Sony has announced their Jelly Bean update schedule: 'Good things come to those who wait!'
With Android updates the phrase 'good things come to those who wait' has never been more applicable. If you have a flagship phone you normally get an update within the first six months of a new update release, but for everyone else it's a long, painful and sometimes eternal wait for updates.
So far we've heard from Samsung, HTC and LG about their plans for Jelly Bean updates, but today Sony has come forward and offered up their plan.
Let's start with the bad news first. If you have a Sony branded device which was released before 2012 you will not be getting an update to Jelly Bean for your device direct from Sony. But, you may well be able to find a custom ROM or two!
Thankfully though the Xperia T, Xperia TX, and Xperia V will be getting updates, all of which are promised to arrive “from mid-Q1 2013″ and then they will be followed the global versions of the Xperia S, Xperia acro S, Xperia ion, Xperia P, Xperia go and Xperia J which will be getting their update next year, but we'll have to wait for “detailed timings.”
If you're a disgruntled owner of a 2011 smartphone which may not have been out for more than 18 months then Sony offers you this comfort; “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 again cited the performance issues as the reason for not updating, which is strange because Jelly Bean is meant to run better on lesser hardware than ICS! Perhaps though, they may just not have the time and money to update the huge portfolio of 2011 devices. But, on the plus side Sony is promising to "continue support [for] all these products with firmware maintenance releases. Although, we're not sure that's much of a consolation for Sony smartphone owners.
Via Android Community.
In other news:
- Verizon is set to start offering carrier billing for Google Play!
- Google has reportedly sold between 800,000 and a million Nexus 7's in Q3 alone!
- Microsoft's stores are reportedly taking reservations for launch day Surface tablets. You'll only be able to get them on the 26th (launch day), but if you simply must have one head along to your loocal store and ask nicely!
- Marvel: War of Heroes is now available for your iOS or Android device!
- The BBC has updated their iPlayer app to work nicely with Jelly Bean devices!
- Netflix has now officially opened their doors to Scandinavian customers. It's now available in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland!
- Google has threatened to exclude French media sites from their Search results in protest to France's planned law which would mean search engines would have to pay to put content on their search engine.
- Apple has chosen to remove Java from OS X browsers. If there is Java content available a site will display 'plug-in not available' where you have to option to manually install Java again.
- RIM has partnered with 7digital for BB10 music services, something which will bring a library of 22 million tracks to their upcoming smartphones!
