By JR Raphael
Put your party plans on hold, Android fans: According to Verizon Wireless, the Droid X's Android 2.3 upgrade has not begun.
Word of a possible Droid X Gingerbread rollout spread fast around the Web this week after a user posted a message in an Android forum saying he'd received an upgrade on his device.
"Got a message saying update 4.5.588 has been downloaded and is ready to install," the user, registered as HarleyDude, wrote on Tuesday. He went on to indicate that the notice had simply appeared on his phone without any action on his behalf.
The file was apparently extracted and provided to an independent Android developer, who analyzed the update and concluded it was, in fact, a Droid X-ready Gingerbread build. Numerous users say they've been able to manually install the software, which was uploaded to a file-sharing service, onto their Droid X devices.
While it's anyone's guess how the file made its way onto HarleyDude's phone in the first place, Verizon Wireless spokesperson Brenda Raney tells me without a shred of doubt that a rollout is not underway.
"We haven't pushed a software update to the Droid X," she says.
Remember: We've seen leaked versions of Gingerbread builds for the Droid X (and plenty of other phones) surface before. Based on what Verizon's saying, this latest appearance -- however it happened -- may just be an isolated incident. The file may or may not even be a final release; at this point, we really don't know.
I've reached out to Motorola for comment as well. If/when I hear anything back, I'll update this page with the info.
Looking for the Gingerbread upgrade status of any other device? Click over to my Android 2.3 upgrade list. It's always kept up-to-date with the latest info available for all Android phones.
JR Raphael writes about smartphones and other tasty technology. You can find him on Facebook, on Twitter, or at eSarcasm, his geek-humor getaway.
Article copyright 2011 JR Raphael. All rights reserved.