Samsung targets U.S. with Android Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade

Samsung Electronics has identified more than a dozen U.S. devices poised for upgrade to Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android 4.0 mobile operating system, a.k.a. "Ice Cream Sandwich."

Samsung will roll out Android Ice Cream Sandwich to over a dozen devices.

Samsung will roll out Ice Cream Sandwich to six AT&T (NYSE:T) devices: The Galaxy S II, Galaxy S II Skyrocket, Galaxy Note, Captivate Glide, Nexus S and Galaxy Tab 8.9. The update also will reach two Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) tablets, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy Tab 7.7.

The Android Ice Cream Sandwich update is already available for Sprint Nextel's (NYSE:S) new Nexus S 4G, and Samsung also will extend ICS to the operator's Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch. The manufacturer additionally will push Android 4.0 to the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus Wi-Fi, Galaxy Tab 8.9 Wi-Fi and Galaxy Tab 10.1 Wi-Fi.

Notable by its absence from Samsung's immediate plans is T-Mobile USA. "We are in close communication with T-Mobile to ensure that eligible devices are upgraded to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich in the coming months and will provide updates as we have additional details to share," reads a statement posted to the Samsung website. Samsung adds it is in close contact with both Google and its operator partners to "upgrade devices to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich as quickly and as smoothly as possible."

Android 4.0 delivers the tablet-optimized innovations introduced in Google's Android 3.0 Honeycomb update to all devices to reduce platform fragmentation. Google has promised that moving forward, the same version of Android will run across all devices, regardless of screen size.

Google's Android Developers dashboard reveals that only 2.9 percent of all Android devices are currently running a version of Ice Cream Sandwich. Android devices make up 50.1 percent of the U.S. smartphone market according to comScore data issued earlier this month.

For more:
- read this Samsung FAQ

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