The source code for Android 4.0 Ice
Cream Sandwich was released to the
public back in November of 2011. At
that point, OEMs had the option of
beginning work on updates for their
existing devices. Android 4.0 is the
biggest departure in design and
functionality the platform has ever
seen, and it’s also the most polished.
It would be nice if everyone could be
surprised by the lack of progress in
the last few months, but things have
not made much progress since we
last looked . Some devices have seen
updates, but the vast majority are still
waiting. Let’s take a look at what the
current status of devices from each
OEM are, now that we’ve got more to
go on.
Motorola
Motorola made some news yesterday
when its online update table was
updated. We have to hand it to
Motorola when it comes to
transparency. It’s nice to have a
handy table to refer to when
speculating on what devices are
getting updates. It also sheds some
light on why most OEMs don’t do
this; that table is depressing .
Motorola has sorted out the update
timeline for a number of devices with
the Xoom Family Edition getting its
update in Q2 2012. The Wi-Fi only
Zoom had its update last month, so
good job on that front. Coming in Q3
2012 will be the Atrix 4G, Atrix 2,
Photon 4G, and Motorola Xyboards.
The third quarter is a long time to
wait, but at least there is a timeline
posted.
Motorola’s other devices, including
the Droid Razr, Droid Bionic, Droid 3,
Droid 4, Droid Razr Maxx, Xoom LTE,
and Droid Xyboards (the Verizon
versions) are all listed as “In
Evaluation & Planning.” We know that
these devices will be updated per
Motorola’s previous statements, but
we had hoped it to be sooner rather
than later.
The perplexing thing is that Moto
switched to TI OMAP for these
devices, which should reduce the
amount of work needed to port ICS.
Google builds Android on OMAP now
because that’s what the Galaxy
Nexus runs. It seems likely that
Motorola's close relationship with
Verizon could be slowing the process.
Most of these devices are on Verizon,
so the listing could simply be
indicating that carrier testing could
take an indeterminate length of time.
If you’re looking for a good deal on a
phone, and want updated software,
Motorola might not be the place to
go. It’s possible that updates for the
Razr will sneak in during Q2, but the
table isn’t making us hopeful.
Samsung
The current king of Android is the
Korean OEM Samsung. While Google
has chosen Samsung to make the
last few Nexus devices, its reputation
for updates hasn’t been great. It took
the better part of a year to get
updates to Android 2.2 from 2.1. A
sad state of affairs to be sure.
We’re going to go out on a limb here
and say that anything running a
Hummingbird SoC from Samsung is
going to stay on Gingerbread. That
means all the Galaxy S phones like
the Captivate and Vibrant will be
staying put. These devices were
heavily customized for carriers, and
there’s just no one left to pay for the
development of those updates.
The Galaxy S II is getting Android
4.0 . There is no doubt it’s coming,
but we don’t know when. Samsung
has had the ICS code a little longer
than most because it built the Galaxy
Nexus. Samsung’s TouchWiz skin has
also gotten lighter in the last year, so
expect an easier upgrade path going
forward.
A date of March 1 for a Galaxy S II
update has been suggested, with a
Galaxy Note update coming soon
thereafter. We can’t tell you if that’s
true, and the carrier-specific versions
will still have a bit of a wait after any
international rollout, but maybe not
too long. Samsung has confirmed that
the first quarter will bring updates for
phones like the Galaxy S II (all
variants), and the various flavors of
Galaxy Tab.
HTC
The original Android OEM has been
having a tough time as of late, and
we worry a bit that the drive to get
new phones out the door might
negatively affect updates. HTC has a
heavy skin and a number of
completely custom stock apps, so it
takes a little longer to get everything
sorted out. HTC also has a strike
against it because it released a ton of
phones last year.
Most of HTC’s portfolio has the
annoyingly vague distinction of “early
2012” as the upgrade date. It’s good
that they are at least willing to say
“early” at least. Devices in this
Sensation family are happening in
March to kick things off. The HTC
Rezound, Amaze 4G, and the Vivid
on AT&T will get ICS next. The
Thunderbolt is still an unknown, but
we’re feeling pretty skeptical about its
chances.
Any variant of the Desire HD, Evo 3D,
or Incredible S are just listed as “later
this year” by HTC. That might not
sound great, but it’s better news than
users of the Evo 4G or Droid
Incredible are getting. There is little
chance that these devices will be
getting the ICS update. Likewise, the
Flyer just got an update to
Honeycomb and we don’t see it
progressing beyond that. No word yet
on the Jetstream, but odds are
you’ve never seen one of those in
real life.
Sony
Now that Sony has dropped the
Ericsson surname, the company may
have turned over a new leaf. After
initially announcing that all the 2011
Xperia phones will get ICS, Sony has
tightened up the timeline a little.
Anyone using an Xperia phone that
was released in 2011 can expect to
get a taste of Ice Cream Sandwich in
the March/April time frame. Devices in
this category include the Arc, Neo,
Play, and Active.
Sony’s tablets are also getting an
update this spring. No more specific
range has been decided on here, but
it’s not unrealistic to expect the same
March/April time frame.
LG
We don’t really have much
confidence in LG’s update cycle as
of late. After initially staying silent on
updates, LG has announced that its
high-end devices will be updated. In
that announcement, though, they only
talked about phones in the Optimus
line like the Optimus 2X. Where is
the T-Mobile G2x in all this? In
trouble, most likely.
On the surface, the G2x is a stock
Android device, but if you talk to
modders, they’ll tell you that there is
a lot of odd LG framework code on it
as well. It’s not clear what LG has
been up to with the software on the
G2x, but it doesn’t seem to be
putting a lot of effort in. T-Mobile has
moved on from the device, and it was
unavailable due to serious software
bugs for a large chunk of its run, so
the carrier may not be interested in
further support.
The devices that LG does choose to
update will start to see code drops in
Q2 with the Optimus 2X, Optimus
LTE, and the Prada Phone. In Q3, the
Optimus Black is up to bat along with
the Optimus EX. Most of these
devices are not US releases, but
don’t count the LG Nitro HD out yet.
Asus
Once nearly absent from the
consumer electronics market, Asus
makes some of the most desirable
Android tablets available. Happily,
they are also keen on updating the
devices. The just released
Transformer Prime is already getting
its Ice Cream Sandwich update . The
update fixes a number of bugs, and
improves the performance of some
radios.
The original Transformer is on the
update list, but the 4.0 update was
supposed to have been done by now.
The Transformer was one of the best
selling Honeycomb devices, so there
are plenty of users out there to be
upset. Asus is now looking at March
as the deadline for getting ICS on the
Transformer.
The EeePad Slider is a less popular
version of the Transformer with a big
slide-out keyboard. It’s also slated
for an ICS update, but Asus doesn’t
talk about the Slider as often. We
expect it will either be updated at the
same time as the Transformer, or it
will happen quietly at some point in
the following weeks.
Acer
Acer has a few Android tablets for the
more budget conscious consumers,
and they have been fairly transparent
about the update cycle. The Acer
Iconia A200 got its ICS update over
the weekend . This is a fairly new
device with a Tegra 2 SoC and feels
very last-generation. Still, it’s one of
the few devices with Android 4.0.
Acer’s older tablets, the Iconia A100
and A500 are getting ICS, but Acer
tweeted yesterday that the update
will not be ready until mid-April .
That’s the sad, but expected state of
Android 4.0 updates.
A fair number of
phones and tablet will get the update
in Q2 2012, but that's still going to
be a few months too long in our
book. How does your device look? If there is no official word on an update, are you looking at custom ROMs
instead?
Cream Sandwich was released to the
public back in November of 2011. At
that point, OEMs had the option of
beginning work on updates for their
existing devices. Android 4.0 is the
biggest departure in design and
functionality the platform has ever
seen, and it’s also the most polished.
It would be nice if everyone could be
surprised by the lack of progress in
the last few months, but things have
not made much progress since we
last looked . Some devices have seen
updates, but the vast majority are still
waiting. Let’s take a look at what the
current status of devices from each
OEM are, now that we’ve got more to
go on.
Motorola
Motorola made some news yesterday
when its online update table was
updated. We have to hand it to
Motorola when it comes to
transparency. It’s nice to have a
handy table to refer to when
speculating on what devices are
getting updates. It also sheds some
light on why most OEMs don’t do
this; that table is depressing .
Motorola has sorted out the update
timeline for a number of devices with
the Xoom Family Edition getting its
update in Q2 2012. The Wi-Fi only
Zoom had its update last month, so
good job on that front. Coming in Q3
2012 will be the Atrix 4G, Atrix 2,
Photon 4G, and Motorola Xyboards.
The third quarter is a long time to
wait, but at least there is a timeline
posted.
Motorola’s other devices, including
the Droid Razr, Droid Bionic, Droid 3,
Droid 4, Droid Razr Maxx, Xoom LTE,
and Droid Xyboards (the Verizon
versions) are all listed as “In
Evaluation & Planning.” We know that
these devices will be updated per
Motorola’s previous statements, but
we had hoped it to be sooner rather
than later.
The perplexing thing is that Moto
switched to TI OMAP for these
devices, which should reduce the
amount of work needed to port ICS.
Google builds Android on OMAP now
because that’s what the Galaxy
Nexus runs. It seems likely that
Motorola's close relationship with
Verizon could be slowing the process.
Most of these devices are on Verizon,
so the listing could simply be
indicating that carrier testing could
take an indeterminate length of time.
If you’re looking for a good deal on a
phone, and want updated software,
Motorola might not be the place to
go. It’s possible that updates for the
Razr will sneak in during Q2, but the
table isn’t making us hopeful.
Samsung
The current king of Android is the
Korean OEM Samsung. While Google
has chosen Samsung to make the
last few Nexus devices, its reputation
for updates hasn’t been great. It took
the better part of a year to get
updates to Android 2.2 from 2.1. A
sad state of affairs to be sure.
We’re going to go out on a limb here
and say that anything running a
Hummingbird SoC from Samsung is
going to stay on Gingerbread. That
means all the Galaxy S phones like
the Captivate and Vibrant will be
staying put. These devices were
heavily customized for carriers, and
there’s just no one left to pay for the
development of those updates.
The Galaxy S II is getting Android
4.0 . There is no doubt it’s coming,
but we don’t know when. Samsung
has had the ICS code a little longer
than most because it built the Galaxy
Nexus. Samsung’s TouchWiz skin has
also gotten lighter in the last year, so
expect an easier upgrade path going
forward.
A date of March 1 for a Galaxy S II
update has been suggested, with a
Galaxy Note update coming soon
thereafter. We can’t tell you if that’s
true, and the carrier-specific versions
will still have a bit of a wait after any
international rollout, but maybe not
too long. Samsung has confirmed that
the first quarter will bring updates for
phones like the Galaxy S II (all
variants), and the various flavors of
Galaxy Tab.
HTC
The original Android OEM has been
having a tough time as of late, and
we worry a bit that the drive to get
new phones out the door might
negatively affect updates. HTC has a
heavy skin and a number of
completely custom stock apps, so it
takes a little longer to get everything
sorted out. HTC also has a strike
against it because it released a ton of
phones last year.
Most of HTC’s portfolio has the
annoyingly vague distinction of “early
2012” as the upgrade date. It’s good
that they are at least willing to say
“early” at least. Devices in this
Sensation family are happening in
March to kick things off. The HTC
Rezound, Amaze 4G, and the Vivid
on AT&T will get ICS next. The
Thunderbolt is still an unknown, but
we’re feeling pretty skeptical about its
chances.
Any variant of the Desire HD, Evo 3D,
or Incredible S are just listed as “later
this year” by HTC. That might not
sound great, but it’s better news than
users of the Evo 4G or Droid
Incredible are getting. There is little
chance that these devices will be
getting the ICS update. Likewise, the
Flyer just got an update to
Honeycomb and we don’t see it
progressing beyond that. No word yet
on the Jetstream, but odds are
you’ve never seen one of those in
real life.
Sony
Now that Sony has dropped the
Ericsson surname, the company may
have turned over a new leaf. After
initially announcing that all the 2011
Xperia phones will get ICS, Sony has
tightened up the timeline a little.
Anyone using an Xperia phone that
was released in 2011 can expect to
get a taste of Ice Cream Sandwich in
the March/April time frame. Devices in
this category include the Arc, Neo,
Play, and Active.
Sony’s tablets are also getting an
update this spring. No more specific
range has been decided on here, but
it’s not unrealistic to expect the same
March/April time frame.
LG
We don’t really have much
confidence in LG’s update cycle as
of late. After initially staying silent on
updates, LG has announced that its
high-end devices will be updated. In
that announcement, though, they only
talked about phones in the Optimus
line like the Optimus 2X. Where is
the T-Mobile G2x in all this? In
trouble, most likely.
On the surface, the G2x is a stock
Android device, but if you talk to
modders, they’ll tell you that there is
a lot of odd LG framework code on it
as well. It’s not clear what LG has
been up to with the software on the
G2x, but it doesn’t seem to be
putting a lot of effort in. T-Mobile has
moved on from the device, and it was
unavailable due to serious software
bugs for a large chunk of its run, so
the carrier may not be interested in
further support.
The devices that LG does choose to
update will start to see code drops in
Q2 with the Optimus 2X, Optimus
LTE, and the Prada Phone. In Q3, the
Optimus Black is up to bat along with
the Optimus EX. Most of these
devices are not US releases, but
don’t count the LG Nitro HD out yet.
Asus
Once nearly absent from the
consumer electronics market, Asus
makes some of the most desirable
Android tablets available. Happily,
they are also keen on updating the
devices. The just released
Transformer Prime is already getting
its Ice Cream Sandwich update . The
update fixes a number of bugs, and
improves the performance of some
radios.
The original Transformer is on the
update list, but the 4.0 update was
supposed to have been done by now.
The Transformer was one of the best
selling Honeycomb devices, so there
are plenty of users out there to be
upset. Asus is now looking at March
as the deadline for getting ICS on the
Transformer.
The EeePad Slider is a less popular
version of the Transformer with a big
slide-out keyboard. It’s also slated
for an ICS update, but Asus doesn’t
talk about the Slider as often. We
expect it will either be updated at the
same time as the Transformer, or it
will happen quietly at some point in
the following weeks.
Acer
Acer has a few Android tablets for the
more budget conscious consumers,
and they have been fairly transparent
about the update cycle. The Acer
Iconia A200 got its ICS update over
the weekend . This is a fairly new
device with a Tegra 2 SoC and feels
very last-generation. Still, it’s one of
the few devices with Android 4.0.
Acer’s older tablets, the Iconia A100
and A500 are getting ICS, but Acer
tweeted yesterday that the update
will not be ready until mid-April .
That’s the sad, but expected state of
Android 4.0 updates.
A fair number of
phones and tablet will get the update
in Q2 2012, but that's still going to
be a few months too long in our
book. How does your device look? If there is no official word on an update, are you looking at custom ROMs
instead?
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