Android 4.0 ICS update for the Samsung Galaxy Note gets the green light in the UK

Needless to say, there has been a lot of praise surrounding the Samsung Galaxy Note of late, but everyone is still wondering when they’ll be able to experience Ice Cream Sandwich on the mighty smartphone. Well, as we already know, our German friends have been living it up with the ICS update early last month, but now we’re hearing word that it’s coming to the folks in the UK as well!

Samsung Galaxy Note finally gets the official Ice Cream Sandwich

Now we've been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for this update to finally come. We even braved to try a leaked ROM to see how ICS would feel like on the Note. What can we say, even the Cyanogen team managed to produce a custom ICS ROM for the device before the manufacturer.

Never mind, the important thing is that the Ice Cream Sandwich update for the Samsung Galaxy Note is finally seeding to users across the world. So far there is no official statement by Samsung so the roll-out schedule is unclear. As usual with this sort of things, not everybody would get it at the same time, some regions and SIM-free devices will be first.

Samsung might also unveil a new tablet at the May 3 event in London

Samsung could be lining up for a new Galaxy Tab announcement at their big London event on May 3.

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!

Samsung looking to push "Premium Suite" update to Samsung GALAXY Note instead of Android 4.0?

 

Sometimes it is hard to know what a manufacturer has in mind unless it is said clearly and completely. Other times, no matter what is said, it is best not to believe it until you see it. Back in December, Samsung said that instead of delivering Android 4.0 to the Samsung Galaxy S and the Samsung Galaxy Tab, it would update both devices with a "value pack" that would bring better multitasking, faster web browsing, improvements to the camera and new widgets to the pair. The Korean based manufacturer 86'd the "value pack" in January, and those two units might be stuck with Gingerbread forever.
The teaser reveals a Premium Suite coming