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A new leaked document from Sprint confirms the pending release of Android 2.1 for the HTC Hero and Samsung Moment. As we reported earlier this year, both upgrades will be PC-based (vs over the air) and will likely require a wipe.
Sprint will not initially offer over the air upgrades because the Android 2.1 packages are too large (80 MB for Moment, 117 MB for Hero) for their OTA servers. We pointed this out last year and it looks like Sprint was unable to come up with a working solution on time. Sprint has the option to use Google’s servers to roll out their upgrades, but they have not fully tested it and would be unable to meet the “required launch timeframe”.
The document claims the Moment will receive Android 2.1 on April 30 (today) and the Hero will follow in the first week of May. We know these dates change a lot, but both upgrades have been tested internally and should be ready to go.
Keep an eye on the Samsung Moment and HTC Hero support pages for updates. The files and instructions to perform a manual update will be posted on Sprint’s site when they are available.
It is also interesting to note that Sprint claims 90% of their Samsung Moment customers have a phone with a non-current software version. This could be because previous updates required the user to take their phone to a Sprint repair center or manually download the file. If the Hero and Moment follow a similar upgrade path, then we can assume a large portion of users will not update their phone without some extra help from Sprint.
The wait is almost over.
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Source: Android and Me