Most of the Android smartphones these days are reeling from the so-called Stagefright bug. Officially disclosed on July 27, Stagefright is an MMS bug that currently affects the majority of smartphones and tablets running on the Android operating system.
Stagefright is a potentially devastating bug and many smartphone manufacturers and carriers have been working to fix it soon enough.
Canadian carrier Rogers is among the first to release a minor update a few days ago specifically for the original Moto X 2013 in its lineup that already includes a fix on Stagefright, details Mobile Syrup.
After the Moto X 2013, the carrier also rolled out the same for the HTC One M9, the current flagship smartphone of the Taiwanese handset maker HTC, on September 24.
Apparently, the fix was supposed to come out with the Android 5.1 Lollipop update which was officially released to the smartphone late in August but was withheld for some reason.
Subsequently, after the HTC One M9, the same fix will be rolled out to the Sony Xperia Z1 on September 28 to secure it from Stagefright vulnerability. Rogers has already released a Stagefright fix for the Z30’s Android player on September 24, simultaneous to the HTC One M9.
Android 6.0 Marshmallow on HTC One M9
Google’s latest mobile operating system, the Android 6.0 Marshmallow, will be officially rolling out in a few weeks’ time and Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC confirmed that it will be releasing the update to the HTC One M9 and two of its other high-end handsets.
In addition to the HTC One M9, the Android 6.0 Marshmallow will also be coming to the HTC One M9+, and the HTC One M8, last year’s flagship smartphone of the Taiwanese handset maker.
And if the upcoming HTC One A9, also known as the HTC One Aero, is released before the end of the year as planned, it shall most likely be the fourth handset in the HTC roster to be confirmed for the Android 6.0 Marshmallow, cites Neurogadget.
Google has remained true to its release pattern for its latest mobile operating system. After making the final preview of the Android 6.0 Marshmallow to its own line of Nexus devices, the search giant has seeded the software development kit to developers to test the latest OS on the current Nexus devices including the Nexus 5, the Nexus 6, the Nexus 9 and the Nexus Player.
After the developers are through with the firmware tests, the public rollout of the Android 6.0 Marshmallow to various smartphone models from the different handset makers shall commence.
Once the Android 6.0 Marshmallow rolls out to the Nexus devices, it is expected that the firmware update will be released to the latest smartphones and tablets of Samsung, Motorola, LG, and HTC before the rest of the Android phone makers get it.
A successor to a perfect phone
The HTC One M9 came out as a disappointment to many critics, not because of its own doing, but because its predecessor, the HTC One M8, was already considered a perfect phone.
So when the Taiwanese smartphone maker only made little updates to the HTC One M9 from the already great HTC One M8, consumers got dismayed and got turned off. It was no different from what Samsung experienced last year when it launched the Samsung Galaxy S5 featuring only very little improvement from the Samsung Galaxy S4.
Everybody knows that the result did not turn out well for Samsung. Not only did the Korean tech giant lose its grip on the title of the world’s best smartphone maker, it actually experienced three consecutive quarters of falling revenues.
Despite the negative reviews, consumers should note that the HTC One M9 is a smartphone built on precision. Some of its better features, when compared to the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S6, include the 20.7-megapixel rear-facing camera, the powerful BoomSound, and the generous battery capacity.
HTC One M9 has received a number of criticisms particularly for its under-achieving camera and its design which hardly offers any major improvement from the HTC One M8.
I thought the M7 was the “Rock Star” phone. Brilliant piece of hardware fused with cool software. It was so good, I skipped the M8. Just got my M9 and I love it even more than the M7. There is no other phone on the market which comes anywhere near the build quality, it’s like a tank.
It’s kinda sad that consumers are so persuaded by big advertising budgets over basics, like build quality.. The M9 is like a piece of jewelry and built to last. My mates with their Z3’s, S6’s and i-clones have mostly dropped and broke them within a few months.
Phone of glass? Sounds like a Blondie song from the 70’s. If I drop my phone, at least I don’t have a heart attack.