Motorola updates Razr with Android 4.0

2012-07-05 11:30

Motorola is updating Razr and Razr Maxx models with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). (Motorola)

Duncan Alfreds

Cape Town - Motorola Razr and Maxx owners will soon be able to upgrade the devices to the latest version of Google's Android operating system, the manufacturer announced.

"The upgrade is now rolling out to a select number of Motorola Razr and Razr Maxx users as part of our standard upgrade process, and will be available more broadly over the coming weeks," Motorola told News24.

Android 4.0, known as Ice Cream Sandwich offers improvements to the way the platform works and this announcement follows international trends.

Some have raised concerns that the latest version of the operating system may not work on under-powered devices and in Japan, mobile operator NTT DoCoMo announced that it was halting the Ice Cream Sandwich update for Xperia devices.

The Japanese devices are not identical to the ones that are sold in SA, Sony Mobile said.

New features on Ice Cream Sandwich include an improved contacts app that includes bigger images and the ability to take screen shots and send them to friends.

Some of the features are available on Android leader Samsung on its Galaxy SIII which already runs Android 4.0, and Motorola offers features like the data cap setting on its Razr, but the rollout represents a package of improvements to the user experience.

Unique to Motorola is SmartActions. This app automates a variety of functions to extend battery life and allows the override of silent settings for specific callers.

The company hopes to use its leverage as a Google-owned subsidiary to gain a larger share of the smartphone market.

Google announced that devices with Ice Cream Sandwich increased to about 11% on the PlayStore while Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) made up 64%, a slight decline.


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Here's a YouTube video on the Ice Cream Sandwich update for Motorola phones: