Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet Will Get Ice Cream Sandwich Upgrade

In case you've been wondering what happened to Ice Cream Sandwich upgrades to Android-powered tablets, Lenovo has confirmed it will release an update to the ThinkPad Tablet in the second quarter of 2012. Asus's Transformer Prime device has been the only upgraded tablet so far and it's being met with problems, but hopefully those kinks will be worked out before Lenovo steps into the ring.

The ThinkPad Tablet launched in July of last year without a lot of fanfare, despite its then-attractive price point of $479 and support for Android 3.1 Honeycomb. The device was marketed to business and enterprise customers, just like the ThinkPad brand of laptops. The market of business-oriented Android tablets is still incredibly niche, but with Ice Cream Sandwich compatibility, Lenovo will have a distinct competitive advantage.

As mentioned, Asus is paying the price for being an Ice Cream Sandwich guinea pig. The update file has caused handfuls of Transformer Prime tablets to lock up and crash, leaving developers scrambling to work on a permanent fix. ICS also proved problematic for the Nexus S phone, which halted its upgrade process after users experienced similar crashing symptoms. Meanwhile, the Galaxy Nexus, which has ICS pre-installed, has had no major issues.

[via PC World]