Hello,
I have been wondering about the substantive difference between the carrier and manufacture branding, but couldn't find anything on google or here about this subject.
Basically, it's common knowledge that carrier-branded phones get updates when the carrier wants you to, but is there also a delay if the phone is not carrier branded but manufacture branded?
For example, I bought my HTC phone through retail so it is not branded by a carrier, but it still has the HTC branding on the phone. Does this mean that updates will be pushed whenever HTC decides to push it instead of as soon as Microsoft releases it?
If so, would it be worth flashing the ROM to get rid of the HTC branding too? Is this even possible? The threads on de-branding and flashing HTC phones seem to all link to HTC ROMs instead of generic Microsoft ones, do they even exist?
Thanks!
Related
Does anyone know if the HTC Desire is branded and locked on Three UK? A lot of people on Three have already updated, but someone told me that the new batches of the HTC Desire on Three are all locked and therefore can't yet be updated. I'm going to receive my upgrade on Wednesday, so does anyone know if this is the case?
Thanks
P.S. If I decide to unlock my phone and debrand it with a generic 2.2 ROM, will I have to use the Goldcard every time I want to update the software, or will I just be able to upgrade OTA like those with unlocked and debranded phones?
I've heard the news about Froyo coming for HTC Legend soon, and unbranded phones will get it first as in the case of other phones.
However I can't really tell whether mine is unbranded or not.
I've got it from Vodafone in Australia. It has no physical branding on it at all besides the HTC on the front and back.
Bootscreen is also standard HTC. There are no specific Vodafone apps or anything, just a 'SIM Toolkit' one, which basically has all the functions of the "Vodafone Live" which is usually branded into their other phones (non smart phone), such as Account balance, pay account, paying for crap like tones % pics, news, sport info, etc.
However the phone is locked to the Vodafone network.
I'm really pleased with the lack of branding, however still not 100% sure it's technically unbranded
I bought an Australian (Telstar) HTC Mozart to use in New Zealand as the hardware specs match the NZ Telecom network. Now I an really worried that as Telecom dont sell this phone they will never "release" an update and I'll eventually be stuck with a very old version of WP7.
Anyone got an ideas if this will be a problem or if my phone will see the Telstra update and grab that?
I have a dev account so if anyone knows how a dev can load the update directly then that would be great to hear...
Thanks
they will Telstra aren't really ones to stop it though i know that they haven't released the update yet. my sister has a mozart from telstra and hasn't gotten an update yet. just be patient. i'm pretty sure they just rolled it all into one.
I also bought a phone from germany and I'm using it in Portugal with diferent carrier and I got the update! So I think you shouldn't worry
The Gate Keeper said:
they will Telstra aren't really ones to stop it though i know that they haven't released the update yet. my sister has a mozart from telstra and hasn't gotten an update yet. just be patient. i'm pretty sure they just rolled it all into one.
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But do you think it will update a phone running in NZ on a different network? Mt worry is that if teh carrier can block an update then that seems to suggest its tied to the phone + carrier combination. If i take a phone sold for an Australian carrier and use it in NZ then will it update?
In theory it should work as Telecom NZ provide the internet access and the phone is still branded Telstra. It still shows their NextG branding at start up etc but what if it doesn't?
I also cant think why developers are not allowed to run the update using dev only tools. How are we supposed to test our applications?
Seems a little up in the air. As for teh update I am patient and happy to wait but I really think MS need to explain stuff way more. Lots of people are complaining and that is bad for the image as a whole. A few more blog post from MS could really diffuse that.
Thanks for the feedback.
vbgeezer said:
But do you think it will update a phone running in NZ on a different network? Mt worry is that if teh carrier can block an update then that seems to suggest its tied to the phone + carrier combination. If i take a phone sold for an Australian carrier and use it in NZ then will it update?
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Yes. It's tied to the device+branding, so as long as Telstra releases the update you will get it.
The alternative is to unbrand your phone by flashing a non-branded (i.e. generic) ROM and you'll get the update as soon as MS seems fit rather than being dependant on any carriers.
I know it is stupid to ask this question but i really don't know what is debranding/ unbrand the phone, and what is the point of doing that?
Debranding your product means that you remove any software that your operator has preinstalled on the device. It can be several things, a boot logo screen, some applications of the operators choice.
You debrand by flashing a generic firmware. If you search the forum you'll find how to.
The pros by debranding your device is that you get rid of your operators preinstalled stuff + that you might get new firmware updates before the branded ones gets it.
pemell said:
Debranding your product means that you remove any software that your operator has preinstalled on the device. It can be several things, a boot logo screen, some applications of the operators choice.
You debrand by flashing a generic firmware. If you search the forum you'll find how to.
The pros by debranding your device is that you get rid of your operators preinstalled stuff + that you might get new firmware updates before the branded ones gets it.
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Click to collapse
Gotcha...
SO is it necessary to debrand my thing when it is Unlocked Phone? Mine is from UK, unlocked and i don't see anything related to a specific carrier.
It's usually not even *required* to de-brand when the phone is carrier-branded, since MS limits the amount of damage carriers are allowed to do to the UX (no non-removable apps or custom UIs, for example). It is occasionally useful, though.
In your case, there's probably no reason at all. Odds are that your phone is already unbranded.
Strike_Eagle said:
Gotcha...
SO is it necessary to debrand my thing when it is Unlocked Phone? Mine is from UK, unlocked and i don't see anything related to a specific carrier.
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If you have a device that gives a NOKIA splash screen and then goes straight to the Windows Phone screen, then it's already unbranded and does not 'need' debranding.
It's great that MSFT has set such firm rules to carriers and what they're allowed to do. I've seen what VZW has done to phones and it's made me want to cry. AT&T would also change feature phone UI's and features would be moved around and hidden to make room for the crap they wanted to force on us.
Hi guys, I have a small question about receiving android updates after switching carriers. I got my LG Optimus g from Rogers without contract, and now I use it with fido without unlocking. Since android version updates are carrier dependant, will I still get the latest update when it comes out even though I'm no longer on the rogers network? Thanks
Sent from my LG Optimus G
Depends... I switched from AT&T to T-Mobile and SIM unlocked an HTC One and HTC 8X to bring with me. My HTC 8X (Windows Phone) continued to get OS updates on T-Mobile but the HTC One did not. My solution was to use a custom ROM (ARHD) on my HTC One rather than being stuck on an aging AT&T flavored OS.
Just watch for when updates should happen and see if it does. If you don't get them then you have to consider your options (stay on an old build, borrow a friends SIM card for a few minutes who is on the carrier where it does gets updates, or do something like a custom ROM).
Oafed said:
Depends... I switched from AT&T to T-Mobile and SIM unlocked an HTC One and HTC 8X to bring with me. My HTC 8X (Windows Phone) continued to get OS updates on T-Mobile but the HTC One did not. My solution was to use a custom ROM (ARHD) on my HTC One rather than being stuck on an aging AT&T flavored OS.
Just watch for when updates should happen and see if it does. If you don't get them then you have to consider your options (stay on an old build, borrow a friends SIM card for a few minutes who is on the carrier where it does gets updates, or do something like a custom ROM).
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Those are some really good suggestions. My previous phone HTC amaze never got an update so I couldn't tell if carriers would affect it.
I wonder if windows os updates circumvent carrier restrictions, if so that would be why HTC 8X continued to get updates when your One did not.
Another thing is, the company I switched to is owned by my old company so I don't know if that would affect things
Sent from my LG Optimus G
If your new carrier is owned by your old carrier I'd say that might improve your chances.
Oafed said:
If your new carrier is owned by your old carrier I'd say that might improve your chances.
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Time to wait and see
Sent from my LG Optimus G