It’s been just over a month since Sprint and Samsung issued a standard maintenance fix for the Samsung Moment, but apparently the companies figured there were still some people out there who hadn’t gone into a store and finished the deed. Thankfully, they’ve gone ahead and made it a bit easier for those who were waiting for another option. No, this isn’t technically a “new” update, and probably the majority of folks out there already have it. But options are never a bad thing. Hopefully people didn’t assume this was the 2.1 update, though. That’s still at least a few days off, so hold your horses. The maintenance fix is meant to improve battery life, GPS (to locate you better indoors), as well as change the emergency dial on the lock screen, among a few other tidbits. Again, nothing major or groundbreaking. For complete instructions on how to update, go here.

via Android Central

Everybody loves a good rumor, and one as juicy as this should definitely start whetting the appetite. Especially if you’re one of those out there who went into a Sprint store and turned down the Hero in favor of Samsung’s physical keyboard-toting Moment. While we’d love to say that there’s more to this story than just the simple rumor mill round-up, we can’t. As it currently stands, neither Samsung or Sprint are officially commenting on the rumor. And while it was previously believed it’d be 2.0 gracing the Moment, it seems they’re skipping ahead (much like the Hero). A bit of bad news though: you’ll have to go into a Sprint store to get the update, so no over-the-air (OTA) goodness for you. Stay tuned, as we’ll update accordingly when we get any more information.

Via Android Central

The good news: If you own a Samsung Moment, you are in store for an update. Sprint is saying the update, CL14, will include

Network Assist GPS to allow indoor location fix
Updates to several third-party apps, including Visual Voicemail, NFL, NASCAR and Sprint TV
Change to Emergency Dial on lock screen
Hard reset available in recovery mode: remove and reinsert battery; press volume down, send and end keys until reboot option pops up; scroll to wipe data/factory reset; press OK
Various improvements to battery life

The bad news: It’s not 2.1, and you have to go to a Sprint dealer to get the update. I know some of you may be disappointed to hear the update isn’t 2.1, but hey, it’s better than nothing right?

According to Sprint, an OTA and computer downloadable version will be available sometime in the future. In other words, if you want the update anytime soon, strap on those snow shoes and head out.

Via Engadget

If the race to unload Verizon’s Google-powered merch for the lowest price possible – like free – didn’t have you waffling about where to get your next Android, this might: Best Buy is selling Sprint’s Hero and Moment for $99 with instant rebates on a two-year contract. Tell me the Behold II doesn’t look like a rip off right about now. The deal lasts “through December.”

Via Android and Me and Best Buy Mobile

We recently learned that HTC would be skipping the 1.6 update for European Hero owners; bringing them straight from 1.5 to 2.0. Now, Gearlog reports that Sprint is working on upgrades for the HTC Hero and Samsung moment, among some other cool things that may or may not include an Android with a built-in Mi-Fi-esque router. There’s no word on a time frame for the updates or which version they will be, or even if they will be the same version, for that matter. However, HTC’s decision to skip 1.6 in Europe could foreshadow their plans in the States.

In my recent Moment unboxing, I said that Moment should hit shelves with 1.6. I thought so because that was the word for some time and I hadn’t seen an official announcement that indicated otherwise. My review unit came with 1.5. Considering Sprint’s positioning of Hero and Moment as Sense vs. Vanilla, both quality Androids, it seems doubtful that they would want one running 1.6 and the other, 2.0. How much say Sprint has in the matter, I do not know. My guess is that both phones will go straight to 2.0, and with the Eclair-packing Droid dropping on November 6th, I don’t think Sprint can afford to put the update off for too long.

EDIT: Thanks to Randy for sending in the following email response from Sprint:

Dear Randy XXXXXX,

Thank you for contacting Sprint regarding the Samsung Moment.

The Samsung Moment phone currently has android 1.6 with android user
interface. If it comes with 2.0 android, we will display the information
on the website.

Check out an Eclair FAQ by Ed Burnett of ZDNet and the 2.0 discussion over at gdgt.