Talk about a bumpy and emotional ride for you Galaxy Tab and Galaxy S owners! First we thought the devices would get the Android 4.0 upgrade then we heard it wasn't going to be possible because of hardware limitations. After an outcry from ICS demanding owners, Samsung changed their tune and said they were looking into the “viability of the upgrading those two devices in response to strong customer demand”. Well, apparently the units aren't ‘viable' because today, Sammy announced that the upgrade was in fact NOT possible and instead they will issue a “value pack” to the Galaxy S to try and make up for this embarrassing blunder.
What in the hell is a “value pack”, you ask? According to reports, while the phone will remain on Android 2.3, it will receive some enhanced features such as improved web browsing, improved camera, multi-tasking, and new widgets to elevate the experience to somewhat resemble Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. We are still waiting for Samsung to confirm the details.
There is no telling when the value pack will be available, all we heard was that Sammy was preparing it at this time. Also, we haven't heard what, if anything, is in store for the Galaxy Tab. We will closely monitor the progress and details surrounding said pack and the tab, and will inform you as soon as we hear more.
[via Sammy Hub from Android Central]
For the (US) Galaxy S to “remain on” 2.3, it would first have to “actually be upgraded to” 2.3.
A value wat? This is where we part ways with Samsung. The iPad isn’t such a bad idea after all, and the iPhone. The iPhone 3GS from years ago still benefits form all iOS upgrades with the same hardware. Why don’t they just remove touchwiz and create a simpler, less demanding custom UI. We want ICS, simple!!! ICS was built with the idea of less custom UI’s and I feel samsung only has to tweak it only a little. We can do with the ICS UI and no TouchWiz. It’s been proven with teh Galaxy Nexus S. Why can’t they do it with the rest and tweak it just a little?
Not defending Samsung, but to say that all I devices are fully upgraded would be a mistake. features are dropped, so the experience is not as Rosy as you depict.
It’ s simply ridiculous that galaxy S cannot have the 4.0 android os due to hw limitatation. We are talking about a 1 year old model of smartphone, not a ” ave age phone”. This smells like.a pure commercial strategy from samsung in order to make users change model of smartphone.
I own a galaxy S and having compared the performance with the S2, well, i do not see all that hw limitation samsumg is saying……..
I thought that samsung was a serious corporation,but now i regreet to say that i will think twice before buying another samsung device, aware of what might happen if the new model gets later in the same year, and i will not suggest anymore samsung products also to friends.
RIDICOULOUS……….
Well Samsung, you can take your ‘Value Pack’ and shov….You know what.
It doesn’t matter now. XDA devs will (already have) provide better ICS without all that crapware we don’t really need.
Time to live and let go, OG SGS and Tab owners…… I did, quickly! The SGS was a nice “looking” phone, but it wasn’t powerful at all, let alone powerful enough to handle ICS, in my opinion…..
Well.. the Nexus S and Galaxy S have the same platform.. Yet Nexus S runs ICS flawlessly, while the Galaxy S can’t…
IMO, its Samsung’s crapware (Touchwiz?) that slows it down
It just goes to show that Samsung doesn’t care about its customers. This another fail in a long line of let downs by Samsung and their service. This is one of the main reasons I will most likely shy away from the Galaxy Nexus. I don’t want to support Samsung. However, you could buy a new phone of theirs. That would make them happy!