Good news, HTC Sensation owners – you’re first on the list for an Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade. But HTC also added more phones to its ICS upgrade roadmap.
HTC on Thursday provided an update to its Ice Cream Sandwich update strategy on its Facebook page.
“HTC has been working hard to get its Ice Cream Sandwich upgrades ready, and we’re excited to announce that our first round of ICS upgrades will roll out by the end of March for the HTC Sensation, HTC Sensation 4G and HTC Sensation XE, followed soon there after by the HTC Sensation XL,” the company said.
HTC has been relatively forthcoming about its ICS plans, informing consumers last November that ICS would be available for the Sensations, as well as the HTC Rezound, HTC EVO 3D, HTC EVO Design 4G, and HTC Amaze 4G.
But there’s more. HTC also added some additional phones to the ICS list: the Incredible S, and the Desire.
“In addition, we can confirm Ice Cream Sandwich upgrades will be coming later this year to the HTC Rezound, HTC Vivid, HTC Amaze 4G, HTC EVO 3D, HTC EVO Design 4G, HTC Incredible S, HTC Desire S and HTC Desire HD,” the company added. “Stay tuned for more updates on Ice Cream Sandwich releases in the coming weeks.”
Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus was the flagship phone that Google launched with the ICS update. Since then, a number of other manufacturers have announced ICS upgrade plans. ICS won’t arrive soon, however, because of the complex upgrade, testing, and qualification process carriers and phone OEMS must navigate.
Some of the more interesting features that ICS supports won’t be available in the older phones, such as the support for Near-Field Communication technology, which requires a special antenna and encryption chip. And while ICS supports an updated browser, users may opt for the new Chrome beta. which requires Ice Cream Sandwich to operate.
Copyright © 2010 Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc.
Source: Expanded HTC Ice Cream Sandwich Upgrade Path Begins in March