HTC won’t update Desire HD to Android 4.0 after all

HTC does not update its former flagship Desire HD to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The manufacturer has tested the update in recent months, but comes to the conclusion that Android 4.0 does not run better than the current 2.3.

The ‘user experience’ of the firmware with Android 4.0 on the Desire HD would be less than with the current software, reports HTC in a blog. HTC previously said that the Desire HD would receive an update this month or next. The update exists and has been sent out for approval; Bluetooth SIG judged the Desire HD with Android 4.0 good at the end of May.

After the blog was published on Saturday, confusion arose, because many people were told by the helpdesk that the update would still come. HTC Benelux director Mark Moons put an end to that confusion. He also says on Twitter: Sorry to cancel the update. He also offers to work on a trade-in promotion, where users can get a One X by handing in their Desire HD, presumably for an additional fee.

Canceling the update also affects custom ROM makers. Without HTC’s own version of an update, the necessary drivers are missing to make a fully working custom rom based on Android 4.0. That is why developers hope that HTC will still leak a version of the firmware.

HTC released the Desire HD in late 2010. The device runs on a Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon S2-soc with a clock speed of 1Ghz. The phone has a 4.3 “screen with a resolution of 800×480 pixels. The phone came with Android 2.2 and was updated to Android 2.3 Gingerbread last year.