Sprint Starts Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch Ice Cream Sandwich Rollout

Sprint can now add the to its growing list of Ice Cream Sandwich-equipped smartphones.

The over-the-air update began rolling out to users Thursday, according to Sprint's official message board, bringing with it Google security patches and email enhancements.

The rollout begins today and all Epic 4G owners can expect the update "in the next month," Sprint said. ICS will automatically download onto your phone and prompt you to install the update before the several-minute installation process.

Once complete, the Android 4.0.4 OS will offer users Face Unlock, the new facial-recognition technology to personally unlock your phone, as well as a redesigned camera with panorama mode, effects and a built-in photo editor. An updated Web browser will allow for syncing of Google Chrome bookmarks.

Also included in the platform update are an improved keyboard, new calendar app that syncs directly with Google Calendar and Microsoft Exchange, redesigned Gmail, and Google+ integration.

Can't wait to get your hands on Android's Ice Cream Sandwich? For a limited time beginning July 15, Sprint is offering a "buy one, get one free" deal on the Epic 4G Touch.

Samsung also announced Thursday an update for U.S. Cellular's WiMAX-less SCH-R760 Galaxy S II, but not a full ICS download. Engadget cleared up some confusion yesterday, saying that U.S. Cellular customers' ICS wait will continue, since this week's update simply resolves an issue with getting GPS lock, "and that's it," Engadget said.

T-Mobile and AT&T started the trend last month, providing Galaxy S II users the Android 4.0 update on June 12 and June 26, respectively.

Despite the recent unveiling of , most carriers are still rolling out the 4.0 platform to smartphones. For more on that, see .

Also check out PCMag's .