Will Samsung Galaxy Ace get Official Android ICS 4.0 ?

UPDATE: This article is about official ICS. If you want to know the status about unofficial community driven ICS 4.0.3 alpha, Go Here.

UPDATE: The original tweets have been deleted. The chances for ICS official look slim but to look on the bright side, Sammy itself is unsure about ICS for Ace.

Sorry to break it a little late, but the original tweets have been deleted. The screenshots are what that remain. Do not loose all hope yet. If there is any further development you will be first to hear.

ORIGINAL:

Yes, we all had our doubts, and some hints but now its official! And all we needed was to ask!!

A user @iSaifu asked sammy via his twitter account whether Ace will get Android 4.0 love & @SamsungMobileME tweeted back the good news.

@iSaifu:

Hello! I want to buy a Samsung Ace. But before that I want to know will Android 4.0 ICS be available for Ace?

@SamsungMobileME

Yes you can. But the updates will only come out mid next year or so.

Too good to be true! See for yourself. The bad part is you will have to wait near about 6 months for it.

Here is the link to the tweets.. Tweet

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Samsung Galaxy Ace & Ice Cream Sandwich. Possible?
How to Get Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) Lockscreen Now on Your Phone
Install Roboto (Ice Cream Sandwich) on Samsung Galaxy Ace

How to Get Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) Lockscreen Now on Your Phone

The latest edition of Android, version 4.0, aka Ice Cream Sandwich has quite some stuff that will blow you away. The first & foremost feature one will notice in an Android 4 device is its Lockscreen. Its has a clean minimal look and even takes you to swipe less area (almost half) to unlock than previous iterations of Android. The little animation that invites & hints to unlock is novel & looks beautiful.

With our favorite lockscreen app, WidgetLocker, you can now get the Ice Cream Sandwich’s lockscreen now on your phone regardless of which phone you are on & which firmware you have installed.

Install Latest Roboto Ice Cream Sandwich Font on Micromax A70

Roboto is the latest typeface for Ice Cream Sandwich that is going to be in the all new Android smartphones. Roboto has been made from scratch by Android at Google exclusively keeping small screens in mind.

Now, since Samsung Smartphones support installing Custom FlipFonts on stock firmwares you can easily get Roboto on your beloved Samsung phone. Here are the instructions to do so:

 

Instructions:

1. Download the zip file from here. Copy it to the Root of your SD card.
2. Reboot into ClockworkMod Recovery & Flash it using “Select zip from SD card”.
3. Reboot. And you’re done!

Note that if you are downloading Roboto from elsewhere, there are some versions that are not working. The above version has been tested by us.

As you can see Roboto displays text better & Consumes less space for the same amount of thickness without loss in clarity.
Credits (for the Flashable zip)

Install Latest Roboto Ice Cream Sandwich Font on Your Samsung Galaxy Ace

Roboto is the latest typeface for Ice Cream Sandwich that is going to be in the all new Android smartphones. Roboto has been made from scratch by Android at Google exclusively keeping small screens in mind.

Now, since Samsung Smartphones support installing Custom FlipFonts on stock firmwares you can easily get Roboto on your beloved Samsung phone. Here are the instructions to do so:

Instructions:

1. Download & extract the zip file from here. Install the APK you extracted. Make sure you have  ‘Unknown sources‘ checked in Settings > Applications.
2. Now go to Settings > Display > Font Style . Your recently downloaded font will show up here.
3. Select whichever font you like. A prompt will offer to reboot. Select it & you’re done.

Note that if you are downloading Roboto from elsewhere, there are some that are not working. The above version has been tested by us.

As you can see Roboto displays text better & Consumes less space for the same amount of thickness without loss in clarity.

Samsung Galaxy Ace & Ice Cream Sandwich. Possible?

LATEST UPDATE: (Go Here)

Well, we brought you the latest features of ICS first off among all the websites over the internet. The question in your mind must be will your beloved Ace will run ICS? Is there such a possibility? Cheer up!! The chances are good!

Google has confirmed-

Google has officially confirmed that all Gingerbread devices should be able to get some Ice Cream Sandwich love. Starting with the Nexus S devices will soon get their upgrades as they go along.

They also said that

Google is currently in the process for releasing Ice Cream Sandwich for Nexus S and that in theory it should work for any 2.3 device.

Now even if Samsung decides that Ace is not in their device list which is 60-40 chance, the CyanogenMod team will do it in their next version that will be called CyanogenMod 9. But first of you need the Android 4.0 source code which will take near 1 month to release & then some development time for Cyanogen team too.
As you might now, CM7 for Ace is not yet official, so by that time if CM7 goes official, then CM9 will be released with other device versions. Or else some dev will have to port it to Ace.

CM7 Steve Kondik said on Google+

Public service announcement: There will be no SDK port of Ice Cream Sandwich to any device by the Cyanogenmod team directly. We only dabble in source. Period.

Finally, You should remember that some features like Android Beam that require Hardware (NFC in this case) won’t be available.

So be patient. We will update you as soon as we hear about anything.

UPDATE: (SGA is unlikely to get official ICS update from Samsung)
LATEST UPDATE: (Go Here)

Samsung has confirmed  the list of devices that will be getting Ice Cream Sandwich. This also clarifies if you didn’t pay good amounts of money for you device Samsung does not care about you. Also it seems that only newer devices are being considered for the update.

Here is the confirmed spec list:

• Galaxy S2
• Galaxy Notes
• Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus & newer

Samsung is still evaluating less recent devices for potential upgrades.

Samsung has yet to assess the time to port the new version on the high-end devices & then verify that everything is replicable also on other cheaper devices (however, only WVGA).

Related Articles:
How to Get Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) Lockscreen Now on Your Phone
Install Roboto (Ice Cream Sandwich) on Samsung Galaxy Ace

Official Samsung Galaxy Nexus Specs Revealed & New Android 4.0 Features (Exclusive Coverage + Price)

Here are the specs of this super awesome phone.

• 4.65″ high-definition super AMOLED HD display
• Edge-to-edge 720p screen high-definition. The unique Contour Display curves nicely to the shape of your face and makes it easier to hold.
  
• No button design. 8.84mm thick. Thinner bezel 4.29 mm with 10000:1 contrast ratio.
• 1280 by 720 resolution with 16:9 Aspect ratio
• 1.2 Ghz Dual core Qualcomm Processor (TI OMAP 4460 Cortex A9)
• Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
• 5MP HD camera with 1080p video recording with zero shutter lag
• 1 GB Ram. 32GB memory
• Gorilla Glass
• Barometer sensor with other standard sensors
• 1750 mAh battery
• 4G (LTE or HSPA+) speeds.
• NFC support with Android Beam
• Notification LED
• Pogo pin accessory

It will be launched in November across the world.
Update: The Galaxy Nexus Website is now live! Link
The expected Price for Galaxy Nexus is yet announced but we expect it to be lower than S2 which takes it somewhere near to 25K INR.

The new ICS is based on ‘Roboto’ typeface which is very pleasing to the eyes.
Android 4.0 new features: (This is just a quick list)

• Redesigned app drawer
• New Action Bar
• Native Screenshot support
• Selective notification removal (like CyanogenMod 7)
• Redesigned lockscreen with new unlock animation
• No button support.Virtual menu & back keys that make hardware keys optional for manufacturers.
• Inline spell checker
• Improved Cut/Copy/Paste
• Instant Voice Typing
• Face Unlock (which didn’t quite work live at conference!!)
• Improved Task Manager
• Improved Tab Management in stock Browser with private browsing support
• Updated Gmail app with action bar & 2 line previews + Offline search support
• Streamlined Calendar app with pinch to zoom support
• All others apps like google+ , maps have been updated with a new interface & streamlined controls.
• New data usage setting with limit warning & control. ( Very advanced feature)
• Photo sharing right from Camera App. Zoom support. ‘Single motion Panorama‘ Feature
• New redesigned slick Gallery with Magazine UI & native Photo Editor with cropping/red-eye/filters etc.
• New Video Recording features: Continuous Focus, Time Lapse support, Zoom whilst in Recording
• People App: Evolution of Contact app with a social network mix.
• Redesigned Call/Recieve UI (similar to Lockscreen UI) with a new feature called ‘Quick Response’
• An extraordinary new sharing feature: Android Beam (proximity based interactions). You touch the 2 phones back to back and touch the screen to beam image/map/video/people card to the other phone.

The event is still live at youtube.
You can watch the recording of this event here at Youtube.

So what do you think of these changes? Did we miss any?

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Galaxy Nexus with Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) 5 min video

Ice Cream Sandwich & Nexus Prime Launch Event

Many American journalists thought that Google and Samsung wouldn’t be dumb enough to announce the Nexus Prime in Hong Kong at a time when most U.S. journalists are in bed, but now they have been proved wrong.

The Samsung/Google media event has been rescheduled to take place on October 19 in Hong Kong, China. The event starts at 10:00 a.m. HKT with doors opening at 9:30 a.m. HKT. The event livestream will be available at YouTube.com/Android at 10 p.m. EST on October 18 for U.S. media who cannot attend the event.

So this means that the time has come for the Android 4, Ice Cream Sandwich to debut.

Analog Clock Widget from ICS [Preview & Download]

The analog clock widget for ICS is up for download. Not that this is something revolutionary but having a default clock pleasing to eyes will be a good choice in the next version of Android. Download it here.