Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 - 23/25 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Oct

Probable Nexus Prime Hardware Specs Leak: 1.2GHz Dual-Core OMAP And 4.65-Inch Super AMOLED HD Display

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy Nexus, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

It's apparent that the Nexus Prime/Galaxy Nexus announcement is getting closer, as new information is starting to surface almost daily. Today, the hardware specs have been revealed by a "trusted source" in BGR's camp -- so let's have a look:

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (Note: we're still not sure of the version number for ICS, so take that with a grain of salt)
9mm thin
4.65-inch 1280 x 720-pixel Super AMOLED HD with curved glass
TI OMAP 4460 dual-core Cortex A9 processor clocked at 1.2GHz
1GB of RAM
32GB of built-in storage
5-megapixel camera on the back, 1.3-megapixel in the front
1080p HD video capture support
LTE/HSPA depending on carrier
Wi-Fi a/b/g/n
NFC
1,750 mAh battery

After reading through the specs, it's clear that there are a couple of things that may come off a bit...

Oct

First Blurrycam Shot Of The Nexus Prime Shows Up, Shows Off On-Screen Buttons And 320 PPI

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy Nexus, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

Of all the questions that have been surrounding the upcoming Nexus Prime, there has been quite a bit of intrigue about the buttons, or lack thereof, I should say. How will it work? What will the on-screen buttons look like? How will Ice Cream Sandwich work on device that already has physical buttons? ...and that's just the beginning of the inquiries.

While we still can't confirm how ICS will handle the latter, thanks to a leaked blurrycam photo obtained by GSMarena, we now have a better idea of what to possibly expect from the Nexus Prime and its button configuration.

Sep

Leaked System App List For The Next Nexus Shows Lack Of Bloatware... And A Few New Goodies

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy Nexus, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

So, by now you've heard of the Galaxy Nexus/Nexus Prime/Droid Prime/Samsung Prime... or whatever we're calling it these days. If you haven't, well... you should find a rock with internet access to live under. Details are few and far between, but thanks to the guys over at MyDroidWorld, we have a full listing of the installed system apps to gander at while we wait for something better to come along.

There are a few notable entries in the list, but we can talk about those after you look over it in its entirety:

ApplicationsProvider.apk
BIP.apk
BackupRestoreConfirmation.apk
Bluetooth.apk
BooksTablet.apk
BrowserGoogle.apk
Calculator.apk
CalendarGoogle.apk
CalendarProvider.apk
CameraGoogle.apk
CertInstaller.apk
ChromeBookmarksSyncAdapter.apk
Contacts.apk
ContacsProvider.apk
DefaultContainerService.apk
DeskClockGoogle.apk
DownloadProvider.apk
DownloadProviderUi.apk
DrmProvider.apk
EmailGoogle.apk
ExchangeGoogle.apk
FaceLock.apk
Galaxy4.apk
GalleryGoogle.apk
GenieWidget.apk
Gmail.apk
GoogleBackupTransport.apk
GoogleContactSyncAdapter.apk
GoogleEarth.apk
GoogleFeedback.apk
GoogleLoginService.apk
GooglePackageVerifier.apk
GooglePartnerSetup.apk
GoogleQuickSearchBox.apk
GoogleServicesFramework.apk
GoogleTTS.apk
HTMLVierwer.apk
HoloSpiralWallpaper.apk
IMSFramework.apk
KeyChain.apk
LatinIMEDictionaryPack.apk
LatinImeGoogle.apk
Launcher2.apk
LiveWallpapers.apk
LiveWallpapersPicker.apk
Maps.apk
MarketUpdater.apk
MediaProvider.apk
MediaUploader.apk
Microbes.apk
Music2.apk
MusicFX.apk
NetworkLocation.apk
NfcGoogle.apk
NoiseField.apk
OneTimeInitializer.apk
PackageInstaller.apk
PhaseBeam.apk
Phone.apk
Phonesky.apk
PlusOne.apk
SDM.apk
Settings.apk
SettingsProvider.apk
SetupWizard.apk
SoundRecorder.apk
Stk.apk
Street.apk
SyncMLSvc.apk
SystemUI.apk
TagGoogle.apk
Talk.apk
TelephoneProvider.apk
Thinkfree.apk
UserDictionaryProvider.apk
VZWAPNlib.apk
VZWAPNService.apk
Videos.apk
VisualizationWallpapers.apk
VoicDialer.apk
VoiceSearch.apk
VpnDialogs.apk
YouTube.apk

Alright, let's do this in alphabetical order, shall we?

Sep

Samsung Mobile Promises To Tell Us "What's New From Android" At Unpacked 2011 - We Have A Pretty Good Idea What This Is About

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, Samsung

Samsung sent out invites today for Samsung Mobile Unpacked 2011, promising to reveal "what's new with Android" at the event in San Diego on October 11th.

Considering Eric Schmidt's indication of an October/November release for Android Ice Cream Sandwich, and the fact that the Nexus Prime (Google's flagship ICS phone) is said to be a Samsung device, it's looking like this announcement will almost certainly be related to Android's latest iteration, and perhaps, if we're lucky, the latest Nexus device as well.

For those who don't happen to be hanging out in San Diego for the next couple of weeks, a live stream will also be available to view at YouTube.com/Android.

Sep

Nexus S Bought Off Of eBay (Possibly) Shows Us What Ice Cream Sandwich Is Made Of

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Android OS, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

Ice Cream Sandwich. Those three words are sure to catch the attention of every Android feen within a 10 mile radius. If the mere mention of the upcoming version of Android can cause such a stir amongst the community, just imagine what will happen when we get to see it in action?

Actually, you don't have to imagine -- the first video of Ice Cream Sandwich has just hit the internet. It's running on a Nexus S that, unsurprisingly, came from eBay.

Update: If the video above stops working or gets taken down, here are mirrors on YouTube and MegaVideo.

Sep

Here's What Google Is Cooking Up For Ice Cream Sandwich (And Beyond!)

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Android OS, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0

Last Updated: August 2nd, 2012

With Ice Cream Sandwich on the horizon, we at AP thought it would be a good idea to give you a roundup of what Google's been cooking up in Building 44. We actually know a good deal about the future of Android; I'm talking real, solid facts. These are features Android engineers have demoed or talked about, and acquisitions Google has made related to Android technology. We even have pretty clear timelines for most of them. A quick note before we get started: most of these videos are like, an hour long -- you're only expected to watch about 30 seconds of them, so pause whenever it gets boring.

Sep

Editorial: Why On-Screen Virtual Buttons In Android Ice Cream Sandwich Will Be Great

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Android OS, Editorials, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0

Last Updated: June 29th, 2012

Ice Cream Sandwich will be the first phone version of Android to support virtual buttons. It seems like a lot of people don’t "get" the whole idea behind them. If used correctly, virtual buttons will be way better than the painted on Back/Home/Menu/Search we have now. So I figured I would lay out the benefits for everyone and hopefully start a nice discussion.

For starters, virtual buttons are much better UI

They can change orientation with the phone so they are always in the same place.
Situational buttons (like Menu and Search) can disappear when they are unusable. You’ll no longer have to guess if Menu will do something.

Sep

Sony Ericsson: No Decision Has Been Made To Bring Ice Cream Sandwich To Xperia Devices

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, Sony Ericsson

Earlier today we reported, with great skepticism, that Sony Ericsson would be bringing Ice Cream Sandwich to all of its Xperia devices. It looks like our doubts were dead on, as SE told Slashgear that "no such decision has been made."

When it comes to future platforms of the Android OS, we will make them available to consumers in a timely manner as long as they improve the user experience and are viable from a hardware point of view.

Like we pointed out earlier, some of SE's devices have been upgraded to Gingerbread in the past several months, while others were left behind long ago, suggesting that there's no clear plan of any kind where OS update are concerned.

Sep

[Updated] Sony Ericsson Promises 2011 XPERIA Line Will Get Ice Cream Sandwich, We Try To Act Skeptical

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, Sony Ericsson

Update: We knew it was too good to be true, and Sony Ericsson has released an official statement on the matter. Let's just say that Xperia devices may not be seeing ICS after all.

It seems Sony-Ericsson's PR arm has found its way straight to the heart of Android fanboys: by promising major OS updates. There really is no better feeling for an Android phone owner than knowing that, at some point, their phone will be getting the bump to the latest version of the Android operating system - and not left to die on the streets of software obsolescence.

Sep

Ice Cream Sandwich Set To Launch In October Or November, Says Eric Schmidt

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

At Google I/O this year, the newest version of Android was officially announced. Codenamed Ice Cream Sandwich, it aims to bring Honeycomb features to phones, Gingerbread features to tablets, and everything in between. The official announcement left us without a firm release date -- only that it would be released in Q4 of this year.

At the Dreamforce conference in San Francisco today, though, Eric Schmidt let a bit more info slip:

We have a new operating system, internally known as Ice Cream Sandwich for some reason, which is being released in October/November, which everyone’s really excited about.

This is the first real word that we've heard since I/O back in May, and while it may not be much, it definitely puts us one step close to ICS-powered devices.