Droid 4 won't get Ice Cream Sandwich for at least 4-6 months

[SGMD1]

Motorola made a post on its blog today about the procedure for converting Android source code into a format compatible with Motorola devices, and it's not pretty. We're looking at 4-6 months, at a minimum.

Motorola Update on Ice Cream Sandwich | The Official Motorola Blog - Motorola Mobility, Inc. USA
Motorola Details the Ice Cream Sandwich Upgrade Process for Their Phones, Are We Really 6 months Away From Seeing it? – Droid Life: A Droid Community Blog

So by our calculations, Moto will take 2-3 months to integrate their Blur and built-in apps into Ice Cream Sandwich. After that, they will send it off to Verizon, one of the more thorough (slowest) carriers on the planet when it comes to testing updates. After letting Big Red toss it around for 1-3 months, we could finally see it – assuming there weren’t too many bugs that needed to be addressed by Moto and then re-submitted to Big Red. We are looking at anywhere from 4-6 months (minimum), putting us right around June or July. Sounds about right if we look back at when the world finally got around to upgrading previously released phones to Gingerbread this year.

[akhi216]

I was gonna wait until it gets ICS but I don't think I can hold out for 6 months. I don't think I can last any longer than 3 months lol.

Sent from my DROID3 using DroidForums

[Droid X Doug]

Given the unknown release date for the D4, it might get delayed long enough so that it releases with ICS out-of-the-box, as opposed to a future update....

[TC_Mits]

I was gonna wait until it gets ICS but I don't think I can hold out for 6 months. I don't think I can last any longer than 3 months lol.

Sent from my DROID3 using DroidForums

NBD. You can do it. Get the sharp and focused real thing. Not the adulterated blurry version. The D3 had a reliable 1-click root in about 6 weeks. So even if the D4 takes twice as long, you'll still be OK.

Perspective instantiates reality.
( By DX w/DF app. )

[akhi216]

Given the unknown release date for the D4, it might get delayed long enough so that it releases with ICS out-of-the-box, as opposed to a future update....

I've never heard of an Android phone being delayed for the sole purpose of getting the latest version of Android. The Droid Bionic was an kind of an exception but the original model got scrapped. The Thunderbolt, Droid Charge, and the Revolution were all released with Android 2.2/Froyo when Android 2.3/Gingerbread was available for 3 months at the least. Carriers never have a problem releasing phones that don't have the latest update bwcause they know that they can have an upsate pushed out. The thing is that it takes like 9 months to have a phone ready for launch. They can't just hold the phones to make updates for the phones because the updates have to be approved by the carrier, and unfortunately for us, if they did we'd never see devices; look how long it to HTC, LG, and Samsung to get updates approved by Verizon.

NBD. You can do it. Get the sharp and focused real thing. Not the adulterated blurry version. The D3 had a reliable 1-click root in about 6 weeks. So even if the D4 takes twice as long, you'll still be OK.

Perspective instantiates reality.
( By DX w/DF app. )

I'm scared to root a phone with a locked bootloader. And even if I did root it, I wouldn't be able to fully enjoy root access, thus to me it isn't wort the risk. If it's released and doesn't have ICS on it within 3 months, I'm just gonna pull the trigger and suck it up.

Sent from my DROID3 using DroidForums

[SGMD1]

I've been thinking about this a lot today, and tonight I feel like I've had a change of heart.

When the D4 first leaked, I was ecstatic. No other device was even on my radar. Coming from the OG Droid, I knew that the D4, with its 4G and awesome keyboard and dual core processor, would basically be a more awesome version of the phone I currently own and have been so happy with.

But after reading the Motorola blog post, I was turned off. On some level I already knew this, but it hit me that the Motorola of today is not the Motorola of two years ago that produced a true, vanilla Android device. I don't consider myself a slave to consumerism, and I don't feel the need to own the newest device on the day it's released (I am still using an OG Droid, after all) but 6 months is a long time in the world of consumer technology, and if I'm spending $300 on a new device, receiving major software updates 6 months late and riddled with bloatware is unacceptable.

I've had a Droid for two years, and I had a RAZR for many years before that...but the direction Motorola is taking is not one I feel I can, or should, support. I hope that with the Google merger, Motorola will start making Google Experience Devices again...but until then, I think buying a Motorola Android product is a bad decision.

So...my thoughts are turning towards the Galaxy Nexus. The plastic and absence of a physical keyboard will take some getting used to, but I think it's a better decision at this point.

[debdroid1a]

Those who have the Droid RAZR don't seem to mind (of course I read this discussion after seeveral posts were deleted). So those who have a phone waiting for ICS are okay with it, well most. I doont have. A problem with it either. I'm still stock on my Droid 1.

Motorola's ICS Blog details why it will take 6 months for your RAZR to see ICS

Sent from my Droid 1 using DroidForums

[akhi216]

I've been thinking about this a lot today, and tonight I feel like I've had a change of heart.

When the D4 first leaked, I was ecstatic. No other device was even on my radar. Coming from the OG Droid, I knew that the D4, with its 4G and awesome keyboard and dual core processor, would basically be a more awesome version of the phone I currently own and have been so happy with.

But after reading the Motorola blog post, I was turned off. On some level I already knew this, but it hit me that the Motorola of today is not the Motorola of two years ago that produced a true, vanilla Android device. I don't consider myself a slave to consumerism, and I don't feel the need to own the newest device on the day it's released (I am still using an OG Droid, after all) but 6 months is a long time in the world of consumer technology, and if I'm spending $300 on a new device, receiving major software updates 6 months late and riddled with bloatware is unacceptable.

I've had a Droid for two years, and I had a RAZR for many years before that...but the direction Motorola is taking is not one I feel I can, or should, support. I hope that with the Google merger, Motorola will start making Google Experience Devices again...but until then, I think buying a Motorola Android product is a bad decision.

So...my thoughts are turning towards the Galaxy Nexus. The plastic and absence of a physical keyboard will take some getting used to, but I think it's a better decision at this point.

There's no one manufacturer that strictly releases Google Experience devices. When's the last time HTC released a Google Experience Device? LG has none to date, and Samsung has only released two Nexuses. There are devices with vanilla Android like the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, but they have some bloatware on it...

It's not that Motorola abandoned making Google Experience devices. Motorola only makes what carriers request them to regarding whether or not they skin their devices. Motorola has already made a Google Experience device this year (Motorola Xoom Wifi) that didn't have to get screwed by a carrier. All manufacturers skin devices, it's not just Motorola. It's not Motorola's fault that Google decided to tap Samsung on the shoulder to make the next Nexus. Samsung is an electronic giant that would bring Google more money with the Nexus that Motorola would have.

I hope that the Googl-orola merger will make Motorola a better manufacturer too though.

Sent from my DROID3 using DroidForums

[twright86]

So what does the community think?

Will the Droid 4 get ICS within the next 6 months if at all?

I personally think the phone will NOT get it, but a Global or Maxx version will appear late spring/early summer with ICS pre installed.

[wicked]

I think it'll eventually get it. Maybe Q4