Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime to get Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

 

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Posted on 4 Jan 2012 at 10:08

Asus has confirmed that it will be bringing Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich' to its latest Transformer Prime tablet later this month, as the company faces criticisms about the quality of the product.

Designed as a replacement to the Eee Pad Transformer - Asus' original Android tablet, and the first to feature a keyboard docking station with in-built battery for eighteen hours of continuous use - the Transformer Prime is the first tablet on sale in the UK with Nvidia's quad-core Tegra 3 'Kal-El' mobile processor, but shipped with the outdated Android 3.2 'Honeycomb' operating system.

Asus has confirmed that an update to Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich,' which offers a raft of improvements over its predecessor as well as an open code base lacked by 'Honeycomb,' is coming on the 12th of January; but users are complaining of bugs in the design not addressed by a recent incremental update.

Updating the device to version 8.8.3.33, the incremental update addressed issues with the performance of the touch-screen interface, issues in the Android Market and problems focusing the rear-facing camera on the device.

Despite the upgrade, users are still complaining of problems; in particular issues with poor GPS reception.

Sadly for Transformer Prime owners, that's not something that will be fixed any time soon; in a statement to its customers, Asus claimed: "The Asus Transformer Prime is made from a metallic unibody design, so the material may affect the performance of the GPS when receiving signals from satellites.

"Please note that this product is not a professional GPS device, and signal performance can be easily influenced by factors including, but not limited to: weather, buildings, and surrounding environments. Please understand there are limitations when using the GPS function. To avoid inconveniencing users who demand a powerful GPS device, we made the decision to remove it from our specification sheet and marketing communications. We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused."

The company has also confirmed that an unlock tool for the device's bootloader - which currently prevents 'modders' from loading tweaked or alternative operating systems on the device - will be made available shortly, but warns that any Transformer Prime treated in such a way will have its warranty rendered null and void.

Author: Gareth Halfacree