14 DAY TRIAL // U.S. Cellular are now offering the Android 2.2 Froyo update to Acclaim owners, as promised a few days ago when a roadmap for their Android phone upgrades was published.
For those who are used to do these upgrades over-the-air (OTA) things might sound a little bit complicated, as the update is available for download through a desktop PC.
Users will need to download a Windows-only tool that will guide them through the update process. The 102MB update will be installed with the help of a nicely done update software package that features built-in instructions easy to understand and follow.
Samsung is hosting and deploying this update from their own servers, something they rarely do. They may have been convinced to do so by U.S. Cellular’s recent ranking as the number one carrier in the U.S. by the Consumer Report.
For those out of the loop, Samsung Acclaim is powered by an 800 MHz processor and runs on the Android 2.1 Eclair platform.
The device packs a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, optical trackpad and accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate. It comes with a 3.2-inch TFT touchscreen with 262K colors support and 320 x 480 pixels resolution.
The device is fully compatible with U.S. Cellular's CDMA network and offers data transfer speeds of up to 153.2 Kbps. Other connectivity features include: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, GPS with A-GPS support, microUSB 2.0, Push Mail, Instant Messaging and Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP support.
The phone sports a 3.2-megapixel camera with autofocus, LED flash, geo-tagging and video recording capabilities, as well as microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 32GB, 4GB included).
Samsung Acclaim is powered by a standard Li-Ion 1500 mAh which is rated by the carrier for up to 450 hours of standby time or up to 8 hours of talk time.
The slider can be purchased from U.S. Cellular for $49.99 after a $80 mail-in rebate and a new 2-year agreement or a Belief Plan.