Google Releases Android 4.0 ICS Source Code (and Honeycomb, Too!)
Since Google announced their plan to acquire Motorola Mobility, ODM partners that were already using the Android platform grew concerned that Google would play favorites. Recently, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, announced that the Android platform would still be free and open, though Microsoft kept making licensing deals with ODMs using the platform. This was interpreted that Android will still be an open-source platform which anyone can use.
And now, concerns are put to rest as the open-source code for Android 4.0 was released, even before its flagship handset, the Galaxy Nexus, hits the market.
Software Engineer for the Google Android Open-Source Project Jean-Baptiste M. “JBQ” Queru said in his post that the source code for Android version 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). It is actually version 4.0.1, which is the version to be used on the Galaxy Nexus. JBQ cautions developers that they shouldn’t sync their devices if the download is not yet complete because it will not work as desired.
According to JBQ, “This release includes the full history of the Android source code tree, which naturally includes all the source code for the Honeycomb releases. However, since Honeycomb was a little incomplete, we want everyone to focus on Ice Cream Sandwich. So, we haven’t created any tags that correspond to the Honeycomb releases (even though the changes are present in the history.)”
What this means is that developers can now start working on Ice Cream Sandwich. But the problem with the Android platform is their fragmented roll out and users are hoping that with this early release, users will also get an early roll out of the upgrade.
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