electronic companion since the HP95LX more than 20 years ago, and have been a 'Laptop First' person since my Compaq LTE Lite 3/20 and Powerbook 170 back in 1991! As an avid gamer and gadget-junkie I was constantly asked for my opinions on new technology, which led to writing small blurbs ... and eventually becoming a reviewer many years ago. My family is my biggest priority in life, and they alternate between loving and tolerating my gaming and gadget hobbies ... but ultimately benefits from the addition of technology to our lives!

1 Comment on "US Cellular HTC Flyer Honeycomb Update – Do It the Same … But Slower!"

  1. Francis Scardino | July 26, 2012 at 11:08 am |

    Such a shame the HTC Flyer/Evo View never really hit it’s potential. HTC surely has some ground to make up in the tablet market and things like this is where they should start. I am running a version of ICS on my Evo View and it honestly never ran better. I guess lack of sales and general disappoinment just has HTC moving on. I agree, why even waste you time with HC at this point.

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