Samsung was awarded a precious head start in its upgrade path to Android 4.0, but how will its competition respond? HTC may have one of the most difficult jobs ahead, since it has integrated its Sense UI so deeply into the core Android user experience, but that doesn’t mean the OEM isn’t determining the best road it should take to get to the land of Ice Cream Sandwiches. The company released an official statement following this evening’s announcement to confirm that it’s looking over the update’s new features and functionality, figuring out how to make it happen without forcing sacrifices to the usability and performance of each HTC product. We’ll be interested to see what it comes up with, as many of the UI elements popular in Sense appear to now be a part of the stock ICS functionality. The company was careful not to commit to the new Android, nor did it give any particular timeframe or roadmap in the process. Check out the full statement below:
We are excited about the latest update for Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, and are currently reviewing its features and functionality to determine our upgrade plans. Our goal for Android updates is to give every customer an improved user experience, which means balancing each phone’s unique hardware, HTC Sense experience and the Android kernel. While our goal is to upgrade as many of our recent devices as possible, we are committed to maintaining every phone’s performance and usability first. Please stay tuned for more updates on specific device upgrade plans.
HTC: We’re reviewing Ice Cream Sandwich and determining our plans originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Oct 2011 01:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Now that Ice Cream Sandwich is officially coming our way next week, Google’s statue-makers (Honeycomb, Gingerbread, Froyo) wasted no time raising an idol in its honor. Video of the ceremony is after the break, helpfully pointed out by the brand new @Android Twitter account. Give ‘em a follow, won’t you?
Continue reading Visualised: Google opens @Android Twitter, raises Ice Cream Sandwich effigy (video)
Visualised: Google opens @Android Twitter, raises Ice Cream Sandwich effigy (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Just like
we’d heard, we’ll be getting our first taste of Ice Cream Sandwich next week, on October 19th to be precise. Of course we’ve already had a whiff of what it looks like in a
video, and sampling the new
Music and Google+ apps gave us another good look. But now we’re set to see it for real, and if all goes well we might just get some new hardware out of the deal, too. Will this be the day the Nexus Prime makes us think that flat smartphones are… well… square? We’ll be there live to let you know as it happens.
The event takes place 10:00am HKT, which is conveniently 10:00pm EST on October 18th. A primetime liveblog and gadget unveiling? Can’t wait.
Samsung confirms Ice Cream Sandwich event on October 19 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Well what do we have here? It looks like
Ice Cream Sandwich might have escaped from Google’s freezer a little early. Let’s be clear here — we’re not 100 percent sure this is the next major version of Android, but the evidence is somewhat convincing. Both
Android Police and
RootzWiki posted screenshots of
Nexus S running a blue-ish themed skin which appears similar to the
Gingerbread UI, but with a revised dock containing four icons instead of the usual three. Most of the changes are mild, but introduce functionality that already exist in
Honeycomb. The camera app is said to gain a panorama mode, and the Gmail app is supposed to match the design of the new OS. Follow the links below for more details, and jump past the break for an additional picture.
Continue reading Android Ice Cream Sandwich pictures leak, leave us slightly cold
Android Ice Cream Sandwich pictures leak, leave us slightly cold originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Aug 2011 19:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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“One OS that runs everywhere.” There you have it, folks! Google intends to meld its Honeycomb tablet wares and Gingerbread smartphone software into one delicious Ice Cream Sandwich. Maybe that’s why the “sandwich” bit is in the name? Either way, it’ll be a universal OS that runs on everything from teeny tiny Android phones to 10-inch tablets and will intelligently adapt to each form factor with things like a resizable status bar. Some other fancy new additions are being demonstrated right now, including face-tracking and camera focus shifting based on voice recognition.
Developing… see our liveblog of Google’s I/O 2011 keynote for the very latest.
Google announces Ice Cream Sandwich for Q4 2011, for smartphones and tablets alike originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 May 2011 12:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Wrigley, Hancock, Millennium, Gallo, Sterling, Rosemount, Silver Oak, Peju and Opus One. What are we rattling off? Oh, just the list of codenames from one of the largest leaks we’ve ever seen out of Dell. WPCentral and Android Central got their hands on alleged smartphone and tablet roadmaps for the entire year, detailing the company’s plans for devices running operating systems that have yet to be formally announced, including Android Ice Cream (yes, Ice Cream!) and Windows 8 as well as the tablet-friendly Honeycomb. Here’s the full rundown.
Smartphones:
- Things look pretty boring (and by boring, we mean beautifully curvy) until approximately mid-April of this year, when the Venue Pro gets some “additional features and enhancements” which we’re pretty sure we can name.
- Then, Q3 brings the Wrigley, what looks like a vertical QWERTY slider identifying itself as “Windows Phone 7 Next Gen,” and sporting a 1GHz CPU, 4-inch 800 x 480 screen, and a 8 megapixel camera with 720p video recording. Nothing out of the ordinary, as far as we know.
- By September, things should get very interesting as Android Ice Cream will apparently be out, and Dell’s Hancock will scoop it onto a a 4-inch qHD screen with dual cameras, dual-core processing and 1080p recording.
- Starting Q4, would-be Hancock buyers will have a dual-core multimedia slate alternative, as the Millennium drops the keyboard for a larger 4.3-inch screen and DLNA support (though the front-facing camera is limited to VGA resolution.)
Tablets:
- Dell’s Streak 10 won’t keep us waiting for long: come April, the Gallo will reportedly be chomping away at some tasty Honeycomb. But that’s not all — Dell lists a handwriting update for the Gallo in October or thereabouts. There’s also a Streak 7 update scheduled for July — we imagine that’s the point when Dell believes it can shoehorn Android 3.0 onto its older brother.
- Meanwhile, Dell’s 10-inch Windows 7 slate, internally known as Rosemount, is slated for June, with a 1366 x 768 resolution that should allow for native playback of 720p video.
- We can’t tell you what the Sterling is, but it’s likely a mid-sized one, as it’s slated to take over the Streak 7′s duties in or about October with Android Honeycomb on board.
- Finally, come CES 2012 in January, we now expect Dell to drop three new tablets at once: the Opus One and Silver Oak running Android Honeycomb, and the Peju with Windows 8. (The Streak 10 / Gallo will apparently soldier on.) Numbers on the left of the charge suggest that the Opus will be small, the Silver Oak mid-sized, and the Peju large.
As noted at the head of the slide, all details here are subject to change, but we’re sure as heck a lot more confident that Dell plans to do something with all those tacky mockups. One more chart after the break!
Continue reading Dell’s 2011 smartphone and tablet lineup leaked: Android Ice Cream, WP7 sliders, and a slate running Windows 8
Dell’s 2011 smartphone and tablet lineup leaked: Android Ice Cream, WP7 sliders, and a slate running Windows 8 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 17:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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