The HTC Thunderbolt is largely thought to be one of the most disappointing, frustrating, and disastrous smartphones of all time. It was released as Verizon’s first 4G LTE device, so you can imagine how much attention it grabbed from the tech universe leading up to and after its arrival two years ago. In fact, we hypebeasted the Thunderbolt for months after it was first unveiled at CES in January of 2011, followed by non-stop coverage of it for a lengthy period of time after release. Unfortunately for HTC and those who bought the phone, the phone struggled to become anything but a nuisance as software delays and poor performance tarnished any sort of positive life it once attempted to live. 

We figured Verizon was pulling an epic April Fools prank and approved an update for the Thunderbolt yesterday. Turns out, it is very real and build 7.02.605.10 is rolling out to owners this morning. The update includes a handful of fixes and small improvements to the Ice Cream Sandwich firmware that was pushed out last month.

The update is 19.3MB in size.

More info.

Cheers Chris!

Verizon approved a new update for the HTC Thunderbolt this morning, one that will bring the phone up to build 7.02.605.10. It’s minor and includes small improvements to a handful of features, like the microphone, HTC Watch, text messaging, and Yahoo/Microsoft Exchange connectivity. Yep, that’s it.

The update is 19.3MB in size.

More info.

On a related note, while I have Thunderbolt owners’ attention, how is the phone performing after the Ice Cream Sandwich update? My brother has a T-Bolt and I noticed him using it this weekend – holy s**t was his phone ridiculously slow and laggy. Is it like that for all of you? Would the phone have been better off without this update?

Now that the official Ice Cream Sandwich build for the Thunderbolt has been released and pushed out to remaining owners (I hear crickets), developers are already working their magic. Last week, a developer released a rooted, deodexed, and more importantly, debloated version of the official ICS build to users. I say more importantly because after looking at the list of removed apps, it’s hard to believe there was any room on the device’s storage for any user-installed applications. 

According to our inbox, and various Android forums like XDA, the Ice Cream Sandwich update that Verizon approved last week for the HTC Thunderbolt, is rolling out now. As expected, the update is a whoppin’ 395MB, but that’s expected with the big jump from Gingerbread to Android 4.0.

Head into Menu>Settings>Software update to pull it. Full changelog.

You probably don’t believe this, but Verizon has approved Ice Cream Sandwich for the HTC Thunderbolt. After missing their self-imposed August deadline, the update is finally ready now that we are in January of 2013. The official build number is 7.02.605.06. Once updated, your phone will be running Android 4.0.4 with Sense 3.6.

Welcome to the club Thunderbolt owners, you poor abused souls.

In this update you’ll find lock screen notifications, a custom launch bar, easily create folders, multitask with ease, and more. It’s a major update from Gingerbread.

The update is 395MB in size. 

The HTC Thunderbolt was originally supposed to receive its Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) update by the end of August. As we all know, that didn’t exactly happen. So here we are, approaching the end of 2012 and the update is still nowhere in sight. HTC is well aware that they missed their deadline and assure us that they are still working on it, however, they have yet to give us any sort of new time frame to get excited over. All we have heard recently, is that they are working on connectivity issues with Verizon and that they’ll share info as they work through them. 

HTC has updated their device FAQ for anyone looking to find information on when and if their device will receive Jelly Bean. Long story short, HTC has made it clear that in general, devices with 512MB of RAM or less will more than likely not receive Jelly Bean. Unfortunately, that probably goes for you too Thunderbolt owners, even with your 768MB of RAM. Other devices from HTC that are equipped with just 512MB of RAM are the One V and Desire C.

We work hard to ensure each of our products has the optimal user experience and therefore some products will remain at their current version of Android. In general, devices with 512MB RAM or less will not be upgraded to Android 4.1. As we identify other devices that will not be upgraded, we’ll provide updated information.

As for which devices will definitely get JB, HTC says they are prioritizing the update for the devices that were launched in 2012, then working their way back. The company has quite the portfolio to work through, and as you most likely already guessed, it could take quite some time before we see updates go live for the Rezound, EVO 3D, and other once-flagship devices.