HTC'S ICS plans just got a bit clearer.
In a post to the company's official blog, HTC identified 16 smartphones and tablets -- up from a previous 12, per the LA Times -- that would eventually receive updates to Android 4.0, codenamed Ice Cream Sandwich.
The list, in total, and in alphabetical order:
- DROID Incredible 2 by HTC
- HTC Amaze 4G
- HTC Desire S
- HTC Desire HD
- HTC EVO 3D
- HTC EVO Design 4G
- HTC Incredible S
- HTC Sensation
- HTC Sensation XL
- HTC Sensation 4G
- HTC Sensation XE
- HTC Raider
- HTC Rezound
- HTC Rhyme
- HTC Thunderbolt
- HTC Vivid
HTC said that they've begun rolling out Ice Cream Sandwich to the Sensation and Sensation XE, with the Sensation 4G and Sensation XL to receive their upgrades in the weeks afterwards. HTC has no other timing info about Android 4.0 on its other handsets, although in November it said that Ice Cream Sandwich updates would be occurring in early 2012. The new HTC One phones -- including the HTC One X, HTC One S, and the HTC One V -- which HTC unveiled at Mobile World Congress, come pre-loaded with Ice Cream Sandwich and are expected to be released in the coming months.
Google first released its Android 4.0 along with the Galaxy Nexus in December, though phone manufacturers have been slow to upgrade existing phones to the new OS. Ice Cream Sandwich was meant to unify all of the Android smartphones and tablets under one operating system, but four months in, the current usage share of ICS phones among all Android devices is still at just above a paltry 1.5 percent.
The tendency is to blame the manufacturers for the slowness: Each company -- HTC, Samsung, Sony, LG -- has a skin that it likes to put on top of its Android OS, in order to differentiate their product and add value to the OS for their customers. (You might recognize HTC's trademark flip-clock as one such differentiator). Adding these skins has taken months: Samsung is only now outing its TouchWiz-customized Android 4.0 for the Galaxy S II, and HTC has been at work on its Sense-customized Android 4.0 since November.
Those customizations have now begun to roll out, at long last, for a couple of the 16 devices that will eventually receive a scoop of Ice Cream Sandwich. (Engadget has a nice preview of HTC's Android 4.0 skin, for those interested). With Android 5.0 "Jelly Bean" apparently around the corner, HTC might be speeding to scarf down its Sandwich.
For more Ice Cream Sandwich update information, check our latest rundown of when Motorola, Asus and Samsung owners can expect Android 4.0 on their own devices.