US Galaxy S2 4.0 ICS update still awaited as rollout goes on: Update
If you’re a Samsung Galaxy S2 (S II) owner in the U.S. you could be forgiven for wondering why your device hasn’t yet received the latest Android update to 4.0 ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich). News today may frustrate you even more as the 4.0 ICS continues to roll out to other regions and is now hitting Singapore.
At this rate it looks as though the Galaxy S3 may actually be released in the US before branded S2 devices there get the official ICS update. Although a launch date for the Galaxy S3 in the US has not yet been confirmed it could come as early as June according to current speculation. We therefore wonder if the delay in rolling out the ICS update to branded US Galaxy S2 devices could possibly adversely affect sales of the Galaxy S3 stateside as some may feel they’ve drawn the short straw again being the last to get updates.
The official Android 4.0 ICS update began rolling out in the UK and Europe back in March so users there have already had a taste of ICS delights for two months. News that the slow-moving ICS rollout has now arrived for Singapore comes from Cnet. The ICS update there is now available via Kies and also for customers sending their handsets to service centers. Last month we told how owners of unlocked Galaxy S2 handsets in the US were now also receiving the ICS upgrade but of course this only applies to non-branded handsets. At that time though it seemed as though the AT&T ICS arrival was not too far away.
However, the wait still goes on although we also recently told of a leaked T-Mobile USA roadmap with a Galaxy S2 ICS update date of May 14, which of course is today. It will certainly be interesting to see if any news arises about this today and of course we shall bring you any developments as we hear them.
Are you still waiting for the official Android 4.0 ICS update for the Galaxy S2 in the US? Has the long wait frustrated you, especially as you hear about the rollout continuing in other regions? Let us know how you feel about this by sending your comments.
UPDATE: Further news today via Engadget tells how the 4.0 ICS update is now ready for the Galaxy S2 LTE. Although the news comes from Samsung Korea that update should be ready to roll out elsewhere shortly. In other news we’re informed that Samsung is still working on an ICS update for the Galaxy S2 LTE HD.
Comments
62 thoughts on “US Galaxy S2 4.0 ICS update still awaited as rollout goes on: Update”
Live in us got nothing yet called 611 says has no idea
The wait for the ICS upgrade is so painful that if I could return my Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket back to At&t, I would. I would get an Apple iPhone instead. As a Marketing professional, this is the most disgusting customer experience from a tech firm. What confidence does this give owners/users of the company for the next version consideration of their products? I would seriously consider NOT getting a Google-based OS phone in the future for fear of the same happening. If  the Google folks are listening, take notes from someone who woks in the field of focusing on customers, you are losing customers. Get the ICS out to customers ASAP
 Google is not the one to blame. They have had the update out for a long time now. It’s T-Mobile/Samsung that can’t get it together.
 It’s not a big deal, it’s not like the Skyrocket has stopped working. Mine works fine with Gingerbread OS and with the 4GLTE network it runs circles around my wife’s iPhone.
im simply going to cancel my tmobile contract because this is an abuse !!! how is tmobile going to wait for the launch of the galaxy s3 to then release ics for galaxy s2 this is not fair its unprofessional ! just so tmobile can make more money i wish i was a computer geek with time i would start a boycottt on tmobile ! and there shitty service !
TMobile has nothing to do with Samsung holding back the upgrade from US Consumers. Â It is across all carriers that use Samsung smartphones. Â Plus, the reason that Samsung is holding out is because they release these as “beta” tests around the rest of the world so that when there are glitches and bugs they can fix them before releasing in America. Â Americans expect the best from Day 1 and they fear they’ll lose a lot more customers from buggy releases than from making them wait until they feel they have it more close to perfect. Â I don’t know about your service issues, I am just saying that all carriers of Samsung phones can’t upgrade, I have AT&T.
Thats probably the stupidest thing ive ever herd. Sending it out to customers in other regions so the bugs are fixed for Amer.icans. Hahahaha
Agreed!!!
@Kennay757bro> First and foremost, before you write on the internet you must know grammar,spelling and punctuation. Your half sentences are what you would expect from a 3rd grader. Now with that being said, what Nick spoke of earlier was true. Beta tests are done on a daily basis on all sorts of platform’s all over the world. I know that may be hard for you to comprehend. So don’t be a jerk!
I apologize for my bad grammar earlier. I was sitting in traffic on my way to work when I wrote that. Now that I am able to sit and  type I will explain my reasoning. He is saying that Samsung uses other countries as beta testers for the US. That is absurd since we aren’t the only large cell phone market in the world. Granted we might be one of the largest but others aren’t used to work out the bugs for the US. Maybe if you actually read then you can comprehend what he is saying. In all honesty your little  rant made me LOL.
Why does this seem to far fetched for you? Â I’m telling you this because I read it on a Samsung tech forum, and there is really nothing absurd about it. Â I don’t think that we are their largest market in the world, but I know that Americans are definitely the hardest to please and have the biggest public backlash for disappointment. Â I have done beta testing for companies before, and I know that this is one method they use. Â I believe you could use their KIES software to upgrade on certain carriers and devices, and I never said that Samsung continuously does this for all products or upgrades, just that, that is what i’ve read about the ICS update. Â It’s fine to not believe me, but don’t act like it is “the stupidest thing you ever heard” because it’s not.
agree, also Samsung was one of the first smart phone providers to basically say “hey we will upgrade your old device,everytime something new comes out,instead of u having to buy a new phone. i sure remember being pissed at HTC b4 i bought the samsung vibrant that i bought the Hero and within a month a better phone came out n i got no upgrade..Samsung makes the best phones period, we will get our update,ics is made for dual processor phones, and the Galaxy s3 we are all probably going to buy anyway..face it for the last year the Gs2Â Â has reigned supreme to all smart phones up until arguably a couple of months ago that’s unheard of in the technology age we live in..also i would be willing to bet that when T-Mobile in particular does release the official ics for the GS2 , it will be better than the other carriers versions…call it a hunch
“Before you write on the internet you must know grammar, spelling, and punctuation.” … “on all sorts of platform’s…”Â
Good grief, a misplaced apostrophe shows up in a grammar rant. Thanks for providing us all with a shining example of how posting on the internet is truly done. #pathetic
Exacly foo its da internet Its not like u gettn a freakn medal 4 spelln correct ure the pathetic 1 my frnd u da 1 takes up alotta time just to write a sentence in da correct spelln n ish lol wat a looser go back to number 2 pencils and paper foo
1. It takes no longer for an educated person to write correctly.Â
2. The point was exactly that spelling doesn’t matter and the idiot who took the time to point it out was himself wrong.Â
3. You probably wasted more time trying to think of stupid ways to spell those words than it took me to write both of my posts.
Tmobile AND Samsung have everything to do with holding back the update. Each and every carrier releases the update for OS’s at different times because each and every carrier has different needs from the OS/hardware configs to work properly. The hardware in the GS2 for AT&T is different than Tmobile’s, thus, tweaks to the OS. Plus each and every company adds their own “special software” that makes people want to root their phones. If you’ve heard the expression “Sh*t rolls down hill”, these OS updates are a perfect example. First, Google has to create the new OS. Then, each carrier, for EACH PHONE, has to debug the new OS to work properly on the phone the way THEY need it to work. Then us, the consumer, get covered in sh*t. I rest my case.
it makes much more sense for t-mobile to put ics on the s2 so the can continue to sell it as a cheaper alternative to the s3 which will be delayed because they will constantly be changing and adding things to the Gs3 to make sure it is the top dawg off all phones and made for any future software..just like u still see the Vibrant for sale, we will get ics, i have run roms with ics they allhave bugs i will wait for official release and be happy when we get it as it will have xtra features that the other carriers version won’t
It’s a money making cycle people, hellooooooooo
google is already creating thier own phone line just for this reason the device is ready for google ics its the carrier and manufacturer adding thier garbage don’t blame google blame tmobile tmobile uk already got whats so hard on changing the radio in the source code
Damm how come tmobile says it supoose to be today i was so exited tmobile ar loosin alot costumers cuz of this they need to hurry and bring us the ics update
June or July 100%
horsefeathers……
I want this update just as bad as a lot of you, but I can wait for the software to be done correctly. All the talk of leaving…go ahead you will NEVER find that a company does everything you expect when ” your” ready. I never heard Tmobile confirm a single word in that leak, so shame on you for assuming everything you read is true. Hell…some of you would be complaining if you got it today and there was one single flaw. Find something to do and just let it happen.
Do you really think that waiting over 7+ months, since google released ICS, still warrants a “just let it happen”. I wonder if you’ll say that when all the OEM’s keep getting later & later in releasing updates. Google is already talking about releasing “Jelly Bean” by late fall. Do the numbers & you’ll see that the next update could be a year late if the OEM’s continue at their current pace.
BTW, funny how a regional carrier released their update for SGS2 weeks ago while T-Mobile still has us waiting, Oh I forgot, the regional carrier didn’t waste time with loading up their release with over a dozen pieces of “Bloatware”, which also add to the time it takes to code / test.
my friend has a nexus and she got her update like a month or two ago, i am jealous and hungry to get mine, can’t wait to get it, soooo anxious
I wish I hadn’t upgraded my SGS2 to Android 4. Keeps hanging and rebooting. Not best pleased.
This is the reason people switch to iphone, Tmobile fooled me once again fist with the samsung vibrant witch is still on 2.2 froyo now with the galaxy s2 thats stuck on 2.3 dont be surprised if the galaxy s3 drops and your s2 is forgotten about tmobile is the most known for stuff like that.
So true. I got screwed over with them with my tmobile motorola cliq and then they got me with a samsung galaxy s2 upgrade. I need to be strong and leave them in a year and go iphone so i wont have to deal with the sporadic update crap.
Root ur phone and install ics rom…I have ics on my vibrant and it’s awesome!
All those can’t wait can leave tmobile so I dont have to share bandwidth for my 4g lol
nice haha
I’ll not be buying another Samsung phone, ever. If they actually cared about their existing customers there is no way they’d allow us to wait 8+ months for the ICS release. Funny thing is, they sure don’t seem to be having any issue getting ICS to work on all the new phones being released.!!
My next phone will be unlocked & supported directly by the OEM. Right not it looks like Google & Asus are the only two that appear to have a good grasps on how to port / support ICS.
It’s the Cell phone companies, not the manufacturer…
 No it is not. Sim Free GSM standardized European phones still are ICS-free!
SONY is much better than Samsung in updates…
Samsung released Galaxy s2 ICS update in February and it has been available in most of the world in about a month from then! Â It’s the US cellular providers that are trying to put their crap into official version and can’t even do that.
Just patiently waiting for ics on AT&T s2. I won’t update without it being officially released from AT&T. I will continue to wait, but if they could get it out a little faster, I would be grateful.
Atleast tell us a fixed date…this is very disappointing for S2 owners and fansÂ
I have been waiting and waiting for the ICS update on my tmobile samsung GS2, and i am really getting impatient. i wish i have never bought that phone…i mean there is no way it should be taking them that long to get an update roll out. Apple is way more consistence in that way…no way i am getting an android phone again. Iphones are well worth it!Â
Samsung / T-Mobile sucks I got burned with the Samsung behold II I bought it when it first came out android 1.5 and it never got updated, even though in their commercial they said it would. now I have the GS2 and its happening again. If they don’t upgrade this phone I’m never buying anything made by Samsung again. Â
its not Samsung’s fault, its T-mobile’s. Â yes, I am a Tmo/SGS2 User.
at&t’s galaxy s2 hasnt even released android 4.0 either.has sprints galaxy s2 hit android 4.0 yet?? no they havent, I would seriously like to see all and everyone try and make a rom or create an operating system and see how well you succeed. its typical for the UK to get updates before us. and there are different model galaxy s2’s which have different hardware. so its not t-mobiles fault for the update.
Another thing too is that what if they released android 4.0 now, unfinished, unpolished, your phones shutting down on you cause of a hickup in the os? you’d be pissed. going to a t-mobile store complaining and yelling at a t-mobile sales associate that had no part in the update, so everyone needs to be patient. not all the carriers have android 4.0 on the galaxy s series.
yes, i am a t-mobile sales associate/galaxy s2 user/independent developer
I’m as anxious like everyone else to get this update but it takes time to make something stable to release so we dont get customers out there that come to store and go crazy at our sales associates in store.
Mike, you as a sales associate should know better than all of us. ICS has been coming for a long while. T-Mobile, AT&T, et al. are dragging thier feet, and too worried about bottom line then about thier customers. They already have us on the hook, no need to try to keep us happy after that. ICS would be nice to have, and it would also be nice to get some sort of firm dates for WHEN it is coming out rather than “soon” Also, usually bad business to chide people about something on a message board, and then say you are an associate of some company or other. Essentially, by saying that, you have become the voice of T-Mobile.. dunno if T-mo’s PR dept would approve of the statement you put out
HTC NEXUS was always the first with Google’s new OS. Since Nexus has become a Samsung product, it has lost its legacy.
This is seriously ridiculous, one of the reasons why I actually opted for the Samsung Galaxy SII Skyrocket was because of the ICS update that AT&T and Samsung had promised long ago. Now I would be very upset if the SIII come out before I get my update. VERY UPSET!!!
DDude thats how samsungs galaxy line up is when i had the galaxy s the first one they took forever to send the update and what the hell every other country has the update except us!!!
This is just stupid we should of gotten the update first
The way the major carriers are handling the constant software and hardware upgrades should be illegal, and may be for all I know. It seems every six months the latest and greatest is coming out while you get stuck in a two year contract.. On a side note it doesn’t seem like these phones will last the full two years without severely wearing down. I had an Atrix for a little over a year that lost touchscreen in done areas, and my galaxy s2 that is starting to misbehave as well. I take good care of my phones and don’t download a lot from the market to avoid bad apps….and that’s my story..
So, just my .02. Even if the Galaxy SIII rolls up before we receive the ICS update, it doesn’t mean that they will just scrap the port. I came from the I gen Captivate. Yes it took forever for them to update to Gingerbread. The thing about it is that I never received the OTA update from the cellular service provider. I went to samsung direct and used kies to update it. Chances are that the outcome with the ICS port might be the same, meaning ATT/(enter your service provider here) might be laxed in pushing it, but once it’s released you can go directly to the source and upgrade.
If you are really that impatient about getting the ICS port, the carry your ass over to XDA and download and flash the ICS ports there. I was running ICS on the I gen Captivate before I upgraded to the SII.Â
Just my .02.
I heard the ICS updates is suppose to be here today may 17th for the s2 for t-mobile. This is why America is a prime example of last of everything. We should be the first one to receive this OS update .
sprint is still waiting i have the s2 on sprint an it running 2.3.6
 Me and my wife both have the s2 on Sprint my wife got the upgrade 4 days ago I’m still waiting for mine
The thing for me that is most frustrating is that the skyrocket is an awesome f-ing phone. I get a kick out of comparing my phone to the iphone and how the apple device just doesn’t stack up. Like many others, one of the tipping points for me in getting this phone was the ICS upgrade. I got on a conference call with an ATT and Samsung rep but neither could say anything outside of  “we push the updates out as soon as wee get them.” When I asked about the other phones that currently have ICS (i.e. Vivd and Galaxy Note), I got mainly a no comment. With the GS3s coming out very soon, I wonder if they were waiting to launch those before rolling out ICS. Here’s an idea, DON’T tell people you will have something spectacular in the near future, until you actually do. Saves everyone a headache.
Well I bough my phone unlocked from newegg and it is still 2.3.4 plus my region is Panama! (in Canada)
Stupid carriers and their useless bloat ware and spyware. Can’t Samsung take responsibility like apple for their product and give direct updates instead of going through the carriers. Giving good hardware is as useless as a paper weight when the software that supports the hardware takes forever to come, especially when the next gen. handsets are being released.
So much for the Samsung experience. If it weren’t for the moded roms this device would have been fail. Tablets user experience when not involving the carriers is far better especially concerning updates.
At least give us vanilla ics we don’t need the fact crap resource hogging extra crap because it kills user experience.
Well sprint usa samsung galaxy s2 still havent update to the ics, i’m so ready for it, I can’t stand this long , wait, I hope we sprint usa get it soon.
It’s been 4 months since ICS update was released for Samsung Galaxy s2, but it hasn’t showed up for AT&T s2s yet, so Skyrocket users shouldn’t even start waiting for the update before Christmas.
I have the AT&T version of the SG2. When I first heard about the upcoming ICS update I was excited and looking forward to the new features. I was optimistic that AT&T would be one of the first to get the update. Then the days of waiting turned to weeks and the weeks turned to months. My anticipation has gradually turned to frustration.  I got my hopes up again when I heard that there was a leak of the AT&T update in a close to final version.  But once again, the days of waiting turned to weeks, etc. etc.
After hearing that many users of the unlocked SG2 and the Skyrocket have received ICS updates, and now hearting that T-Mobile is releasing their ICS update, I am more than a little perturbed with AT&T over the delay in rolling out ICS as well as the total lack of information being provided to their customers. This experience has created considerable ill will towards AT&T.  I feel dissapointed and angry and I am sure that I am not alone.
I’m just like Jgray, I heard of the update days turned to weeks turned to months. So when I heard I could preorder the S3, I went in and did it. I’m giving my mother my S2 and taking the S3. Now if it doesn’t turn out like they’ve promised, then it’s gonna have to be surgically removed from someone’s hind quarters. P.S. AT&T sucks butthole!!!!!!!!
After this I will never buy a samsung phone again.I will stick with HTC,they dont seem to have thesethese issues.
Maybe you should have tmobile. We have the ics update haha
I bet if the US providers got paid for these updates, they would have gotten the update out a week after ICS was released. Â US providers are becoming a huge problem in the way of progress. Â Wish google would just start their own network. Â They have the money to buy out a company… maybe a mid level provider like US Cellular?
I think i have to agree with Wjohn256, Samsung will no longer be my phone of choice. Should have waited to get a phone with ICS already installed.