Google has begun testing an update for its Android mobile operating system on some Google employees’ phones before releasing it to the public.
An over-the-air update for Android 4.0, aka Ice Cream Sandwich, recently arrived on some employees’ Nexus S phones, according to an Android Police report.
“Just got Ice-cream Sandwich update on my Nexus S & it’s looking great :),” Google engineer Adel Saoud said in a Google+ post.
Testing of Android 4.0 is expected to take at least a few weeks, with the over-the-air release to follow–good news for Nexus S owners.
Ice Cream Sandwich began shipping last month on Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus in Europe, although it is still unavailable in most parts of the world, including the U.S. Even though Android is developed behind closed doors, the recent release of the Ice Cream Sandwich source code lets enthusiasts tinker with it.
For those adventurous souls who can’t wait for the update’s official release, the CyanogenMod project to build unofficial versions of Android is working on CM9, the version based on the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich source code. Early CM9 builds are available in alpha for the Samsung Nexus S and beta for the Samsung Galaxy S.