On Tuesday evening, Google announced Android 4.0, aka Ice Cream Sandwich, a major revamp that will unite smartphone and tablet Android OSes for the first time. As with previous updates, Google will debut the new OS on its own Galaxy Nexus smartphone, expected to hit Verizon in November.
So where does this leave other Android devices, most of which are running on software that's more than a year old? Hang tight: it's coming in early 2012, according to Motorola.
The Motorola Droid RAZR, launched Tuesday morning, will receive ICS in early 2012, Alain Mutricy, senior vice president of portfolio and product management at Motorola, said during a Wednesday press conference in Europe, as reported by Pocket Lint UK. The $299 phone is set to hit Verizon in November with Android 2.3, aka Gingerbread.
Mutricy said that although the Motorola RAZR (Motorola dropped the "Droid" name overseas) was designed for Gingerbread, the company has a plan in place to update the phone to ICS at the "start of 2012" and that all the innovations in the RAZR would be optimized for ICS.
For more, see our hands-on with the Droid RAZR and slideshow photos below. PCMag lead mobile analyst Sascha Segan called it "the most gorgeous Android phone yet."
What about other Motorola devices? Late Wednesday, Motorola tweeted to a customer inquiring about the Droid X, "We'll release devices to get the ICS upgrade 6 weeks after Google's public push. Hope this helps!"
In other words, early 2012.
The Droid RAZR is being touted as the world's thinnest phone at 0.28 inches thick. It boasts a dual-core 1.2-GHz processor and 4G LTE support, along with a 4.3-inch super AMOLED plus touch-screen display with 960-by-540 resolution.
The Galaxy Nexus, meanwhile, sports a 4.65-inch HD super AMOLED touch-screen display with 1280-by-720 resolution. It's 8.94 millimeters thin with a 4.29-millimeter bezel and runs a 1.2-Ghz, dual-core application processor.
Also on Wednesday, Sony Ericsson confirmed it will upgrade 2011 Xperia smartphones like the Xperia Play 4G to ICS as well, without commenting on timing.
"Sony Ericsson is currently rolling out the upgrade to Gingerbread 2.3.4 across its entire 2011 Xperia smartphone portfolio," Sony Ericsson said in a statement picked up by Pocket Droid. "This software upgrade will be available through a phased roll out in select markets. Beyond Gingerbread 2.3.4, we plan to upgrade our 2011 Xperia smartphone portfolio to the next Android platform made available to us."
For more, see Why Ice Cream Sandwich Might Make Things Worse.