Date: 23/12/2011

Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich for MIPS Architecture is available

MIPS Technologies, Inc. has announced that Android 4.0.3, the latest release of the Android 4.0 platform also known as "Ice Cream Sandwich," is now available for the MIPS architecture. MIPS says the MIPS port was completed within 24 hours of being released by Google into open source on December 16th. The Android 4.0.3 code for MIPS is available for download at http://developer.mips.com.

MIPS reports that in January, an Android 4.0.3 over-the air (OTA) update will be available at www.ainovo.com for existing MIPS-Based Android tablets from Ainol Electronics Co., Ltd. and will also be pre-installed on tablets that begin shipping as of that time.

The open source release of Android 4.0.3 from Google contains support for MIPS' LLVM technology. MIPS says Over the past year it has developed this technology based on its belief that the LLVM open source compiler infrastructure will continue to gain acceptance across the industry as a basis for application portability. LLVM is an underpinning for key Android facilities such as the Renderscript applications programming interface (API) and MIPS has contributed its technology to the official Android source tree because of its strategic importance for application developers, stated in the release.

"Following our recent announcement with our customer Ingenic about availability of the world's first Android 4.0 tablet, we are pleased to enable all MIPS licensees to bring the latest release of Android to their consumer devices such as DTVs, set-top boxes, automotive infotainment and service gateways, as well as MIPS-Based smartphones and tablets," said Gideon Intrater, vice president of marketing, MIPS Technologies.