Google went official with yet another major release of Android and speculations (read hopes) of manufacturers updating their devices to the latest version is in full swing. While Samsung is blessed with the Galaxy Nexus which happens to be the first device running IceCream Sandwich aka Android 4.0, they sure want the world to know that its bestseller Galaxy SII would get the update soon. The notification came via Samsung’s UK twitter account (@samsungUK) and no wonder, it is perhaps the most widely reported Android news of the day.
Borrowing some UI elements from Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich brings a host of new features and tweaks to Android. Be it Chrome sync that takes care of all your bookmarks or enhanced voice controls, anyone buying an Android smartphone today would wonder if the ICS update would make it to their handset soon enough. However Samsung fails to provide any concrete date or estimate for an ICS update to Galaxy SII, wonder why?
In fact friends in my twitter timeline are ready to bet that this won’t happen before January 2012. Samsung sure has good reasons to put the word out in public. Nokia is out with Lumia 800 and is garnering positive reviews across the board at the same time Apple is rolling out the iPhone 4S globally, has also reduced the pricing of the iPhone 4 and the 3GS going free with a contract in US.
Add to that the increasing competition from other Android manufacturers. Motorola has an attractive Droid Razr coming out and they have already announced ICS plans for the same, it is clear that HTC & LG would be cooking their devices as well. For Samsung, the SGS2 is the fastest and the highest smartphone ever and they sure want it to keep flowing off the shelves. At least until the Samsung Galaxy S3 is out at MWC 2012 (*speculated.)
