Neither of those phones were updated in the US so they really don't matter in this case as the Nexus S 4G is a North American phone only.
The international version of phones will usually
always be updated by OEMs before a US phone as US carriers will want to add bloatware and will also require testing of their own before they push the update. Chances are the Nexus S and Nexus S 4G will be the first in the US to receive the update while the Galaxy Nexus is the first phone in the world to have ICS.
I made a post about this whole fiasco on Google+ and Jean-Baptiste Queru who works for Google as a Software Engineer for Android Open-Source Project (AOSP) had this to say in my post:
From where I sit, I focus very much on the Open-Source side of Android, so I don't quite have much visibility over the entire approval process for retail updates. I released the proprietary binaries that can be used to make version 4.0.3 of the Android Open-Source Project run on Nexus S 4G, at the same time as the other 4.0.3 binaries.
In the specific case of Nexus S 4G, I don't know how long the operator approval for 4.0.x is expected to take (but I know from experience that this phase alone varies from one operator to the next from a few weeks to a few months).
At the technical level, Nexus S 4G caused a few specific difficulties because of the WiMAX aspects, but those have all been resolved.
Speaking a lot more generally, I very much appreciate the enthusiasm around Android, but at times I believe that at times some people set their expectations a little bit too high. Even for flagship devices, there's a bit of delay in order for operators to check that the updated device works well across their entire network and to train their support staff to the specifics of the new version.
This is the same person who said on Twitter that Android 4.0.4 is unfinished. He also had this to say:
Rhcp @rhcp011235
@jbqueru Hehe, So, I guess you confirmed we wont see 4.0.4 but we will see a 4.0.5 release
Jean-Baptiste Queru @jbqueru
@rhcp011235 No, I didn't
I confirmed that 4.0.4 isn't done yet
https://twitter.com/#!/jbqueru/status/175643037421154304
Don Rhummy @donrhummy
@jbqueru Can you give us some idea of what functionality in 4.0.4 is not yet done?
Jean-Baptiste Queru @jbqueru
@donrhummy At this point it's all bugfixing. I know there are some kernel and some telephony issues being looked at, dunno the details.
https://twitter.com/#!/jbqueru/status/175712809684971521
Don Rhummy @donrhummy
@jbqueru Thanks! Any idea why there's been no updates about this? The lack of communication has left Nexus owners a bit frustrated.
Jean-Baptiste Queru @jbqueru
@donrhummy It's not ready yet, so any pre-announcement would run the risk of being inaccurate.
https://twitter.com/#!/jbqueru/status/175755685877919744
So there you have it, straight from an actual employee of Google who works on AOSP. It's not an announcement (as he said, that would be a bad idea) but it's as official as we will ever get. It's pretty much straight from Google themselves.
TL;DR:
-Android 4.0.4 is unfinished and contains kernel and telephony issues. It's also got bugfixing to be done.
-According to Jean-Baptiste Queru, there will not be an announcement of any kind as the update is currently unfinished and could possibly be inaccurate by the time you read it.
-The 4.0.3 NS4G binaries have been finished for a while now. Google has done their part for that but it's apparent that Sprint decided to skip that and go to 4.0.4.
-Since the 4.0.4 update is unfinished, we're waiting on Google to finish bug testing then we must wait for Sprint to test the update internally and then brief their employees as GB > ICS is a pretty big upgrade and people will have questions.
-When 4.0.4 is finished, it could take weeks to a few months for us to actually receive it.
Honestly, the rumor of 4.0.5 releasing next Thursday is looking even more flawed as they probably aren't going to push 4.0.5 BEFORE 4.0.4.
Since I had so much fun posting this
actual information, I guess I'll just update this thread with this type of information from time to time. It's certainly more productive than trying to convince people to stop with conspiracy theories. :|