Samsung Premium Suite for Galaxy Note includes S Pen apps for ICS

After a couple of leaks here and there, and some custom ROMs, Samsung finally explained how the 5.3-inch Galaxy Note will get updated to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and what the mysterious Premium Suite coming along is. When you first hear the words, you might think Samsung is again referring to a collection of features instead of a full ICS update, but in actuality the Premium Suite is a collection of apps specific for the S Pen. Those include the S Note, an update of S Memo, and My Story.

Samsung's version of Face Unlock requires you to blink before it grants access to the phone

Just when we started wondering whether the company can pull off the eye-tracking tech supposedly in store for the rumored Samsung i9300 M Olympics phone, and it clarified how they do it.

Today Samsung Tomorrow, the company's official blog, issued a post aiming to introduce us to the kitchen of software updates. Buried inside the Galaxy S quasi-ICS update section was hidden this little gem: "Included in the firmware upgrade is the ‘Face Unlock’ feature found in the ICS upgrade. In response to security issues raised regarding Face Unlock, Samsung incorporated blinking for added security."

Samsung Galaxy Note ICS update coming in Q2 with Premium Suite in tow

Earlier this year, Samsung had promised a Q1, 2012 time period for the roll out of the Android 4.0 update for the Galaxy S II and the Galaxy Note. But while its younger brother has started receiving the update, the Galaxy Note users are still munching on Gingerbread that is well past its expiry date. 

Samsung recently announced that the Android 4.0 update for the Galaxy Note has been pushed to Q2, 2012. This means it could be coming as soon as April or as late as June.

But to make sure that the wait is worth the while, Samsung has announced that the update will come with some extra goodies exclusive to the Galaxy Note. This includes a Premium Suite of applications and extra multimedia features.

The Premium Suite includes the S-Pen application, which allows you to scribble with the provided capacitive stylus, as well as draw tables and grids that are automatically digitized, along with solving hand-drawn numeric formulas. The Premium Suite also includes My Story app, which lets you create personalized digital cards for friends and family.

Along with this, you will also get a special version of Angry Birds Space. This version will include 30 extra Danger Zone levels, not found on any other platform.

And then of course, it's Android 4.0 itself, which will bring new features like Face Unlock, redesigned multitasking view, GPU accelerated UI, etc.

Samsung Galaxy Note ICS update pushed back to Q2

We are afraid we have some bad news for the Galaxy Note users out there. The Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update for the phoneblet has been pushed back from its initially announced Q1 launch to Q2.

It's only been confirmed by Samsung Norway through its Facebook account, so it's not certain if the delay will be a global thing, but that seems likely. The global rollout of the Ice Cream Sandwich update only took a few days, so we assume the Galaxy Note units, which are much fewer in number will be updated in a very short interval.

The reason for the delay is unknown just yet and so is the exact launch date. With Q2 starting in a couple of weeks and ending in June the delay might be a pretty minor thing or it could mean another three months without the latest and greatest from the Google OS for the Note users. Here's hoping it will be a case of the former rather than the latter!

Key Lime Pie is the next tasty version name of Android

Wondering what Google would be calling the next to next version of Android – folks over The Verge have got the answer. According to their trusted source, Google will be naming the version after Jelly Bean as Key Lime Pie. It fits perfectly in the alphabetical dessert naming scheme of Google for different Android versions.

'Jelly Bean' confirmed to be the codename for Android 5.0 by 'ASUS"

Among the many Android manufacturer's out there, ASUS has a good reputation for offering quick software updates for its devices, with the recent Transformer Prime being one of the first to get the Ice Cream Sandwich update. According to ASUS' Corporate Vice President Benson Lin, this is due to the good relationship between his company and Google.

But while he was boasting about his relationship with Google, Lin also let go of a tiny bit of information regarding the next version of Android, which as the rumors often told us, will be named Jelly Bean.

Speaking to TechRadar, Lin said:

"Asus is very close to Google, so once they have Android 5.0 I think there will be a high possibility that we will be the first wave to offer the Jelly Bean update."

This, along with the bowl of jelly beans at Google's booth at MWC makes it clear that the next version of Android will in fact be called Jelly Bean.