Verizon Wireless Announces its Android 4.0 Update List
by Brian Klug on March 6, 2012 3:54 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Verizon
- Mobile
- Android 4.0
Getting Android devices updated to the latest version of the OS is something of an arduous prospect, and in recent months we've been getting an even clearer view of how the process works. For devices on the big carriers in the US, the procedure involves not just the OEM's willingness (or monetized incentive) to update a device, but also carrier testing, certification, and other hurdles.
Today, Verizon Wireless announced a list of 14 devices currently scheduled to get an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update at some point in the future. The announcement doesn't come with any promised ETAs.
- HTC ThunderBolt
- DROID Incredible 2 by HTC
- HTC Rhyme
- HTC Rezound
- Motorola XOOM
- DROID BIONIC
- DROID RAZR
- DROID RAZR MAXX
- DROID 4
- DROID XYBOARD 8.2
- DROID XYBOARD 10.1
- Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
- Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7
- Spectrum by LG
Of the 14 announced devices, 5 are tablets. There are some notably absent devices as well which seem pretty surprising. Of the initial Verizon 4G LTE smartphone rollout, both the LG Revolution and Droid Charge by Samsung are missing from the ICS update list. The latter of which's "Droid" branding had led me to believe would be enough to overcome Samsung's reluctance to update any of the Galaxy S family to Android 4.0. The Charge's keyboard-packing cousin, the Samsung Stratosphere, is also absent, and so is the Pantech Breakout.
It's good to see Verizon be a bit more transparent than some of the other US carriers by spelling out what devices are and aren't getting ICS. At the same time, having even an estimated set of dates next to those updates would go a long way towards quelling the impatient masses.
Source: Verizon Wireless
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staypuftman - Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - link
Both the carriers and phone makers have a huge incentive to keep customers churning through devices. Faster smartphones keep users glued to overpriced data plans while keeping margins consistent for phone manufacturers.Im surprised the ICS list from Verizon is this long actually.
BJRCollins - Sunday, April 15, 2012 - link
Yeah, the Droid 3 was supposed to be 4G, with the processor to go with it. I just traded up to the Droid 4. Think of the 3 as Windows Vista, which was really the beta for Windows 7.CZroe - Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - link
Sony Ericsson promised ICS on all 2011 Xperia phones, so where is the Verizon version of the Xperia PLAY (R800x) in this list? Are they really going to reject a manufacturer's update?scook9 - Wednesday, March 7, 2012 - link
Holy crap....I though they were trying to abandon this handset asap - this made my Wednesday :DOmega215D - Wednesday, March 7, 2012 - link
Well HTC did note that many of their phones will be moving to ICS later this year anyhow.This list seems to be more of a manufacturer than Verizon doing.
peldor - Wednesday, March 7, 2012 - link
I didn't think the Incredible 2 was going to make the cut.But will it be a good move? Is ICS more demanding on the hardware, about the same, or less? I don't think the single-core CPU or GPU is blowing the doors off of any benchmarks.
molosar - Sunday, March 11, 2012 - link
Doesn't matter I am already running ICS on my Fascinate and it runs better than it ever has. Apparently Verizon overloads us with bloatware. Especially the Gingerbread update that kills Google Navigation in order to force you to buy their VZ Navigator service which is a rip off for something that Android should do out of the box.