Yes you do. this comes with a)Each carrier using their own proprietary network with asinine frequencies. b)Subsidized model instead of honestly paying for phone.
Imagine if every carrier used the same frequencies - you just buy international version of device, use it with any carrier you like and recieve updates from samsung when they ready. Plus no carrier crapware and shit like locked bootloaders.
Instead of speaking like an ignorant foreigner you would see that the history of airwaves on why we use different frequencies in the US, just like South America using their own 450MHz frequencies in certain areas.
The leaks for the Epic Touch on Sprint are super close to being complete. I have been using one as my daily driver for a week now, and have been very happy. It stutters in places where GB wouldn't, but it also is smoother in places GB wouldn't be. Plus tegrak isn't supporting ICS for the ET yet, so you can't overclock. So it's not really fair to compare my ET at 1.5ghz on GB vs 1.2 ghz on ICS. Can't wait till there's source code for the devs to get AOSP running properly :)
Finally! I've been waiting for quite a while for this :) Now I know one thing I'll be looking forward to this weekend... backing up my i9100 for the first time ever (using Kies) and upgrading to Ice Cream Sandwich.
I am sure the forums will be filled with 'I can't upgrade to ICS' over the next few days, due to carrier specific or region specific firmwares awaiting approval.
If any of you guys are keen on getting your hands on the released SGSII ICS build I would highly recommend going down the route of downloading the firmware yourself (the best place to get the latest samsung firmwares is sammobile.com) and flashing your firmware with ODIN.
I realise people are worried about flashing their phones, but ODIN is the tool that Samsung engineers themselves use to flash firmwares and it is incredibly easy, and no more risky than flashing via Kies. Also you guys are all supposed to be geeks - you should relish this sort of thing :)
It's both Verizon and Samsung. The phone was held back from being released due to Samsung fixing a bug, this while verizon needed to deal with issues on their new LTE network.
Samsung was never that great with issuing updates.
But apparently Samsung's Twitter account is saying March 10th is a mistake. I thought something was wrong with a "saturday" release date. Oh well... the waiting continues...
As a UK resident it has always intrigued me as to why America uses this MM-DD-YY system. I can logically understand DD-MM-YY or YY-MM-DD, but who was the first to propose a non-largest <-> smallest and, more importantly, who thought it was a good enough idea to standardise it :)
I think there is a certain login with stating the month first on occasion; if something is happening months away, the month becomes more important than the actual day. Still, for general usage, dd/mm/yyyy is more helpful (plus there's a little bit of British pride going on here, hehe).
Addresses, on the other hand... we write them generally the same, though they're upside down by default - it's easier to know the county or state where a letter is going before you narrow it down to a street address rather than vice versa. Can't understand why we've never opted to do it this way... but I digress.
My mother was brought up with imperial and has never been brilliant with metric; I can't pretend to know all of imperial but I know enough to be able to know the equivalent in metric with little effort.
My family is all android (2 phones, 2 tablets) and the slow , sporadic, or even non-existent upgrades to android os due to different manufacturers willingness to support their products really pisses me off. Seriously considering going to Apple products when I upgrade. How far into the first quarter is Samsung going to wait to give us ICS for their former flagship device, the Galaxy tab 10.1? Even the original Ipad just got upgraded to ios5.
"My family is all android (2 phones, 2 tablets) and the slow , sporadic, or even non-existent upgrades to android os due to different manufacturers willingness to support their products really pisses me off. "
Its not such a simple task. You want the best options, you have to wait for Android4. You want one size fits all, go with IOS. ROM upgrades are very complicated. This is why it takes so long. All Apple has to do is work on a couple models of virtually identical phones. Androids come in all shaped and sizes and specs so there is no single update that works.
I have been using Android 4 on my droid3 (via Cyanogenmod9) and beleive me , its worth the wait, although, me running early alpha, and now beta ROM's I didnt wait LOL.
Mostly agree with you both. Though I understand the reasons why, I'm becoming less sympathetic to this fragmented/slow release cycle. I don't want to load custom ROMs but the last thing I'll do is go back to Apple. I think a WP7 (or 8?) will likely be my next phone. Having said that though, if I don't have ICS by the end of this month, I will likely tempt my fate with Cyanogenmod...
iOS - More fluid performance, much longer support, more optimised applications/games (due to a small number of device types), great build quality.
Android: More flexible software (custom ROMs, custom launchers), more flexible ecosystem (install applications from sources other than the Android market), more choices of hardware, lower price points for equivalent hardware.
Android and iOS take different totally (but complimentary) approaches, which means that iOS devices will always be less fexible, but will always have better software support than Android.
For me (who loves trying custom ROMs & even makes them occasionally), Android is the more interesting option, but for the man on the street iOS devices are often the best choice, as long as they can afford the price.
I didn't have a big problem with my Galaxy S because it was an international version that lacked the usual gubbins thrown in by carriers thus causing long delays. Froyo did take some time, but nowhere near as long as those in the States had to wait to get it on their networks. Gingerbread's time to market would've seemed like a vast improvement. That said, being on Windows Phone 7.5 should mean much more organised and frequent updates. I already know of two future updates over the next quarter for my Lumia 800... and I doubt that even O2 (Telefonica) can screw this up.
* Due to ICS OS feature, Adobe flash and Bluetooth 3.0 HS will not be available in ICS OS (Bluetooth 3.0 is supported still)
Major Improvement? Sounds more like a downgrade to me. A lot of the sites i visit using my smartphone pretty heavily use flash. Seems to me if I go with ICS, I won't be able to get the full function of those sites anymore. I don't call that an improvement. I call it castration.
I found the Adobe Flash feature missing rather odd. I am currently using the latest ICS Beta on my SGSII and Flash 11 works fine. I suspect this may be a mistake, or stating that it is not installed by default (i.e. you have to download it in the market).
Screw Samsung and all these OEMs, they are just a bunch of clueless monkeys. When you got guys like CM who is passionate about what they do like artists you get better quality and a more efficient product.
As soon as CM fixes all of the issues in their CM9 ICS release for SGS2, I'm loading CM9. Care less about Samsung OEM rom.
You do realize that without Samsung and these other "OEMs" (not really the correct term, manufacturer would be the one I use), CM couldn't release a CM9 because there would be no phones to install it on? *sigh*
I saw on a German website that the ICS update is now available. I guess that I'll be backing up my data & updaing after work tonight... Servus, Charlie
Hi all, I live in the US and have a international GT i9100 using on ATT .....so do I have to wait for the update like the Carrier spe uric misled or will I be able to down load early?
What I meant to ask is if I will be able to update to ICS official firmware early with gt i9100 or do I have to wait like others that have Carrier Specific Models that are tied to ATT, T-Mobile, Sprint etc...thought if I bought unlocked international version I would get updates early?
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28 Comments
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sigmatau - Thursday, March 8, 2012 - link
Will we have to wait 5 months for the update like we did for the phone?Herp Derpson - Thursday, March 8, 2012 - link
Yes you do. this comes witha)Each carrier using their own proprietary network with asinine frequencies.
b)Subsidized model instead of honestly paying for phone.
Imagine if every carrier used the same frequencies - you just buy international version of device, use it with any carrier you like and recieve updates from samsung when they ready. Plus no carrier crapware and shit like locked bootloaders.
Omega215D - Sunday, March 11, 2012 - link
Instead of speaking like an ignorant foreigner you would see that the history of airwaves on why we use different frequencies in the US, just like South America using their own 450MHz frequencies in certain areas.abhaxus - Thursday, March 8, 2012 - link
The leaks for the Epic Touch on Sprint are super close to being complete. I have been using one as my daily driver for a week now, and have been very happy. It stutters in places where GB wouldn't, but it also is smoother in places GB wouldn't be. Plus tegrak isn't supporting ICS for the ET yet, so you can't overclock. So it's not really fair to compare my ET at 1.5ghz on GB vs 1.2 ghz on ICS. Can't wait till there's source code for the devs to get AOSP running properly :)Paulman - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
Finally! I've been waiting for quite a while for this :) Now I know one thing I'll be looking forward to this weekend... backing up my i9100 for the first time ever (using Kies) and upgrading to Ice Cream Sandwich.mwarner1 - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
I am sure the forums will be filled with 'I can't upgrade to ICS' over the next few days, due to carrier specific or region specific firmwares awaiting approval.If any of you guys are keen on getting your hands on the released SGSII ICS build I would highly recommend going down the route of downloading the firmware yourself (the best place to get the latest samsung firmwares is sammobile.com) and flashing your firmware with ODIN.
I realise people are worried about flashing their phones, but ODIN is the tool that Samsung engineers themselves use to flash firmwares and it is incredibly easy, and no more risky than flashing via Kies. Also you guys are all supposed to be geeks - you should relish this sort of thing :)
Omega215D - Sunday, March 11, 2012 - link
It's both Verizon and Samsung. The phone was held back from being released due to Samsung fixing a bug, this while verizon needed to deal with issues on their new LTE network.Samsung was never that great with issuing updates.
kittypuncher - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
But apparently Samsung's Twitter account is saying March 10th is a mistake. I thought something was wrong with a "saturday" release date.Oh well... the waiting continues...
Visual - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
Yup, they meant 3rd of October, but someone somewhere got the weird idea that the month in a date is written first...kittypuncher - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
HA!America does use the MMDDYY format. Being an American living in the UK, this gets me into trouble regularly. :)
mwarner1 - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
As a UK resident it has always intrigued me as to why America uses this MM-DD-YY system. I can logically understand DD-MM-YY or YY-MM-DD, but who was the first to propose a non-largest <-> smallest and, more importantly, who thought it was a good enough idea to standardise it :)I guess I need to look this up myself!
mwarner1 - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
After a little research, it seems the likely answers are:1. To mimic the way it was spoken (March 9th 2012)
2. To break away from the European way of writing the date following the American Revolution
silverblue - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
I think there is a certain login with stating the month first on occasion; if something is happening months away, the month becomes more important than the actual day. Still, for general usage, dd/mm/yyyy is more helpful (plus there's a little bit of British pride going on here, hehe).Addresses, on the other hand... we write them generally the same, though they're upside down by default - it's easier to know the county or state where a letter is going before you narrow it down to a street address rather than vice versa. Can't understand why we've never opted to do it this way... but I digress.
dasgetier - Saturday, March 10, 2012 - link
As an European, mm/dd continously takes me aback.Oh, and on a side note I think imperial units s**k (though I know they are not THAT bad to calculate with when you know the tricks).
silverblue - Monday, March 12, 2012 - link
My mother was brought up with imperial and has never been brilliant with metric; I can't pretend to know all of imperial but I know enough to be able to know the equivalent in metric with little effort.sintaxera - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
My family is all android (2 phones, 2 tablets) and the slow , sporadic, or even non-existent upgrades to android os due to different manufacturers willingness to support their products really pisses me off. Seriously considering going to Apple products when I upgrade. How far into the first quarter is Samsung going to wait to give us ICS for their former flagship device, the Galaxy tab 10.1? Even the original Ipad just got upgraded to ios5.retrospooty - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
"My family is all android (2 phones, 2 tablets) and the slow , sporadic, or even non-existent upgrades to android os due to different manufacturers willingness to support their products really pisses me off. "Its not such a simple task. You want the best options, you have to wait for Android4. You want one size fits all, go with IOS. ROM upgrades are very complicated. This is why it takes so long. All Apple has to do is work on a couple models of virtually identical phones. Androids come in all shaped and sizes and specs so there is no single update that works.
I have been using Android 4 on my droid3 (via Cyanogenmod9) and beleive me , its worth the wait, although, me running early alpha, and now beta ROM's I didnt wait LOL.
kittypuncher - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
Mostly agree with you both. Though I understand the reasons why, I'm becoming less sympathetic to this fragmented/slow release cycle. I don't want to load custom ROMs but the last thing I'll do is go back to Apple. I think a WP7 (or 8?) will likely be my next phone.Having said that though, if I don't have ICS by the end of this month, I will likely tempt my fate with Cyanogenmod...
mwarner1 - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
I agree:iOS - More fluid performance, much longer support, more optimised applications/games (due to a small number of device types), great build quality.
Android: More flexible software (custom ROMs, custom launchers), more flexible ecosystem (install applications from sources other than the Android market), more choices of hardware, lower price points for equivalent hardware.
Android and iOS take different totally (but complimentary) approaches, which means that iOS devices will always be less fexible, but will always have better software support than Android.
For me (who loves trying custom ROMs & even makes them occasionally), Android is the more interesting option, but for the man on the street iOS devices are often the best choice, as long as they can afford the price.
silverblue - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
I didn't have a big problem with my Galaxy S because it was an international version that lacked the usual gubbins thrown in by carriers thus causing long delays. Froyo did take some time, but nowhere near as long as those in the States had to wait to get it on their networks. Gingerbread's time to market would've seemed like a vast improvement. That said, being on Windows Phone 7.5 should mean much more organised and frequent updates. I already know of two future updates over the next quarter for my Lumia 800... and I doubt that even O2 (Telefonica) can screw this up.cyberguyz - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
(Listed as a major improvement)* Due to ICS OS feature, Adobe flash and Bluetooth 3.0 HS will not be available in ICS OS (Bluetooth 3.0 is supported still)
Major Improvement? Sounds more like a downgrade to me. A lot of the sites i visit using my smartphone pretty heavily use flash. Seems to me if I go with ICS, I won't be able to get the full function of those sites anymore. I don't call that an improvement. I call it castration.
mwarner1 - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
I found the Adobe Flash feature missing rather odd. I am currently using the latest ICS Beta on my SGSII and Flash 11 works fine. I suspect this may be a mistake, or stating that it is not installed by default (i.e. you have to download it in the market).zinfamous - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
so glad I got the international version. much less waiting for me.vision33r - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
Screw Samsung and all these OEMs, they are just a bunch of clueless monkeys. When you got guys like CM who is passionate about what they do like artists you get better quality and a more efficient product.As soon as CM fixes all of the issues in their CM9 ICS release for SGS2, I'm loading CM9. Care less about Samsung OEM rom.
Death666Angel - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
You do realize that without Samsung and these other "OEMs" (not really the correct term, manufacturer would be the one I use), CM couldn't release a CM9 because there would be no phones to install it on? *sigh*CBeck113 - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
I saw on a German website that the ICS update is now available. I guess that I'll be backing up my data & updaing after work tonight...Servus, Charlie
mbamber01 - Sunday, March 18, 2012 - link
Hi all, I live in the US and have a international GT i9100 using on ATT .....so do I have to wait for the update like the Carrier spe uric misled or will I be able to down load early?mbamber01 - Sunday, March 18, 2012 - link
What I meant to ask is if I will be able to update to ICS official firmware early with gt i9100 or do I have to wait like others that have Carrier Specific Models that are tied to ATT, T-Mobile, Sprint etc...thought if I bought unlocked international version I would get updates early?