Ice Cream Sandwich Android: Nexus One Won't Receive New Operating System
Owners of Samsung's Nexus One smartphone may be disappointed to learn their model will not receive Google's Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
Hugo Barra, Android’s product management director, explained the reason for this action to The Telegraph. He told the United Kingdom news website that Nexus One's hardware was not “new enough” to run the operating system, even though it came out in January 2010.
The Nexus One's support forum was closed on Nov. 1 of this year. The Nexus One was referred to as "too old."
Rob Pegoraro, a freelance technology journalist, asked Google about the Nexus One.
Google replied: "We're not planning to update that."
One member of the XDA Developers forum was not pleased to hear the news: "I've always been behind everything that Google did but if they do not update their first flagship device which a lot of people paid FULL price for to support them, in what seemed like a revolution move towards telecom dependency removal, I will seriously reconsider if I want to continue trusting this company. Not updating it would mean that all they are after is getting users to update to their newer phone. I smell greed and evil!"
A reader of The Telegraph also expressed his disappointment: "Really Google? I thought you were better than that."
Barra confirmed that Samsung's Nexus S smartphone would get Ice Cream Sandwich.
When asked for its official release date, Barra told The Telegraph that it's coming "within weeks."
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich will sport a bevy of interesting features, such as the Face Unlock feature, which lets users unlock their smartphone through its camera.
The Android Beam feature will also incorporate near-field technology and let users of the Nexus S transfer all types of content between each other.
Owners of the Nexus One will have to upgrade to the Nexus S if they want Google's new operating system.