Finally the Gingerbread 2.3.6 update (DDKQ8) has arrived for Samsung Galaxy Ace OFFICIALLY.
It promises an increase in performance of the phone and also boasts of longer battery life.Visibly there are a few major differences too.
Whats New???Say good bye to the old lock screen with two circular virtual slide buttons for unlocking and turning ON/OFF the silent mode.With the new unlock screen you can slide anywhere to unlock the phone. The digital clock is placed on the left bottom side of screen. with a new circle in the centre which displays number of new messages or missed calls(it is not visible if you don't have an sms or missed call).
When you received a call in the Gingerbread 2.3.4 or earlier you got a answer and end options similar to the lock screen. It has been replaced with a trendy looking options.
When you scroll to the end of list/image a blue light glows from the edge signifying end of line etc. it looks pretty cool too.
The Old Android market has been replaced with Google Play, which is pretty much same with a few new enhancements.
The text memo icon has changed too, yippee!!! as if it matters as long as it works the same.
A few things here and a few things there which are noticeable when you look around.The major upgrade i found was in the battery life it has improved a bit(or i must be imagining)but it runs better than the froyo/gingerbread that i had earlier.I installed a lot of apps and found that they somehow took a little less phone memory.
The updating took me about 30 minutes(i updated from Gingerbread 2.3.4) and was hassle free i did not even require a data cable or Kies as the update was over the Air "OTA"
How to update your Samsung Galaxy Ace to Gingerbread 2.3.6:*I am considering that you have already updated your phone to Gingerbread 2.3.4 as you won't get the software update option in Froyo 2.2.1*
*Donot try to turn your hone off in between as it may brick your phone**You may also try to update any other phone that's running on Gingerbread*1)Charge your phone well i advice 100% battery as it may save you future trouble, connecting a charger while updating is also a good option but why take chances? (my battery was at 96% before starting and it went smooth)
2)Hope you have a high speed 3G connection as i do but wi-fi is still better for downloading update files.
3)Backup any data like contacts and messages(I did not backup any data and lost nothing, you may well backup if you don't want to lose any thing)
4)Go to Settings > About Phone > Software Update > Update
5)The phone will search for updates available and will start downloading them once it has received them it will start installing automatically.(Before this update rolled out in India i got a message saying "your Phone is already updated".
6)you may be prompted to restart your phone, do so.
7)In case you are not able to receive update the update is not available in your region.(This is an OFFICIAL update provided by samsung so i can't help you if you dont get theupdate.
8)After the long wait your phone will start again and yippee!!! you've got a new OS. you can check it in Settings > About Phone.
The only down side i found to this update was it took a long time to roll out and we have been waiting for it for a long time. Though it is Not ICS Ice cream Sandwich it is good that we at least get an update.
hope this information was helpful, Both Criticism & Praises Are Appriciated.