It's that time of the month, everyone: Gather 'round the kids, because we've got updates on when Ice Cream Sandwich might be pushed to various Android smartphones and tablets!
In this edition, we'll be looking at Ice Cream Sandwich for Motorola and HTC. The two tech Goliaths have both recently released new Android 4.0 updates for their smartphones and tablets (finally -- Android 4.0 has been around since October!). Let's dive in.
First: Motorola, for whom an Ice Cream Sandwich update is long overdue. Is Motorola the only major smartphone manufacturer whose flagship device doesn't ship with Android 4.0? The RAZR MAXX (all caps!) is an awesome device -- it gets better battery life than any other smartphone you can buy (by a long shot), it's super-thin and light and incredibly durable. And even though the MAXX wasn't released until several months after the October announcement of Ice Cream Sandwich, the Motorola hero-phone still has Android 2.3.
Curious. Especially since Motorola is now owned by Google, which makes the darn operating system itself.
Anyway, here's the update from Motorola: the Droid RAZR, Droid RAZR MAXX, and XOOM Wi-Fi + 3G tablet will receive Ice Cream Sandwich in Q2 2012. Unless my Qs are messed up, that means some time before June 30. Yup, Motorola has a little over a month to get its keester in gear and push out its Ice Cream Sandwich update to its flagship phone, the RAZR MAXX. A nation of RAZR MAXX owners waits patiently, and hopes.
The Atrix 2, the Droid 4, Droid Bionic, XOOM Family Edition, and Xyboard are all scheduled for Android 4.0 updates in Q3 2012. In sad news, Motorola has confirmed that the Droid 3 and Droid X2 will not receive upgrades to ICS (HTC says it's because these devices don't have enough RAM to make HTC's version of ICS a worthwhile upgrade). Moment of silence, ya'll.
And now we move to HTC, which would probably rather forget about last year's smartphones after a forgettable 2011. Though the Taiwanese tech giant is committed to redesigning its way back to relevance, it is not abandoning its old devices.
So, here's the scoop on Ice Cream Sandwich for HTC: You can find an update timeline right here, where you'll see that a whole bunch of devices are scheduled to receive their updates some time this summer. Among the phones getting a beach-season Android 4.0 update are the Droid Incredible 2; the Amaze 4G; the Desire S and HD; the EVO 3D, 4G+ and Design 4G; the Rezound; and the Thunderbolt. Again, a full list, with specific timeframes, can be found here on HTC's website.
And now the grim news: HTC also revealed a few smartphones and tablets that definitely won't get Ice Cream Sandwich updates. Those devices: the ChaCha, the Salsa, the Wildfire, the Jetstream, the EVO View 4G and the Flyer. Another moment of silence, if you please.
That's all the Ice Cream Sandwich news we have for now. When we've got more on Android 4.0, we will, as always, be sure to let you know.