Dell Streak handed halfway-house Android upgrade

 

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By Stewart Mitchell

Posted on 31 Aug 2010 at 15:30

Dell Streak owners will finally get an upgrade from the ageing Android 1.6 operating system that the tablet PC launched with – but not to the latest version.

O2 has confirmed it will offer an over-the-air upgrade over its network this week, but the revamp will only be to 2.1, a full iteration behind the latest version users were hoping for.

When we reviewed the Streak back in July, we were led to believe the tablet would be upgrading directly to Android 2.2 this summer.

Dell hadn't come back to us to explain the disappointing delay at the time of publication, but O2 said it was releasing a 2.1 upgrade, with a 2.2 revamp scheduled for an unspecified later date.

“We haven’t made any announcement about 2.2, so I wouldn’t even describe it as ‘knocked back’ to 2.1,” an O2 spokesperson said when we questioned the limited upgrade. “We’re just planning to offer 2.1 first (this week) and then 2.2 after that, exactly when is still to be announced.”

Dell said the upgrade on offer was from O2 and not the manufacturer.

Users upgrading to 2.1 should at least see speed and performance enhancements, as well as improved video recording, and native touchscreen support for gestures.

The continued delay in delivering Android 2.2 to the Streak is in stark contrast to ViewSonic, which has just announced its ViewPad 7, an Android-based tablet that will make its debut with a fully up-to-date version of the operating system.