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For Ice Cream Sandwich, the source code is version 4.0.1, the version that will run on the upcoming Galaxy Nexus handset. A build target for the handset is included in the release.

A full history of the Android source code is included, which means that sources for Honeycomb are available, but those files have not been paired with a Honeycomb release. The officialannouncement states that as Honeycomb was a little incomplete, Google wants developers to focus on Ice Cream Sandwich.

Google had previously refused to release the Honeycomb source, saying that Honeycomb was not ready to be customized in the manner of the Android 2.x series.

With the Ice Cream Sandwich source available, third-party vendors will now be able to modify and target the operating system. Research In Motion (RIM) has said previously that its Android player for the new BBX operating system could not target Honeycomb applications because the Android source was not freely available.

The code can be downloaded from Android’s Git servers