RAZR ICS Upgrade- What will it look like?

[argent7]

So we all know that Moto has promised to upgrade the Razr in the first half of '12.
What does that actually mean?

Since I'm coming from a fairly skin-less Orig Droid, I'm used to a more native android environment. The Razr seems to have a deeply-skinned interface with Blur- which seems to show it's look and feel completely throughout the os.

So when the upgrade happens what will we see-
-still the same exact motoblur skin, with just the backend ics platform being more efficient?
-will they revise the motoblur skin to accommodate the increased features? ie- more camera settings, Active App view, new notification swiped removal etc, but the look and feel stays completely MotoBlur?
-or will we see the new look and feel of ICS?

I have to admit a pure ICS experience is pretty appealing based on the demos we've seen- it is the first time Google has seemed to truly get it when it comes to interface design. I'm planning on getting the Razr, and I can easily wait 6 months for the ICS upgrade, but I'm concerned that a lot of the magic of ICS will get lost in how it is ported into RAZR.

 

[redraider1]

Most likely some form of blur on top that will probably add another few weeks to months to actually get a working update.

 

[argent7]

Thought I'd try to resurrect this topic since so many of us now have the phone and I'm chomping at the bit for ICS.

I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the RAZR and I love it. My 2 main concerns are gone...

-the screen really is stunning- and people forget with all the criticism of pentile that other than the rezound and iphone, the razr has the highest resolution screen available.

-the camera is solid, not great- certainly a ridiculous step up from my OD.

So, to the question, how many of the ics features will pass through to blur in the upgrade?

 

[jroc]

After all the fear mongering about Pentile...I honestly feel its waay overblown on the RAZR. Cant speak for other phones. Yes on specific color texts, icons and backgrounds its noticeable to me....at a close distance for me. Very specific occasions its noticeable at normal viewing distances. At a closer viewing distance...for me... yes its noticeable.

The thing I feel ppl have to realize is.....is that specific situation on a regular basis?

And I feel ppl forget to mention that....for them...its noticeable. Everybody isnt the same. So everybody wont notice the same things. The RAZR screen is more than acceptable. Its fine IMO.

 

[cereal killer]

I just hope that idiotic search bar, terrible font and ugly launcher don't make it onto the RAZR. I like the RAZRS theme and colors.

Face unlock is just plain stupid. Moto's UI is pretty functional and nice looking. It does what I need it to do.

To be perfectly frank I could care less about ICS. Not in the least impressed by it. I can take it or leave it.

 

[Ken7]

To be perfectly frank I could care less about ICS. Not in the least impressed by it. I can take it or leave it.

I know one thread where saying that could get you shot!

 

[sean76]

Hopefully we get this upgraded YouTube app....looks awesome...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nvr4SdTrs84&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[mttfrog13]

If there's one change google should make at motorola since they own motorola now is to require them to use stock android. Even if they still have to include the bloatware, it would be nice to see manufacturers giving up with their skins and using stock ics.

 

[Slayers]

If there's one change google should make at motorola since they own motorola now is to require them to use stock android. Even if they still have to include the bloatware, it would be nice to see manufacturers giving up with their skins and using stock ics.

Why I have no problem with this new version of blur if you could call it that.

 

[jroc]

Only because ICS looks actually worth keeping as a whole, I agree with the manufactures getting rid of the skins...now. I actually like the different custom UI's. And IMHO stock Android on phones before ICS was boring, plain.

I wonder how many ppl with stock Android phones leave them totally untouched - no 3rd party launchers, messing apps, etc.

To be honest....these different custom UI's arent all that bad. Each have their good and bad points.

 

[mttfrog13]

Yeah, I'll give some of them credit. The custom UIs can at times be quite intuitive and I guess that in a sense its good to have that variety and competition. The competition may be what made google get their act together in the first place and improve the stock UI so much. On the other hand, a lot of them aren't. And then they just delay core android updates. All in all, a lot of the times, it's not worth it.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see if the TW, Blur, and Sense ICS upgrades are any good. I doubt they will actually be worth the wait.

 

[Martimus]

If there's one change google should make at motorola since they own motorola now is to require them to use stock android. Even if they still have to include the bloatware, it would be nice to see manufacturers giving up with their skins and using stock ics.

Don't expect this to happen any time soon. The head of Android development at Google, Andy Rubin, supports the idea of third party UI's...

Andy Rubin: There Are 6 Million Android Tablets Out There

Android, on the other hand, lets manufacturers “take over the screen,” which Rubin sees as an advantage.

A good example of that is HTC's Sense UI, which is a complete overhaul of Android's default UI.

 

[gordongartrell]

I wish custom skins UI's like Blur, Sense and Touchwiz came with the phone as a launcher like Launcher Pro, ADW Ex and others. It would give users the option to have all, some or none(stock Android) of the UI on their phone.

 

[TheSuper]

Could be coming very soon for Razr owners!

As November comes to an end and December draws closer, the hype surrounding Google's latest OS, Android 4.0, a.k.a Ice Cream Sandwich, has hit a fevered pitch. We are now just days away from seeing the first devices to ship with version 4.0.
As most of you know, Samsung will release the Galaxy Nexus, which runs Android 4.0.1 in December, but there are other devices getting ready to hit the streets sporting ICS also. China tablet manufacturer Fuzhou Rockchip has announced it will update tablets with its RK2918 chip with Ice Cream Sandwich by the first week of December. The Droid 4 is expected to hit stores in December, & it is also widely believed to be running the new OS (with Moto-Blur & Verizon Bloatware of course). In the next few days we can expect to see other manufactures making similar announcements, and very soon we should see OTA updates start to roll out to devices like the Nexus S and Nexus S 4G, both of which are directly supported by Google, and believed to be the first devices which will see official updates.
For those who are unfamiliar, Ice Cream Sandwich unifies the current two branches of the Android OS: Gingberbread for smartphones and Honeycomb for tablets as it can run on both forms of mobile devices. It introduces unlocking of phones with face recognition, closer integration with social network contacts, revamped camera software, revamped calendar system, visual voicemail and software support for Near Field Communication, which allows a phone to be used as a credit card at retail outlets. In Google's words, "Android 4.0 brings an entirely new look and feel. The lock screen, widgets, notifications, multi-tasking and everything in between has been rethought and refined to make Android simple, beautiful, and beyond smart."
Development forums are being stocked with a growing number of ICS ROMs supporting numerous devices. These custom ROMs are being built from the source code that Google released a few weeks ago, shortly after releasing the Android 4.0 SDK. As users of these first ICS ROMs can attest, version 4.0 includes an entirely new typeface optimized for high-resolution screens that improves readability and brings a polished, modern feel to the user interface. As I have stated before, ICS is Android done right.

So does that mean if Droid 4 comes with ICS in December, then there's a good chance Razr might be updated the following January?

 

[Waldo]

Hopefully we get this upgraded YouTube app....looks awesome...

Galaxy Nexus YouTube App Tour Android 4 - YouTube

Our current youtube app is pretty close to that.. i didn't notice a difference other than a few of the things are moved such as the thumbs up and down are at the top rather than in the video description area oh and no +1

 

[rankman]

I know one thread where saying that could get you shot!

Roflmao!

 

[Szadzik]

Could be coming very soon for Razr owners!



So does that mean if Droid 4 comes with ICS in December, then there's a good chance Razr might be updated the following January?

THere have already been some shot of Droid 4 leaked and it did not have ICS.
Unsurprisingly to me. ICS has been out for just a moment and htere is no way anyone would already have it ready.

 

[argent7]

It wouldn't be unrealistic to think someone will skin a ICS launcher for mass consumption, would it?

 

[Deleted User]

Saying you have no interest in ICS is moronic. It moves the platform forward and adds many things like hardware acceleration OEM's will not have to spend the time or money to add themselves in the future.

My guess is it will look mostly the same as it does now because that is what the phone was sold as and they don't want to hear the whining if they do a dramatic change. I'm sure it will be toned down or done away completely on new Motorola phones now that Google owns them. Not sure why they would spend the development time on a custom GUI when they make Android.

 

[Martimus]

It wouldn't be unrealistic to think someone will skin a ICS launcher for mass consumption, would it?

There's already a few ICS launchers in the Android Market:

https://market.android.com/search?q=ics+launcher&so=1

I have this one

https://market.android.com/details?...sMSwyLDEsIm1vYmkuU3luZGljYXRlQXBwcy5JQ1N2MiJd

installed over CM7.1.0 on my HP Touchpad. It's not perfect but it does OK...