By When Samsung Fascinate hit the market, all the Android smartphones lovers embraced this new device. Coming with an AMOLED touchscreen, a 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 single-core processor, a 8MP camera that gives you the possibility to record HD videos, Samsung Fascinate runs on Android 2.2. The good news for all Samsung Fascinate owners is that this device can now be upgraded to the latest Android firmversion which is Android 2.2 Froyo with a new build version dubbed ED04. This new firmware comes with many features and tweaks that will resolve all the bugs in the previous versions. So this article will provide you with information on how to update your Samsung Fascinate to this new firmware version.
Before doing this update, let’s see what is that this firmware brings to you once you install it on your device:
- Android 2.2 Froyo build ED04 brings the Over the Air option which enables you to update your device without connecting it to your computer.
- Improved call connectivity.
- Faster Wi-Fi search time.
- You will have the possibility to open Word 2000-2003 documents (without having to install any third-party application) and hyperlinks directly from the email.
- This firmware version comes with Adobe flash player updated to 10.1.95.2 and upgradable to Adobe Flas 10.2
- Improved battery life.
Now that you know what this update implies, you must also be aware of the fact that there are some risks the installating procedure involves even if this is an official firmware version. Still, you can minimize these risks if you closely follow the next pre-installation instructions:
1. Install this firmware version only if your device is a Samsung Fascinate locked to Verizon. Otherwise, you may end up bricking your phone.
2. Check your data plan since the size of this update file is of 98MB (being called i500.ED04) and if you’re not on a Wi-Fi connection, you may find yourself with some extra charges.
3. Make sure you won’t need to use the phone for almost 15 minutes which is the time for the firmware version to be completely installed.
4. Backup all the data on your Samsung Fascinate since this procedure will wipe them out.
5. If you have unlocked your phone from Verizon, then you must be aware of the fact that by making this update you may lock your Samsung Fascinate to Verizon once again.
6. You will loose the root access (if there’s one) after updating your phone to Android 2.2 Froyo ED04. The good thing is that the warranty you lost when rooting your phone will be restored. Anyhow, you will be able to root your device again after this update.
7. Make sure your phone battery is at least 50% charged. Since this procedure will eat a lot of your battery, you must avoid a sudden shutdown of your phone. This will lead to the interruption of the procedure.
If you’ve taken care of all the previous aspects and you think your Samsung Fascinate is ready for the upgrade, then you can choose how to do this update since there are two possibilities. The first one, being called the manual method, involves the following three steps:
1. Close all the applications on your phone and go to its homescreen and select “Applications”, “Settings”, “About Phone” and then “System Updates”. Now select the “Check Now” option.
2.The phone will search for updates and will let you know that the Android 2.2 Froyo ED04 firmware update is available. You will be asked whether you want to download this update or not. Select “OK” and thus the download will start.
3. When the ED04 firmware update is completely installed, your Samsung Fascinate will turn off. It will boot up soon and you should be able to see the homescreen on your device in an instance. Yet, it make take a little bit longer but this is normal when it comes to the first reboot after the update.
4.You will now see a notification on your homescreen letting you know about the update.
The second way to update your Samsung Fascinate to Android 2.2 Froyo ED04 is known as the automatic method and consists in selecting the “OK” option when your homescreen displays a message about the latest firmware version available without you having previosuly searched for updates. The rest of the installation is similar to the manual method
To see whether your update was installed or not, you will have to go to “Home”, “Applications”, “Settings”, “About Phone” and then to “Firmware Version”.