Samsung Epic 4G Finally Getting Its Android OS 2.2 Upgrade Next Week

The system software on the Samsung Epic 4G is about to get a long-awaited upgrade. Sprint has promised that Android OS 2.2 for this model will be released in a few days, bringing support for Adobe Flash to this smartphone's web browser, and fixing its GPS problem.

A statement on Sprint's support web site spells it out:

Android 2.2/Froyo will be pushed to Sprint Samsung Epic 4G customers beginning Feb. 21. All users should have access to Android 2.2 by Feb. 25.

At Last
The Epic 4G debuted last summer with Android OS 2.1, even though OS 2.2 was starting to become available at that time. Since then, users of this device have been waiting with increasing impatience for their upgrade.

And they aren't alone. This smartphone is part of the Samsung Galaxy S series, a popular line of smartphones that's offered by all the top U.S. wireless carriers under a range of names. So far, only T-Mobile's Samsung Vibrant has received its upgrade to Android OS 2.2, while users of the Samsung Captivate from AT&T and the Samsung Fascinate from Verizon are still waiting.

New in Android OS 2.2 (Froyo)
This 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.

Getting the Upgrade
Sprint and Google are going to send this upgrade directly to the Epic 4G over the air. Users will be notified when it has arrived, and asked if they want to install it.

Once the OTA version starts going out, it may be possible for users of this smartphone to manually install it.

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