South African carrier MTN and HTC have just announced that they have joined forces to offer over-the-air (OTA) updates to the carrier's subscribers who own an Android smartphone. The agreement is initially targeting the HTC Desire handset, but other devices will soon follow.
The upcoming software updates include, but are not limited to, Android Froyo 2.2. Over-the-air updates ensure that users receive their latest software updates via a data transfer through a mobile network or Wi-Fi connection.
“This is yet another way in which MTN is helping its customers by offering them a convenient and efficient way to keep their smartphones up to date with all the latest developments. While we are initially targeting the
HTC Desire, other phones will soon follow suite,” says Serame Taukobong, chief marketing officer at MTN South Africa.
Furthermore, the update service offered by MTN is free if customers choose to download the updates through a Wi-Fi connection, while those who opt to download it via the carrier's network will be charged for the data used.
If there is a break in downloading the updates, the download manager will resume the transfer and if there is a break during the
FOTA installation, it will resume via a recovery mode.
“We are excited to bring HTC consumers OTA firmware updates” says Quinton Leigh, MD of Leaf, HTC’s local representative.
“Supporting HTC’s continuous drive of innovation, this is a first in SA and HTC is proud to be working on this initiative in collaboration with
MTN. This technology has been a long time coming and I hope the FOTA innovation will keep our consumers’ phones at the cutting edge - a level above the rest. At the end of the day, it’s all about optimising the user experience,” said Leigh.
MTN and HTC will launch their program with HTC Desire during December 2010, but both companies promised that two additional devices would receive software updates early next year, the HTC Wildfire and HTC Hero.
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