Xperia Play denied Ice Cream Sandwich
Sony confirms it's stuck with Gingerbread, handset isn't powerful enough
Published: 28 May, 2012
READ MORE: US | Sony Corp | Handset | Android
There's some bad news for Xperia Play owners who were anticipating an update to Ice Cream Sandwich as Sony issued a statement at the end of the last week indicating that it just isn't going to happen. According to an email sent to Phone Scoop the reasons given are that Android 4.0 is too much of a drain on the Play's resources and that running the latest version of the OS reduces the gaming experience on the handset to an unacceptable level.
While a beta version of Android 4.0 for the Play was released earlier this year the feedback from developers and internal testing indicated the update for the handset was a no go. RAM, CPU power and network bandwidth are being reported as the three areas in which the Play just wasn't up to scratch.
Despite months of anticipation and hype the Play arrived to a lukewarm reception and failed to be quite the attractive hybrid of a mobile phone and a handheld gaming console that it promised. It has been treated to several price cuts since its release but this latest news is probably going to do it no favours in attracting new customers.
Meanwhile other Sony users can look forward to upgrades coming to their devices including this year's new Xperia devices as well as 2011's range of Xperia handsets. Unfortunately it seems like the Xperia Play's unique selling point is the main factor in it not receiving the updated OS.
So far Sony's update rollout is going as planned and last month the arc S, ray and neo V all got to taste ICS. From next week the rest of Sony's 2011 Xperias, including the arc, neo, mini, mini pro and active, will start getting their updates. Sony insists that its priority is to deliver the best user experience on its handsets though no doubt this will be little consolation to owners of the Xperia Play.
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