Samsung Galaxy Note
Samsung Galaxy Note Samsung.com

Despite a recent announcement from Samsung saying that the update to Android 4.0 on the Galaxy Note would be delayed until Q2, a new report surfaced Wednesday claiming the leak of an official Ice Cream Sandwich ROM for the AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note.

Samsung's dessert kitchen sent another delightful treat our way and we're passing it on to you. Another yummy leak, courtesy of Samsung and Rootzwiki, said the development site Rootzwiki that had leaked the ICS ROM.

Before releasing this link, we've spent quite a bit of time doing some testing and quality control to make sure you're going to end up with a satisfactory experience rather than a very attractive paperweight, the Rootzwiki post read.

The folks at The Verge said they'd also tested out the ROM and confirmed that everything is working as it should. According to the site, similar to the Android 4.0 ROM for the Galaxy S2, nothing much has been changed in the ICS ROM for the Note. Still, the notable visual additions could be Face Unlock and the new multitasking menu.

As provided by Rootzwiki's internal build tester, the key working features include:

  • Face Unlock is fully functional
  • LTE connections are solid and up to speed
  • Phone calls work great both ways
  • Audio quality is up to par
  • Stereo Bluetooth is fully functional
  • MMS is fully functional
  • GPS is fully functional
  • Google Talk and Video Chat work
  • Google Voice is fully functional
  • Task Manager is smooth and transitions are quick
  • Downloaded Flash video and in-browser video works flawlessly
  • Chrome autosync is fully functional
  • AT&T Hotspot functionality works, external devices connect fine

The internal build tester also noticed a few changes in some of the tools: Samsung Planner is now called Calendar; new Calendar widgets include Month, Mini Task, Three Day Task, Mini Today, Agenda, Task, and Mini Agenda; and there is a new Samsung Memo widget as well.

The Rootzwiki post also talked about some issues and design decisions that users will have to face, but they are considered minor challenges.

  • Premium Suite is not included in this build
  • The TouchWiz launcher crashes on first boot, but not on subsequent boots
  • The TouchWiz launcher crashes upon adding a Google Play account
  • This build will increase your flash counter

This build will not wipe your external SDCard on install, but the internal SDCard will be formatted while installing this build, Rootzwiki post said.

The only way now for users to get the build on their device is to manually flash an update via their PC. Even if it's quite safe to do so, the custom firmware monitor on the Galaxy Note will flag the manual update, canceling the warranty, according to The Verge.

Users who care less about the warranty issue can go ahead and ditch Gingerbread to embrace Ice Cream Sandwich.

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