The big thing right now in the world of Android is undoubtedly Android 4.0, or Ice Cream Sandwich as Google has christened it. It may not even be available on any phones in the United States yet, but all the buzz is definitely of the cold sandwich variety.
One of the biggest draws for many Android fans is its open source nature, meaning that anyone can in theory take it and make it run on anything so long as the source code is out there and it is built for the type of CPU you’re trying to run it on.
Google has now made Ice Cream Sandwich’s x86 source code available to developers, meaning the doors are now wide open for them to make Android 4.0 run on all manor of things, but especially tablets.
While the release is indeed now out there in the wild, it is also worth noting that these are early days for it. As Google will be the first to point out, this build is not yet stable, and will require work before it is. Intel processors, for example, are offering particular resistance with sound, hardware acceleration, Ethernet and cameras proving troublesome.
On the plus side, AMD-made CPUs seem to be working much better with WiFi, sound and hardware acceleration all ticked off.
If you’re of the tinkering persuasion you can download the code now following the instructions laid out by Google’s Android team.
Hi all, The ics-x86 branch based on Android 4.0.1 is ready.
You may download the source as usual: $ repo init -u git://git.android-x86.org/manifest.git -b ics-x86
$ repo sync or from the SourceForge mirror $ repo init -u git://android-x86.git.sf.net/gitroot/android-x86/x86/platform/manifest.git
-b ics-x86
$ repo sync
The release of the Ice Cream Sandwich source code is great news for developers and AMD alike. The chip manufacturer will hope that this will help drive tablets featuring its chipsets, while at the same time pulling attention away from the competition provided by the likes of Qualcomm and ARM.
Now we’re just waiting for a few hundred different releases of Android 4.0 on thirty different machines, but hey, that’s what Android is all about isn’t it?
You can grab your fix by heading over to this link at Android-x86.
(via SlashGear)
You may also like to check out:
You can follow us on Twitter, add us to your circle on Google+ or like our Facebook page to keep yourself updated on all the latest from Microsoft, Google, Apple and the web.
