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HTC ThunderBolt Owners Deserve Some Android 4.0 Answers

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Earlier today, HTC announced that it would begin rolling out Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich to its devices by the end of March. The first batch of devices that will be getting the Android 4.0 update include the HTC Sensation, HTC Sensation 4G, and the HTC Sensation XE. In addition, the company confirmed that a number of other devices would be seeing the update in the future.

Let’s run down that list real quick.

HTC Rezound. HTC Vivid. HTC Amaze 4G. HTC EVO 3D. HTC EVO Design 4G. HTC Incredible S. HTC Desire S. HTC Desire HD.

There are quite a few devices missing from that list. Though, none more glaring then the absence of the HTC ThunderBolt, the first 4G LTE smartphone that was released on Verizon’s next-generation back in March.

HTC ThunderBolt Owners Deserve Some Android 4.0 AnswersIf you’re an HTC ThunderBolt owner, you probably already know where I’m going with this.

For those that don’t own one, let’s make a long story short.

HTC and Verizon manage to completely screw up the launch of the HTC ThunderBolt back in March of 2011. After finally getting the phone out after the bungled launch, owners are immediately greeted with a ton of issues.

Battery life, freezing, random reboots, a broken mobile hotspot, amongst other issues.

Needless to say, people were frustrated. Especially because the issues took months to iron out. Smartphones aren’t toys. They are expensive pieces of hardware that require contracts and monthly payments. So oddly enough, people wanted what they paid for.

A working smartphone.

It wasn’t until HTC and Verizon rolled out Gingerbread in October that the problems seemed to simmer. Oh yeah. Did I mention HTC ThunderBolt owners had to wait seven months for Android 2.3 to arrive?

What I am getting at is that it took seven months for HTC and Verizon to make owning an HTC ThunderBolt a semi-enjoyable experience. They wasted seven whole months of the two years that many signed up for when they bought the darn thing.

And I think that the companies owe ThunderBolt owners something.

Something beyond a promise not to release bulky devices with terrible battery life in 2012.

How about breaking the silence about the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update for the HTC ThunderBolt? For better or for worse.

If this were any other device, I wouldn’t be opening my mouth. I know how hard it is to prepare a major Android update for a phone not called Nexus and I know that companies don’t want to throw dates around or say stuff that might end up haunting them.

But trust me on this, HTC and Verizon. HTC ThunderBolt owners have gone through smartphone hell and back and I am pretty sure they can handle anything you throw at them.

So throw something.

“No, the HTC ThunderBolt won’t be getting the update.”

“Yes, it will get it sometime in 2012.”

“Yes, it will get it sometime in 2013.”

But not silence, anything but silence.

If I had my way, HTC ThunderBolt owners would be first in line for the Android 4.0 update after all the garbage they put up with. Instead, they will be one of the last in line, put on the back burner once again.

Been wondering why HTC’s 4G LTE smartphone sales were terrible in the fourth quarter of 2011?

There’s your answer. Loyalty is a two way street.

So, how about it HTC?

Verizon?

How about letting ThunderBolt owners know if they should trade in their ThunderBolt for an Android 4.0 device or if they should endure?

The benefits of Android 4.0 are many and I think those who spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars on a phone that was on par with a paper weight for seven months deserve to know if they are going to see them.

Who else is frustrated?

30 Comments

30 Comments

  1. Geri O

    02/09/2012 at 6:21 pm

    Can anyone say “Bionic”?

    Yeah, who would want to….

  2. Guest

    02/09/2012 at 7:14 pm

    I got my Thunderbolt a couple days after release, and after this experience, I think I can categorically say that I’m done with HTC phones. From now on, it’s Nexus or bust (or perhaps Motorola since Google has snapped them up).

  3. Webdude50

    02/09/2012 at 8:44 pm

    Me too, they should be sued for all the false advertising and what Verizon, Skype, Best Buy and especially HTC has done to Thunderbolt owners, huge scam.

  4. Trob6969

    02/09/2012 at 9:16 pm

    I agree with this article. I have the htc rezound and normally by it being their flagship phone, i would think it should be first to get the ics upgrade BUT since thunderbolt owners got such a raw-deal i would be willing to wait until after they got theirs first. They deserve at least that much consideration.

    • Loserakira

      02/15/2012 at 5:39 pm

      Thats so true cause Htc and Verizon basically scrwed ua over. I have an htc thublndebolt and its not great. I would put my phone first cause were the Fucking Oldest

  5. Fancy

    02/10/2012 at 5:06 am

    So bummed, HTC had so much potential but yes, last strawwww damn it.

  6. Willwillsee

    02/10/2012 at 6:40 am

    Im very frustrated to say the least.

  7. Fdalonges

    02/10/2012 at 6:46 am

    i have had the thunderbolt since the day it came out, and i love the phone and have been thru all the problems, had it replaced 6 times, and set it back up with all my stuff, and when the latest update came thru my contact ringtones have screwed up, but thru it all, i still love this phone, i think we should get the ics update also for all the problems we have had, but if not, i still have 9 months left to switch to a new phone, and will use this to its limits, and i kept it at stock the whole time, no rooting. Thanks Frank D.

  8. Anonymous

    02/10/2012 at 10:21 am

    so dead on!!! Anything BUT silence…cant wait to get rid of this thing…

  9. Anonymous

    02/10/2012 at 4:45 pm

     https://lnk.co/IHOTL

  10. Geminiboyzrule

    02/10/2012 at 9:30 pm

    I LOVE my HTC thunderbolt, and I have the extended battery (for extra talk time, etc.).  It is light years better than my LG Ally.   I can even watch netflix on it without issues.  I haven’t really had any problems, so if you want this phone I highly recommend it!!!!

  11. Bklynhts

    02/11/2012 at 3:06 pm

    Fcuk HTC & Verizon, i’m switching back to AT&T for a Motorola phone as soon as I can.

  12. Anonymous

    02/12/2012 at 6:53 pm

  13. James

    02/13/2012 at 11:15 am

    I have the HTC Thunderbolt and would gladly hurl it at any Verizon/HTC
    exec that cares to put themselves within arm-shot range.  I got screwed
    with the phone and it’s many, many bugs, and now I won’t even get the
    next Android upgrade?  Bye bye HTC & Verizon.  My contract is up
    soon and you can watch my fat a** head on down the road.  By the way,
    I’ve been a Verizon customer since they bought up AirTouch in 1999…
    over 12 years.   Obviously long time customers don’t count for much with Verizon.

  14. Mjastudios

    02/13/2012 at 12:46 pm

    Leaving Thunderbolt and letting the kids have it to play with. Maybe Galaxy Note, Journal/whatever? Maybe Galaxy Nexus.

  15. Bcan75

    02/13/2012 at 1:36 pm

    I own a TBolt and I hate the phone every day.  HTC will never see another dime of mine and will never hear another positive comment about them from me to anyone.  I hope they go bankrupt and google never uses them again for a Google Experience Device. 

  16. Bodawg

    02/13/2012 at 2:14 pm

    I couldn’t agree more!! Investing in a promise made by both HTC and Verizon, is something many of us have made. Believing in a product that was going to be a game changer. Only to end up with a slew of undeserved problems. Is the Thunderbolt a really good phone? I think it is. But is it anywhere near the hype it was promoted to be? Hardly! Give us 4.0 and regain some trust. At this point I feel Thunderbolt owners are worth the extra effort. And maybe the reputation of both HTC and Verizon is worth that as well? You tell me.

  17. DavidB

    02/14/2012 at 8:11 am

    So I had the original HTC Droid the Eris. Underpowered from day one and waited for updates for months after other Android phones got them.  Verizon dropped supporting the phone after about 6 months.  Now I have the Thunderbolt from HTC.  Verizon offers that phone today for $0.00.   It took less than a year to be offered for free. Once again updates are not going to be offered as of this writing for a phone that is less than a year old.  I am done with HTC phones for now. I am also leery of buying any phone within the first three months of its debut. I have been burned twice now.

  18. Loserakira

    02/15/2012 at 5:37 pm

    I really wanted to like HTC so when i bought the phone i was so happy :) but then i had so much issues like battery no connect all that stuff. Then i bought an hTC rezound battery for my tbolt and it still sucks. I am angry just relized that i should have waited a little longer for the bionic or the razor even the nexus! They better fucking update ot cause i wasted 2fuckinghundred dollrs on it and im just ready to grab a hammer and smash it into pieces!

  19. harry ballsha

    02/16/2012 at 11:53 pm

    This is getting stupid. Seriously gna jump the wagon to Samsung soon. Hoping the Samsung journal (note as its called on att) comes out soon. HTC can kiss this customer goodbye.

  20. Jeff

    06/12/2012 at 12:09 pm

    There should be a class action lawsuit against all parties involved with the Thunderbolt. Congress should apply the Lemon Law to cell phones after this debacle. I’m on my second Thunderbolt and its giving me new problems.
    Verizon should also have allowed Thunderbolt owners pick a different replacement phone after all the problems with the Thunderbolt. As for “Ice Cream Sandwich” coming to us in July or August or September or EVER…will do me no good. I can upgrade to an IPHONE in December. No more HTC….ever.

  21. Travis

    07/04/2012 at 12:41 am

    So why didn’t Thunderbolt owners return the defective phones to Verizon for a full refund?

  22. Robert

    07/09/2012 at 11:03 pm

    You know…
    I owned the HTC Thunderbolt the day it was released and never once experienced a problem with it. I suppose I was a lucky one out of the bunch. Since I have always been fortunate with my Thunderbolt, there won’t be any complaints out of me. However, if I had experienced these issues like many of you have, I would also be frustrated… which leads me to FULLY agree with this article.
    Finally, now that it has been confirmed that we will receive the ICS 4.0, it should make things much better for the Thunderbolt… or let’s all at least hope so. :) Still sucks that we are on the back burner to receive the update though.
    I have also heard that HTC has already released the update to Verizon, so we are basically waiting on Verizon now to add all their bull crap to it. Hopefully they haven’t encrypted our bootloader with the same locked and relocked seen on many ICS devices… which I highly doubt we will see. But it’s always a possibility.

  23. turkshead182

    07/11/2012 at 10:55 am

    July 11. Still waiting for my TB to be the phone it should be. Overall the phone is not horrible, just disappointing. Disappointing enough that come Nov. 17 I will not be heading to the Verizon store to buy an HTC product.

  24. Johnny

    07/25/2012 at 7:33 am

    I agree with Adam on this. I have been so mad at them I thought about rooting again. The other day I went on the VZW facebook page and called them out on the ICS update. They came back with did I not read the flyer about how we were going to get ICS? I replied that I along with many others were tired of hearing about how we ere going to get it. I said are you trying to make sue buy new phones? Just tell us one way or the other. Their final response was that we were going to get ICS and to stay tuned. Well I have been tuned in for a long time and nothing has happened.

    Rumor mills says that some people are doing or were doing a soak test, well how long does this take. If you root there are a bunch of roms out there but I have been down the root road and I chose to come back. I wish they would just tell us!

  25. Bob Davis

    08/09/2012 at 3:48 am

    Any and all Thunderbolt owners should ban together and organize a boycott of all HTC products.HTC has repeatedly demonstrated that once they get you to buy, the company’s only interest is to get you to buy newer hardware- to heck with service. Know that I will NEVER purchase anything remotely connectd with HTC- March 2013 can’t come soon enough!! Hello iPhone and hello to ATT

  26. Johnny

    08/09/2012 at 5:54 am

    I am starting to think there is no update. Surly we would have seen a leaked RUU by now but none and you can’t get a straight answer out of any of them.

  27. Mike S

    08/09/2012 at 1:44 pm

    Maybe I made a mistake by buying a Thunderbolt late but one of the reasons I bought it was the promise by Verizon and HTC that the Thunderbolt would get ICS soon after I purchased it. 3 weeks into a new contract and I find out that HTC and Verizon are both saying, “Oops……” and then not saying another word about the upgrade. My last phone was the droid X and it looks like I might be going with Motorola phones in the future.

  28. Doug

    09/30/2012 at 5:52 pm

    This is a very accurate and fair article. I’m also very disappointed with HTC and Verizon, especially because before this debacle they had a fair reputation for updating their products. I took their past reputation into consideration before I purchased the Thunderbolt. Still no word on the ICS and today is the last day of September 2012.

  29. JPain

    10/11/2012 at 9:14 am

    Still waiting! Very close to being done with HTC and Verizon.

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