HTC Ice Cream Sandwich updates slip to late March
And an even longer wait for some handsets
HTC smartphone owners: you should be getting Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich updates at the end of next month - if you have an unlocked Sensation or Sensation XE.
That's a little later than anticipated. Back in November 2011, HTC eagerly promised ICS updates would appear "early 2012".
Now, the aforementioned smartphones will get ICS first, followed by the Sensation XL "soon thereafter", HTC said.
If you own an Incredible S, Desire S or Desire HD, you'll have a longer wait: ICS is coming to these phones "later this year", HTC admitted, but promised to clarify release dates and provide upgrade information for other handsets "in the coming weeks".
As we say, this schedule almost certainly applies to phones not tied to a given network operator - handsets that are may take longer to upgrade, if they're given ICS at all.
Google released its ICS code to phone and tablet makers in November 2011. Upgrade release timeframe extensions made not only by HTC but also other Android gadget makers suggests they're having a tougher time adapting the code to their devices than they first thought. ®
COMMENTS
They've got the wrong people working on it
True, they probably have an updated version of Sense to implement and integrate, but the CM and xda-dev lot have even got ICS running satisfactorily on the original Desire.
Fine, it's not entirely in HTC's interest to update all of their models to ICS, but they're clearly making slower progress that the opensource community.
Clockworkmod
Thanks to the Open Source nature of Android, my HTC Desire Z is already running ICS. Best part is not having to deal with that useless HTC Sense crap.
OK
But you lose your warranty doing it, not a great idea for most people.
"Google released its ICS code to phone and tablet makers in November 2011"
So how was Asus able to release ICS on their Transformer Prime tablet, released in the US less than a month later? The Prime is not a Google experience "Nexus" device.
Someone's telling us porkies about source code release dates, no doubt the Android alliance bottoms^Wpartners would have had access to the code well before November.
Rooting + flashing is a pain.
It's too geeky, for one. Not for the average user. You have to go through a lot of forum posts the first time through, and there is too much previous knowledge they take for granted. How can anybody uninitiated in these arts are supposed to know what and S-OFF is?
It's a hassle too: you have to backup everything, including settings. And think about how to bring them back. You do need to hard reset the first time around.
And the "hacks", brilliant and fast as they are, do not have to deal with warranty issues.
HTC has too many devices to support. And they have been found wanting in the update department.
