For a device that released at the start of 2011, consumers will still be hoping that the device gets updated to Ice Cream Sandwich at the very least, especially if the chances of getting an official Jelly Bean update are zero – which obviously looks that way now with the Droid DNA taking focus.

It still remains a mind boggling practice for us, when carriers and manufacturers can decide themselves when to provide official Android software updates – not the other way round with the consumers in charge, or some official law making carriers stick to a strict deadline at least.

Manufacturers and carriers don’t mind pulling out all of the stops to get you to sign on that two year dotted line, but when that period is up and consumers are still expecting some level of official support – where is it? We are now starting to see signs of this with carrier versions of the Samsung Galaxy S3, which is obviously by no means an ‘old’ handset – arguably still the best Android phone available in fact.

While HTC has obviously taken their time in getting Android 4.0 out to frustrated Droid Incredible 2 owners, they have sent out the following Tweet which provides a little clarity on the delay, as noted by Droid-Life above. As you can see, HTC are citing ‘connectivity problems’ for the delay, which is actually pretty open of them as they could have given a bog standard reply and not said anything at all.

With the Droid DNA now available to buy, does it give HTC more time to get working on these apparent connectivity problems and finally push Ice Cream Sandwich out for their patient customers? Hopefully the easy answer to this is yes and that it also means that a HTC Thunderbolt Ice Cream Sandwich update is coming soon as well.

Motorola may have taken their time to deliver on this highly anticipated software update, but patient owners won’t care about that as the decision to hold off from the likes of the Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 appears to be justified – for now.

Word has spread that an OTA update is rolling out, identified as build 6.7.246 and brings the Droid Bionic to the updated firmware of 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich. Some of you may have already received your update last week, but we understand that a lot of you have not received anything yet – but you should have now had the notification pop up over the last 24 hours.

If you take a quick look at our previous coverage on the update delay here, you’ll see that there is over one hundred comments from Droid Bionic owners, with most complaining that they still haven’t received their update, despite Motorola’s reassurances. The general rollout date was considered to be October 19th, but as with most Android updates these days, consumers are often left frustrated with the irritating nature of updates appearing in some locations and nothing in others.

The above image from Droid-Life suggests that the update is definitely happening though, so head to your settings page now via about phone>system updates and with a bit of luck, you’ll be able to push the Ice Cream Sandwich update manually. All this drama over an outdated version of Android, it will be interesting a few months down the line to see if we have the same problems arise regarding a Jelly Bean update.

What is the situation at the moment for you, in your area? Did you receive a notification through the night to update to the build number mentioned above. Congratulations if you have, fingers crossed if you are still waiting.

We had first been alerted of rollouts yesterday, when some of our readers claimed that the update had started for them. This was when we were discussing the disappointment of the update still not appearing despite recent promises from HTC’s support team that it would be out before the end of July.

That may not have happened technically, but it looks like Verizon are now making preparations to have everyone on Android 4.0 before the end of this weekend. Word has it that the update is 399MB is size and the update will occur in the form an an OTA notification on your device.

Like all software updates, not everyone is going to be getting the notifications at exactly the same time. It will depend on where your location is based sadly, so you still may not see a notification until some time tomorrow. Just to reiterate, don’t panic if you haven’t received the update, but consider yourself fortunate if you have as you must be one of the very first waves.

Better late than never eh folks? Well, 10 months is pretty ridiculous in all honesty. Let’s hope that Verizon has learned a lesson from the inevitable abuse that they have received through customer service and will never make their customers wait 10 months for a promised software update again.

Have you received the Android 4.0 notification yet or not? Let us know your location as usual.

The Desire HD launched with Android Gingerbread back in 2010, but was initially on a list of handsets to be given an official update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. However, owners biggest fears have been realized over the weekend, with a new statement from HTC confirming that in actual fact, the Desire HD won’t be getting an update to ICS and will stay on Gingerbread for the rest of its life.

Obviously, a lot of you are not happy about this, with the most frustrating aspect being that HTC already stated that the device would be getting an update. In turns out that our old friend, Mr memory limitation is back though, as HTC has said that the device won’t be able to perform to a high standard if they were to install Android 4.0 on the device.

A re-partitioning of the device storage would be required, according to a lengthy statement that HTC has put out, as well as the ‘overwriting of user data’. HTC admits that it is a controversial move, but decided that ultimately, they were not going to put the user experience at risk.

Do you accept their explanation for not bringing Ice Cream Sandwich to the Desire HD? It was only last month when we told you that someone had ported a working Android 4.1 Jelly Bean build to the legendary HTC HD2, so is this a case of HTC can’t, or won’t?

This isn’t the end of world though in actual fact, as if you are willing to install custom software, you’ll easily find a selection of Ice Cream Sandwich ROMs that are already available for your handset. The fact that HTC initially promised this is the main point here though, so if you have this handset still, let us know how you feel.

If official software updates are really important to you, our advice would be to just pick up a Nexus device next time. These memory limitation statements are becoming far too frequent these days, and having a Nexus device would save you from all of the hassle.

Unfortunately, the HTC Rezound appears to be another of Verizon’s newish smartphones that have fallen under the misleading practice of the ‘promised ICS update’. Many consumers who purchased the Rezound at launch back in November last year were under the impression that ICS was already being prepared and would be available during the early stages of 2012.

Skip forward nine months and there’s still no official update in sight. Whether this is down to HTC or solely due to Verizon remains up for debate, but we do have some pleasing information to give you at last. HTC recently replied to a customer email, specifically informing him that the official update to Ice Cream Sandwich will be happening towards the end of this month.

The email also said that final rollouts will take place in August and to be aware of localization barriers that may stop the update from reaching everyone at the same time. Hopefully, we will now start to see evidence of soak tests beginning and official rollouts taking place, as we’re now heading towards mid July – not long to go at all.

While it is obviously pleasing that the update is still coming, do you think it is unacceptable that the device is still on Gingerbread, nine months after release? How many of you would have still picked up the Rezound, knowing you would have to wait this long for the first major update – not many we suspect.

Given the long delay for Android 4.0 to release for the Rezound, it’s probably safe to say that the chances of the device getting an update to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is slim to none. We would like to see a stop to these ‘promised updates’ to future updates during launch, as it must be very frustrating for those who purchased their smartphone with only that incentive of a swift update in mind.

If you have a Rezound right now, let us know your thoughts on the nine month wait for Ice Cream Sandwich. Do you place the blame at Verizon or HTC?

It is really good news as well, as it looks like Motorola has not altered the interface from Android 2.3 Gingerbread to Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich too much – resulting in a near stock experience for the user. We see the brand new lock screen demoed during the video from Droid-Life, giving you the option of four quick shortcuts straight from the lock screen.

Another thing that will please you, is the obvious performance increase that Ice Cream Sandwich will bring. Swiping between apps on the homescreen is as smooth as ever, while you’ll also notice slight color font changes for some of the widgets too, like calendar and weather for example.

Although not specifically shown in the video, Android 4.0.4 will also introduce Face Unlock for the RAZR and RAZR MAXX as well, allowing you to set your lock screen to face detection only – if that floats your boat. Overall though, it is the stock elements that should please you the most. BLUR also seems to be non-existant which is pretty amazing and there isn’t too many Verizon bloatware in sight, which is always a good thing.

The update should be arriving on Wednesday June 27, but updates may not reach everyone at the same time as you’re probably well aware. If you do have a RAZR or RAZR MAXX though, study the video below so you know what is coming by the end of the week. Are you satisfied with what you see or not?

There’s still no official sign on how close Ice Cream Sandwich is to arriving in an official capacity. However, a new unofficial build of ICS has become available over at DroidRZR. Identified as 6.16.211, it will update your rooted handset to Android 4.0.4, which could be an indication that it’s close to or exactly the same build that Verizon and Motorola will be offering when they go live with an official update.

We’ve read through the feedback over at DroidRZR and the good news is that there doesn’t appear to be any major flaws with the new update. Several users have already installed this without any hitch, so if you don’t want to play Verizon’s frustrating waiting game – now may be a good time to jump aboard the unofficial train.

At the same time, it goes without saying that you should only attempt this if you know what you’re doing and have installed custom tools before on your handset. Installing this will also void whatever warranty or insurance you may have, so bear that in mind as well.

Life would be so much simpler if Verizon and Motorola just put out a joint statement saying that ICS will be arriving at the end of the week. There seems to be countless versions of these unofficial builds already in circulation and it must be frustrating for those who just want a bit of official support from their carrier and manufacturer, as promised when they first purchased the device last year.

It’s worth pointing out that this update also works on the Droid RAZR MAXX, as seen by the various screenshots through the link. If you are willing to try this out – let us know how you get on. Alternatively, let us know if you have received that mystery text message too or not.

Download and instructions here.

If you are not already on a custom version of Ice Cream Sandwich, then this update to Android 4.0 has been a long time coming – eight months and counting so far since the launch back in November 2011 in actual fact. Whether you are too frustrated with Verizon to even care at this point is irrelevant though, as the official update should be arriving before the end of this month.

Some of you may have feared that another delay was on the cards, since Verizon and Motorola’s revised Q2 2012 deadline has well and truly reached its limit. However, users have reported that a message has now arrived on their device, informing them that the Android 4.0 update is on the way soon and that they should download an alternative IM app, since the current Verizon one will not be supported by ICS.

The big question that everyone is wanting to know right now though, is how soon is soon? If any other problems do arise after sending out this message, you can only imagine how angry Verizon customers are going to be. With any luck though, the update will be out before the end of this week and we’ll all be discussing a potential Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update in the months to come.

Did you receive this notification from Verizon over the weekend, because we’re hearing that some users did not?

If that’s the case, then we have some very pleasing news for you as it looks like Verizon may finally be ready to drop the update. Whispers have suggested that a soak test for the Xoom’s Ice Cream Sandwich update has begun, with select members having already received invitations from Motorola to preview the build before its final release.

We don’t have a copy of that email yet sadly, but some other important information coming out is that the Ice Cream Sandwich build will be compatible on both versions of the Motorola XOOM – ie, those with the 4G LTE radio already fitted and those who are still on 3G.

While news of an imminent update is obviously great news, we wouldn’t be surprised to hear that many of you are already running a custom version of ICS on the XOOM thanks to a AOKP flash. Hopefully it won’t be too long until Motorola complete their testing and roll out the update for good. Verizon Galaxy Nexus users have just been given a much needed update to Android 4.0.4, so hopefully they will concentrate on the Xoom after finishing their rollouts.

How is your Motorola Xoom on Verizon at the moment? Will Ice Cream Sandwich breath a much needed lease of life back into the system for you? We think it is a good time for Motorola to release their next-generation tablet, one which will be packed with a Tegra 3 quad-core chip to compete with the array of other quad-core tablets due out this year.

We’re pleased to say that it looks like this is finally the real deal at long last and there won’t be any signs of further delays to get this version on the LTE Galaxy Nexus. Earlier this week, Verizon had posted the official software update notes informing customers of an upcoming Android 4.0.4 update with a build number of IMM76K, and now they are starting to deliver.

If you have a Galaxy Nexus now on Verizon, there’s a good chance that you may of already had a notification to update to Android 4.0.4. If you haven’t yet, don’t panic as rollouts, especially Verizon’s are known for their sporadic nature so you may have to hold on a little longer. Failing that, you can always try the traditional method of going to your device’s settings and phone settings to see if the manual update is available.

Based on the update notes that Verizon has already provided, Android 4.0.4 will bring some improvements to your device’s overall performance and you shouldn’t experience any more display freezing or choppy audio during calls. Several improvements have also been made to Email services, such as emails now displaying correctly when the text size is set to large.

It has been a long time coming hasn’t it, but it looks like LTE Galaxy Nexus owners will finally be on the latest version of Android where they belong. Now that this update saga appears to be coming to an end, we wonder what the odds are on the Galaxy Nexus receiving Android 4.1 Jelly Bean by the end of 2012 are? Let us know if you have received Android 4.0.4 in your area or not.