Google rushing out Android 4 "Ice Cream Sandwich" to counter iPhone 5

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Google is reportedly scrambling to deliver the next version of Android for both smartphones and tablets to ensure that iPhone 5 doesn't appear on the market first and without a competitive response from its licensees.



Google shipped Android 2.2 Froyo to its smartphone licensees last year just prior to iOS 4, following up with a 2.3 Gingerbread release in December that incorporated support for NFC tags, improved copy and paste, and the company's WebM video codec.



However, the main thrust for Android in 2011 has been Android 3.0 Honeycomb, which took aim at the success of Apple's iPad. Google rushed Honeycomb to market on the Motorola Xoom shortly before the release of iPad 2, resulting in bad press for the ambitious but not quite finished release.



With Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, Google hopes to fold Honeycomb's "holographic 3D" tablet interface elements into its Gingerbread smartphone release, creating a unified version of Android's APIs that works the same across all devices designed for the new OS version.



Android Head of Engineering Mike Claren referred to the upcoming release as the company?s ?most ambitious release to date."



While aimed at a release date at the end of the year, BGR reported today that "it?s looking like the first Ice Cream Sandwich devices could start hitting the ground in as early as October," noting that "we have been told that Google is looking to push up the release of Ice Cream Sandwich devices as Apple?s iPhone 5 is expected in September or October, and the Mountain View-based company doesn?t want potential customers coming out of contracts (especially original DROID owners) and 'drooling over the iPhone 5.'







A wait but no rush for iPhone 5



Apple's iPhone 5, scheduled to appear in the fall (likely late September or early October) alongside the release of iOS 5, is making its appearance later than the historical summer debut of previous iPhone and iOS releases.



That delay hasn't appeared to hurt Apple's smartphone sales, despite the fact that the company's iPhone 4 was first released just over a year ago (making it virtually ancient in the fast moving mobile industry). In part, that's because Apple has increased the number of new carriers selling iPhone 4, including Verizon Wireless in the US in February, greatly broadening the number of users capable of buying the phone.



Apple also released a white model of the iPhone 4 that appears to have attracted upgrades, resulting in a new record of 20.34 million iPhones in its fiscal Q3 2011 quarterly sales.



Still, there appears to be a significant backlog of buyers holding off for Apple's next iPhone release. According to one small survey by Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray, 64 percent of Verizon users plan to buy an iPhone for their next mobile, and 74 percent of those said they are waiting for iPhone 5. Just over half of AT&T users who plan to buy a new iPhone are also waiting for iPhone 5.



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 137
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    How did I know who wrote this story before I even read it?
  • Reply 2 of 137
    newbeenewbee Posts: 2,055member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


    How did I know who wrote this story before I even read it?



    Oooh wait, wait, I know this one ..... the by-line right under the title !!! yes, yes, right ??? ..... what do I win?
  • Reply 3 of 137
    If they were smart, they'd call it Android 8. To beat iOS 5, WP7, and whatever versions webOS and QNX are at (not that it makes a difference).
  • Reply 4 of 137
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member
    I will be amazed if any carrier pushes this upgrade out within a year of its release to any device currently being sold.



    What's an "Android Head"? Is that like a black head?
  • Reply 5 of 137
    davemcm76davemcm76 Posts: 268member
    seems like business as usual - apple announce and release a product in their own sweet time while the rest of the industry scrambles round like headless chickens trying to keep up...
  • Reply 6 of 137
    ameldrum1ameldrum1 Posts: 255member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Cpsro View Post


    I will be amazed if any carrier pushes this upgrade out within a year of its release to any device currently being sold.



    What's an "Android Head"? Is that like a black head?



    racist ban imo
  • Reply 7 of 137
    gwydiongwydion Posts: 1,083member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DaveMcM76 View Post


    seems like business as usual - apple announce and release a product in their own sweet time while the rest of the industry scrambles round like headless chickens trying to keep up...



    Mmm, Ice Cream Sandwich was announces at Google I/O and it was aimed at Q4.2011
  • Reply 8 of 137
    davemcm76davemcm76 Posts: 268member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ameldrum1 View Post


    racist ban imo



    racist? how so? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackhead
  • Reply 9 of 137
    vinitaboyvinitaboy Posts: 156member
    ameldrum1 . . . "A blackhead (medically known as an open comedo, plural comedones) is a yellow or blackish bump or plug on the skin. A blackhead is a type of acne vulgaris."
  • Reply 10 of 137
    povilaspovilas Posts: 473member
    So again software vs device? Nice ...
  • Reply 11 of 137
    2oh12oh1 Posts: 503member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ameldrum1 View Post


    racist ban imo



    I think he/she was cracking a pimple joke. Oh, if only there were a "everything is an outrage because I immediately jump to conclusions without even giving it a moment of thought" ban. Man, that'd be sweet.
  • Reply 12 of 137
    dgnr8dgnr8 Posts: 196member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ameldrum1 View Post


    racist ban imo



    Here we go with the ID10T error again
  • Reply 13 of 137
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Google would be far better off actually engineering a stable and innovative OS. Instead it looks like the industry will get another clunky unstable version of Android. Here is hoping HP can actually make headway with WebOS.
  • Reply 14 of 137
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    Android has always been imho in a constant beta-stage anyways. ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich) will still be that way.



    If there indeed is any truth to ICS being rushed, it will simply be another botched attempt to get Android out before it is remotely ready for prime-time.



    Samsung & HTC are getting smacked and Google is under the microscope due to licensing violations with Android. It's just getting worse for them.



    Only the geeks, nerds, and tech-heads give a crap about ICS. The masses in general could care less what is running on their device.



    iOS as usual will provide a good experience. It's Android that has an appearance problem since everyone I know that uses Android absolutely hates the experience. I guess they have nowhere but up to go.



    It is such utter garbage. Shame on Google for not doing a better job.
  • Reply 15 of 137
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sflocal View Post


    Samsung & HTC are getting smacked and Google is under the microscope due to licensing violations with Android. It's just getting worse for them.



    Both HTC and Samsung are reporting record profits. I wouldn't consider themselves 'getting smacked' right now.



    I would say with the exception of Nokia, almost all smartphone hardware manufacturers are doing well now, thanks in partly to the original iPhone that started it all.
  • Reply 16 of 137
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by droideggs View Post


    Both HTC and Samsung are reporting record profits. I wouldn't consider themselves 'getting smacked' right now.



    I would say with the exception of Nokia, almost all smartphone hardware manufacturers are doing well now, thanks in partly to the original iPhone that started it all.



    They're getting smacked in the legal sense, in that they weren't careful enough with their indiscretions that the courts are taking notice.
  • Reply 17 of 137
    cloudgazercloudgazer Posts: 2,161member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by droideggs View Post


    Both HTC and Samsung are reporting record profits. I wouldn't consider themselves 'getting smacked' right now.



    I would say with the exception of Nokia, almost all smartphone hardware manufacturers are doing well now, thanks in partly to the original iPhone that started it all.



    The exception of Nokia, and Moto, and Sony Ericsson and LG and ZTE. RIM aren't doing that well either. Other than Apple only HTC & Samsung are doing well right now, and Samsung is a mixed bag - they're switching users from feature phones to smartphones very fast but their ASP is staying extremely low.
  • Reply 18 of 137
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wizard69 View Post


    Google would be far better off actually engineering a stable and innovative OS. Instead it looks like the industry will get another clunky unstable version of Android. Here is hoping HP can actually make headway with WebOS.



    So true. It wasnt until 2.2 that you got something useable....and honeycomb 3.2 gives errors throughout the day. Jesus, maybe i should give webos a look.
  • Reply 19 of 137
    macrulezmacrulez Posts: 2,455member
    deleted
  • Reply 20 of 137
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by droideggs View Post


    Both HTC and Samsung are reporting record profits. I wouldn't consider themselves 'getting smacked' right now.



    I would say with the exception of Nokia, almost all smartphone hardware manufacturers are doing well now, thanks in partly to the original iPhone that started it all.



    Thank you Mr. 1-poster. They are all under the legal guns right now. What profits they are making (or not) is not the point.



    As far as I'm concerned, their profits are made on the backs of Apple's R&D, regardless of how the fandroid-community wants to spin it.
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