14 DAY TRIAL // Good news for Toshiba Thrive owners. The Japanese electronics manufacturer announced the availability of the latest Android 3.2 Honeycomb software update.
The update is pushed OTA (over the air), so owners of the slate can check it out in the Apps menu / Service Station / Check for Updates.
By simply following the on-screen directions, users will be able to upgrade their tablet's software to Android 3.2 Honeycomb.
Besides bringing the firmware from version 3.1 to 3.2, system software 3.2.1.31.5.0002 adds several new features and performance enhancements.
For example, the Android 3.2 Honeycomb enables an improved compatibility mode, which enhances the way applications originally designed for smaller screen devices appear and function on the larger tablet display.
In addition, the update improves screen rotation acceleration and adds extended screen support API, which provides devs with more control over the user interface.
Toshiba also informs Thrive owners that the Android Market Widgets and YouTube may disappear from the home screen as soon as the update is installed. The reason behind this issue is the fact that the update changes the application naming convention.
Unfortunately, several users who already upgraded their tablets reported a few issues that appeared shortly after the update process is complete.
To begin with, the auto-rotate screen feature does not work anymore and the option in the Settings menu seems to be greyed out.
Furthermore, it looks like the Wi-Fi connectivity remains ON, even after the tablet goes into Sleep mode or you try to turn it off.
It is also worth mentioning that the update changes the way that the memory card works, as the storage amount will now be shown under mnt/SDcard2.
Obviously, everything that has been stored on the memory card will not work anymore, but users can try and correct this problem by clearing the data from Settings / Applications menu.
Toshiba pushes the update in stages, so it's hard to tell which countries receive it first, but it should arrive in all regions within the next two weeks or so.