The HTC Droid Incredible on Verizon (read our review) appears to be slated for an official update to enable 802.11n Wifi -- that's the fast kind -- according to a filing Friday with the FCC. [via Wireless Goodness] Included in the filing is an updated owners manual, which clearly shows 802.11n speed as being supported, as you can see below.
We'll go out on a limb here and say this may be a precursor to an update to Android 2.2, which we know officially supports 802.11n. And, no, we have no idea when any update may be pushed out.
And speaking of updates, HTC issued a statement to BGR regarding the "issue" of browser thumbnails (you'll recall it's not really a bug) being cached on the phone's internal storage, which is not wiped by a hard reset. HTC said:
HTC has identified the root cause of the DROID Incredible not deleting web page thumbnails after a factory reset, and is creating an update which will eliminate this issue. This will be distributed through a software maintenance release that will be pushed to devices in the near future.
We're not sure if that means the internal storage (those 6 gigabytes of space not used by the operating system) will be wiped on hard reset, or if the browser thumbnails will be moved to a different partition. Regardless, HTC reminds us that you can wipe the internal storage -- as in erase everything that's on it -- by going to Settings>SD Card and Phone Storage>Format phone storage. So the sky's not falling, people. Big brother's not watching you (at least not over this), and we can all go back to complaining about when we'll get Android 2.2.
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43 Comments
Yea!
That sounds real nice and all, but I'd still like to actually receive the phone I ordered 4 weeks ago!! And paid for 4 weeks ago!! I'm about to cancel my Incredible order and go over to the dark side and get a Sprint EVO.
its backordered for a reason.. it's awesome ( i won't say the "i" word, but that certain would fit :)
Will the EVO have N capability in the future
Why would the Droid Inc get Froyo 2.2 before any other HTC Sense 2.1 Android 2.1 device? The Evo 4G is essentially the same phone under the hood. I would expect these updates to roll out for the Evo 4G around the same time.
That is a good question. I suspect it has to do with the carriers. I am not quite sure what role the carriers have, but it (unfortunately) seems significant.
When I had the palm pre, Sprint pres would get the update first. Verizon would get the update like a month later.
But then again, the incredible has been out longer.
Or more like HTC knows pushing an update through Verizon is a bigger hassle than pushing one through the other carriers, so they start early on the Incredible update.
Who said anything about Froyo other than we know that Froyo supports N natively.. They just mentioned that there is an update being pushed, I imagine its likely just a system update, not an OS update, to activate Wireless-N.
Evo has the same WiFi chip as the Incredible, so yes the Evo will most likely support 802.11N when it gets Froyo.
wonder how much faster the 802.11n will be over the 802.11g.
If faster at all. I saw where some other phone supported the N frequency/protocol, but not speeds (I didn't even know that was allowed in the N specifications!)
Wrong reply
Why is that the wrong reply?
It is almost certainly the CORRECT reply. Since your internet connection is the slowest portion of the path, and its way slower than 54Mbps, you will see no difference at all with 802.11N.
Moving files from your computer to your phone over your private wifi might seem faster. Unless your housemates are streaming media elsewhere in the network, at which point the whole thing maxes out at 54Mbps.
802.11N is for the most part marketing hype.
In New York we have 101 Mbps residential internet from Optimum.
So no, the 54 Mbps Wireless G router is NOT faster than everyone's internet.
802.11N is not marketing hype. For people who transfer lots of files between a server (IE media server etc) it allows for larger files to be moved faster which in the end enables a smoother transition from computer to computer, to media centers, phones, or any other enabled device. In the end that means you may get your media ripped faster to the server, higher definition video streamed better, or any other network function performed faster. (Remember 54Mbps is only 6.75MB per second where as 802.11N offers upwards of 37.5+MB per second. That's a lot faster when working with large files)
Your internet connection out to the network is obviously the limiting factor here as well as the processor and memory system inside the phone being fast enough to soak up all that extra information and speed and do something with it. Do we need it on a phone? Maybe, maybe not just depends on what you want to do with your phone and home network.
So no I wouldn't call it marketing hype. I plan to start making my sift to 802.11n stuff sometime this year. My G setup is starting to show it's age as I've moved into the HiDef world.
For most people are they going to NEED 802.11N, no. For the "power users" out there it's a necessity, you always want to be moving forward. You sit still for too long and you'll be left behind, and it's free update come on!
YaY!!!
The wifi is cool but I wonder what they mean in the FCC doc shown about the changes being "adding a battery and .."?
wondering the same now you mentioned it. Stronger battery? Wishful thinking....
I'm guessing they are adding "battery modulation" which might be pulse width modulation. This can be used in some circumstances to use less power. Not sure if that's what they mean though.
>"and we can all go back to complaining about when we'll get Android 2.2."
OK :) When are we going to get 2.2 for the Evo???
Never know how good the intel is from Verizon store employees but when I was in last week to buy my Incredible a store manager that has been good with intel in the past told me 2.2 will be released within next three weeks - for Incredible.
OTA software upgrade.
So this will be a software update via ota or a new hardware change previous incredibles can't use?
Should be an ota update. The incredible has a N chip in it but right now It's basically disabled.
According to an EVO teardown the broadcom chipset supports 802.11n. Hopefully we'l see a similar EVO announce too.
The Desire is also supposed to get Froyo OTA in the next two weeks. Check out XDA or pocketnow for more info.
Since the Incredible is basicly the Verizon version of the Desire, this does make sense. Get ready for Froyo!!
i wonder if they will wait until Droid X release? Still not sure why DX not released w/ 2.2.....
If they don't release 2.2 with this upcoming update... they are crazy.
Something I read a little while back...
Is your 802.11n Wi-Fi feeling sluggish? This simple solution could help
The maximum transfer rate, as outlined in the IEEE 802.11n standard, for networks using WEP or WPA (TKIP) passwords is 54 Mbps (megabits per second). To ensure that you are getting the best speeds from your 802.11n router or Base Station, be sure you are using the WPA2 password configuration.
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20006831-263.html
And the other part you didn't quote is also significant.
The best password choices for your 802.11n router are the WPA/WPA2 Personal option or the WPA2 Personal option.
WPA/WPA2 Personal will have the fastest transfer rates when only one device (unicast) is being served. When other devices are using the network, they will run in multicast at 54 Mbps.
WPA2 Personal will provide the best 802.11n transfer rates and is recommend for the majority of users.
So just ONE device running a multicast connection (streaming just about anything) drags the whole system down to 54Mbps.
Since your internet connection is less than 54Mbps that is effectively all you will get. 802.11n is great for file transfer, and wifi syncing, but otherwise its not particularly useful.
Omfg! How convenient kuz so JUST got an 802.11n router in my house!!! Hahaha heck yeah!!!!!
I'm telltale excited for froyo I hope Verizon doesn't let us down and find a way to muck it up.
on the battery, perhaps they are allowing us users who have a larger battery to actually charge it with out having to do a bump charge. I am looking forward to that!
Or us guys with the OEM battery, I still bump charge mine and it helps out quite a bit now that the battery has warmed up so to speak, and i've done a factory reset which seemed to help quite a bit in cooperation with maximizing features/functions to preserve battery life :)
Just a little speculation as to why verizon may be getting Froyo update with 802.11n compatibility.
Verizon may be following att with tiered data plans with the release of froyo. With tethering and hotspot this would put a bigger strain on their systems. With so many orders for the Incredible and newer android phones that will be getting Froyo this all would make sense.
verizon has never been on top of anything unless it is going to put money in their pockets. Updating to froyo would give them good justification to go to tiered pricing.
Just speculation..
Somehow I doubt it. They offer free tethering under your "unlimited" 5GB now on the Palm Pre Plus, why would this be a reason to treat it any different. The uproar caused by AT&Ts tiered data mess has been noted at VZW I'm sure and I somehow doubt, although they're a money hungry company, that they'd do something like that.
Also did you guys here they are fixing the 2 things wrong with the evo the grounding problem and the screen separation... so be stoked about that too....
What are you talking about? Besides, both sound like hardware issues that can't be fixed with a software/OS update...
Me thinks they may be changing stock battery!
Me thinks they may just be changing the way the battery is dealt with by the OS.. to prevent us from having to do things like bump charge, and in general not so great battery life.
I would eat my own fist if they actually sent Dinc owners new batteries lol.
LOL I just knew that post would make all the evo guys cry lol !!!
Funny, replace a module and you can get 802.11n now. Why wait for the update?
Since Droid 2 is coming... Incredible doesn't matter. TWICE as fast as the Nexus One in benchmarks on Android 2.1. Plus better keyboard than original droid. http://briefmobile.com/droid-2-hands-on-video Woohoo!!