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If you’ve got one of Sony’s Xperia smart phones and were hoping to bring in the new year with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean on board, then bad news I’m afraid — Sony has announced that it won’t roll out upgrades until February next year.
Sony’s flagship — and Bond’s favourite — the Xperia T will be first in line, receiving the update from February, with the Xperia S, P, J, Go and Ion to follow “in due course”. That could mean either a few days or months, so I wouldn’t get too excited about getting the latest version of Android on your Xperia P just yet.
Sony only specifically discussed the upgrade schedule for its mobiles released in 2012. It hasn’t yet mentioned anything about earlier models — such as the Xperia Arc S — so don’t expect an update to arrive at the same time, if it ever arrives at all.
Considering the Xperia T is Sony’s top model and has only just gone on sale, it’s pretty poor form that it didn’t ship with Jelly Bean on board as standard. The fact that you’ll have to wait until at least February to receive the update will seem unforgivable for the more hardcore Android addicts among you.
The timing couldn’t be worse for Sony as Samsung has just announced that its flagship Galaxy S3 will be receiving Jelly Bean in the next couple of weeks. By the time Sony fans get their hands on it, S3 owners will have grown tired of Jelly Bean and will already be looking wistfully towards the next version, Key Lime Pie.
While Jelly Bean might not be a massive overhaul to the interface, it brings a few key features to get excited about. Frame rates of page transitions have been increased, making swiping around the homescreens buttery smooth and you’ll be able to use Google Now which learns from your search history and travel habits to bring you crucial information before you’ve had to search for it.
Take a break from hitting the update button for now, Sony fans, we’ll bring you the news when the update finally goes live next year. In the meantime, make sure to tell me your thoughts on Sony’s software update tactics in the comments below and over on our Facebook page.
