Samsung's Israeli division in a posting on Facebook has put a date on the long-promised Android 4.0 upgrade for the Galaxy S II. It promised on Sunday to end a 'patient' wait by delivering the new OS to the flagship phone on March 15. The upgrade would apply both to carrier-locked versions as well as unlocked versions bought directly from Samsung.
It's not clear if other countries would get the upgrade at the same time. Americans are most likely to need a longer wait, as variants like the Epic 4G Touch and T-Mobile's 42Mbps HSPA+ edition will need their own additional testing. Areas where the Galaxy S II is largely stock, such as Canada and much of Europe, could get the update relatively quickly.
The update promises to catch up the Galaxy S II to its cousin, the completely stock Galaxy Nexus, in some areas. Web performance should improve, including through support for Chrome for Android. Face Unlock and other interface elements should carry forward, although Android Beam's device-to-device sharing could only come to those Galaxy S II units that have NFC, such as AT&T's edition.
Samsung had promised to start Android 4.0 upgrades early in 2012. The Galaxy Note and other high-end hardware from the company is known to be getting 4.0, while mid-range phones and tablets will have to wait or may be denied altogether.
