AT&T Rolls Out Android 4.0 ICS Update for Samsung Captivate Glide

It's been almost a year since Samsung and AT&T launched the Captivate Glide Android smartphone in the United States.

The slider received a few maintenance updates, but nothing major that would completely change the overall user's experience.

Following its previous Android 4.0 ICS releases for various smartphones in its portfolio, AT&T announced the update is now available for yet another of the products available on its shelves, the Captivate Glide.

Initially launched with Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system onboard, Samsung Captivate Glide finally receives the long-awaited Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade.

Unfortunately, Captivate Glide owners expecting to get the update directly on their devices will be disappointed as Samsung and AT&T decided to make this available only through Kies.

This means that each Captivate Glide owner will have to download the Samsung Kies desktop software, or update to the latest version of the application, in order to be able to upgrade their smartphones to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich platform.

Keep in mind that while this software update will leave some aspects of the users data untouched, such as pictures, videos and contacts, Samsung recommends Captivate Glide owners to back up all data prior to upgrading to Ice Cream Sandwich, just to be safe.

Aside from bringing the firmware to Android 4.0, the update will reset the home keys, the application menu sorting, as well as all folders.

In addition, all items that have been placed on the home screen, including widgets, apps and wallpapers, will be reset to default as well.

It is also worth mentioning all email accounts that were added as a Social Hub or Samsung premium account will be removed as well.

According to AT&T, “the many new features include the new browser with improved page loading, tabbed browsing, offline reading and desktop mode. There are new lock/unlock features such as the ability to unlock directly to the camera, text messaging, phone dialer, or home screen, or you can use Face Unlock which lets you unlock your screen using facial recognition technology.”