Motorola Droid RAZR Ice Cream Sandwich Update Scheduled For Q1 2012

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Yesterday was a busy day for the Android ecosystem as we’ve seen not one but two important Android flagship devices become official, the Motorola Droid RAZR and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, not to mention that Google finally unveiled its next major mobile operating system version, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Unfortunately for Android fans the Ice Cream Sandwich rollout will be, as expected, a lot more complicated than users would prefer it to be. Google is not in control off the actual ICS release as device manufacturers will have to work independently on their Android and tablets to upgrade them to Android 4.0.

We already know ICS will hit various handsets and tablets in the coming weeks/months, but it’s not clear which devices will be the first ones  to receive it. In fact HTC failed to specifically mention what devices of its current lineup will be upgraded to Android 4.0 in the near future – they’re still having trouble providing a Gingerbread upgrade to the Thunderbolt, a former flagship LTE device.

Motorola, on the other hand, is said to offer an ICS upgrade for the RAZR in Q1 2012. The RAZR will come with Gingerbread on board out of the box but there’s ICS in its future. Alain Mutricy, Motorola’s senior Vice President of Portfolio and Product Management confirmed Moto’s interest in upgrading the RAZR to ICS. However, he didn’t specify any details regarding the ICS rollout for the RAZR, and considering the fragmentation issues that affect the Android ecosystem and the fact that manufacturers aren’t always able to keep their promises regarding timely software upgrades, we wouldn’t be surprised to witness any delays.

And let’s not forget Motorola has plenty of other customers that own older Android devices which should also receive the ICS upgrade. At this time it is not known when handsets like the Droid Bionic, the Droid X2, the Droid 3 or the Droid X will receive their ICS builds.

Anyone planning to purchase a Motorola Droid RAZR instead of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus next month?

Update: A Motorola representative contacted us to confirm the company plans to upgrade the Droid RAZR to ICS in the U.S. in the first half of 2012. “More precise guidance” will be provided within 6 weeks after the public push of Ice Cream Sandwich by Google.