The last couple of weeks we have seen increased activity in smartphone manufacturers finally getting the latest Android operating system out to hardware, but it is still a slow process considering the software has been out for a few months now. Today we have news that the Droid RAZR and RAZR MAXX Android ICS update may be close.

It is being reported that Motorola has been sending out emails to owners inviting them to take part in tests for a new software release, and according to an article over at the Android Community the invitation is for members of the official Motorola Owners Forums. Motorola normally invites members to take part in what it calls “soak tests”, which is an early release of the software that is pushed out to a few users for testing ahead of a general release.

This normally takes place over a one to two week period but it seems the actual update will be coming soon, previously there was a lack of dates provided on the Motorola website for the RAZR and RAZR MAXX, and it seemed the update wouldn’t be arriving until sometime during the second quarter.

Normally the update is pushed out by the manufacturer to unlocked versions of handsets ahead of regional variations for individual carriers, which hasn’t happened with the Samsung Galaxy S II in the UK though. If you are a member of the Motorola Owners Forum and receive the invite it will be your chance to get the official update early, but you won’t be able to talk the media about it.

It seems that more hardware manufacturers are finally getting their act together and pushing out Ice Cream Sandwich to customers, but the criticisms with the Android platform fragmentation will continue as many high powered devices look set to miss out on the update altogether.

Did you receive an invite from Motorola?