Ice Cream Sandwich update finally starts rolling out on HTC Rezound

Rejoice, long-suffering HTC Rezound owners. Your protracted wait for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich seems to be nearing its end. After a shelved update and countless leaks, it looks like ICS for the Rezound is officially official this time. Posters on the Android Central forums, and elsewhere, have confirmed that a 299MB over-the-air update for the Rezound has begun pushing out to handsets across the country, bringing the phone up to software version 3.14.605.12.

Like other Ice Cream Sandwich updates for Sense 3.x phones, ICS on the Rezound comes bundled with Sense 3.6, which includes all the benefits of Android 4.0, but without the fancy new visual finery of Sense 4.0.

As is the case with many over-the-air updates, not everyone will get the update right away, as releases are staggered over a period of days to reduce the strain on the download servers. Nevertheless, Rezound owners can rest assured that the update is complete, and should be making its way to all handsets fairly soon.

If you're an HTC Rezound owner, let us know how you're getting on with the ICS update -- if you've received it -- down in the comments.

Source: Android Central forums

Android 4 quietly rolling out to international Galaxy Note

The international Galaxy S II has already received the update to Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, leaving the sized-up Galaxy Note behind on Android 2.3. Today, several European users are reporting that their devices have received an OTA update notification that brings their phone-tablet hybrid into 2012 with the Android 4.0 update.

Of course, this is a Samsung device, and Samsung has revamped their Touchwiz UI overlay for the Note, which looks a lot more like its Gingerbread variant. Other features in the upgrade include a new and improved S Note application, a new S Memo widget, and the Premium Suite Shape Match and My Story applications. Of course, you’ll get the performance improvements that come with ICS as well.

Owners of the AT&T-branded Galaxy Note will have to wait for the update to pass through carrier testing, which tends to add 1-3 months to the process. Hopefully that process has already begun, and AT&T Note owners will be getting their own taste of Ice Cream Sandwich very soon. We’re leaning towards the update coming sooner than later, as an AT&T-branded Galaxy Note was spotted at CTIA this week.

Any non-US readers out there getting the Android 4 update on your Galaxy Note?

O2 UK reportedly rolling out DC-HSPA in 'major cities'

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British mobile operator O2 has begun rolling out a new, faster mobile network standard across major British cities, according to reports. Crave? is reporting that O2 has started switching on DC-HSPA. The "DC" part stands for dual cell, and this new standard doubles the bandwidth available over traditional HSPA+, enabling maximum theoretical download speeds of up to 42Mbps. For the less technically minded, it just means faster 3G data, assuming your phone's hardware supports it.

And that's the big sticking point at this stage. Right now there are only three leading devices that support DC-HSPA -- the HTC One X, the new iPad and the Nokia Lumia 900. In any case, if you're rocking a One X on O2 in a major British city (no word on which ones), then you'll likely be treated to faster data speeds from now on.

Rival UK networks are looking to roll out DC-HSPA later this year, ahead of the expected UK LTE switch-on in 2013 and beyond. Three says it'll start upgrading its network with the new standard "this summer," while T-Mobile and Orange (under the "Everything Everywhere" banner) are reportedly aiming for the end of the year. Vodafone tells ?Crave it already uses DC-HSPA on its network, albeit at slower speeds of up to 28Mbps.

Source: Crave

International HTC One S gets first software update - v1.78 now rolling out

If you've got an unlocked international (non-carrier branded) HTC One S, it's time to start hitting that "Check for updates" button, as a new firmware version is being pushed out over-the-air. The update to v1.78 weighs in at just under 60MB, and remains based on Android 4.0.3. The only obvious change we're noticing so far is the removal of the three-dot menu software menu button in certain Google apps. YouTube, for example, used to show an ICS-style overflow button up to and down below before, and now the unsightly bottom bar has gone. It's also likely this latest OTA includes a fix for the Wifi disconnection bug that's been plaguing some One S owners since day one, though as it's an intermittent issue we haven't been able to confirm this just yet.

It's worth noting that today's update is for unbranded One S models only, so if you bought yours through a carrier, you may have to wait an extra few weeks for a network-approved version to be pushed out. But those running an unlocked, unbranded One S can head head to Settings > About phone > Software updates to grab the latest OTA. When you're done, be sure to keep us posted of any changes or fixes down in the comments.

First software update now rolling out for European HTC One X

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AppId is over the quota

The first official new software update is now rolling out for unbranded HTC One X retail units in Europe, bringing HTC's new flagship phone up to version 1.28.401.9. The 30MB update is being delivered over-the-air, so head to 'Settings > About > Software Updates' to grab the new version. Note that if your One X is network-branded, you'll likely have to wait a little longer for your carrier to approve this update before it's pushed out. And for what it's worth, the new software version is still based on Android 4.0.3 rather than the slightly newer 4.0.4 that's running on some Nexus devices.

So far we're only seeing a few minor changes on our One X -- the phone no longer incorrectly displays the on-screen menu key in certain Google apps, like YouTube, and automatic brightness levels seem to have been pared back somewhat, too. This version is also supposed to fix the battery life issues many One X owners have been reporting in the two weeks since the phone's launch. In addition, we're hearing that the bug which occasionally resulted in garbled text and icons in the notification bar has also been squished.

One X owners, be sure to shout out in the comments if you've noticed any other changes or fixes.

Vizio Tablet Honeycomb update rolling out

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The Honeycomb update for the Vizio VTAB1008 looks like it's rolling out a bit broader, bringing the VTab to version V.I.A. Plus 2.0 and Android version 3.2.1. We first heard it was slowly pushing out earlier this afternoon, and have been checking our own VTab here every hour or so, but by now we've heard it enough times to know it's not a fluke. Reports say that you will lose the capacitive buttons around the bezel in favor of on-screen soft buttons, but to balance that out custom launchers like ADW (seen above) now work and you can make your VTab feel more like stock Android. 

It's too early to know any serious bugs, or what sort of impact this will have on battery life, but anytime a "legacy" tablet sees an update to Honeycomb we're happy. If you're using a VTab, be sure to check for updates (menu>settings>about device>Vizio update service) before you hit the pillow. There's a couple other pics after the break.

Thanks everyone who sent this in, and thanks Dale for the pics!

Ice Cream Sandwich update rolling out for the ARCHOS G9 lineup

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If you happen to be an owner of one of the ARCHOS G9 tablets, whether it be the 7- or 10-inch model, you will be thrilled to know that starting today they will be pushing an OTA update to Ice Cream Sandwich that was promised to be delivered in Q1.

This bump from Android 3.2 to ICS should come warmly welcomed by everyone, and since the ARCHOS G9 lineup is fully certified by Google it will come with all of the Google apps we love, without the need for any hackery. Priced at only £199, or $270 USD, this ICS tablet is definitely something that should peak the interest of a lot of people. Be sure to check out our previous hands-on with the tablets, and let us know when the update hits your device.

Source: ARCHOS