Ice Cream Sandwich ported to older devices
Now that the Ice Cream Sandwich source code has been released, it was inevitable it would be ported over to older devices. That work has begun in earnest — Cyanogenmod 9 is already under development, with a targeted January release date. ICS is also running on several older Android devices already, in varying states of usability. We'll be keeping track of other various Ice Cream Sandwich ports and hacks right here, as they come.
Android
Android 4.0 ported to Raspberry Pi, supports HD video but not audio
A working version of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich has been ported to the credit card-sized Raspberry Pi computer, allowing the $25 device to perform many of the functions of a modern smartphone or tablet, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. According to a post on the project's official blog, the build supports hardware-accelerated video and graphics, but is not yet able to play sound due to problems with porting Android's AudioFlinger system.
As Eurogamer points out, it's not the first...
Mobile
HTC One V's Android 4.0 firmware ported to the Desire S and Desire HD
HTC Desire S and HD owners won't need to buy a new phone to experience the Ice Cream Sandwich and Sense 4 goodness of HTC's latest offerings. Xda-developers forum member proxuser has ported the One V's ROM to the two phones, giving users the (almost) complete One V software experience. The initial port was posted several weeks ago, and proxuser has been steadily updating it since. Despite having gone through several rounds of bug fixes, there are still a few things that don't work: you won't...
Nokia N9 gains Android 4.0.3 dual-boot thanks to 'Project Mayhem'
We were teased with a video of Android 4.0 running on a Nokia N9 last month, and now an unofficial public alpha release of the OS for the N9 is available over at NITDroid. The 3.9-inch handset is a good match for ICS considering its lack of capacitive front buttons and its enduring style, which inspired the slick design of the Lumia 800 and 900. Except for some of the sensors, Wi-Fi, and the accelerometer, it appears that many of the phone's core functions are available and functioning...
Nokia N9 shown running Ice Cream Sandwich
Our love affair with the Nokia N9's Harmattan UI may soon be coming to an end, thanks to a pretty massive upgrade being cooked up for the 3.9-inch smartphone by the developer community: Android 4.0! Alexey Roslyakov, part of the NITDroid team that has concerned itself with porting Android to the N900 previously and the N9 presently, has tweeted the image above, accompanied by the enigmatic title of "progress."
The project to bring Ice Cream Sandwich to the N9 is clearly advancing, therefore,...
Android
Dell Streak 7 gets temperamental Android 4.0 port
We haven't spent much time dwelling on the canceled Dell Streak 7 as of late, but if you bought one of the the seven-inch Android 2.2 tablets, you might be happy to hear that the community is working to bring you an Ice Cream Sandwich for sticking with the slate. DJ_Steve and Giveen over at TabletRoms have a beta build of Android 4.0.3 running on the device, although the word "beta" is capitalized and underlined for good reason — as always, a host of important features (like cellular...
HP TouchPad CyanogenMod 9 port shown on video, fully-functioning Android almost ready
There's been an ongoing grassroots effort to shoehorn Android into HP's TouchPad and a new video posted online shows considerable progress from the version shown off in October. A member of the CyanogenMod team, greentheonly, shows off a mostly-functional port of CyanogenMod 9 running on the ill-fated tablet, bringing Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with it in. Aside from the camera and video playback, "mostly everything else works," including the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and a bootloader spotted...
Android
Kindle Fire hacked to run 'pre-alpha' version of Android 4.0
And here we go. The enterprising hackers at xda-developers have put together an "pre-alpha" version of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich for the Kindle Fire, marking the first time we've seen Amazon's budget tablet running the latest and greatest version of Android. (And the first time we've seen it run a proper tablet OS and not a variant of Gingerbread for phones, actually.) Things seem to be working fairly well for an early build, which is based on CyanogenMod 9, but audio doesn't work...
Mobile
Original Motorola Droid gets Ice Cream Sandwich pre-alpha build
The first Android 2.0 device, the original Motorola Droid, is the latest to get an Ice Cream Sandwich facelift. A member of the xda-developers forums has released a preliminary build that lets the Droid run Android 4.0.3 with CyanogenMod 9. It's still in the experimental stage, so don't expect perfect performance — according to the thread, the latest version is unable to connect to the external speakers or camera, and screen rotation is a bit off, among other things. Several other bugs have...
Mobile
Android 4.0 ported to Nokia N900 (video)
With this port of Ice Cream Sandwich to the Nokia N900, developer Alexey Roslyakov has brought the NITDroid Project one step closer to its goal of running updated Android on all Nokia Internet Tablets. As the video demonstrates, the port is still in its early stages, and is billed as a pre-pre-alpha, but it's certainly enough for the device to take its place on the growing list of older devices running Android.
Android
CyanogenMod devs bring Android 4.0 to Samsung Nexus S and international Galaxy S
Despite the fact that the Android 4.0 mod known as CyanogenMod 9 isn't expected to launch until early 2012, its developers are hard at work bringing stable versions of Ice Cream Sandwich to the Nexus S. Programmer Koushik Dutta, one of CyanogenMod 9's developers, noted on his Google+ page that CyanogenMod 9 alpha 11 is "usable as a daily driver," and a thread on xda-developers notes the only remaining major issues are choppy video playback and tempermental MMS behavior. Despite the name, it...
Android
HTC Evo 4G the latest to receive Android 4.0 port
If Ice Cream Sandwich is able to run on a Windows 6.5 phone, it's no surprise that it is also up and running on the HTC Evo 4G. Once again, the Android hackers at xda-developers have managed to get Android 4.0 functioning on an older device, and while this is definitely an alpha build, the Evo 4G with Ice Cream Sandwich has touchscreen functionality, carrier service, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and audio output — there doesn't seem to be any mention of Android Market, so that might still be on the...
Android 4.0 AOSP ported to the HTC G1 in alpha form
We suppose we should no longer be surprised by the ingenuity, tenacity, and overall chutzpah of the Android ROM community, especially after seeing Ice Cream Sandwich ported to the venerable HD2. Still, the effort to get the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) version of Android 4.0 ported to the grandaddy of all Android devices, the HTC G1, has warmed our hearts tonight. The ROM has already been released, though of course it is in an alpha state, with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and auto-rotation not...
Microsoft
Android 4.0 AOSP ported to HTC HD2
Just like Windows XP, HTC's HD2 just refuses to go away. The elder statesman of the smartphone world, this handset began life on Windows Mobile 6.5, but successive hacking efforts have seen it enjoying a smattering of alternative ROMs, including some of the nicer Android ones. Today, the HD2 adds Android 4.0 to that arsenal. A ROM of the AOSP release of Ice Cream Sandwich is now available to download for the HD2 and, aside from a few incompatibilities and minor glitches, it's looking pretty...
Eee Pad Transformer is first tablet to get unofficial Android 4.0 port
The Android community seems to have been working on Ice Cream Sandwich ports from the very moment the source code was released, and now it appears someone has managed to make the Asus Eee Pad Transformer the first tablet to run Android 4.0. The YouTube video below shows a working touchscreen, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a fairly zippy web browser. GPS and other sensors are also functioning, but the system doesn't yet respond to them with actions like screen rotation. This is still an early build...
Android
Samsung Galaxy S gets unofficial Ice Cream Sandwich port, new ROM still needs some work
The Android modding community has already taken advantage of the release of the Ice Cream Sandwich source code by delivering unofficial ports for the Samsung Galaxy S II and the LG Optimus 3D. Now we can add the original Samsung Galaxy S to the list. The ported ROM works only with the international version of Samsung's phone — owners of US variants like the Captivate and Vibrant will have to wait — and is clearly still in the early stages. Calling, SMS, and Wi-Fi are all...
Android
Android 4.0 keyboard now available for older versions
The Galaxy Nexus is almost here, but even if you're not in the market for a new phone you can sate your Ice Cream Sandwich appetite a little thanks to an XDA developers user, who extracted the keyboard application from Android 4.0 and made it available as a free download for Android 2.2 and 2.3. It's not the full 4.0 experience — voice input isn't working, and not all languages were ported over — but the keyboard's improved autocorrection, new look and feel, and a few other features...
Apps & Software
Samsung Galaxy S II running Ice Cream Sandwich shown on YouTube (update: LG Optimus 3D too!)
It's only been a few days since Google released the Ice Cream Sandwich source code and the hackers at xda-developers already have it running on a Samsung Galaxy S II. It's only an unreliable alpha build at the moment, but it's already able to connect to Wi-Fi, send SMS messages, run the music app, and access the Android Market — it also runs the pointless-but-fun "flying Nyandroid" easter egg we highlighted in our Galaxy Nexus review. Enterprising Galaxy S II owner Ouverta is posting...
Mobile
Nexus S Ice Cream Sandwich AOSP build available to download, thanks to xda devs
The Nexus S may already be in line to get an Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade from Google itself, but why wait? An enterprising new member of the xda-developers forums, kwiboo, has pulled together a build of the recently open-sourced OS for both the Nexus S and Nexus S 4G. Note that this is the AOSP version, not the SDK port that was available last month. There are a couple of rough edges — such as USB mass storage compatibility and having to manually add your Wi-Fi network — but user...
Android
CyanogenMod 9 for Ice Cream Sandwich in the works
With Ice Cream Sandwich righting the wrongs of Honeycomb three days ago in terms of source code availability, possibilities for mods and custom versions are blossoming again. CyanogenMod 9 is now under development, with a loose arrival date of January expected. Version 8 had been reserved for Honeycomb, but has now been skipped over due to Google holding on to its source code. Cyanogen also states on Twitter that the Gingerbread-based build (7.2) will continue to receive attention while...
