Xperia S Android ICS update to use 3.0 kernel

Over at xda-developers, recognised developer and FreeXperia member DooMLoRD has posted a screenshot from what is believed to be a test ICS build for the Sony Xperia S. DooMLoRD said that the “build looks polished but there are still some bugs which the devs are sorting out”. The screenshot shows the Xperia S running Android 4.0.3 with build number 6.1.A.0.226.

The interesting part, however, is that Sony Mobile is using a newer kernel (3.0.X) compared to the current kernel (2.6.35) in the existing Android 2.3.7 Xperia S firmware. The advantage of a newer kernel is the introduction of new features and optimisations. Earlier this year we questioned whether an updated linux kernel is planned post the ICS Xperia update. This now looks to be the case, at least for the newer 2012 Xperia smartphones.