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The wait is pretty much over for owners of the exceedingly slim RAZR and RAZR MAXX smartphones from Motorola; the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich has started to roll out today.
Unfortunately for us Brits, the update begins its journey Stateside, where customers of the Verizon Wireless network are first privy to the update. Android 4.0.4 is the precise software version being seeded by Motorola, and it will initially make the RAZR and slightly chunkier RAZR MAXX the first ever worldwide 4G LTE phones on the Verizon network, allowing customers to make voice calls and send texts in more than 220 countries.
From there we should see the update make its way around the world, although Motorola hasn’t broken things down to help us understand exactly when each country will get it. For now we’d suggest visiting the software update option in your settings menu frequently to have a quick look.
Thankfully Moto has gifted us with a full lowdown on what the update will bring, which should keep you happy while you patiently wait to get a bite of Ice Cream Sandwich. So what’s in the Android 4.0 package for these phones? Here are the main features:
Improved Lockscreen
Moto has designed a nifty circle unlock feature which puts four apps of your choice in the north, east, south and west areas. Simply drag the central key to an app icon around the circle to unlock directly into that app. Music controls will also be present in the lockscreen, and the system tray will look slightly different with four customisable app icons and the standard central menu launcher icon. Moto says the system tray will be present on every homescreen.
New and Improved Widgets
The selection of widgets for your homescreen is said to be updated to be more streamlined and yet comprehensive. We’ve not seen the new additions yet. With ICS you’ll now find widgets stored in a separate section when you open your app tray, and from here you can tap and hold to add them to your homescreens.
Folders
Another standard feature in Android 4.0 is the ability to drag apps onto each other to create a folder on your homescreen. Motorola hasn’t left this feature out – as Samsung did on the Galaxy SIII – so you’ll be able to keep your screen clutter-free.
New Browser
Moto’s given the browser an overhaul for ICS, and says that page loading times are now ‘dramatically improved’. You’ll also be able to sync your bookmarks with Chrome on your PC, make websites available to read offline in a reading list and easily use tabbed browsing.
Webtop
Motorola’s phones offer a rather unique feature in that they can be connected to a Webtop – a notebook PC but without the guts. Your smartphone provides the power and software, which is displayed on the screen of the Webtop. This feature gets an overhaul with ICS, with a more seamless transition from phone to PC, hugely improved email navigation and the ability to browse desktop versions of many websites, rather than be confined to more simple mobile versions.
To learn more about Motorola’s Android 4.0 update for the RAZR and RAZR MAXX smartphones you can head over to the official site for video tutorials and much more. We’ll keep you in tune with the UK launch for the update, so stay tuned.
Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.
Via: Motorola
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