On June 28 Sprint began rolling out an over-the-air update for the Evo 4G – which quickly killed a number of the handsets, according to Mobile Crunch. Before the damage could spread further, Sprint reportedly quit the OTA update midway and released the following statement:
While the vast majority of consumers successfully downloaded and installed the most recent HTC EVO 4G software update, we have received a handful of reports from customers having some issues with the update. In light of this, HTC and Sprint have decided to temporarily halt distribution of this software release until we can investigate further. We expect to be able to resume software updates shortly.
For now it’s unclear just how many handsets were damaged, what the extent of the damage was and – should they truly be “bricked,” as Mobile Crunch is reporting – what Sprint or HTC will do to compensate owners.
To view images of the HTC Evo 4G, click here.
Sprint rolled out the Evo 4G June 4, in what was its most successful rollout to date. In a June 7 statement the carrier said the date marked the largest number of a single phone that it has sold in a single day. It also compared the Evo 4G’s launch sales to those of the Palm Pre and Samsung Instinct – though on June 7, it clarified its text, and its math, a bit, stating: “Launch day sales of the HTC Evo 4G were six times greater than launch day sales of [the] Samsung Instinct and nearly twice the launch day sales for the Palm Pre.”
On June 28, Sprint also introduced the Samsung Epic 4G, which will be its second 4G-capable smartphone. A member of the Samsung Galaxy S family of phones, the Android-running handset will arrive on the Sprint network later this summer.
Siblings to the Epic 4G were simultaneously introduced by T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless.