Android 4.0 ICS Already Ported On HTC Thunderbolt

Now that’s a surprise. Coming soon after the announce that Google Nexus One will NOT receive official Ice Cream Sandwich builds, it seems that eager testers have somehow worked up a pre-alpha release of Android 4.0 and ported it on the Verizon HTC Thunderbolt. Although many things are not working, it’s a big step into the new customizing era. The custom ROM was cooked using the official Android ICS software development kit (SDK), made available to download for developers on the same day when the new OS was officially announced.

Using the SDK, a member of ROOTzwiki has managed to configure a bootable Android 4.0 custom ROM for the HTC Thunderbolt. Being a very limited pre-alpha release, this version is purely homemade. The only thing actually working is the boot process, meaning you can start the phone and enjoy the nice sequence. As stated by the developers, there are some chances that lights, sensors and even Wi-Fi is working, but these cannot be tested without touchscreen support. Camera, audio output and data transfer are also not working.
It may not seem as much but counting that officially, this version is not even out yet, it is a major step. We may have to say that HTC Thunderbolt users may be one of the firsts to get unofficial builds of ICS in the near future. Those willing to test this one their own can download the file from here. The steps of flashing a custom ROM are same as always.

Speaking of officials, Google has promised to release the source code for Android Ice Cream Sandwich right after Galaxy Nexus hits the scene, alongside official updates for the Nexus S. This will be the day when developers worldwide will rejoice and when ICS will start unofficially hitting more devices than I can list in one minute.

So, what do you think? Will you go for that very early build, just to see how that Ice Cream Sandwich boots on the HTC Thunderbolt? Or will you expect for more advanced versions, when Google finally releases the new operating system version?

For those who do not know, the HTC Thunderbolt is a 4.3-inch displayed beast, running on Android 2.3 ( Gingerbread ) and powered by a classic Qualcomm 1GHz processor. The phone supports LTE data transfers and has an 8-megapixel back camera, ideal for taking high quality pictures. Speaking of speed, the smartphone runs on 768 MB of RAM and offers 8GB of built-in memory and expanding possibilities up to 32GB.