We've got good news and bad news for Samsung Galaxy Note owners in the United States. Here's an update on the update.
First the good news. Some European Samsung Galaxy Note owners are getting the update to Android 4.0 ICS that is 318MB and includes the S Note app and S Memo widget. We have verified that Samsung Galaxy Note owners in Germany have been able to download the update using the Kies app (see comment below) with some problems. Some media outlets have tried to contact Samsung to find out the exact date of the release.
In the past, when there were drips of updates in parts of Europe a larger push out of the update followed, fairly soon afterwards.
Other good news is that the update has new S Pen apps including:
- S Note is a special app that lets you combine handwritten notes or sketches with other content.
- Shape Match will help correct and digitize hand-drawn geometric shapes so that you can draw tables and grids which are instantly digitized,.
- Formula Match uses the S Note’s integrated knowledge search engines to quickly search, and obtain information.
- My Story allows you to create personalized digital cards for friends or family using any type of content including notes, video content, photos, text or voice.
The availability and scheduling of the software upgrade will vary by market and wireless carriers’ requirements, Samsung reported when they announced the update.
One of our readers in Germany noticed that update on his network, slows down the internet connection on the Samsung Galaxy Note.
U.S. Samsung Galaxy Note owners should not get too excited it took over a year for the Android 2.3 Gingerbread update to reach the Samsung Captivate. AT&T recently announced that it update the Samsung Captivate Glide, Note, S II, Skyrocket and Tab 8.9, but did not give any dates.
AT&T smartphone owners seldom get an over-the-update but are required to use the kies mini app that is only available on PC computers. It has also been learned that an update on a popular smartphone can clog networks significantly.
I have even worse news. After updating to 4.0.3 via Kies (I have a German version) I encountered severe severe Internet connection problems. The download speed is ridicuosly low and, what is even worse, the graph looks like a saw (very unstable). The rest works fine, but I did not find any SIGNIFICANT benefits compared to 2.3.6. Taking into account the above Internet problem, I would not recommend to be in a hurry with the upgrade. Personally, I would downgrade, if I could.
WTF have you tried to factory restore. It will help!@!!
Costco wireless kiosk has the Galaxy Note (AT&T) for $199 as well, and it includes some extras like a soft case, car/wall charger (cig port plus flip out plug) and one or two other small things. Ordered Saturday there, not in warehouse, so shipped and arrives tomorrow or Wednesday via UPS.
I just purchase this phone need to do better than this
when i upgrade to ICS, will i have to re-install all my apps by hand? my GNote is my first android and im not up to speed
I also have upgraded to the ics 4 but wished I hadn't as it is horrendous on battery life, you can just see the battery disappearing, only lasts on standby mode around 7 hours, Kies was woefull and took 2 atempt's and 6 hours later before it would update, an now have wipe the thing and installed again using odin to see if that helps.
OTA updates are the best. Kies update is still a Pre release which is still not genuine. Its just too much waiting after so many false promises from Samsung. My next phone will be an HTC or any other brand for sure. Samsung thinks it has the largest market share of the smartphones market but Google is pooling in various other manufacturers for its next nexus device. I guess Google is also fed up with Samsung's lack of commitment and plastic phones.
I have the German version of the Note and recently upgraded to the official ICS update this past week. I am actually quite frustrated with the update, and wish there was somewhere I knew of where people give feedback directly to Samsung.
The battery life is down by about 40-50%. The same usage pattern that used to last me from 6am to 11pm now lasts me to about 4pm. This is a huge complaint. When looking at the RAM usage, it's about 150mb above the prior baseline on Gingerbread (It used to run at about 425-450mb, now it's at 550-600mb at baseline).
Also, the screen brightness adjustment by swiping over the status bar no longer works in ICS, and the only way I can find to brighten or dim the screen is through multiple clicks in the Settings menu.
Other than some modified layouts of menus, and the recent apps layout, the ICS upgrade has not met the hype for me, personally. But I'm still exploring it, since it's only been a week. The RAM usage and battery drain, though, are big complaints.