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Google Employees Are Receiving Ice Cream Sandwich Upgrade

Posted by timothy on from the this-sure-is-some-good-dog-food dept.

Android Police reports that Google employees have begun receiving the newest version of Android for their Nexus S phones in the form of over-the-air updates. CNET adds a note for the impatient that "the CyanogenMod project to build unofficial versions of Android is working on CM9, the version based on the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich source code. Early CM9 builds are available in alpha for the Samsung Nexus S and beta for the Samsung Galaxy S."

71 comments

  1. Ice Cream Sandwich? by ynp7 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm allergic to dairy, you insensitive clods!

    1. Re:Ice Cream Sandwich? by mjwx · · Score: 1

      Great, I'm going to have to buy another box of Ice Cream Sandwiches on the way home.

      Typical that Google names this release after something I like.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    2. Re:Ice Cream Sandwich? by zevans · · Score: 1

      Yeah they haven't thought this through at all... you can't eat the dairy, I can't eat the sandwich (coeliac.) I bet it has a nut topping too!

      --
      "... and more and more now there are all kinds of electronic goodies available" -- Pink Floyd 1972
    3. Re:Ice Cream Sandwich? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm allergic to dairy, you insensitive clods!

      We are talking about Google here... It's a soy-based Ice Cream Sandwich. Now shut up and eat your dessert.

    4. Re:Ice Cream Sandwich? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ewwww

    5. Re:Ice Cream Sandwich? by Belial6 · · Score: 2

      They probably just assumed all of you guys were eating Apples.

    6. Re:Ice Cream Sandwich? by broomer · · Score: 1

      This product may contain traces of nuts

    7. Re:Ice Cream Sandwich? by drb226 · · Score: 1

      I'm allergic to Apples.

    8. Re:Ice Cream Sandwich? by mjwx · · Score: 1

      Or perhaps it means that you think that the other person is being irrationally hateful towards you.

      I assume you're referring to my sig.

      What it means is when someone refers to me (or anyone esle) as a "hater" they only do so because they lack the ability to rationally and reasonably de-construct my arguments, they simply wish to disagree with them and stop any additional thought on the matter, the exact opposite effect of offering a counterpoint to the points I raised.

      If someone believes I am acting with spite or malice towards them, there are much better arguments to use then petty name calling, so once again my point stands.

      BTW, not sure what the mod was thinking when they modded this flamebait. Off topic yes, flamebait no.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    9. Re:Ice Cream Sandwich? by DaVince21 · · Score: 1

      I am highly confused because that statement didn't match what mjwx said in any shape or form.

      --
      I am not devoid of humor.
  2. obligatory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Don't forget to load Carrier IQ folks.

    1. Re:obligatory by CodeReign · · Score: 3, Informative

      This comment is less funny when you realize that Nexus phones are packaged by Google and not the carrier. Google has not ever included CarrierIQ. Though I'm sure they have more than enough tracking in there.

  3. Warty Warthog by slackware+3.6 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Bet it tastes better than warty warthog.

  4. Re:Stay with GB by RobbieCrash · · Score: 0

    Honestly, I'm still on Éclair for that same reason, I don't see any reason to move past it.

    --
    Keep on knockin'
    https://robbiecrash.me
  5. ICS on galaxy S by arkhan_jg · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've been running ICS on my galaxy S for the last week or so; the onecosmic build rather than cyanogen mod. It all works remarkably well given how fresh it is and lack of official drivers. Video recording doesn't work and the front camera is distorted ;both should get fixed once the nexus source is released.

    The launcher is much improved, so much I've felt no need for launcher pro at all. The stock keyboard is a direct competitor to SwiftKey now, and even better in some ways. The back camera is faster, but nowhere near as fast as the galaxy nexus alas - its hardware, not just ICS. The gmail apply and browser are both very fast and nicer to use; bookmark sync with chrome via your google account works well.

    Unlike gingerbread, I've had no problems with application launches struggling due to lack of ram, it handles ram much better for inactive apps. The swipe to remove function on both notifications and the task manager is nice. I do miss having the wifi etc buttons on the notification bar though, the widget isn't as useful when you're in an app.

    So far, I've only found two apps that don't work yet; copilot live doesn't work, and Astrid crashes when editing tasks. Both will get fixed no doubt. I do like the new TTS engine, it sounds a hell of a lot better than pico.

    Overall its all very slick and google have clearly been working on usability a lot for ICS. I have no desire to go back to gingerbread at all. Be good to get the remaining issues ironed out, but it's very usable as is. Oh and no CarrierIQ of course :)

    --
    Remember kids, it's all fun and games until someone commits wholesale galactic genocide.
    1. Re:ICS on galaxy S by alendit · · Score: 5, Informative

      Using Cyanogenmod 9 (personal preference, onecosmic's is awesome too :) Alphas for 5 days and can largely share the experience. The hardware accelerated UI is awesome. Some issues, primarily with cameras and battery life isn't as great as with the stock firmware, but nothing you wouldn't expect from a early custom rom.

      And if you are already using some custom rom with clockworkmod, installing CM9 is as imbarassingly easy as copying the newest build on the internal sd and flashing it via recovery or the Rom Manager.

      Can't wait, till the new build will be available directly in the Rom Manager.

    2. Re:ICS on galaxy S by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 5, Informative

      do miss having the wifi etc buttons on the notification bar though, the widget isn't as useful when you're in an app.

      The toggles in notification shelf were never in stock builds, it's a Samsung thing. And yes, it's quite convenient. That said, since Honeycomb, apps can put pretty much arbitrary widgets into the notification area, and it's also there in ICS. So writing an app that looks exactly the same way is now possible without modding the phone - just install from the Market. So it's only a matter of time before someone writes this, and I expect it to take a few days at most.

      There's one other crucial thing, when comparing this to Honeycomb (on tablets, obviously): the insane lag when typing anything in a textarea in the browser is gone - something that had always prevented me from surfing Slashdot from my Transformer tablet. Since it was always clearly a software issue, I expect that the fix is going to apply to all devices when they update to ICS - including tablets. Which means that I can finally ditch my iPad.

      Also, at the moment, there's no Flash on ICS, though Adobe has promised to update it till the end of the year.

      One more thing of note: it is the first (at least among those I know of) smartphone OS that has a special-purpose button to switch between apps, down there alongside "Back" and "Home". Android was always a true multitasking OS, unlike some others *cough* but now they're really in-your-face about it. About time.

    3. Re:ICS on galaxy S by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 3, Informative

      I do miss having the wifi etc buttons on the notification bar though, the widget isn't as useful when you're in an app.

      Actually, it seems that I was too pessimistic in my estimates. Try this. Works here on Galaxy Nexus.

    4. Re:ICS on galaxy S by pandronic · · Score: 1

      Would you mind posting the links to the build you installed? Thanks

    5. Re:ICS on galaxy S by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You did add the disclaimer "at least among those I know of", so I'm only saying this as an FYI, not to rag on you.
      At the very least, Maemo had a dedicated task-switcher button before Android. With a simple app-install you even got a dedicated hardware button for it, giving a very alt+tab-esque feeling. Pure awesome.

      Of course, I'd say Maemo (including its newer derivatives, like MeeGo etc) was the first and possibly only mobile OS to handle multi-tasking properly. Well, that's my opinion at least.

    6. Re:ICS on galaxy S by moronoxyd · · Score: 1

      One more thing of note: it is the first (at least among those I know of) smartphone OS that has a special-purpose button to switch between apps, down there alongside "Back" and "Home".

      This one is already in Honeycomb.

    7. Re:ICS on galaxy S by arkhan_jg · · Score: 5, Informative

      Not at all. I'm using this build (the one including google talk) from this post. It's a small variant of the beta2 build of ICS by onecosmic with working TTS and fixed DPI, along with a compatible phone firmware for ICS included.

      That's in the main thread about this ICS build, which has the vanilla beta2, as well as instructions on how to flash. Note, it does require rooting and installing a custom kernel, and you will need to back up your apps and data (i.e. phone call records, sms etc) using titanium or my backup pro if you want to put them back after flashing ICS. There are also a couple of scripts you need to run to make the external microSD writable, and enable USB mounting after flashing; sorry, don't have them bookmarked, will try and find them later. They're not essential though. You may also need the right kernel from the first post if you have a variant of the i9000, i.e. the i9000b or the like.

      The other option, especially if you're not already a veteran rom flasher on the galaxy S, is to go with the cyanogenmod9 version from here; it's caught up with onecosmic's build in terms of what's working, and is a bit easier to get working.

      In both cases, you'll need to copy the rom (and maybe the kernel) zip to the internal SD, via USB mount for example, then install a gingerbread custom kernel via odin to give you clockwork mod, that then lets you go in and flash ICS from the internal SD from recovery mode.

      If you've not done that before, best to flash this kernel (cf-root) using odin - instructions and links for it are in the post, just follow the guide on flashing via odin/download manager. That roots your phone, along with giving you clockwork mod in recovery while still keeping the rest of your stock rom intact. You don't need to faff about with ext4 or flashing a custom gingerbread rom, as you'll be going straight to ICS. Once you have clockwork mod though (which is included in the ICS builds), you don't need odin again, you can always flash new updates via recovery mode which makes life simpler.

      Finally, make sure you're already on gingerbread (2.3) official or custom rom first; going from froyo to gingerbread updated the bootloaders, and I don't think a gingerbread kernel will work on a froyo stock.

      --
      Remember kids, it's all fun and games until someone commits wholesale galactic genocide.
    8. Re:ICS on galaxy S by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also, at the moment, there's no Flash on ICS, though Adobe has promised to update it till the end of the year.

      99.99% of the time the only thing I use flash for is to click on the "YouTube" icon, making it launch the native YouTube app. I would guess that for the vast majority of users, being able to detect the embedded YouTube player and simply allowing users to launch the native client would happily satisfy.

    9. Re:ICS on galaxy S by pandronic · · Score: 1

      Thanks a bunch ... Now all I have to do is decide whether I want to void my warranty or wait and pray that Samsung will eventually release ICS for the Galaxy S :)

    10. Re:ICS on galaxy S by arkhan_jg · · Score: 1

      The toggles in notification shelf were never in stock builds, it's a Samsung thing. And yes, it's quite convenient.

      Hah, never realised that. So samsung managed to improve something on android instead of make it worse? That's a first! Testing Notification Toggle now, and seems to do what it says on the tin, so thanks for that!

      Couldn't agree more about the stock browser on the transformer; it's utter pants. On mine, it lets you do bookmarks, and they show up when typing in urls, but there's none listed under the bookmark tab. The dodgy text-input area, plus the insistance on putting proper urls through google search first (unless you manually put http:/// meant I long since switched to dolphinHD, then opera after the privacy webzine hoohah on dolphin.

      Even in hacked-up beta stage, ICS on the galaxy S is damned impressive - it's faster than gingerbread, even without some GPU compositing for transitions. The browser is really really good, and dear god it's fast. Compare to putting iOS 5 on an iphone 3GS (the iphone that was out when I bought my galaxy S) which grinds it to a near halt, ICS is a big step forward in so many areas. Some of the functions (such as the running tasks) is clearly an evolution of honeycomb, but it always seemed rushed just to get something out on tablets, and isn't as slick as it should be. Can't wait to get it on my transformer too; I think the ICS version of the new tegra3 transformer will be a tablet that is honestly better than the ipad2 - though I love my current tranny, the ipad still edges it.

      I'm tempted by a Galaxy Nexus now my contract term is coming up, but I'd miss the external microSD slot, especially as the 32GB version isn't shipping in the UK. Maybe the galaxy S3 (if it has a similar gorgeous high-dpi screen) will convert me, but ICS on the galaxy S is good enough for now!

      --
      Remember kids, it's all fun and games until someone commits wholesale galactic genocide.
    11. Re:ICS on galaxy S by Simon80 · · Score: 2

      Actually, on Maemo devices before the N900 (I'm assuming that's what you're talking about), there was a hardware button by default, which is probably why someone felt the need to write software to replicate this on the N900.

      I really liked Maemo, but as far as I can tell, it has a glaring weakness compared to other mobile OSes, in that it doesn't seem to have a sandboxing mechanism to run untrusted applications in. If it ever achieved the sort of mainstream success that Android has, it would have been hard to feel safe installing untrusted software onto it. Then again, it sounds like the sandboxing in Android doesn't have enough granularity in permission granting to prevent malicious software from secretly invading your privacy, so I wouldn't feel safe about that either.

    12. Re:ICS on galaxy S by dcherryholmes · · Score: 2

      WebOS handled it properly, better than Maemo IMO.

    13. Re:ICS on galaxy S by Beyond_GoodandEvil · · Score: 3, Informative

      And if you are already using some custom rom with clockworkmod, installing CM9 is as imbarassingly easy as copying the newest build on the internal sd and flashing it via recovery or the Rom Manager.
      Assuming you aren't using a Nexus One or other phone w/ small system partitions, otherwise you need to repartition your phone to install the current alphas.

      --
      I laughed at the weak who considered themselves good because they lacked claws.
    14. Re:ICS on galaxy S by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      Yes, but there's no smartphone with Honeycomb.

  6. Working on SGS Vibrant for T-Mobile just fine... by Thantik · · Score: 4, Informative

    The build I found here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1338636 with the kernel for the SGS Vibrant works 99%. Only thing that doesn't work is the camcorder, but I never use that anyways. It's well past alpha quality, and is usable as a daily driver. I've been using it for easily a week now. Keep a 301kOHM jig around though, can't get into download mode otherwise.

  7. Somewhat disappointing.. by tycoex · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I bought a Nexus S for the sole intention that I didn't want to bother with rooting my phone and whatnot, but I still wanted to get the Android updates right away.

    I'm somewhat disappointed that CM9 will beat Google to updating my phone. I wouldn't mind rooting my phone to put ICS on it, but I'd rather not have to re-install everything. It seems you have to be rooted to make a full backup, and I need to make a backup before I root, so I'm pretty much stuck on stock.

    If CM has the update before the Nexus phones do, then what is the point of buying a nexus phone? I might as well get whatever phone has the nicest hardware and just put CM on it if I can't rely on the updates being quicker from Google than CM.

    1. Re:Somewhat disappointing.. by arkhan_jg · · Score: 4, Informative

      The nexus s will still be the first phone to get an official update; everyone else will be months away yet. While cyanogen have usable builds, you do have to be somewhat savvy to root and flash the rom - official roms are much easier, and it will all work, not just most of it.

      Given it's going out to employees, the final public release can't be far off now. Cyanogen mod is great and all, but the gingerbread version on my galaxy S always had a few minor issues, so I stuck to modified stock Samsung roms.

      Personally I'd rather have the nexus s than my galaxy S, very similar hardware (nexus s wasn't out when I upgraded) but no touchwiz or other crap. Even though I do have ICS now, for the longer run not having to deal with oem modifications would be worth it.

      --
      Remember kids, it's all fun and games until someone commits wholesale galactic genocide.
    2. Re:Somewhat disappointing.. by mhesd · · Score: 2

      CM9 for the Nexus S is still alpha so you can't complain or compare until a stable release is available for either CM or Google.

    3. Re:Somewhat disappointing.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      So.. basically what you're saying is that Google should have held the source release until they had released ICS on Nexus S. They could have easily done that but in reality the only person to actually benefit would have been you getting some weird satisfaction from the fact that a CM9 alpha release appears later than the official release.

    4. Re:Somewhat disappointing.. by zigurat667 · · Score: 2

      Also a Nexus S owner here. Don't mistake the people claiming that the CM9 alpha/beta is running smooth for a 'Gingerbread smooth'. It's smooth for an alpha build missing official drivers and kernel but nothing more.

    5. Re:Somewhat disappointing.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Nexus 1 build is even further behind, but at least CyanogenMod is actually trying to port it, unlike Google, who just gave up.

    6. Re:Somewhat disappointing.. by Fri13 · · Score: 1

      And no one expect developers should go complain to developers forums where they discuss about development process (why they dont use postlist?) as it just slows down them.
      When they release a beta or RC, then they might ask about testing something.

    7. Re:Somewhat disappointing.. by stephanruby · · Score: 2

      and I need to make a backup before I root

      Yes, that's the standard disclaimer, but who does that really?! The very reason we root our phones is so we can make a complete backup in the first place. Ignore the disclaimer, everything we do in life involves a little bit of risk.

      Just do a partial backup of your own personal stuff, the stuff that can be gotten too at least, and not just on the SD card, but on your PC as well (since SD cards have been known to fail). And then look for the standard image that was originally used to flash your Nexus S by the manufacturer. It must be floating somewhere around the Internet. That at least should be able to restore your phone to its original manufacturer specs.

      And be aware that despite all the precautions you're taking, it's still possible to completely brick your phone (however improbable that is), but like I said, everything in life involves a little bit of risk anyway.

      If CM has the update before the Nexus phones do, then what is the point of buying a nexus phone?

      It's to have a working video recorder and a fully working camera (among other things).

      Right now, the modded version of ICS doesn't have those things, but at least it can make phone calls. So if you want to be the coolest kid on the block, mod your phone with a modded version of ICS, just note that it won't be fully usable until it gets access to the official update.

    8. Re:Somewhat disappointing.. by drb226 · · Score: 1

      It's not really fair to be disappointed that a grassroots hacking community can beat out a beaurocracy-laden megacorp at releasing bleeding-edge software.

  8. Employee Perks by Nick+Fel · · Score: 5, Funny

    In my feed reader this read as "Google Employees are Receiving Ice Cream". No wonder everyone wants to work for them.

    1. Re:Employee Perks by vencs · · Score: 5, Funny

      In other words, the 1% get ICS while the 99% have to get a colorless, flammable, highly poisonous gas made by oxidizing hydrogen cyanide!
      This is not fair, occupy Google!!!

      --
      Three edits to get the sig right. Thats' how smart I am.

    2. Re:Employee Perks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, nobody said that employees don't receive ice cream as well.

    3. Re:Employee Perks by fedorfedor · · Score: 2

      Well, um, I have to admit that we are indeed given ice cream too. Ben & Jerry's "Fairly Nuts" is my current favorite, though their Chocolate Fudge Brownie is a close second. Luckily the freezer is on the floor above mine so I always walk up the stairs to work off the calories in advance. That works, right??

    4. Re:Employee Perks by swillden · · Score: 1

      Well, um, I have to admit that we are indeed given ice cream too. Ben & Jerry's "Fairly Nuts" is my current favorite, though their Chocolate Fudge Brownie is a close second. Luckily the freezer is on the floor above mine so I always walk up the stairs to work off the calories in advance. That works, right??

      Slacker.

      I have to walk across the street to the ice cream freezer. The beer keg is right next to my desk, though.

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
  9. It would be nicer ... by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

    ... if Google employees received their ICS updates in form of a shiny new Galaxy Nexus.

  10. Wait a second... by tehlinux · · Score: 0

    I was going to buy the galaxy nexus so I would be one of the first to get ics. I should have just gotten a job at google.

    --
    Most linux users don't know this, but the man pages were named after Chuck Norris. Chuck Norris fsck'ing hates noobs!
    1. Re:Wait a second... by linhares · · Score: 1
      you can still try to hack into a ___@google.com account, but prepare your behind to be rapEF0A error

      Error address 0A13FE7F: user has been deprecated

    2. Re:Wait a second... by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      well, doh. you should have gotten a job in the ics team, you would have had it for months. ..on a device on your desk.

      phone manufacturer coders seem to use the oldest shit devices in reality.. working in mobiles outside them you can just get the fresh stuff that's shipping.

      what I'm interested actually about this update is: the switch apps button isn't anywhere on old gen devices with hw buttons, right?

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    3. Re:Wait a second... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think to switch apps on existing phones with hw buttons they will stick to holding down the home button.

      On my Galaxy S & S2 and my wifes Evo 3D this brings up a recent apps menu already.

  11. Re:Stay with GB by pandronic · · Score: 2

    My device came with Froyo so I don't know about Eclair, but Gingerbread brings better battery life on my Galaxy S and also a nice battery profiling tool. Also it looks a little better. Probably there are other features and security updates I don't know about.

  12. Obviously... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I guess they can have their Ice Cream (Sandwich) and eat it too

  13. Upgrade by bug1 · · Score: 1

    Two scoops ?

  14. ZTE Blade is there as well, as most of CM7 phones. by Fri13 · · Score: 2

    Early alpha ROM's are available for ZTE Blade as well. Possible slowest and cheapest Android phone what is still available on market.
    Here you can find the process from 4 days ago (1st December) http://android.modaco.com/topic/348898-ics-compiled-for-zte-blade/page__p__1850381#entry1850381 and as you can see, few things ain't working (like camera). OpenGL acceleration has been sayd to work at later thread but I dont know does it work.

    What Modaco and CM teams are possible to do, why cant manufacturers really maintain 2 year those phones? Contract people can not usually buy a new one where SIM or phone is locked. So they could just maintain the good user experience and user base by updateing Android. And then when contract needs to be changed or continued, they could get same manufacturer but better phone by that experience!

    short list of ZTE Blade specs
    ARM6 600Mhz CPU (MSM7227)
    Adreno 200 GPU (Integrated to CPU, and is same as earliest snapdragon CPU's)
    512 RAM
    512 NAND Flash
    480x800 Super bright LCD
    1250mAh (4 hour 3G talk time, about 3.5h video playtime, 7h music playtime and little over 200 hour stand by time)

    Full specs here (without OpenGL extensions listed):
    CPU
    Name: ARMv6-compatible processor rev 5 (v5l)
    Current freq.: 600 MHz
    Max freq.: 600 MHz
    Min freq.: 122.88 MHz
    Cores: 1
    Architecture: 6TEJ
    BogoMIPS: 599.65
    Hardware: blade ZTE handset
    Revision: 5
    Serial #: 0000000000000000

    Memory
    Total: 424884 kB
    Free: 107552 kB
    Inactive: 94424 kB

    Display
    Resolution: 480x800
    Refresh rate: 0.1 Hz

    GPU (OpenGL)
    Vendor: Qualcomm
    Renderer: Adreno
    Version: OpenGL ES-CM 1.1

    Max texture units: 2
    Max texture size: 1024
    Max lights: 8

    VBO: supported
    Frame buffers: unsupported
    Cube maps: supported
    Texture combiners: supported
    DOT3 combiner: supported
    Crossbar combiner: supported

  15. I've received the OTA update by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm not a Googler and yet I have received the OTA update this morning. In the UK on 3 (three.co.uk).

  16. Re:Stay with GB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Old apps work on newer versions of Android just fine.

  17. Google Employees Receiving Ice Cream Sandwiches? by dmmiller2k · · Score: 1, Funny

    Pretty sure this isn't news.

    I hear they get all kinds of free food.

    --

    "No matter how cynical you get, it is impossible to keep up." -- Lily Tomlin

  18. Wasn't the Nexus S supposed to get ICS? by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

    I mean, isn't that the whole point? It's a Google phone and supposed to get all the latest Android versions out there?

    I understand the Galaxy Nexus was the launch phone, but I'd expect the year-old Nexus S to also get it. And the two-year-old Nexus One at that, too. They're the phones Google codes for and thus have the best support for. Which is the main reason to get those phones over the million that Samsung/HTC/LG/etc release every year with iffy support...

    1. Re:Wasn't the Nexus S supposed to get ICS? by AmbushBug · · Score: 1

      You should read the summary again... Nexus S is definitely getting ICS, that's what this article is about - its rolling out to google employees first. After they have dogfooded it for a while it will go out to everyone.

      Nexus One will probably not get it though. A bunch of manufacturers pledged to keep phones updated for 18 months after release. The Nexus One didn't make that cut off.

  19. Menu button by Daetrin · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm waiting for the update to add the menu button back to the bottom row (does that set of buttons have an official name?)

    I admit that i haven't actually had the chance to try ICS yet, but since hearing that the menu button was going to be removed i've been keeping track of how often i use it, and it's a lot. I'm not looking forward to figuring out where each app keeps its own menu button when they get updated to the "proper" method for ICS. And from the reviews i've read some people have indeed had issues with that. And certainly the lack of a menu button has been rather aggravating on my Nook Tablet.

    I can't even figure out why it got removed. They obviously had enough room for four buttons. I guess i can understand wanting to make the task switch function it's own button rather than holding down on the home button, if you assume that most users are uninformed at least. But they didn't need to ditch two buttons, and of the two that they got rid of i use Menu a lot more than Search.

    --
    This Space Intentionally Left Blank
    1. Re:Menu button by AmbushBug · · Score: 1

      The button layout is the same as for Honeycomb. Honeycomb apps put their menu button in the top right corner (I believe this is called the application bar). I believe this is carried over to ICS. For legacy apps, a menu button shows up in the usual place. So you shouldn't need to worry...

    2. Re:Menu button by arkhan_jg · · Score: 1

      The removal of the menu button only applies to the virtual buttons on the galaxy nexus, and honeycomb tablets that were already missing it. If you have physical buttons on your phone (including capacitive 'soft' pre-printed buttons) they're not going anywhere in ICS. The galaxy S has menu, home and back buttons that work just fine in ICS (and no virtual buttons like the galaxy nexus), and seeing that the nexus S has soft buttons, they're staying too (just confirmed that here [zdnet.com]). So until you upgrade to an ICS only phone that doesn't have dedicated buttons, you're fine. Even brand new phones like the droid razr have capacitive buttons due to launching with gingerbread. The galaxy nexus has such a huge screen they can afford to use virtual buttons like a tablet, but physical dedicated buttons are going to be around for a while yet on phones.

      But I agree entirely that the moving around of the menu button inside apps is a bit irritating at time on honeycomb.

      --
      Remember kids, it's all fun and games until someone commits wholesale galactic genocide.
    3. Re:Menu button by arkhan_jg · · Score: 1

      Oops. copy-n-paste screwed up the link - the article showing the Nexus S uses the existing buttons in ICS is here.

      --
      Remember kids, it's all fun and games until someone commits wholesale galactic genocide.
  20. Re:Stay with GB by RobbieCrash · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Apparently, my comment was too subtle. The increases in performance and stability going from CM7.1 to CM9A11 is night and day. ICS adds boatloads of paint, and a huge helping of new features and useful improvements in UI and system management. Additionally, battery life on my Nexus S has gone from about 10 hours max to 18.

    Can't wait to see the official OTA.

    --
    Keep on knockin'
    https://robbiecrash.me
  21. Re:ZTE Blade is there as well, as most of CM7 phon by thsths · · Score: 1

    Awesome. Cheap it may be, but where else do you get a 800x480 AMOLED display (first revision only, mine has it)? And name another phone that is as easy to unlock and root. For me it was the phone I had been waiting for. A half decent camera and ARMv7 would make it perfect, but unfortunately there is precious little perfection in the world.

  22. iOS was multitasking from day one. by Brannon · · Score: 1

    You could surf the web while talking on the phone or listening to music.

    1. Re:iOS was multitasking from day one. by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      Yes, and Win95 had multitasking, so long as you didn't try to format a floppy.

      Hell, even DOS had it: you could type a command and read the output of the previous one at the same time!

  23. Re:ZTE Blade is there as well, as most of CM7 phon by Fri13 · · Score: 1

    I would make few changes to phone to be a "perfectly happy".
    - 1-1.2Ghz CPU
    - a (dual/)LED flash for camera
    - better speaker (and microphone for speaker function on calls)
    - A non-buggy touch screen (some screens are buggy that they convert the dual touchpoints to around http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhuMhBb4FOY)

    Of course the AMOLED as some models sold in UK had could be nice.

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