Will Ice Cream Sandwich Come to Tablets?

We've long been under the impression that IceCream Sandwich will unify the smartphone and tablet branches of the Android operating system. Unfortunately we didn't hear a single word about that at the recent Google | Samsung announcement of the Galaxy Nexus and Android 4.0.

Apparently Motorola isn't keeping quiet any longer. In a post from a moderator on their support forums, "... Xoom will get ICS. I just don't have any timing to share."

As a reminder, Xoom was Motorola and Google's "launch device" for tablets and Android 3.x Honeycomb.

So, there you have it. The Xoom will be getting Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich... it's only a matter of time. Although it's not from Google, we can assume that their tablet OS launch-partner wouldn't be going against their designs with their tablet launch-device. 

Make Your Phone Sound Like Android Ice Cream Sandwich

While it's true that Android 4.0 Ice CreamSandwich has been announced, other than the SDK it hasn't been released yet. That means you can't buy a phone running ICS and you can't flash a stock or custom ICS ROM onto your current phone.

Earlier today I told you how you could make your phone look like it was running Android 4.0 with a custom theme (but only if it was running a ROM that supports themes), now you can make yourphone SOUND like it's running ICS -- no custom ROM needed!

All you need to do is download the audio files from the source below, then extract them to the root of your sdcard! It's super-easy, and can freshen-up those stale Gingerbread or Froyo sounds that you've been using so far in minutes.

Just to be clear, you'll want to have an audio folder on the root of your sdcard with subfolders for alarms,notifications, ringtones, and ui.

Once the files are on your phone, reboot it and head to Settings then Sounds. From there simply pick the event you want to change the sound for set it to your preferred sound!

Bonus Tip: If you want to add your own sounds, simply create the folder structure mentioned above on your sdcard, then add your own audio files in the appropriate place. .OGG files work best, but .MP3 files will work, too. 

iPhone 4S Pre-Orders Come to Additional 22 Countries

As Apple iPhone 4S sales continue to reach new heights, more and more countries prepare for their first chances to get a crack at the phone, as well. Today, pre-orders for the iPhone 4S have opened-up for Apple fans living in an additional 22 nations.

Residents of Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland are now able to place their pre-orders. While that's largely a list of European nations, the presence of Mexico and Singapore show the growing global reach of the iPhone 4S.

If you get your pre-order in straight away, it looks like you still may be stuck waiting for about 1-2 weeks to pass before your phone is ready to ship. If you're impatient, you may have more luck holding off for retail sales to begin; for the countries on the above list, that means October 28. 

Netflix for Android Officially Recognizes CyanogenMod ROMs

If you've rooted your Android-powered phone andinstalled a nightly build of the CyanogenMod custom ROM, you probably have run into problems with the Netflix app at some point in time.

The problem had to do with Netflix' paranoia around securing their digitally delivered content, and only allowing playback on certain "approved" devices. Whenever Netflix pushed an update to their app it would usually stop working properly on phones running CyanogenMod ROMs.

CyanogenMod developers, being the skilled people they are, would come up with an update within a few days and Netflix would work again (albeit unsupported by the app maker) until the next update came along.

Not long ago Netflix lifted the "only on certain devices" restriction and the app should work on any Android 2.x or 3.x device. What's even more interesting is that Netflix is actually recognizing devices running CyanogenMod ROM!

The latest update includes the following entries in their changelog:

- Support for Android 3.x devices.
- Available in the USA, Canada and Latin America.
- Supports alternate audio and subtitles.
- Fix incompatibility with CyanogenMod 7 ROM devices.

Way to go, Netflix! 

Make Your Phone Look Like Ice Cream Sandwich with this CM Theme

While it's true that Android 4.0 Ice CreamSandwich has been announced, other than the Software Development Kit it hasn't been releasedyet.

That means you can't buy a phone running ICS and you can't flash a stock or custom ICS ROM onto your current phone.

But, all is not lost if you want your current phone tolook like it could be running ICS! XDA-Developersonnysekhon grabbed the goodies from the ICS SDK and stitched them all together into a nice theme.

If you're running a ROM that supports the Theme Engine (like most CyanogenMod ROMs and their derivatives do), all you need to do is download and install a single .apk, fire up Theme Chooser, and pick "ICS" from the list. You may get a note that "the theme is missing assets for your device's screen size", but you can apply anyway and things will likelywork just fine (if not, just select the "System" theme and you're right back to where you were before).

Find the download links at the source, and enjoy your "almost" Ice Cream Sandwich phone!