Samsung’s Israel Facebook page may have jumped the gun a bit today, announcing that the most-popular Android phone of 2011 – the Samsung Galaxy S II – will see the update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on March 15th. The fact that Ice Cream Sandwich will be coming in March should come as no surprise; Samsung had previously promised the update would come in Q1 2012, which as you know comes to a close at the end of the month.
The post was quickly taken down this morning, perhaps signaling that the information provided was incorrect, though it was more likely because Samsung Israel jumped the gun on Samsung’s announcement just a bit. We expect Samsung will out the release schedule for Ice Cream Sandwich on Galaxy S II devices very soon, perhaps as early as this week.
If the rumor is true and folks in Israel are treated to Android 4.0 on the 15th, the update will likely make its way to all international Galaxy S II devices on or around that date as well, though the fate of the U.S. Galaxy S II devices remains to be seen. We expect, and hope, that Samsung will release the update for our devices in that same timeframe, but they’ve certainly had some hiccups when it comes to updates in the past.
Android 4.0 for the Galaxy S II will bring with it a somewhat lightened up version of their Touchwiz custom UI overlay, though a leaked video from earlier this year saw a good chunk of the Android 4.0 Holo Theme making its way through. Of course, that wasn’t a final software build and we won’t know what’s in Samsung’s version of Android 4.0 until it drops later this month.
Regardless, it’s a very good time to be a Samsung Galaxy S II owner, and the very long wait for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich should be over soon. Perhaps, then, Google’s latest version of Android will reach beyond the 1% of Android devices it’s currently found on. We’ll bring you more details as we learn them from Samsung. Stay tuned.
[via Android Central, Sammy Hub, Android and Me]