You may have seen Dell's new Stage UI on upcoming/leaked Android phones like the Thunder and used it as the basis for discrediting last month's screenshot of the beta version of the official Froyo update for the Dell Streak.
Whether you believe it was the real deal or not, several sources have confirmed the legitimacy of the image to me and there's no question that Stage will be on the Streak. What's interesting about the software's implementation in this case, though, is that it is not a full Android skin (as on the Thunder, which was running Eclair at the time of the leak).
Instead, Stage on the Streak is said to be nothing more than a set of widgets. This is good news because it means that if you don't like the look/function of the widgets, you don't have to use them. Simple as that.
If you actually want the full Stage UI on the Streak, I'm sure it won't take long for a clever dev to port it over from the Thunder, but until then, I've been told that Stage in the official build from Dell will only include the widgets (which seem nice enough to serve as a UI, anyway).
I should have more info coming about the official Froyo beta build soon, so stay tuned.
Thanks, anonymous tipster!
Excited to add 2.2 to my Streak officially only had it for a week now! In the coming weeks I hope!
I’m excited as well. I was going to tear into mine and do the root and DJ_Steve update but since i’ve only had mine for a week and this is supposed to be out in November i figured i’d try and be patient as well for the official build 2.2 and this Stage-thingy. If i don’t like it then i’ll start the tinkering.
Good news. Everyone seems to think the vanilla Froyo is better. Having never tried it and being new to Android, I’m enjoying Dell’s mildly customized 1.6 UI. This would be the best of both worlds, unlike other custom skins that don’t give you a choice.
yeah…don’t use DJ_Steve’s build unless you want a great fast Streak and not some piece of overbloat crap from Dell…that’s all I’m saying.
Although to be fair most people don’t really want to put the effort into doing that and would be much happier keeping their warranty intact by using the official version which I’m sure will work fine enough.
Benchmarks from the official beta are actually a teeny, tiny bit faster than the DJ_Steve build. The difference is negligible but it does show that the official build is promising.
That’s great news!
Well I hope it all comes as soon as possible, I ordered my Rebel Sim and it seems like its taking just as long as this OTA update!! ARRRRR!!!!
froyo 2.2 update. middle of November folks!
I’ll believe it when I see it.
(I seem to remember: “Dell streak launch date: end of July folks!”)
^ What this guy said
I had dj steve’s latest froyo but decided to go back to o2 eclair. i’ll wait for da official frodo. errr froyo.
This are great news! I’ve had my Streak for about two weeks, I’ve been trying to update it but got stuck at official 2.1 and couldn’t taste the yogurt yet.
If my Streak likes this official update better, it’s nice to know I can turn off those customizations if I don’t like them.
I wonder if this has anything to do with the way Microsoft is handling customizations in Windows Phone 7, which DELL also develops phones for?
Maybe they realized it was for the best…