UK mobile operator O2 has announced that the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update will not be released for three of its 2011 Xperia handsets – the Xperia arc, Xperia neo and Xperia ray. Apparently O2 has been testing the potential update over the last few months but O2 says that the “the testing didn’t meet our requirements”.
More specifically they found that the “software update affected the phone’s speed and performance” on three different versions of ICS software tested. Given the performance hit and the inability to roll back to an earlier version of Android, O2 decided to not sanction the update. O2 confirmed that these phones will remain on Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread and, as things stand, no new software will be available going forward.
The news is a bit of a bummer for O2 owners of these phones, but highlights the tightrope which both mobile manufacturers and operators tread when deciding which handsets should be updated. Sony Mobile should be commended in updating the entire 2011 Xperia line-up to ICS. However, Sony itself talked of the issues users may face before the ICS update started to roll out.
Maybe, Sony Mobile would be better off only updating the handsets with enough grunt to do it justice? This would obviously create disappointment for those on phones with weaker hardware, but judging by chatter on here and other forums, many people are frustrated by the slow performance of ICS on their handsets. So what do you think Sony should do – update the higher-end phones only, or carry on as they are doing? Let us know in the comments below.
Via O2.
