Handsets

Samsung: No Ice Cream Sandwich for Galaxy S, Original Galaxy Tab

118

Samsung has provided and update to their future Ice Cream Sandwich plan, and for owners of the Samsung Galaxy S or original 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab the news isn’t so good. Due to a lack of RAM and ROM these devices will not receive an update to Android 4.0. According to Samsung, the Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab lack sufficient memory to run the new version of Android  along with the company’s custom TouchWiz interface.

And knowing folks would cry foul after seeing the Samsung-made Nexus S (which features similar hardware including a 1GHz Hummingbird processor) already starting to receive its upgrade to ICS, Samsung nipped the complaints in the bud. As they explain, the hardware of the Nexus S only has to handle a stock build of the ever-evolving Android OS while the Galaxy S receives numerous post-Google customizations that add extra strain to system resources.

Considering the massive number of people that own the Galaxy S, we imagine the public will not let Samsung’s decision go quietly into the night. We’ll point to the original HTC Desire as precedent. At first HTC denied the phone of a Gingerbread update citing that its hardware could not handle the upgrade. A rather vocal public let the manufacturer know that this wasn’t kosher and an update eventually was delivered. Could we see the same for the Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab?

[Samsung Tomorrow via The Verge]

Kevin Krause
Pretty soon you'll know a lot about Kevin because his biography will actually be filled in!

Android Overload: US Gov’t Wont Block Hands-Free Cellphone Use, Dell Launches Baidu Smartphone In China and More

Previous article

Sharp Launches Android 2.3 AQUOS Phone IS14H in Japan

Next article

You may also like

118 Comments

  1. Already running ICS for a bit on my Captivate.  teamhacksung does good work.  Rock on CM9!

    1. Exactly. No big loss here, I wouldn’t even want touchwiz.

  2. I can believe the ROM excuse, but not RAM. I have the same ram available in ICS that I had in ginger on my nexus s.

    1. The Sensation has the same amount of ROM and it’s getting ICS

  3. Well, considering that they barely bothered to push the 2.2 update OTA, I’m not surprised. I’d be willing to bet that the majority of Galaxy Ss out there are still on 2.1.

    I have no doubt that the Galaxy S could run ICS (and with TouchWiz, even). I think Samsung is just trying to avoid the need to optimize TouchWiz for another device.

  4. That’s Samsung for you.

  5. Easy Fix. ICS without TouchWiz. Everyone wins. :)

    1. Alternatively, always get a Nexus in the future. No bloatware to annoy and to be used as an excuse not to get update.

      1. Samsung is the worst at doing updates.  I wish their hardware wasn’t the best.  Nexus is the only way to go.  Waiting for Nexus Tablet.  Actually I think Motorola and Asus haven’t had a problem updating their tablets.  Makes me think that when you buy a Samsung your not part of that ever evolving community.  It’s more like buying a tv. At a minimum give us the opportunity to pay $40 for an upgrade.  Otherwise it’s just forcing us to root and get a 3rd party ROM.  

        1. I have had the same problem with a Samsung BluRay player. It STILL won’t play my kids’ “Rio” movie.

      2. Exactly, I’m never buying a Galaxy device again, will go for Nexus. I think next nexus device will be from Motorola :)

    2. Nexus is the way to go..
      Anyway, for folks looking to get ICS unofficially on their Galaxy S, here’s a link to some helpful guides → http://bit.ly/spL5pV

  6. Yet another Samsung fail.  And, I would venture a bet that the Nexus S updates will be cancelled since they were recently frozen due to problems with the phone running ICS.  Hell, people still don’t have GB running on their Galaxy S phones.

    1. Im running ICS on my Nexus S with out any problems lol. 150mb OTA!!

      Only some Nexus S phones are having issues and they didn’t halt the upgrade everywhere. Just in some regions. ICS is the shit! My Nexus S is better than Ever!Thanks Google.. Keep it up!!

      1. ICS is great! It’s working well on my nexus s also.  Buttery smooth and batter life some how got better. 2 days in row I went 19 hours on a charge.  Yes those were long days. I didn’t expect to like it so much.  I feel bad my daughter and my wife don’t have it because they have samsung vibrants.

  7. then give us without touchwiz :)

  8. people should start complaining more, that’s just unfair number one i’m still waiting for gingerbread that’s a FAIL! number two i bet no one really cares about that crap they call TouchWiz  i hated since the day it came out i still do. if i wanted TouchWiz i would have bought a Bada phone i want just Pure Vanilla Android so Please Samsung stop acting like Apple in thinking you know what people want, just give us what we need. Pure and simple ICS.

    1. Your wants obviously Exceed the size of your wallet. Stop Blaming companies and take responsibility for your actions.
      It is never a company’s fault that a consumer wants the latest and greatest.
      Ask your neighbors. If you can mow their lawn for some extra money

    2. At least Android gives you full updates. With Apple, all the older iPhones only get partial updates. I mean, imagine seeing features in ICS, people crying that their older phones don’t have it, so you get ICS only to see you don’t have all the features. You’d be lyk what’s the point of the update? Dohye!!

  9. Most owners of a Galaxy S variant dont even know what Eclair is, let alone ICS. And for those that do, get a new phone; I mean really?

    1. Are you serious?   That’s your answer? Replace a 1-1/2 year old, 600 dollar phone with a new 600 dollar phone, because their bloatware is too much in addition to the ics software, which, by itself on the phone runs perfectly fine?

      Either you’re very well off, your parents will be buying you a new phone, or you have no concept of money management and what constitutes a warranted update.Galaxy S owners were already screwed with a defunct gps receiver, and extremely long overdue updates to gingerbread, let alone this.  The first of which they lied about and said was a software issue.  Screw them, they should push out a plain vanilla version of ics on the phone.  They already have cyanogen working on their dev team now.  With full access to the source, I’m sure he wouldn’t have much difficulty leading a team to get it out.

      Get a new phone, no thanks.

      1. Maybe all you little whiners should take back that LCD you got two years ago to Best Buy and demand they add 3D!!

        1. You’re comparing a smartphone with a general purpose CPU running Linux to an appliance?

          1. My first thought when reading your response was that you haven’t been laid in a very long time

          2. Better close the back door really quick! You might be able to stop my point from escaping

        2. Is it just me or is there someone else think that this The_ATL_Guy is part of the Phandroid team. Sure, he is annoying. But hey, he does his purpose very well.

          1. Thanks! At our next staff meeting we will have to create a new character now!!
            :(

    2. Why buy a new phone just to get an os upgrade?  IPhone doesn’t require that.  Samsung is saying either that they do add bloatware to their devices or they are continuing their old school business practices that keep you buying a new phone as often as they can get you to.  It’s things like this that cause unjustified fragmentation.

      1. You should go return your tube TV to Best Buy and demand a free LCD. Let us know how that works out for you

        1. LOL!  You can’t compare hardware changes to software changes.  

      2. LoL!! My iPod 2G has the 4.whatever upgarde. But I can’t make a picture my wallpaper.

        Apple can give these updates, but they can’t give simple features, then what’s the point of the upgrade? 

        Luckily I was able to add folders. So my apps weren’t thrown around 10 screens. -_-
         I think that was lyk the only thing different from my iPod’s previous version.

  10. To be fair, the HTC Evo 4G nor the Motorola Droid X (The alternatives when the Galaxy S launched) are getting the update either.

    It still sucks though since the hardware is identical to the Nexus S, and if Touchwiz is the problem, then give consumers the option to upgrade without it.

    Cyanogen is your best bet now.

    1. wasn’t it always?

  11. So Samsung finally admits that TouchWiz is bloated

    1. they prefer ‘big boned’

  12. 1 upgrade is all anyone is ever really going to get from anything other than nexus. And that’s even stretching it. Considering the galaxy s came out with 2.1, it was barely even upgraded to 2.2. Manufacturers don’t want to spend time and money upgrading devices. They, i.e. everyone other than the consumer, would rather you went out and bought a new phone!!

    1. Why of course they would.  Still doesn’t make it right.  I’m just glad I did away with my Evo.  That thing couldn’t handle GB.  I had to return it for one with 2.2 still on it.

  13. After my experience with the captivate, I wouldn’t go anywhere near another Samsung phone… as a matter of fact, I baled on Samsung AND at&t thanks to the captivate. Not even cm7 could put a shine on that turd.

    1. This is the only reason I don’t want to get a GNex.  I refuse to buy anything from Samsung as far as phones go.  I’m really hoping Moto gets to build the next Nexus device as I prefer to spend my money with American companies and I’ve had great experience with them and their Atrix 4g

      1. Im a Nexus owner and i have to agree if Motorola makes the next Nexus im all over that.

        1. Same here. I think build quality would be much better. Only thing is Moto would try to make it a droid……Droid Nexus

          1. Or a Nexus Droid… :P

          2. The Droid trademark is licensed by Verizon, not Motorola

          3. There is no way I will upgrade to the next Nexus if it’s a Motorola. I hate Motorola, I don’t like their build quality and I can just see it now “Motorola Nexus Razr” thinner than any phone but WAY too uncomfortable to hold.

            I’m fine with Samsung, HTC are boring with all their phones looking the same, LG is a possibility, Moto = No.

            Of course, if Nokia decided to go Android, I’d be all over that.

  14. Bunch of little bitch whiners. No one forced you to buy the phone you did and you weren’t promised or guaranteed any OS updates.

    1. :) That is true.  However they did promise a functional phone that didn’t require several battery pulls a day because touchwiz is non-functional and lags and locks.  On on that score, from my experiences with several of their devices, they are a failure.

      Friends don’t let friends buy Samsung

      1. Haha ya that sucks. My sensation battery lasts about 4 hours before I need toswap batteries.
        Last night I updated a bunch of apps and out of nowhere I had this random glitch where it would redial the last number.
        LOL!
        Of course crap like this is never Android.

    2. That’s true. Google Nexus line of phones are the only ones guaranteeing updates. So if you didn’t buy a Nexus then it’s your own fault. Now we just need a Nexus tablet.

  15. How about the later versions like the Charge and Stratosphere.  They’ve been out for less than a year.

    1.  I agree!  The Stratosphere is ~ 2 months old.  So NO updates for such a new phone?!?  That is pretty shady.

  16. So, alt guy, are you saying that if you shell out a couple of hundred dollars for a phone that turns out to be buggy, and gets practically no support from the manufacturer, you’d just suck it up and not complain? Hmmm… how’s that working out for ya?

  17. This was meant for the person that suggested that samsung release stock ics since touchwiz was to difficult to update. – I would like to see this happen, but your assumption is that samsung wants to please you. They only want to keep you happy enough to buy their next phone. With their sales being so good, i doubt they are going to change course.

  18. Galaxy 2 owners – your next. You will get ics “now” but this will be your last major update. This is why you buy a nexus. Sure, the nexus isnt perfect, but at least you get the latest software.

    1. Are you kidding me? I have a portable game system in my pocket. I don’t think the GS2 will be blocked updates for a long time. Unless Jelly Bean requires the phone have an HD screen, or a certain pixel resolution.

  19. Simple truth is no OS update is guaranteed.  When you buy a PC, MS doesn’t give you the newest version of Windows, you have to pay for it.  Nor did Apple roll out Lion for free.  Another truth is that your phone is still fine if you don’t get the newest update.  I think the cell community has gotten this attitude that if their phone doesn’t have the latest and greatest at every moment, it’s obsolete.  There’s a big difference between obsolete and outdated, and if you want to get real with the truth, what phone isn’t outdated a month after you bought it?  Fortunately, functionality has nothing to do with dates.

    Bug fixes and patches are a different matter though, every phone should be ensured of a fair time frame when it comes to fixing problems.  I heard 18 months was the general consensus for phone support.  If that is true, it needs to be 24 months, the standard time of a general carrier contract, with time started the last day the carrier sells that model of phone to the general public.

    1. The 3gs got updated to ios5 and that’s a 2 1/2 year old phone.  Another android fail.

      1. Longing for the day iOS can do all the things that Android can, then people will see updates aren’t as easy as one would think.

        1. I think it’s more along the lines of there are different Android phones to apply an update too. So it may be easier to update one phone from another.

          This is one reason why an HTC Rom can’t be put on a Samsung phone. Why don’t people think? LoL!!

          1. That too, and you can also add different hardware like processors that don’t match.

      2. How’s Siri working on the 3GS, again? 

        1. The 3GS was released in 2009.

          1. How is it doing on the iPhone 4…?

          2. Siri isnt a IOS 5 feature its a 4s feature, real question is why are you making excuses for samsung?

      3. Good point!  Android can’t ignore what Apple is able to do and try to justify it away.  You have to compete!  That’s why I say buy Nexus phones only.  Google cares more about this problem than any of the Manufacturers or Carriers.  

        1. LOL! The original Nexus will not get ice cream Sandwich.
          Sorry but Google has dropped the ball with the Nexus line.
          It has now become irrelevant. Google had its shot and they blew it big

          1. The original Nexus is an old phone.  Just because it carries the name Nexus doesn’t mean it’s getting updates for the rest of Android’s life.

          2. Exactly I agree with you 100%. That was directed at the whiners complaining that they should get updates forever

          3. Nexus One almost made it 2 years with all of the updates along the way.  Not sure I would call that a failure and I wouldn’t call the Nexus line irrelevant.  However, if that’s what Siri is telling you then it must be true.

          4. Because the original iPhone has the latest update as well. I didn’t know that.

          5. My point being that people keep saying that the Nexus phones get more updates.
            This is simply not true

      4. And this phone has been updated twice as well.. That’s the same number of updates in over a year less time.. 3GS owners should be pissed, as they hardly ever get updated.. Another Apple fail.

      5. Dude. What features does the 3gs have? Because when I updated my iPod to 4.whatever, all I got was the ability to add folders. I STILL couldn’t even add a picture as my wallpaper. A simple feature and I couldn’t do that. OK… -_-

        Apple can give these updates, but what’s the point if you’re not going to be able to benefit from it? You may think, oh my phone updated so I get all this cool stuff. Uh? No. At least with an Android update, if ICS on the Gnex has it, your phone will have it. You won’t get a partial update.

    2. Thank you, sir. You are one of the few people who is actually able to see things objectively in these forums. 

    3. Very sensible!   I like the idea of 24 months of updates.  I don’t buy my phones on contract but most people do and so my expectation is that I should be content with whatever I buy for a full 24 months even though It’s every 12 months I somehow think I need a new phone.

      1. Your logic is absolutely breathtaking.

    4. You’re missing the forest for the trees, and your analogy is faulty. Windows and the Mac OS have always been sold. When is the last time you ordered a new DVD of android? Android is free (with certain considerations); updates are certainly free.

      As to the forest and the trees, if other vendors are offering updates, then that is what the market can demand. Poo-poo-ing customers for wanting all they can get is non-sensical. They may have no right to an update, but if it is possible to do and the customers demand it, they will get it. Companies that don’t service that market are going to be skipped over next time.

      SonyEricsson learned this the hard way. Faced with the wrath of their customers vowing not only to refrain from buying the next generation phone from SE for the android update, but to refrain from buying any SE phones or devices in the future, SE did a 180 and is now a darling of the modding community. You buy a SE Xperia device (and apparantly tablet as well), the SE will get out updates as quickly as they can, and they will help the modding community develop third-party ROM’s. They have made their brand more competitive.

      Now if only B&N would see the same light on their nook. They could steal away quite a bit of the kindle market if they promoted the nook as a more flexible competitor to amazon’s fire.

      1. So in other words, you get what you pay for.

  20. Not surprised by this news- but it doesn’t really matter to me anyway, since I ditched Touchwiz long ago for CM7. And CM9 is just around the corner…

  21. Please please please Kevin. Could you just proof read your posts, once, before publishing.

    Seriously.

  22. i dont think htc,moto or sony are going to be updating there 2010 models,so far they have only announced there 2011 models just like samsung,so they are all as bad as each other..all these manufactures are number 1 priority is to put there skins on and if they cant get there skins on then they will not be updating.thats why we have the nexus phones cause we know they are likely to get the updates..if you get a skinned phone you should not be surprised if you dont get the update.thankfully we have xda where we can get unofficial stock ics for these unsupported devices which will be even better than if they had recieved offical ics with a skin on top…my guess is many people who come to these sites would probably put a custom rom with stock ics even if they had updated the galaxy s officially.

    1. Why should they update the 2010 models? If you got a 2010 model on a 2 year contract? By time 2012, you’ll be ready for an upgrade. So you won’t have to pay that huge price. So…?

      1. The “2010” models were sold well into 2011. The S2 wasn’t released in the U.S. until July and August 2011.

        So someone who bought their shiny new Galaxy S in February 2011 is… yeah, not even a full year into their two-year contract.

  23. CM9 to the rescue.

    1. The problem is that they’re stopping Galaxy S support because of that 911 glitch so NO rescue.

      1. That’s only for the Vibrant. However, there are already other ICS ROMs for the Vibrant.

  24. Wade, we all spend our money on something, I am old enough to know that. I am not suggesting you give up ypur beer or cigs, or fancy cars, or club membership, or what ever if is you do with your finances. I am saying dont cry because you feel priviledged to every update that comes down the pipe–that in itself is just stupid.If that is your cup of tea then go with the company named after a fruit, and be happy with your every 2 year software upgrade…at least you will be current? Also if you paid 600. for a Vibrant, Captivate, or any other S variant, that is officially the dumbest thing I heard all year, and its December.

  25. Then get rid of Touchwiz.  Problem solved.

    1. Alternatively they could use a decent filesystem like ext2 (like the custom ROMs do) instead of slow, process hogging rfs all the time. I couldn’t believe the speed increase I got just from converting…

  26. I don’t have any issue with not having the latest and greatest OS.  I just would like an update to the voice dialer bug to the Samsung Vibrant.  I get a “Try again after restarting your phone” error message.  After doing some googling a ways back it looks like this has something to do with the number of contacts I have?  Other than that..  I have no problem waiting until this phone becomes outdated to upgrade.  Otherwise it’s been an awesome phone for the last year+.

    1. One of our phones on our account is a Motorola CLIQ. The ORIGINAL. The up grade to Froyo was horrible Yet my teenage son uses it just fine.

  27. I’m glad people are working on a custom rom on xda both cm9 and source version. I ran it for a little while had issue with Bluetooth but that was versions ago I see the new source is 4.0.3 rc1. Will try again later they are doing great with roms that Samsung forgets about or fudges up with carrier crap

  28. Tough sh*t if your phone isn’t getting ICS.
    No one forced you to buy your phone when you did and you received your phone at a significant discount.
    In most cases you were given 30 days to use your phone.
    Sorry if your mangina can’t accept reality.

  29. I am beginning to HATE android because of how only a few phones get updates.  Im tired of watching videos of stuff I will never had.  I thought about buying a tablet but most will never get an update.  I dont understand why they would make ICS so heavy that it wont run on the nexus 1 thats only 2yrs old.  iphones get updates, android just makes you want a new phone.  My nexus one broke then Tmo sent me a garbage Galaxy S that still runs 2.2 and the GPS sucks!  yay Samsung and touchwiz.  Worst phone ever!  Samsung = good TVS, BAD cell phones!

    1. Many Many tablets are capable of ice cream!
      Where do you get they won’t get ice cream Sandwich?

    2. Oh my god!! Why do people keep saying the iPhone gets updates!! Why don’t you pay attention to the updates the older iphone gets. Let’s take a look at the iPhone 3G. Guess what that phone couldn’t do with the 4.whatever update? Can’t add a wallpaper, no hold the home button for multi-tasking. As far as it went, it was just a partial update that gave it a speed fix and the ability to add folders.

      Sure your old iPhone may have gotten an update, but it’s not a FULL update. At least with an Android phone, when you get the ICS update, you’ll get EVERYTHING that came with ICS and not just one little feature.

      1. The iPhone 3G was released in June, 2008.

        The Galaxy S was released in June, 2010.

        Methinks you’re comparing apples with oranges just a bit.

  30. because it’s too fat already, no more ice cream :)

  31. I won’t buy any Samsung phones thanks to the nightmare of my Vibrant

  32. OH NOES… I havent ever seen an update from Samsung, since the only time Ive ever been on a stock ROM was when I bought the phone, Im already on ICS, if I were to wait for those clowns to release updates Id have just gotten 2,3,4 in Sept…

    If people dont want to buy a new phone, just flash it yourself, its very stable with only 2 things not working ATM, FM Radio and tethering… both of which I never use

  33. Samsung is going to look not only incompetent, but dishonest, when developers get stable ICS ROM’s out there (less resource hogging and unnecessary TouchWiz of coarse).

  34. Actually, I think they are being very honest. They have innocently admitted how bad Touchwiz really is. It takes up too much rom and ram space and bog the phone down.

    Now them being unwilling to compromise Touchwiz for the people that want Ice Cream Sandwich isn’t right, but then again its competitors Evo 4G and Droid X are not getting it either, so I can’t day the other OEMS are any better.

    Again, just get Cyanogen. The Epic 4G is pretty much ready to have official Cyanogen support.

  35. {rolling eyes} Hey look, FWIW, why did anyone really ever trust Samsung after that whole Behold debacle? I’ll admit, I was almost enchanted into trying them again with the the Galaxy S II, and I almost bought into the Gnex based on specs and specs alone.  Hindsight being 20/20, I’m glad I’m holding out for HTC or Motorola getting back into the game with another great phone someday.  Till then, Sensation or bust.

  36. Any way to block atl guy from comments? Hes very rude and annoying

  37. wow they did the same shit with the behold 2

  38. ive got ics on my galaxy s xda is the best

    http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1363593

  39. I really don’t know why people are complaining. All the people that say “no touchwiz” should root since that’s the only way you’re going to get rid of TouchWiz. If you’re going to do that then why would you care that Samsung isn’t pushing it out? If you root, then you can get the updates. So…?

  40. Just use this rom 
    http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1362092.  I’ve been using the beta 3 for a week now and it’s amazing… getting ready to update to the RC 1.01 version.   My phone is so much faster now and the battery life is way better than I’ve had with any other rom out there… very stable also. 

  41. Google’s strategy of allowing the phone manufacturers to decide what devices get updated with the latest version of Android is total crap. I’m done with Android. The whole ecosystem is chaos and just doesn’t make any sense.

  42. Apple should make an ad poking fun at this to revenge Samsung

  43. Soon well see Ice Cream Sandwich on the G1, then everyone will be pissed off lol

  44. Personally I don’t care about ICS or anything in the future. My only real concern is that my phone is stable. This is the issue I had when I first purchased my Epic 4G which came loaded with Froyo. My phone was so unstable that I had gone through 3 phones in less than 3 weeks. With GB 2.3.5 the phone was much more stable but still had some issues. I’ll take a patch update to fix the remaining problems than an ICS update any day because based on past experience a major update may fix some of the issues will also bring up new ones. So, keep me on GB and just patch up what it didn’t fix. I haven’t been able to root my phone because my computers are Mac and there is little support for those running 10.4 or under that I didn’t want to take the chance that things would not go as planned. I was able to finally breath life into an HP Pavillion a1710n that I had collecting dust on a shelf so I think once I feel comfortable enough with rooting my Epic 4G from GB I will be going that route to see what all the commotion is about and if it’s as great as every rooter the claims it to be I will be controlling my own decisions on what happens to my phone and take the control out of the hands of Samsung, Sprint, and Google which will be a great relief. I just thankful for all the talented people who allow all of us the luxury of having this option. Personally I just want to get all the bloatware off my phone and whatever the name of that data stealing file that is buried on my phone. Having better stability, battery life and a faster and smoother running phone will just be icing on the cake. I think instead of complaining about not getting ICS OTA it would be better to use that energy on learning to root your phone and take back control over your phone.

  45. I am this great injustice not to acquire S Galaxy this ice cream

  46. If both devices can handle a stock version then that’s what they should push out for the owners of captivates and vibrates and any other galaxy s phone. Same for the tablet. They sell these devices on two yr contracts so in my opinion they should cover them for that time period with the latest updates even if it has to be a stock version.

  47. Nice to hear them admit that TouchWiz is bloated.

  48. This new tablet is just amazing, lots of good applications, and of course its ANDROID!!!
    definitely this is a MUST, you can use that new application for android to make some money without doing nothing :D eheh…
    I allways read reviews on this site to know if I should buy it or not: http://www.androidallabout.com

    Thanks

  49. They are not gonna update it because “TouchWiz” can’t go along with ICS on Galaxy S hardware ─ this is NUTS!!

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in Handsets