As soon as Google announced Ice Cream Sandwich, Android users everywhere began asking, “when can I get it on my phone?” While most major carriers have committed to getting the update out to many of the big-name devices currently on the market, we are still quite a way off from getting Android 4.0 on any currently available phone. Why? Motorola addresses the issue head on, detailing their process for getting a new Android update prepped and beamed out to users.
Motorola has divided the process into four steps:
- Adapt the source code to device hardware, add custom UI (when applicable) and tweak features
- Perform in-house bug testing to reach a stable release candidate
- Submit software upgrade for carrier approval and issue a pre-release version to a small customer base for real-world testing
- Release Android 4.0 to the masses
Yes, that isn’t telling us much more than we already knew, but it does give you an idea of how much work really goes on. It is impossible for a manufacturer to simply push an update the moment they receive the source code from Google. Things just don’t work that way. A blog post at Motorola goes into far more detail than above, and Sony Ericsson has provided a similar overview. All that said, don’t expect any Ice Cream Sandwich to grace older handsets any sooner than early next year. We’re guessing we are still at least a couple months away at this point.
[via TechCrunch]
