Samsung’s Galaxy S II lineup is getting Ice Cream Sandwich in early 2012

In just a few weeks, Samsung will start shipping Android 4.0, a.k.a. Ice Cream Sandwich over the air to Galaxy device owners.

 

“We know you have been waiting, and we’re thrilled today to announce that we’ll start serving Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich to Galaxy Note and Galaxy S II in the first quarter of 2012,” wrote a Samsung representative on the company’s mobile division Facebook page.

 

The rollout will start with the company’s Galaxy S II, its latest high-powered smartphone, and the Galaxy Note, a stylus-enabled gadget that’s either a huge phone or a wee tablet — the jury’s still out.

 

Samsung also was the chosen manufacturer for the Android 4.0 lead device, the Galaxy Nexus. For that launch, Samsung got early access to Ice Cream Sandwich and a distinct time-to-market advantage.

 

Other Ice Cream Sandwich-upgradeable devices are set to include Samsgung’s Galaxy S II LTE, the Galaxy R (another Android smartphone), and the Galaxy Tab 10.1, 839, 7.7 and 7.0 Plus tablets.

 

With the upgrade, these tablets will be some of the first to run Ice Cream Sandwich; other models boasting the slick new OS have so far been sold out or available for preorder only.

 

Ice Cream Sandwich’s new features include a one-size-really-does-fit-all approach that makes the OS suitable for phones, tablets, TVs — just about any connected device, according to Google. Previously, Google had offered separate forks of the OS for different devices — the 2.X line was intended for smartphones, while the 3.X line (a.k.a. Honeycomb) was meant for tablets.

 

And in addition to all that delicious behind-the-scenes harmony, the OS brings consumers a flashy new interface with new colors, large images, and even a homebrewed typeface, the elegant humanist sans, Roboto.

 

Samsung is racing Sony to the finish line where Ice Cream Sandwich is concerned. The latter company announced last month it was bringing Ice Cream Sandwich to the entire Xperia line.

Posted via email from Smartphone Beats

Samsung expects 15% rise in handset sales in 2012

It looks like owners of Samsung’s first Galaxy S devices didn’t take too kindly to the news that Android 4.0 won’t be made available as an upgrade.

 

Thanks to the massive outcry from customers, Samsung is now apparently reconsidering making Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich available to the Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab, reports Korea’s ajnews. As the Verge explains it (the original report is in Korean), Samsung is looking into ways to fit Android 4.0 on the devices, even though it previously said that its TouchWiz software made that impossible.

 

The news is a good sign for Galaxy S owners, but even if Samsung does manage to squeeze Android 4.0 on the devices, it will likely be much later than when the Galaxy S II family gets it early next year.

 

Additionally, but unrelated, the company expects a 15 percent uptick in handset sales next year, given the current popularity of its Android lineup.

 

Samsung is apparently aiming to sell 374 million handsets next year, up from projected sales of 325 million units this year, Reuters reports. 150 million of those devices are expected to be smartphones. The news comes from industry officials who divulged Samsung’s plans to the Korea Economic Daily, so there’s a chance Samsung’s actual plans could even be more ambitious.

Posted via email from Smartphone Beats