For an LTE handset that has been released since November, consumers have had to wait a long time for any glimpse of a promised official update to Android 4.0. Almost half a year later, the first sign of Ice Cream Sandwich comes in an unofficial format, although we are hearing that the build available early is in actual fact an official build by Samsung.

Samsung just hasn’t released it yet, but if you can’t wait any longer the guys over at RootzWiki can serve your needs. There’s a thread on their website now which provides the download links and instructions on how to flash your phone using Odin to apply the update to Ice Cream Sandwich.

The good news is that being an official build from Samsung, everything seems to be working perfectly – that includes the likes of 4G LTE data, WiFi and the camera etc. The not so good news is that Ice Cream Sandwich will still be bundled with Samsung’s TouchWiz interface, so you will have to wait until a custom ROM becomes available if you want to have any chance of fulfilling those stock ICS dreams that you’ve been having.

If you have installed custom software before on the Skyrocket, head over to RootzWiki now and see how you get on. For those who are completely new to modding though, it may be worth holding on a little while longer to see if Samsung pushes this out officially. It is an official build after all and Ice Cream Sandwich has just arrived for the HTC Vivid on AT&T don’t forget.

Are you running ICS on the Skyrocket already?

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like US Galaxy S II consumers are going to be receiving the update at the same time as everybody else. Samsung has sent out a Tweet within the last few hours confirming that Galaxy S II owners in Korea, Sweden, Hungary and Poland will be getting the update at the first opportunity.

As we told you in our last report on this, the update will be available via Kies 2.0, so you’ll need to be running the latest version if you want to see the update appear. There’s another twist in the update tale as well for US consumers. It looks likely that Ice Cream Sandwich will only be rolling out for the international version of the Galaxy S II – i.e the version which has GT-I9100 as its model number. This means that if you own one of the many US carrier variants such as the Epic 4G Touch on Sprint for example, you could be set for an even longer wait.

Having said that, Samsung are known to be somewhat random on when rollouts occur, so there is definitely no harm in checking the update section of your phone or Kies to see if the update is available already. If you are in Europe and in possession of the GT-I9100 model, let us know if you have already received the update or if you are still waiting – Please list your region as well so other others can attempt to update.

The story so far: Whispers first started to emerge from Israel that the update was landing on March 15, but this eventually came to no avail. We then had apparent confirmation that Samsung will be rolling out the update globally on March 10, but again Samsung put this down to a misunderstanding and refuted the claims.

It was only just a few days ago when we told you about a potential March 15th date for the Ice Cream Sandwich update, but we can now confirm that this is incorrect. Samsung has announced via press release that the official rollout will be starting on Saturday March 10th, so it looks like it is going to be a great weekend for those who stayed away from tempting unofficial custom ICS ROMS.

To get the update at the earliest opportunity, you’ll need to be in possession of Kies 2.0, which most of you should have ready anyway. If you don’t have this, you can wait for the Ice Cream Sandwich update to happen OTA, but you may not get the update straight away and definitely not as quick as if you use the Kies method.

One word of warning that you’ll want to be aware of, is that this update will remove support for Adobe Flash. Mobile Flash is seemingly on its last legs as you’re probably aware of, so if you are a regular Flash user on the Galaxy S II you may want to make other preparations. On the plus side, you will get new functionality such as Android Beam and that snazzy Face Unlock feature which is sure to impress your friends.

If you have been waiting for ICS for the Samsung Galaxy S II, let us know your thoughts on the update this weekend. Are you disappointed that you will lose Flash support, or is it not that important to you any more? There’s a useful FAQ from Samsung on the update which you may want to check out as you wait for the update to land.

Last month we heard rumors the Android update would be arriving sometime this month for both the Galaxy Note and Galaxy S2. Now it seems this may be the case as a report on Android Central is suggesting users could be less than two weeks away from receiving the update.

The Israel arm of Samsung Mobile has taken to its official Facebook page to reveal the new Android operating system will begin rolling out to both carrier branded and unlocked handsets from March 15th. There have been a number of unofficial versions of the software available for users for a while now, but many users would have been waiting for the official update to begin rolling out.

Translating the post basically said that the update will start to arrive for thousands of Galaxy S2 handsets that were purchased directly from Samsung, and from the various networks. It is not known when other regions will begin receiving the new software, but the rest of the Euro region should be around the same time.

US owners in particular may have to wait a little longer as there are numerous variations of the device from carrier to carrier. This continues the trend of smartphone manufacturers taking to social networking sites to reveal details about their product range.

Are you looking forward to receive Android 4.0 on your Galaxy S II?

Earlier today we told you about the unofficial Android 4.0.4 being available for the Galaxy Nexus, and before that has been released officially it seems another version is already in existence. According to Pocket Now French cell phone carrier, SFR has published a table that can be seen below regarding versions of the operating system and release dates for various handsets.

The table shows both the HTC Sensation and Samsung Galaxy S II will be getting Android 4.0 in March, which falls in with Samsung previous announcements of a quarter one release. It shows the HTC Sensation will also feature Sense 3.5, and the company has already revealed that ICS will come in the white version of the Sensation.

Both the Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus smartphones will also be getting the unknown Android 4.0.5 version, and with the same March timeframe. Currently there is no information about any enhancements or extras with Android 4.0.5.

It also has to be remembered that the rollout for software updates can vary between the different carries and for unlocked versions. The table also shows both the HTC Desire HD and Desire S are only down for Android 2.3.5 updates. This will leave Desire HD owners wondering if they will be stuck on Gingerbread along with owners Desire S.

Are you looking forward to Android Ice Cream Sandwich reaching your handset?

Until now, there has been no official word from Samsung regarding Ice Cream Sandwich updates for any of their devices other than the Galaxy Nexus, but now thanks to a Facebook post from Samsung Norway, it looks like official updates for the Galaxy S II and Samsung Galaxy Note could be landing in a few months time, as noted by Phandroid.

According to them, the company will be launching Ice Cream Sandwich for both devices before the end of the first quarter this year, and it looks like Norwegian consumers will be getting their updates before the rest of the world get it. If you remember, the Galaxy Nexus launched in Europe a full month ahead of a US launch, so US consumers will now be praying that Samsung do not take as long to get Ice Cream Sandwich out to them.

Don’t be surprised that we don’t have an official date for you yet though, as you’ll know that isn’t Samsung’s style of doing things when it comes to software updates. On a side note, this will be great news for those of you planning to pick up a Galaxy Note from AT&T, as the carrier has just confirmed that a release is happening on February 19th and that it will be available to buy for $300 on a two year contract.

How many of you are currently enjoying Ice Cream Sandwich, is it really worth rooting your device and exploring the inner depths of your device, or are you one that likes to keep your smartphone in its default state, regardless of how long it takes for official updates to come out?

This new device has recently emerged with some images and the video you can see below, and brings another device to the I9000 Galaxy S range that started a couple of years back. The upcoming handset has the GT-I9070 model number and according to GSM Arena comes packing a dual-core 1GHz processor.

It has 4-inch Super AMOLED slightly curved display with WVGA resolution, similar to the Galaxy Nexus with a 3.5mm audio input at the bottom. Camera wise it has a five megapixel shooter that is capable of 720p video capture, while the battery is a 1500 mAh unit.

The Samsung Galaxy S Advance will come running Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread straight out of the box, but considering it has a dual-core power plant an ICS upgrade should be on the cards at some point. It is believed unlike the Galaxy S III the Advance should be revealed at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February.

Samsung has recently reported massive profits that have been led by its smartphone range as the company continues to provide a major threat to Apple’s crown. Do you have a Samsung smartphone?

Not one, but two new versions of Ice Cream Sandwich are available for the Galaxy S II and despite being an unofficial release, the build of ICS itself is thought to be very close to a version that Samsung may be planning to bring to the device later on in the year. The two builds have been identified as KP4 and KP8, with KP8 being the version that you want to download.

KP4 will bring the Galaxy S II to Android 4.0.1, but KP8 will give you the latest version of Ice Cream Sandwich which is Android 4.0.3. One thing to be aware of though is that both versions will still include Samsung’s infamous TouchWiz interface on top of Ice Cream Sandwich, so that is perhaps the only ‘disappointing’ aspect of both versions.

On the plus side, it looks like this is a solid build of Google’s latest version of Android, available on a handset which probably will not get an official update to Ice Cream Sandwich for months. When you look at it from that perspective, then there really isn’t anything to complain about, and we’re sure that most of you will be delighted with the news.

If you have a Galaxy S II and are interested in trying this out, you’ll find the download links and information over at SamMobile here, via Android Central. Make sure you have a rooted handset first though and know what you are doing, as we won’t be responsible for any bricked handsets. If everything goes according to plan, let us know how your handset is coping with the latest version of Ice Cream Sandwich.

The Galaxy S2 Skyrocket is certainly a good choice with a nice 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, which packs an impressive 800×480 resolution. There would be almost no problems with horse power thanks to the dual-core Scorpion processor that has a clock speed of 1.5 GHz, add to that 1GB RAM and around 7-hours of battery when talking, then you have a real powerhouse.

You can see detailed specs for the Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket on AT&T’s website, which also includes a number of customer reviews. We’ve also embedded a 12-minute video review below this article to give you a visual look at the phone, and help with more insight.

To find out how the Galaxy S2 stacks up against the HTC Rezound (Android’s 2.3 Gingerbread) and Nokia Lumia 800 (Windows Phone 7.5), we’ve tracked down a couple of reviews that look at different features and specs for each device, and compares them at face value.

You can see a detailed look at the Galaxy S2 Skyrocket vs. HTC Rezound here, and the Galaxy S2 Skyrocket vs. Lumia 800 here. Let us know what you think of these reviews, and the devices themselves.

The second video below this article features a review of the HTC Rezound, and the video runs for just under 20-minutes, giving you a nice insight into this phone from another perspective. We’ve also embedded a third video, which gives you a 15-minute look at the Nokia Lumia 800, and again this is another review with a different take on this phone.

If you had to choose, would you go for the Rezound, Lumia 800 or Galaxy S2?

If you’re prioritizing the camera then you could look at the official websites for both these cell phones. Samsung states the Galaxy S2 has an “8MP Camera with LED Flash” and “Full HD 1080p Recording & Playback”, which is expanded with details on the auto focus, ability to switch scenes fast and playback footage at dual core speeds on a 4.3-inch SUPER AMOLED Plus display.

The iPhone 4S has much of the same to show it’s very hard to choose between these two devices, unless you are dead set on Android or iOS. Apple’s phone includes a dual-core A5 chip to keep everything running smooth, full 1080p HD video, an improved 8 megapixel camera with better optics than its last generation and LED flash plus auto focus make taking pictures a breeze.

Apple also point out that it’s not all about megapixels, and the quality is also very important. With this in mind, you’ll need to look at a lot more than just specs if you want to find out if the Galaxy S2 or iPhone 4S has a better camera.

We’ve tracked down two videos that can help in this endeavor, and both of these are shown below this article. The first video runs a 1080p test and shows a split screen, which allows you to see how the Samsung Galaxy S2 compares to the iPhone 4S for video recording, although we’re sure our readers will have a difference of opinion.

The second video compares the cameras in a little more detail, and focuses on the quality of picture and speed. Take a look at both videos and let us know the camera winner in your opinion, is it the iPhone 4S or Samsung Galaxy S II?