Sony announces Jelly Bean update for various Xperia models

Sony has recently announced that the Android v4.1 (Jelly Bean) update will be released to a number of Xperia models in the first quarter of 2013.

The handsets that are scheduled to receive the Jelly Bean update in the first quarter of 2013 are the brand’s latest models, which include the Xperia T, Xperia TX, and Xperia V. Sony has announced that global models of the Xperia S, Xperia acro S, Xperia ion, Xperia P, Xperia go, and Xperia J will be upgraded to Android v4.1. However, as of now, there is no word on the date of availability of Android v4.1 for these handsets.

Jelly Bean coming to new Sony Xperia handsets early next year

As per the announcement by Sony, “We were glad to provide the Android 4.0.4 upgrade for our 2011 Xperia portfolio across most markets and the majority of models but, after thorough evaluation, we have concluded they will not be upgraded beyond Ice Cream Sandwich.” It now appears that as far as updates go, it is the end of the line for the 2011 Xperia models.  Sony states that upgrading to versions higher than Ice Cream Sandwich would not guarantee owners of these smartphones the user experience they expect and Sony demands. Sony will, however, continue to support all these products with firmware maintenance releases. 

For those not in the know, this flagship handset from Sony, the Xperia T comes equipped with a 4.6-inch HD display. Commenting on this Sony says that along with the Mobile Bravia Engine in tow, it is capable of offering razor sharp clarity. With most of the major brands going the quad-core direction, Sony has opted for a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and the reason behind this, the brand states, is that it is for an improved battery life, fast performance and sharp graphics.

Commenting on the launch of the Sony Xperia T at the IFA 2012 event, Kunimasa Suzuki, President and CEO of Sony Mobile Communications, said, “This year's IFA marks an important milestone for Sony and Sony Mobile Communications. Xperia smartphones are at the heart of Sony's mobile strategy of delivering a consistent user experience across devices, enabling consumers to easily and quickly access the world of entertainment that Sony delivers”

Here is a quick look at the highlighted features of the Sony Xperia T:

• 4.6-inch HD Reality Display powered by the Mobile BRAVIA Engine
• LTE, UMTS / HSPA+ radios, NFC
• 13MP fast capture camera with LED flash and a 720p HD front camera
• Full 1080p HD video recording capabilities
• 16GB internal memory along with a MicroSD card slot
• MicroSIM
• FM radio, MHL

With Android Jelly Bean already becoming official at this year’s Google I/O, one would expect the handset to run the latest version of the Google mobile operating system straight out of the box, this is not the case and it comes equipped with Android v4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich). However, the brand has announced that an upgrade to Android v4.1 (Jelly Bean) will be available shortly after the Xperia T is launched. The smartphone is powered by a 1.5GHz dual core Qualcomm MSM8260A Snapdragon S4 processor and it features 1GB of RAM and an Adreno 225 GPU.

The handset also comes equipped with NFC capabilities and with this, users can tap to connect to other Sony NFC capable devices by using ‘a one touch function.’  Commenting on this feature Sony says, “Sony is putting NFC at the heart of content sharing through its 'One-touch' function, taking NFC beyond the traditional uses such as e-ticketing and payments. Now, consumers can easily and instantaneously enjoy their music and photos across an array of NFC enabled Sony devices, by simply touching one to another to establish a wireless connection without a cumbersome pairing process.”

As expected, this will be the handset that will be first in the running to get the Jelly Bean update.