9 replies to this topic

[hecatae]

Sony were glad to provide the Android 4.0.4 upgrade for their 2011 Xperia portfolio across most markets and the majority of models but, after thorough evaluation, they have concluded 2011 models will not be upgraded beyond Ice Cream Sandwich.

Their reasoning is...

Quote

Beyond Ice Cream Sandwich we would not able to guarantee owners of these smartphones the user experience you expect and we demand. We will however, continue to support all these products with firmware maintenance releases.

So that's the bad news... the good news?

Quote

Sony can confirm the global versions of Xperia T, Xperia TX, Xperia V, Xperia S, Xperia Acro S, Xperia Ion, Xperia P, Xperia Go and Xperia J will be upgraded to Android 4.1

Xperia T, TX and V will receive Jellybean from Q1 2013. The other mentioned devices will receive updates in due course.

There are however some 2012 devices that are currently in limbo, upgrade unknown - the Xperia U, Sola, Miro and Tipo.

Opinions? The 2011 range reasoning leaves a sour taste in my mouth, Sony should allow all 2011 devices to be fully unlocked if they are unwilling to support them past Android 4.0.

[Via: Sony Mobile]

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[jamoiholland]

If you compare Sony to Sony for updates (last 18 months only) then it seems harsh by them, but remember how bad some other manufacturers are in comparison. Personally I found the Ray as good as unusable when bumped up to ICS on stock, so Jelly Bean probably is a step too far for that device in particular. O2 didn't even allow the ICS update on the Ray and other devices, as it performed so badly they thought it would just generate a shed load of support calls from unhappy users! Maybe Sony are using the "user experience" tag to mask the fact that they don't want to spend development time on Jelly Bean for these phones, an activity that doesn't directly generate any revenue at the end of the day. Maybe some indirect revenue is generated from users knowing Sony "always does latest updates" and hence they would buy from Sony again, but that goodwill probably doesn't outweigh the development costs. </2p>

[razzmataz1478]

Owners of the U, Miro etc should get compensation in my opinion. If the Nexus S is capable of running JB then these (especially the XU) should be able to handle it fine.

[k0nrad]

Especially since Xperia U and Sola are exactly the same SoC and RAM as Xperia P, I don't get this decision. Maybe it's all about testing, but I still don't get it.

[razzmataz1478]

k0nrad, on 20 October 2012 - 12:04 PM, said:

Especially since Xperia U and Sola are exactly the same SoC and RAM as Xperia P, I don't get this decision. Maybe it's all about testing, but I still don't get it.

Agreed, it's ridiculous.

[tilal6991]

I'm fairly sure they will get it as they have the same chipset as the Sony Go. Nothing has been said that's all.

[ezablade]

jamoiholland, on 20 October 2012 - 10:18 AM, said:

O2 didn't even allow the ICS update on the Ray and other devices, as it performed so badly  </2p>

Maybe if Sony didn't riddle their phones with useless non-removable bloat, it would run better. I despair at the number of apps that are constantly running, for no particular reason, that I don't want. I know them just sitting there doesn't impact much, but, the fact that they are there at all gets under my skin!

After my contract is up, you can be sure I won't be going anywhere near Sony or O2 ever again.

[razzmataz1478]

tilal6991, on 20 October 2012 - 07:37 PM, said:

I'm fairly sure they will get it as they have the same chipset as the Sony Go. Nothing has been said that's all.

The only thing facing Sony is time, and they'll use a lot of it, so by the time they've updated all the above devices, the devices that have been left unannounced, won't get it because they will be outside that 18 month support window!

That's the only thing that worries me, because XU and Sola are fully capable.

So yeah, Sony haven't said anything because they know that they might run out of time.

[Redstarr1]

When the P and Go updates arrive it might be easy to port it over to the U/Sola. Anyway I wouldn't panic, they just aren't confirmed yet.

I'm glad it's official my Xperia S is getting an update. Though I'm not really sure what "in due course" means. I hope the schedule goes a bit like the ICS-update, so older devices get it first. Otherwise it could be Q2 before the Xperia S gets an update, almost a year after the ICS update.

If the update is a bit like the transition from GB to ICS, the wait would be worth it though.

[scuzzbucket]

In my opinion, one aspect to look at is which devices are Sony Ericsson developed, and which are purely Sony developed. It&#39;s not the only reason, but it is something to consider. It seems that they want shot of SE devices altogether. Also, ICS on 2011 devices runs a bit like a lame dog if you stick to unmodified stock. The ICS update was terrible for anyone who liked playing games, and the major reason for not updating the Play. The phones are capable of running JB as FXP have been bringing CM10 nightlies for a good while, and I&#39;m using a JB build of MIUI at the moment, but it pushes the phones to their limits. There would be many many unhappy &quot;normal&quot; customers out there with a troublesome JB build.<br /><br />@redstarr1 - I think the S is due in Nov/Dec. They come with ICS out the box these days I believe.

Edited by scuzzbucket, 22 October 2012 - 07:03 PM.