Xperia Arc & Play Ice Cream Sandwich Update Scheduled for March-May 2012

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Samsung unveiled yesterday its Ice Cream Sandwich plans for some of the Galaxy-branded Android smartphones and tablets and today we have similar news from Sony Ericsson, as the company released more details about its own Android 4.0 roll out for Xperia devices.

The company will update its entire 2011 Xperia portfolio to ICS, which is great news for Android users that purchased one of the following products this year: “Xperia Arc and Arc S, Xperia Play, Xperia Neo and Neo V, Xperia Mini and Mini Pro, Xperia Pro, Xperia Active, Xperia Ray as well as Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman.” Owners of 2010 Xperia-branded devices will probably have to keep using the current Android OS version that’s installed on their handsets.

Just like Samsung, Sony Ericsson failed to mention actual ICS release dates for the devices mentioned above. What we do know is that the company will release the ICS gradually, from March to May as follows:

• End of March / early April: Xperia Arc S, Xperia Neo V, Xperia Ray
• End of April / early May: Xperia Arc, Xperia Play, Xperia Neo, Xperia Mini, Xperia Mini Pro, Xperia Pro, Xperia Active, Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman

Sony Ericsson also explained its Android update process, which is probably similar to other device makers’ upgrade rituals:

• It starts with public push when we as a manufacturer get access to the new Android release from Google
• Our developers take the existing Xperia™ software and combine it with the new Android release
• Once the coding is done we want to make sure the quality of the new software meets our, our partners and your expectations
• Now we feel the new software is ready but we also need to make sure it’s approved by our external partners
• All good. We’re all set to roll-out the new software. The story continues in your Xperia™ smartphone

In other words, no matter how fast Sony Ericsson will complete the ICS builds for the handsets mentioned above, it’s still up to the carriers to release them, so don’t be surprised if you’ll receive a notification warning later than the expected roll out window suggested by the company!