Samsung Galaxy S2 ICS update landing on Orange this week
Orange-flavoured S2 owners "should" be able to to download Ice Cream Sandwich by the end of the week, says network.
The Samsung Galaxy S2 ICS update saga has been dragging on for weeks -- and it's not quite over yet.
Brits who bought a SIM-free device should now all be able to download the update, according to Samsung, round about a month after it originally said the update would start to roll out to their phones.
S2 owners who bought their phones from Orange or T-Mobile are still waiting to get the update -- but those with an Orange-flavoured S2 could be in for an ICS treat by the end of this week. The operator previously told me it would put out the update "some time in April" -- but a spokeswoman for the company has now said ICS "should be available with Galaxy S2 owners by the end of this week".
Some CNET readers with an S2 locked to Orange are reporting they have been able to download ICS already. One reader also reports being told by the network that the update will be available on 26 April.
"I'm on Orange and I got mine tonight," wrote another reader, posting a comment last night. "Please everyone hook to Kies."
Kies is Samsung's device management software. To get the ICS update, S2 owners need to connect their device to Kies and manually download it -- rather than automatically getting the update pushed out to them.
"Please be aware that these updates are not FOTA (over the air)," a Samsung spokeswoman said. "They can only be updated when connected to Kies on a PC.
"This update needs the user to connect to Kies (it is a very large update). This is the same for all versions (open market or operator)," she added.
Three was the first operator to make ICS available to S2 owners, followed by O2 and Vodafone. SIM-free device owners got their special delivery next -- despite Samsung's UK VP Simon Stanford suggesting they would be last, behind all the networks' updates.
S2 owners who bought via T-Mobile are still waiting for official word on when ICS will land. Last month the operator told CNET UK: "We're working to make our [ICS] build available as close to Samsung's release date as possible."
Are you still waiting to get ICS? If so, let us know which mobile network you're with by posting a comment below or updating our Facebook page.