Don't be evil Google! You're about to release a new Android, and you still haven't opened the Honeycomb. Does ICS has the same destiny? Won't open Android anymore since you gained the market share you wanted?
They never were planning to open Honeycomb. (This was publicly stated by them. Not just speculation.) It was basically just a test run of the tablet features. Once they got a decent chunk of the bugs ironed out, they'd roll it and the phone OS together into one and release that. That's what Ice Cream Sandwich is. ;-) They're also on the record as having said that ICS will be open sourced "by the end of the year." There's also some speculation (whether it's based on anything that Google has said or not, I do not know) that they may open source Honeycomb alongside ICS, since there wouldn't be much point in keeping it hidden if its successor was open.
I'll defer to you on that, I hadn't heard, but I wouldn't be surprised if ICS does open things up. Honeycomb should really be looked at as a Google 1.0 release, or more aptly a Google Beta release. In the right hands it has shown itself to be capable of delivering performance, though a lot of UI tweaks would make it much more user friendly. One reason for this is the short time that Matias Duarte was actually involved in its development. The iPad was announced January of 2010. May 2010 Google poached Matias from the remains of Palm. The Xoom, and thus Honeycomb, were introduced January of 2011. Obviously Google was working on what would become Honeycomb long before they hired Matias, but as the lead designer of the User Experience, he was only at the wheel for seven months or so before they were shipping hardware. That's not a lot of time to refine something so complex.
FYI, the comments were so out there and poorly worded, not to mention having unrelated links to what we're talking about, that I marked the account as spam and his posts are gone. Goodbye, spammer!
Ice Cream Sandwich is the code-name for the new version of Android -- 4.0. This is a unification release that's suppose to marry the phone side (2.x) with the tablet side (Honeycomb, 3.x) into one code structure and user interface.
Google has been using sweet treats as the names for their various releases: - Cupcake - Donut - Eclair - Froyo - Gingerbread - Honeycomb - Ice Cream Sandwich
Most people like you wouldn't know because it's a pure geek thing to keep track of code name for projects.
It's irrelevant, most people with Android phones already won't be getting the update until sometimes next summer given the poor track records of many handset makers.
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titan13131 - Wednesday, September 7, 2011 - link
Why do they make it skin colored? I thought it was a huge wart!KingstonU - Wednesday, September 7, 2011 - link
Completely thought the same until I read your comment and looked at it again.Jingato - Wednesday, September 7, 2011 - link
I thought the Nexus/Droid Prime was expected in October? That's what everything I've read points to. Where did you get November/December?gevorg - Wednesday, September 7, 2011 - link
Don't be evil Google! You're about to release a new Android, and you still haven't opened the Honeycomb. Does ICS has the same destiny? Won't open Android anymore since you gained the market share you wanted?InsaneScientist - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
They never were planning to open Honeycomb. (This was publicly stated by them. Not just speculation.) It was basically just a test run of the tablet features. Once they got a decent chunk of the bugs ironed out, they'd roll it and the phone OS together into one and release that. That's what Ice Cream Sandwich is. ;-)They're also on the record as having said that ICS will be open sourced "by the end of the year."
There's also some speculation (whether it's based on anything that Google has said or not, I do not know) that they may open source Honeycomb alongside ICS, since there wouldn't be much point in keeping it hidden if its successor was open.
JasonInofuentes - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
I'll defer to you on that, I hadn't heard, but I wouldn't be surprised if ICS does open things up. Honeycomb should really be looked at as a Google 1.0 release, or more aptly a Google Beta release. In the right hands it has shown itself to be capable of delivering performance, though a lot of UI tweaks would make it much more user friendly. One reason for this is the short time that Matias Duarte was actually involved in its development. The iPad was announced January of 2010. May 2010 Google poached Matias from the remains of Palm. The Xoom, and thus Honeycomb, were introduced January of 2011. Obviously Google was working on what would become Honeycomb long before they hired Matias, but as the lead designer of the User Experience, he was only at the wheel for seven months or so before they were shipping hardware. That's not a lot of time to refine something so complex.Thanks for the comment, keep'em coming.
tayb - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
Android is not open.Go buy a phone and try to delete the stock apps.
B3an - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
LOL.... what?!?!Congratulations on posting one of the most insane comments i've ever seen.
JarredWalton - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
FYI, the comments were so out there and poorly worded, not to mention having unrelated links to what we're talking about, that I marked the account as spam and his posts are gone. Goodbye, spammer!WeaselITB - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
Hehe - I got a chuckle out of them, at least ... ;-)-Weasel
JasonInofuentes - Monday, September 19, 2011 - link
+1, though I wish I'd at least seen them before they were ban hammered!damianrobertjones - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
"Schmidt Says Ice Cream Sandwich To Arrive October/November"What exactly is 'Ice cream sandwich'?
prophet001 - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
That's what I was wondering.WeaselITB - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
Ice Cream Sandwich is the code-name for the new version of Android -- 4.0. This is a unification release that's suppose to marry the phone side (2.x) with the tablet side (Honeycomb, 3.x) into one code structure and user interface.Google has been using sweet treats as the names for their various releases:
- Cupcake
- Donut
- Eclair
- Froyo
- Gingerbread
- Honeycomb
- Ice Cream Sandwich
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_sy...
Hope that helps.
-Weasel
damianrobertjones - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
The article could have at least hinted at what it is though so thank you for the infoprophet001 - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
TY weasel :) got it nowvision33r - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
Most people like you wouldn't know because it's a pure geek thing to keep track of code name for projects.It's irrelevant, most people with Android phones already won't be getting the update until sometimes next summer given the poor track records of many handset makers.
esse09 - Friday, September 9, 2011 - link
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26864981@N08/28184888...tayb - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
Phone manufacturers to update their existing phones October/November of 2012. Summer of 2012 we will see phones launching with Ice Cream Sandwich.Gotta make sure the phone manufacturers can fuck up the OS to their liking before shipping it out!