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Don’t Expect a Droid Bionic Android 4.0 Update Anytime Soon

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Today’s leak of an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich build for the Motorola Droid 4 leaves the Motorola Droid Bionic as the last remaining big name smartphone from Motorola to see any kind of Android 4.0 information leak. And that does not bode well for a swift release.

Many Android phones see versions of major software updates leak out ahead of time. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, Google’s latest operating system, has been no different.

We’ve seen versions of it leak out for the Motorola Droid RAZR, the Motorola Droid RAZR MAXX and now, the Motorola Droid 4. This generally means that, at the very least, testing is being done by the parties involved.

Read: Motorola Droid Bionic review.

Unfortunately, there has not been the same sort of leak for the Motorola Droid Bionic and that could mean that owners of the first dual-core 4G LTE smartphone on Verizon could have a quite the wait ahead of them.

Motorola originally confirmed Android 4.0 for the Droid Bionic all the way back on October 20th. This was shortly after Motorola confirmed Android 4.0 for the Droid RAZR and months before the releases of the Droid RAZR MAXX and Droid 4 which were released in February.

To me, this is completely unfair to Droid Bionic owners who went through a nightmare last year.

The Droid Bionic launched in September of 2011. It was one of the most anticipated smartphones of the year and Verizon put a huge ad campaign behind it.

Read: Droid Bionic Owners Deserve Some Android 4.0 Answers Too.

Just over a month later, Verizon released the Droid RAZR, a phone that trumped the Droid Bionic in just about every possible way.

Did it offer any apologies to Droid Bionic owners? Nope. It didn’t and hasn’t thrown them a single bone. I argued that putting the Droid Bionic first in line amongst Motorola phones getting upgraded to Android 4.0 might be a nice gesture to owners who were completely blindsided by the launch.

Well, from where I’m sitting, that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. And while I’m angry, I’m not the least bit surprised. Verizon hasn’t even released an update for its Samsung Galaxy Nexus, five months after launching the thing.

So while Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich will eventually come to the Droid Bionic, it doesn’t appear like it will anytime soon.

Are there any frustrated Droid Bionic owners out there? It has to be tough to see progress being made for other devices while there hasn’t been anything in regards to the Droid Bionic’s update.

Chime in.

24 Comments

24 Comments

  1. Bob

    05/16/2012 at 4:41 pm

    Yep! You can count me in as a frustrated Bionic owner. One of the reasons I purchased the Droid Bionic, was that Verizon (and Motorola) were
    promising it would receive a ICS update. I really think all Bionic owners need a letter (or email) sent to them from both Motorola and Verizon explaining the delay with some specifics. (No wishy-washy info,
    just the facts.)

    Shame on Motorola and Verizon for not dealing with a full deck!

  2. jvandellen

    05/16/2012 at 4:44 pm

    super frustrated indeed. I held out a long time after being eligible to upgrade my OG droid…apparently I didn’t wait long enough. Its still a powerful phone with serious potential, and it really sucks to see other phones get priority.

  3. RDM

    05/16/2012 at 4:46 pm

    I will also be a bit peeved if I don’t see an ICS update for my Bionic sooner rather than later. It was a large reason why I opted for the Bionic in the first place.

  4. baiothai

    05/16/2012 at 5:10 pm

    The bionic has been a mess since it was released, and continues to frustrate me to this day. I’ve been waiting for this update since I purchased the phone at full price, only to see the razr released days later. The bionic should have gotten this update first hands down.

  5. Jmath679

    05/16/2012 at 5:20 pm

    I have given up and decided to be ambivalent to the whole thing. It is not worth the frustration.

  6. angelbowler

    05/16/2012 at 8:55 pm

    I’m totally frustrated. Waited long past my date for this phone that took longer than it should have to come out. Was promised not only for an ICS update but that the Bionic would be one of the first to get it. And now they’re dragging this update out just like they did about getting the phone out to the masses. I’m truly tired of always being the last to get what we’re suppose to get when it’s due and not being constantly backed up while all the while teasing us about it. It’s my first smartphone and this doesn’t speak well for Motorola, which has always been a favorite of mine. This is truly Not good business!

  7. Louis

    05/16/2012 at 11:21 pm

    So I really find this helpful because I been waiting months since I bought my bionic for the icecream sandwich update so why not update our 4gs they are very much capable of everything like razxr soo thnx for the update and screw Verizon for holding back!
    In the emd I still love my phone! Against IPhones

  8. Joe

    05/17/2012 at 12:00 am

    This will be the first and last Motorola product I ever purchase, I can promise that. I’ll probably switch to the iphone after this nightmare.

  9. Dan707

    05/17/2012 at 12:29 am

    Still a far better phone than many other 4g phones… I’d rather have my bionic on ginger bread than an iphone, that’s for sure…. Verizon and motorola dragging their feet on updates is nothing new… Unfortunately it’s been this way since the beginning of android….. Better get used to it..

  10. ßàílý999

    05/17/2012 at 4:29 am

    WOW…I feel like the orphan child that nobody likes. I have a lot of stock in motorola, nothing to break the company but in will make them see some pissed off people. I think its a good time to sell and see what companies are taking care of it users… Maybe we should all email the president of Motorola and let them know what we think. By the way my crappy phone still drops 3g, wifi and 4g with out any answers on this too. Not a happy person right now.

  11. lowellclugston

    05/17/2012 at 4:52 am

    They don’t want users to “root”phone, I stayed legit waiting for upgrade. Now you know why folks root their phones cause of companies dragging their feet. Come on I bought the bionic for the ICE update as promised by a sales rep. Stick to your words

  12. Susan Shenberger

    05/17/2012 at 6:13 am

    I feel like the proverbial red headed step-child. If the update doesn’t come soon, I’ll switch to AT&T and get an iPhone!

  13. Deduct

    05/17/2012 at 8:40 am

    I too am a happy bionic owner. Mine has had almost no problems and have had it since launch day. I am rooted and have flashed just about every rom for this awesome phone. It is frustrating that we do not have an official Ics release yet , but we will get it eventually. If u want to have a different experience with your bionic just root with motofail start flashing roms. The Ics roms that are available are pretty solid too. This truly is a great phone so to say that you want to switch to an iphone just because they are dragging their feet upgrading us to Ics???? That’s a ridiculous notion! But to each his own I guess.

  14. blarg

    05/17/2012 at 10:43 am

    there is only one “gesture” that Motorola (or really Google since Google owns Motorola now) as well as most other companies have to anyone after purchase. They already got your money, they don’t get any more money for providing you with an update, so it’s money wasted for them to develop and bring you any updates at all. The only reason they’re going to provide the update at all is because they promised the update to customers (both retail customers and Verizon) when the phone was released to drive sales.

    …now if the updates weren’t free, they’d be far more eager to provide them. I’d pay $10 to get ICS today rather than December.

  15. d3thd3al3r

    05/18/2012 at 4:23 am

    I know we all remember the ad campaign droid bionic “rule all other machines”.. what?! Taking in stride the past years constant mods needed to make my bionic perform like a cell phone should in the first place i find myself always coming full circle and thinking ” rule all machines” verizon why not just say droid bionic ” will read your mind and shoots freaking lasers” ..im surprised we cant hold them to their false claims

  16. jason

    05/18/2012 at 7:56 am

    Wait a second, did I accidently go to the Samsung Fascinate forms? Oh ok, just wanted to make sure I’m in the right place, I just upgraded from that phone afterall.

    Look.. I know everyone here is playing the squeeky wheel gets the grease card to try to get Motorola to take notice, but you have to realize that EVERYONE IS DOING IT! Seriously, go to any cell phone forum.. browse the different models. You will find lots and lots of people lamenting about the atrocities that have been done to them by their phone manufacturer and Verizon. I really don’t think the complaining strategy is working for anyone.

    Everyone wants the latest and they want it now. The Razr folks will probably start complaining the second their upgrade doesn’t come in time or when they decide to develop 5.0 instead. I want an upgrade just as bad as you guys.. I just upgraded to a Bionic and from everything I read online you would think I made a horrible mistake. Let’s look at these facts.

    1. None of us are entitled to an upgrade. Your phone works and does what you bought it for. If you bought your phone solely based on future funtionality, I feel sorry for you. Tell you what, I’ll sell you a house that is pretty shabby now but I plan on making it into a mansion in a few months. What do you say?

    2. Even if your phone is upgraded, it will still be buggy and bloated. Verizon and Motorola want to make money. That’s why you have stupid things like “Let’s Golf” and various corporate apps that no one will need, and that we cannot remove. These apps end up running in the background and eating up resources and draining battery life.

    3. From what I’ve seen, any speed increase will be minimal and there will probably be many follow up patches because it will inevitably be broken at first. Sure hope you don’t miss that call about your mom being in the hospital so you can have a few more frames in angry birds.

    I could go on but I think that’s enough. I’m just tired of hearing all of the complaining from people about how horrible their phone is and how they’re waiting for an update when most of those people would be unable to tell us what was actually updated on their phone. OMG IT WENT FROM VER. 902 to 904 MY PHONE IS SO AWESOME!!! Seriously chill out. Why not visit a few of those people on your contact list sometime.

    I haven’t modded my phone yet, but that will be my next venture. Yes, I am willing to void my warranty and deal with buggy roms made by people on web forums and possibly exposing myself to malware rather than deal with any company’s BS. If this comes off as a troll attempt or something, it’s not. I’m just very bitter and know that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Good luck to you all.

  17. neil feinstein

    05/20/2012 at 11:53 pm

    Strange corporate strategy indeed since such a delay may well serve as an inducement for Bionic owners to abandon Motorola not just for a different mfg and or carrier that have ICS phones but also make those Motorola owners reconsider ever buying another Motorola phone again.

  18. dog1phil

    06/13/2012 at 7:43 pm

    This is all fine and dandy to wish for but realize this Droid Bionic, Love It! is soon to leave Verizon phone lineup due to its shortness of inventory and all the wonderful fascinating new devices that are out or coming…Do you really think the Evil Empire will actually give a new O/S to what they call an outdated device! Its just not good financial business to them! And how many times before have they “changed their minds” due to their financial gains, oh, but only to better our customer experience!

  19. Jeff Cozz

    07/02/2012 at 7:14 pm

    Dude I’m so pissed at Verizon and Motorola, not just because the RAZR came out a month after the bionic but because I had to cancel my other phone that had its update stolen by another phone on our plan, so I was diced to pay a $100 cancellation fee then buy the phone for almost $300 at Costco. Personally I’ll always be a Droid dude, because IPhones suck. But now I think I’ll think twice about buying a Droid right when it comes out. My question is though why can’t all the updates come out at the same time, with Google being such a huge corporation they should be able to release 4.0 and more all at the same time.

  20. Will G

    07/13/2012 at 3:02 pm

    Why is it that the phones that came out later then the droid bionic should get the update first. Update the bionic since it has seniority over the razr update the bionic first to be fair to the owners of this phone

  21. Warren

    07/22/2012 at 3:06 pm

    I see the razr got the 4.0 update. Motorola promised the update for Bionic by the end of June – yet another failed release date. I’ve owned Motorola phones sinse the half-brick. They’ve screwed up before, but this is just foul. I think it’s time to go get a Samsung phone.

  22. Ironhead

    07/23/2012 at 10:07 pm

    why wait. Run whatever you want now. Motofail.

  23. Romeo

    08/09/2012 at 11:41 am

    We will never buy any Motorola phones again. What they have done to us Bionic owners is nothing but a scam. They want to force us to buy a new model every 6 months.
    We’re switching to iPhone and also moving away from Verizon.
    TX

  24. kyshoe

    08/09/2012 at 4:30 pm

    I am currently running a “Leaked” version of ICS (6.7.232.XT875) without difficulties. This in itself
    should let most of you know that the REAL version will hit the Bionic phones soon…..probable in August 2012

    So hang in there…it’s coming.

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