[POLL] Would you buy a new tablet just to get Ice Cream Sandwich?

[e.mote]

ICS is now official. I'd like to get first impressions from people here. Aside from the poll above, let's hear what you like (or don't like) about 4.0, and whether you like it enough to buy a new tablet for it.

For me, the biggest draw of ICS is that it'll be open-sourced, and ROM'ers will have a free hand to do some cool stuff. Second, with a unified UI, fragmentation should be less. Those who've tried Gameloft stuff know what I'm talking about. My takeaway here is that 4.0 should be better supported, and we'll see more ICS-specific stuff in the coming year.

Aside from these, 4.0's improvements were incremental, which was what I expected. None of the gee-whiz features grabbed me, but I'm a meat-n-taters guy. I'd like to hear more of the plumbing changes, which are understandably left out in a boo-yah representation as this.

Edit: Meat-n-taters info below

http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-4.0-highlights.html

http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2011/10/android-40-platform-and-updated-sdk.html

For video, MKV is now supported, but only for VP8 & Vorbis codecs. Presumably, no other MKV features (eg embedded subs) are included. Video performance should still be better, given OMAP4's better media capability and improving 3rd-party players. Am curious to see the (1.2GHz) 4430 playing 1080p high-profile w/ unrestricted bitrates.

http://developer.android.com/guide/appendix/media-formats.html

 

[double1]

I noticed that a majority of the UI elements in ics are geared towards the phone. I was hoping for more tablet orientated elements like a full featured chrome browser as well as tweaks to honeycomb.
I've had my xoom 7 months and I would sell it and upgrade to the xoom 2 most likely out in Nov sometime. I want a full hd screen and rumors of a 2048 x 1536 screen, and I'd buy it in a minute for $600 wifi only.

 

[bradgog]

is there any reason you dont think the Xoom will get ICS as the google reference device? I would expect it shortly after the release of the Galaxy Nexus

 

[brianmoriarty]

Android 4.0 updates due 'weeks' after Galaxy Nexus launch http://goo.gl/80i7b Shared with APPY Geek (http://www.appy-geek.com)

if theyre giving it to any gb phone, im sure theyll support the tablets. after all, we did beta test most of its features

 

[timrock]

no plans to buy a new tablet until a quad core running ICS comes out. And it wont be a motorola product. Hopefully something like the Galaxy with hdmi, full usb, micro sd, etc.

 

[jerses]

im happy with the xoom but will get a new upgrade when software starts asking for a more power device. Right now all the 2011 phones and tablets are over powered so theres no need to upgrade. The apps are the ones that need that upgrade so they can evolve into something more funtional that can replace a laptop. we are seen such evolve in the adobe apps , autodesk. where you can have almost the full pc version on the go. Will i get an new tablet for ics? no, i will probably get the new desert later because xoom will have ics in the next months.

 

[e.mote]

@double1 & bradgog

The suspicion all along was that HC was a public beta of ICS, and the Android design dude, Matias Duarte, confirmed it in the interview below,

http://thisismynext.com/2011/10/18/exclusive-matias-duarte-ice-cream-sandwich-galaxy-nexus/

“On Honeycomb we cheated, we cut the corner of all that smaller device support. That’s the sole reason we haven’t open sourced it.”

“Honeycomb was like: we need to get tablet support out there. We need to build not just the product, but even more than the product, the building blocks so that people stop doing silly things like taking a phone UI and stretching it out to a 10-inch tablet.”

Given that, it's not surprising that HC already has most of the features in ICS, and the remaining new features were for the phone side.

It's the other reason--aside from differentiation for marketing purposes--why I don't think Tegra 2 HC tabs will be immediately upgraded to ICS: there are no must-have improvements from HC to ICS. Some may be upgraded to ICS eventually (next year), but if you want it fast, it'll be custom ROMs.

BTW, missing from all the "heart & soul" New-Age gobbledygook in the interview was the productivity angle. It's the elephant in the room, and I'm surprised it's been given the AWOL treatment. Hopefully, it'll be the next improvement project for Android, as Win8 will certainly be waiting to pounce from that perch.

@brianmoriarty

>Android 4.0 updates due 'weeks' after Galaxy Nexus launch

Marketing-wise, it makes sense not to upgrade Tegra 2 tabs. One lesson eminently learned is that Android tabs can't be sold at iPad pricing ($450-500). Vendors need a wider price range, which has to have a low-end ($300-400) to go along with their high-end. Current Teg2 tabs are repositioned for this low-end (eg Xoom Family). Since hardware differences are nominal, differentiation needs to be the software, ie ICS. Sales of the high-end will tank if the low-end also get ICS.

@timrock

>Hopefully something like the Galaxy with hdmi, full usb, micro sd, etc.

Samsung has bought into the Apple's "closed" philosophy. None of its tabs have micro-SD, let alone full USB. Given the thin & light trend for tablets (and smartphones), I doubt full-size USB will make the cut from any of the major vendors. One exception would be hybrids like the Asus TF, with a separate docking station.

That said, ICS' open-sourcing should allow 2nd- and 3rd-tier vendors--who've been absent from the HC crowd--to join the tablet fray. These guys will be where you find full-sized ports, in exchange for heavier weight. Screen and build quality will be the primary concerns here.

 

[felix.akinyemi]

There's already a tablet UI in ICS found in the SDK. It shouldn't be long before the xoom gets it or a port when the code is released.
http://androidapproved.com/item/ice-cream-sandwich-confirmed-to-have-a-tablet-interface/