Sony has provided us with several updates on the progress of its Android 4.0 upgrade process, offering details on which of its products will receive Ice Cream Sandwich updates and when those updates are expected to be pushed out. Today the company published some up-to-date information on its ICS rollout, and unfortunately it seems that the Xperia PLAY has been removed from Sony's update plans. Sony explains that after working with both its developers and partners, it's come to the decision that it can't guarantee "a consistent and stable experience" with Android 4.0 on the Xperia PLAY, particularly when it comes to gaming. As a result, Sony won't be releasing an ICS update for the device.
As for Sony handsets that will be receiving updates to Android 4.0, the company says that the Xperia S will be bumped up at the end of June, with the Xperia P's update coming after that and then the Xperia U following in Q3. Sony also confirmed that its remaining 2011 Xperias that have yet to receive ICS (Xperia arc, Xperia neo, Xperia mini, Xperia mini pro, Xperia pro, Xperia active and Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman) will begin to be updated next week. The updates will move those phones up to Android 4.0.4. Sony says that the devices that have already been updated to Android 4.0.3 (Xperia arc S, Xperia ray and Xperia neo V) will receive updates to Android 4.0.4 as well.
This news is definitely a bummer for Xperia PLAY owners, especially considering that the gaming-centric handset had been included in Sony's Android 4.0 plans as recently as the end of March. The Verizon Xperia PLAY was recently updated to Android 2.3.4, but the device formerly known as the PlayStation Phone wasn't mentioned in either AT&T or Verizon's Ice Cream Sandwich update schedules, and now we've got confirmation that it will indeed live out the remainder of its life on Gingerbread. For Sony's full statement on the matter, you can hit up the source link below.
