Samsung Details ICS Upgrades: GSII And Note In Q1 2012

Samsung has officially confirmed the Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade schedule for its current line-up of smartphones and tablets, promising that the Galaxy S II and Galaxy Note will see Android 4.0 in Q1 2012. Eight devices are listed as in line for upgrades, including the Galaxy S II LTE and Galaxy R smartphones and the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab 7.7 and the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus. Specific timescales for each model – as well as carrier variants – will follow.

However, the original Galaxy S is not on Samsung's list for a shot of ICS next year, which will come as a disappointment to buyers of the best-selling smartphone. Samsung had the first play of Ice Cream Sandwich on the Galaxy Nexus, Google's third official Android device and a flagship for v4.0 as well as new features like Android Beam, the NFC-based information transfer system.

What remains to be seen is how quickly carriers can work with Samsung to have new versions of the OS delivered to their variants of the Galaxy S II. US carriers will be particularly under the microscope, having a patchy track record of delivering timely updates.

More on Ice Cream Sandwich in our full OS review, while to get an idea what the OS is capable of on a device, take a look through our Galaxy Nexus review.