By Good news for all Motorola Droid 2 owners: your smartphone can now be updated to Android 2.33 Gingerbread. Launched last year in August, this device comes with a great range of features built-in: a 1GHz processor, a 3.7 inch TFT display with a resolution of 480×854 pixels and a 5MP camera with image stabilization and face detection giving you the possibility to record videos 720×480 pixels at 30 fps. The smartphone also comes with 8GB of internal memory and the 8GB SD memory card can be replaced with a new one of memory up to 32GB. Motorola Droid 2 works on Android 2.2 Froyo that can now be updated to Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread.
So, if you own one of these smartphones, you now have the possibility to update it to this new firmware version. The only trick is that your phone must be locked to Verizon. If it isn’t, then you cannnot benefit from this update. So, for those who can and will update their Motorola Droid 2 to Android 2.3.3, here are some things that you will get after this upgrade:
- You will manage your downloads much easier with the “Downloads” option from the “Applications” folder.
- Your data on the SD card will be encrypted.
- Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread comes with Adobe Flash 10.2 and you can update it to the 10.3 version.
- The greatest feature of this new firmware is the fact that your phone will eat less of your battery. Therefore, your battery life will increase.
- You will get new applications like Google Books, Amazon Mp3 Store and Accu weather.
- New color scheme.
Being aware of what this update brings, you have to get your phone ready for the update. So, here are some things you must take care of before going any further:
- You can do this upgrade only if you have a Verizon Motorola Droid 2.
- You will not void your warranty by updating your phone to this firmware version since this was officially rolled out on Motorola Droid 2.
- All your data on your phone will be deleted. Therefore, you have to save all your music and video files, messages, contacts, applications you downloaded from the Android Market. You can do this by moving all the data you want to save to the SD memory card since this will remain intact.
- If you have previously rooted your phone, you will no longer have root access after the firmware installation procedure. What’s good about this is that you can get back the warranty you’ve lost when you rooted your phone and you will be able to root it once again after the update process is completed.
- Make sure you charge your phone before updating it to Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread if you don’t want it to shut down during the installation process and thus interrupt it.
As we already know, there are two methods to make this update: the manual one and the automatic one. Both are Over the Air methods (OTA) since this is an official Google Android release. The download procedure will last almost an hour and you have to make sure that you have good internet connection speed. If you’re ready to begin, then go for one of the two methods and follow the next steps:
The Automatic Update Method
1. When you see the update notification on your phone screen, then all you have to do is choose the “Download” option and then “Install”. The phone will shut down and after it automatically turns on again, the installation procedure will begin.
2. You can choose to install the firmware version not immediately after the download finishes by choosing “Install later”. You should install it in 12h time but if you don’t, then you will be notified about the update once again.
3. If the installation has been completed successfully, then there will be a notification on your screen related to the status update.
If you’ve ignored the update notification on your phone screen, you don’t have to worry since you can initiate this update yourself. Just follow the next instructions:
The Manual Update Method
1. Go to “Home” and then ” Applications”. Here you will find the “Settings” option. You will have to select “About Phone” and then “System updates”.
2. After your phone has found the available update, you will be asked whether you want to download it or not. Select “Download” and wait till you will be asked whether you want to install it now or later. From here on, you have to follow the same steps as in the case of the previous method.
After the whole procedure is completed and the update is finished, you will have to restore your APN and MMS settings if you want to use the internet again and send/receive MMS messages. These settings may be wiped off after this update, so make sure you check this and eventually restore them.
