The long wait for the Android 4.0 update for Samsung's Galaxy Note has been further extended, with the giant Asian mobile device maker admitting this week that Ice Cream Sandwich's (ICS) arrival will be delayed.

Digital Trends reported on Thursday that the 'half-smartphone half-tablet' gadget from Samsung will only get the much anticipated ICS upgrade by the second quarter of 2012, likely around April or June.

ICS, which has been around since last year, was first flagged to finally be deployed on the Galaxy Note middle March, originally meant to update the 'phablet' along with the Galaxy SII and the Galaxy Tabs 8.9 and 10.1.

But Samsung belatedly admitted that the new software will not be deployed after all, at least not in this month and the immediate weeks thereafter.

Announcing on its Norwegian Facebook page, Samsung said the ICS upgrade for the Note will have to wait for a little more, dismaying owners of the device that has so far elicited mixed but generally favourable reviews from tech experts.

To compensate for the delay, almost a given on the glitch-plagued Android update process, Samsung announced too that the ICS arrival will be packed with new applications that the tech firm christened as 'Premium Suite'.

According to Digital Trends, the suite was a combo of productivity and custom-based application that works best with the Galaxy Note's S-Pen stylus.

The new apps will integrate the functions of creating notes and editing images in a singular platform that in turn would store and hold the completed works like that of the scrapbook.

Also to come with the update is the freshly launched Angry Birds Space, with features that Samsung will remain exclusive to Galaxy Note, which last month was touted by the South Korean firm as its main tablet arm against Apple's iPad.

As in previous updates of its mobile products, "the availability and scheduling of the software upgrade will vary by market and wireless carriers' requirements," the Samsung Facebook advisory said.

Transitioning in the Android eco-system has become a perennial problem, which tech experts have attributed to the complication of having numerous vendors and telcos having their say on deploying the updates.

Google provides Android for free but device vendors need to reconfigure the mobile OS according to their specifications, further delaying the process of updating or replacing the old platform versions.

It remains unclear if the 'Premium Suite' will also be made available to other Samsung smartphones and tablets, Digital Trends said.