We have some great news for Galaxy S II owners out there: Samsung has officially confirmed via its website that the update will start rolling out on March 10th – that’s tomorrow!
Gadget Helpline previously reported that the update would drop next week on March 15th, as confirmed via Facebook by Samsung’s Israeli arm. However, Samsung has now posted the below message on its global support site, confirming an earlier release date for most regions.
Samsung recommends that you download the latest version of Kies (2.0) for your PC or Mac in order to update to ICS. If you don’t have access to a PC, fear not, as you can download the firmware update over the air to your handset. We recommend that you connect your phone to Wi-Fi and ensure the battery is well charged before starting the process. To do this, follow the steps below:
Applications > Settings > About Phone > Software Update
The Ice Cream Sandwich update brings you the very latest Android experience, along with an updated version of Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface. You’ll get to use some of the excellent new features we reviewed in the Galaxy Nexus, including Face Unlock and Android Beam. The latter will only work on newer models of the Galaxy S II that feature the NFC chip.
You’ll also be able to monitor your mobile data usage using a new option that can be found within the settings menu, which is handy for keeping tabs and making sure you don’t exceed your limit. Samsung also says that the usability of some apps and the multitasking capabilities of the S2 will also be improved by the update.
As a final word of warning before you update, if you’re updating via Kies please make sure you have 60MB of free space, and if you’re doing it over the air and straight to the device, you’ll need at least 350MB of space. If you don’t have enough, you’ll need to delete applications, data and text messages to make room.
Updates should start rolling out tomorrow, so get your USB cables at the ready in preparation!
UPDATE: In true Samsung fashion, the company has now debunked its own update schedule. The news originally came from Samsung Philippines, who posted the message :”It’s time to level up! Starting March 10, 2012, you may upgrade your Galaxy S II to Android Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0).”
However, Samsung’s ‘@SamsungTomorrow’ Twitter account has since posted a message (albeit in Korean), saying that the March 10th data was ‘not true’.
We hope the Android 4.0 update doesn’t turn into the Gingerbread Saga that Samsung dragged us through with the original Galaxy S.
Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.
Source: Samsung