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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hechacker1 - Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - link
I didn't do too much research, but I did consult Anandtech's reviews of the phones.I just picked up the Bionic for $20 on contract, and it's nice to see it will get ICS. My first smartphone. Still, the $30 data for 4GB is kind of overkill considering i'm always near wifi. Too bad they don't have lower tier data plans.
FATCamaro - Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - link
ALL CAPS. Reminds me of that shitty UFC advertiser XIENCE.Embarrassing....
tayb - Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - link
I own a Droid X that I purchased in November of 2010. I guess that phone is too old to receive new software.Pretty pathetic if you ask me. I'll check the "OS Fragmentation and lack of updates" box if Google ever asks why I ditched their mobile OS.
Death666Angel - Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - link
Buy a Nexus branded phone then.tayb - Wednesday, March 7, 2012 - link
Why would I do that? Google isn't even continuing support for its flagship Android device, the Nexus One. Microsoft and Apple are actually supporting their products. I won't go back to Android.pixelstuff - Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - link
"I own a Droid X that I purchased in November of 2010. I guess that phone is too old to receive new software."If you consider this list all inclusive it is even more pathetic that the 8 month old DROID 3 isn't on the list.
jesh462 - Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - link
The droid x received its last update from verizon already. I would know. I have one, bought March 2011. If you want ICS, it's time to ROM it up.Source:
www dot unwiredview dot com/2012/02/15/motorola-posts-ice-cream-sandwich-timeline-no-device-will-be-updated-before-april/#
Omega215D - Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - link
Then there's the absence of the Droid Charge and LG phones. It's not just Verizon but the manufacturers themselves and Samsung has been pretty bad with updating their Verizon based phones.Still, ICS on my Thunderbolt would be cool but not exactly necessary as it does everything I want very well on Gingerbread and my early upgrade will be activated by 2nd half of this year.
dragonsqrrl - Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - link
Yep, no Droid 3... I should've known.I know you should never invest in a smart phone expecting an update, but really Verizon? Motorola published a list of phones it was considering updating to ICS, and the Droid 3 was on it. The Droid 3/4 run on the same SOC and have very similar hardware specs (same screen size/resolution, etc...).
Honestly, how much additional effort would it take to update the Droid 3, which is practically the same phone as the Droid 4 except in a different shell. I think it would be worth it just for customer retention alone.
BJRCollins - Sunday, April 15, 2012 - link
To the untrained eye, these phones will look exactly the same. But these are two very different devices.The Droid 4 rocks a 1.2GHz dual-core processor which is a little bit of a speed increase over the 1GHz processor that the Droid 3 employs. The Droid 4 also has 1GB of RAM while the Droid 3 has 512MB. If you don’t think this increase will be noticeable in your daily usage, you’re crazy.