Sony rolling out new ICS version for Xperia P, U, go and sola

Sony recently announced that it would be rolling out a new version of Ice Cream Sandwich for the Xperia P, Xperia U, Xperia go and Xperia sola over the coming weeks. The new version of ICS will address issues such as bug fixes and improve the overall performance of the devices.

Sony has stated that the update includes improvements such as stability, Wi-Fi, tethering/ portable hotspot, camera (capture and playback), NFC and Messaging.

Sony has detailed that all Xperia P users will get a notification when the upgrade is ready, but direct availability may vary across different markets and carriers. Owners should note that if your Xperia U, Xperia go or Xperia sola has been upgraded to ICS, you'll receive a notification, after which you'll be able to download the update over-the-air.

Roll out happening for a handful of devices

Users of devices running Gingerbread will need to plug in and upgrade to ICS using the PC Companion or Bridge for Mac. For more information on how to update your device, click here.

Sony recently stated that that it would be revealing the detailed timings and more information about the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update for its 2012 smartphones sometime this month.

In response to a tweet that asked about the Jelly Bean update, Sony tweeted, "@UsmanSyedMahmud Hey, thanks for stopping by - we'll be back with more detailed timings and info on this by mid-December."

In the latter half of October, Sony announced that Android 4.1 Jelly Bean would be rolled out to various smartphones in the first quarter of 2013. However, no information regarding the release schedule and the time frame was provided at the time.

The handsets scheduled to receive Jelly Bean are some of the company's latest models, which include the Xperia T, Xperia TX, and Xperia V. Sony revealed that global models of the Xperia S, Xperia acro S, Xperia ion, Xperia P, Xperia go, and Xperia J would also be upgraded to Android v4.1.

However, as far as updates to new Android versions go, this is the end of the line for the 2011 Xperia models. Sony stated on its blog: “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.” Sony stated that upgrading to versions higher than Ice Cream Sandwich would not guarantee owners of these smartphones a decent user experience. Sony will, however, continue to support all these products with firmware maintenance releases.

So it seems if you own a 2011 Xperia device, you'll remain stuck on ICS forever — unless you install an aftermarket ROM like CynanogenMod 10. But what's so great about Jelly Bean, you ask? Well, Android 4.1 builds on top of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. This operating system is designed to make everything smoother, faster, and more fluid. Notifications are now more dynamic, allowing you to access and interact with the alert from the drop down menu itself without ever having to open the app. Another interesting feature is that voice typing is now faster, working even when the phone is not connected to the Internet. Google states that it has re-designed search from the ground up in Jelly Bean with a new user interface and faster, more natural Voice Search.