Samsung Epic 4G Can Be Manually Upgraded to Android OS 2.2

Those who would like to upgrade the system software on their Samsung Epic 4G to can now download and install the long-awaited upgrade to Android OS 2.2. This adds support for Adobe Flash to this smartphone's web browser, and should fix its GPS problem.

This is apparently the official upgrade, but it's not yet being distributed in the official way. Sprint should begin wirelessly sending it to Epic 4G users at some point, but right now the only way to install it is manually.

New in Android OS 2.2 (Froyo)
The latest version of Google's mobile operating system is required for devices to run Adobe Flash Player 10.1, which allows the web browser to fully make use of websites that use Flash for navigation, games, and showing video.

This Android OS 2.2 upgrade also contains a number of other enhancements, such as faster performance thanks to a new JIT compiler and the ability to store applications on a removable memory card.

In addition, Samsung has promised that this system software upgrade will include a fix for a bug that sometimes causes this smartphone to be unable to get a GPS lock.

Installation Instructions
Performing a manual update is not authorized by either Samsung or Sprint. Those who are still interested should do the following:

• Make sure the Epic 4G has at least a half battery charge before starting this process
• Download the system software update from Google
• Put it in the root directory of the microSD card
• Rename it "Update.zip"
• Turn off the Epic 4G
• Turn the smartphone back on while holding down the “Volume Down” button, “Camera” button, and “Power” button
• The smartphone will go into recovery mode with an on-screen menu of options. Use the Volume keys to move to "apply sdcard:update.zip"
• Push down on the Home button to select this option
• The update process will begin, and take several minutes.
• When it is finished and the on-screen menu appears again, choose "Reboot system now"
• When the Epic 4G starts again, it will be running Android OS 2.2

The First of Many
The Epic 4G is the first in the Samsung Galaxy S series to get an upgrade to Android OS 2.2, even though Samsung has been promising this since shortly after the models in this series debuted over the summer.

As it stands now, users of the Samsung Captivate from AT&T, the Samsung Fascinate from Verizon, and the Samsung Vibrant from T-Mobile are still waiting for their upgrades.

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