Motorola has outlined its plans for adopting the latest mobile operating system from Google, its parent company, on Thursday.

“Like you, we are excited to see that Google released the source code to Android Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS)! We’d like to address the question many of you have now - when can I get my ICS? There are many steps and processes that go into Ice Cream Sandwich in a way that works for the carrier and for you. Once source code is released from Google, it doesn’t automatically update to your device,” the company stated on its blog before spilling some beans on the what, where, why, and when.

After detailing the lengthy process that it takes to get Ice Cream Sandwich, and all previous operating systems, from the drawing board to a reality in your pocket, Motorola did detail some info on which smartphones would definitely be getting an update.

"We are planning on upgrading as many of our phones as possible,” Motorola promises. "The ability to offer the upgrade depends on a number of factors including the hardware/device capabilities, the underlying chipset software support, the ICS support and then the ability to support the Motorola value add software."

By those measures, according to Motorola, that means that the Droid RAZR by Motorola, Motorola RAZR, Motorola Xoom (including Family Edition) and Droid Bionic by Motorola will all get an Ice Cream Sandwich makeover for starters.

Missing from that list however is the Motorola Xoom 2 and the Motorola Atrix range which was only launched at the beginning of 2011. That could change of course, suggests Motorola:

"We will provide more precise guidance on timing after post-public push of Ice Cream Sandwich by Google, as well as any possible additions to this list of devices," adds Motorola.

The worrying thing for owners of the devices could be this sentence:

"Each carrier has different requirements for phases 2 and 3. There may be a two-month preparation cycle to enter a carrier lab cycle of one to three months."

That suggests ICS on Motorola devices isn't going to be anytime soon.