By About a week ago it was revealed that AT&T let slip an upgrade to Android 4.0 for some HTC Vivid. Whether it was an accident or a test, it doesn’t matter now – everyone should be able to pull the OTA update. It’ll step you up to Android 4.0, of course, but there are other details you’ll want to know about.
As rumors have suggested, the device will only get HTC Sense 3.6 instead of the massive Sense 4.o update that can be found on the HTC One devices. This is due to the device not having an S4 or Tegra 3 processor. Hopefully a Sense 4.0 ROM will be hammered out by the awesome development community surrounding Android.
This also brings Beats Audio support. Beats Audio allows you to utilize several sound profiles as long as you have your device hooked up to headphones or output to other 3.5mm jack-enabled devices. Here’s the full list of select features AT&T’s advertising:
- Beats Audio – Enhance your music and video experience with Beats Audio. Whenever a media file is played using the default media players or most third-party applications, the Beats Audio indicator will appear in the notification bar. Simply tap the notification to enable or disable Beats Audio. You can also turn Beats Audio on or off in the Settings menu. Note: Beats Audio will only work when headphones or an external speaker is connected. This is to ensure the best possible audio quality.
- Face Unlock – Face Unlock is a new screen-lock option that lets you unlock your device using face recognition. It takes advantage of the device’s front-facing camera and state-of-the-art facial recognition technology to register a face during setup, and then to recognize it again when unlocking the device. Just hold your device in front of your face to unlock, or use a backup PIN or pattern.
- Improved email – Easier to send, read and manage through recipient auto-completion, stored text, and nested sub-folders. For enterprises, the Email app supports EAS v14. It supports EAS certificate authentication, provides ABQ strings for device type and mode, and allows automatic sync to be disabled while roaming. Administrators can also limit attachment size or disable attachments.
- Bluetooth Mouse and keyboard – Use a Bluetooth mouse and/or keyboard with your device and adjust its settings.
- UI Improvements – Access the notification bar on the lock screen. Drag apps/shortcuts on top of one another to create folders. New fully customizable Launch Bar at the bottom of the screen. Resizable widgets.
- Advanced Voice and Text Input – More robust and can be used to dictate an entire email. Intelligent enough to recognize pauses, breaks and punctuation. Advanced Spell Checker.
Head to AT&T’s site for more details and update instructions.
Wow, other phones getting ICS before Nexus S does. If this is official ICS 4.0.3, then it means it has an even more current version of ICS than Verizon’s Galaxy Nexus.
What a shame, this looks bad for Google’s Nexus line. I think we can now officially say that the Nexus no longer is first to get updates to the most current version of Android.
Huh? Verizon’s Galaxy Nexus has been on 4.0.3 for a while and they will be rolling out 4.0.5 out next month.
you’re wrong. verizon’s galaxy nexus is on 4.0.2
Wrong. Verizon’s Galaxy Nexus has been on 4.0.2 since launch day
Nexus S? or Galaxy Nexus? (you refer to both in your post). Galaxy Nexus does have ICS. (IIRC, Verizon never got the Nexus S). Sprint’s Nexus S update stopped halfway, but is expected to resume in the next week or so.
1) “Nexus S? or Galaxy Nexus? (you refer to both in your post).”
-Yes, I referred to both. Nexus S is not on ICS yet.
2) “Galaxy Nexus does have ICS. ”
-I never said Galaxy Nexus didn’t have ICS. I said, “If this is official ICS 4.0.3, then it means it has an even more current version of ICS than Verizon’s Galaxy Nexus.”
Notice the part where I wrote, “even more current version of ICS than Verizon’s Galaxy Nexus.”
Verizon Galaxy Nexus on 4.0.2
3)” (IIRC, Verizon never got the Nexus S).”
-I never said Verizon did, and yes…Verizon never got the Nexus S.
4) Sprint’s Nexus S update stopped halfway, but is expected to resume in the next week or so.
Ok, well I guess we will wait and see. The point is, the Nexus is no longer first in line to receive updates. The HTC Vivid received an update before Nexus S did.
Mine is on 4.0.2 . I wish Google would add a search button to the galaxy nexus! Already gonna root it but just saying.
Didn’t know they would add resize able widgets to sense.
The Sense widgets aren’t resizeable.
Quentyn, Sense 4.0 has nothing to do with a Tegra 3 or S4, as evidenced by the HTC One V getting it. It’s their new ImageSense chip that’s the requirement, I believe. Sense 4 will not come to ANY pre-One device, officially at least. Plenty of devs are tackling that issue.
lol first it was “y0u” now its “4.o” hahaha Quentyn your cr4ck1n m3 up m4n
Is the Vivid getting firsties or did somebody else get ICS already?
Good stuff for u Vivid owners. My Thrill barely got gingerbread yesterday.
and still no official ICS for Nexus S 4G… just sayin
Boy, the servers must be REAL busy. I’ve been trying manually to update and keep getting “Server Unavailable” all the time.
Well what he wrote in UI improvements says resizable widgets.
I think the vivid was first to get ota ics. Correct me if I am wrong. I downloaded 2 hours ago. I am still on my vivid getting used to ics. It is pretty cool. Thanks at&t!
How the hell the VIVID gets ICS when the Atrix 4g came out before that? such a rip off AT&T
I have been playing with it all day and night since I updated.
beats audio is awesome, the face unlock is sketchy at first but does work
the ui is gorgeous and the phones overall speed is way up. my speed tests yield a 5 mbps speed increase consistently and the phone overall is vastly improved.
kinda sad to see the minimal launchpad I loved so much from the old sense gone and replaced with the silly 4 apps + app drawer launchpad. although being able to access the notification window from the lock screen is nice but defeats the purpose?
Oh and gmail/email is absurdly smooth, I guess they spent a lot of time on something I didn’t care about, But it ended up being one of my top three favorites in the update.
still hunting for easter eggs tho!
(anyone else find and “obvious apple lawsuits pending” changes cause I have found a few….)
Was beats integrated with the ics update cause last i knew the rezound on Verizon had special hardware for beats I didn’t think a software update could add that?! Lemme know HTC EVO 3D OWNER still no ICS I’m jealous of you vivid owners :( :( lol
Did anyone actually get Sense 4.0? Friend of mine was telling me about issues he had upgrading to ICS, but when I looked into his phone info, he was indeed running 4.0.3 but still sense 3.x (can’t remember exact version). I didn’t check the Beats Audio.
Updates are Android 4, Sense 3.6.