T-Mobile Samsung Vibrant (Galaxy S) gets Android 2.2 Froyo upgrade via Kies

Rejoice, T-mobile Samsung Vibrant users, as the long-awaited Android 2.2 Froyo upgrade for your Galaxy S variant has finally gotten the green light from T-Mobile and Samsung. As wementioned previously, starting today, Jan 21, anyone with a T-Mobile Vibrant in their pockets can upgrade their Super AMOLED-toting smartphone to Android Froyo via the Samsung Kies Mini software. The upgrade will bring all the performance enhancements afforded by Android 2.2 OS, as well as WiFi-calling (UMA), internet tethering (USB) and mobile hotspot.

The downside here is that T-Mobile will not be rolling out this update as an over-the-air (OTA) update. The only way to get your hands on this latest software version for your handset will be to connect it to your computer via microUSB cable and firing up the Samsung Kies software. You can download the Kies software here.

Once downloaded, install the software, then navigate to Menu > Settings > Application > USB Settings on the Vibrant and tap “Ask on connection.” After that, just fire up the Kies software and follow the prompts, it’s that simple.

You should know that you Vibrant will never notify you of this update/upgrade. Since this Vibrant-specific version of Android 2.2 Froyo OS isn’t going to be pushed out by T-Mobile via OTA, the only way you’ll know it exists is by reading this here blog post. You should also know that this upgrade is not mandatory and you need to have a computer running Windows in order to perform the update.

If you want detailed installation instructions, hit up the Vibrant software upgrade thread on T-Mobile’s support forums here.