Ice Cream Sandwich Release Schedule

Android’s Ice Cream Sandwich release finally hit the market in November 2011, when the Samsung Galaxy Nexus became the first smartphone ready to use this much-anticipated update to the Android operating system.

However, carriers have been very reluctant to push the Ice Cream Sandwich release onto their phones, given the difficulties in in aligning the OS update with their own propriety UI’s (such as HTC Sense or Motorola Blur). So what is the current market situation, and when can you expect this Android update to be available for your phone?

The Market Situation for the Ice Cream Sandwich Release
Ice Cream Sandwich represents a significant overhaul of the Android operating system, and as such, it is to be expected that it will be rolled out slowly, so that any glitches or bugs can be isolated and ironed out efficiently and economically. As such, manufacturers have been reluctant to nail down dates for the Ice Cream Sandwich’s release for specific smartphones.

Right now, the company is leaning heavily on noncommittal time lines like “soon” and “later this year.” However, they have identified a batch of devices with target release date of March 2012 or Q1 2012.

Anticipated Rollout Dates for the Ice Cream Sandwich Release
If you’re wondering when the Ice Cream Sandwich will be available for your device, here is a list of smartphones that will be part of the Q1 2012 rollout:

Acer Iconia Tab A200
HTC Sensation (Standard, 4G, XL and XE)
Samsung Nexus S
Samsung Galaxy and Galaxy Tab models

Google has targeted a date of Q2 2012 for the following devices:

LG Eclipse
LG Prada
LG myTouch Q
Sony Experia models
Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman

Finally, here are the devices with a Q3 2012 or “later this year” target rollout date:

LG Optimus models
HTC Sensation XL
HTC Rezound
HTC Vivid
HTC Amaze 4G
HTC EVO 3D
HTC EVO Design 4G
HTC Incredible S
HTC Desire S
HTC Desire HD
HTX Rezound
Razr
Razr MAXX
Motorola Droid 4
Motorola Bionic
Motorola Photon 4G
Motorola Atrix 4G
Motorola Electrify

In some cases, Google has indicated a date of “soon” or “no set date.” Phones that fall into this category include Motorola smartphones as well as the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer. However, remember that these dates are subject to change without notice and may be bumped up based on the performance of previous releases.

Filed under: Product Engineering | Topics: android, android developers, developers, ice cream sandwich, mobile