When Google released Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich late last year, it was only expected for smartphone manufacturers to rearrange their schedules to accommodate the development of the latest iteration of the Google mobile operating system for the more capable handsets in their respective stables. Not only that, we also saw these same manufacturers take center stage and get their share of digital ink whenever they release updates about the status of the Ice Cream Sandwich development for their handsets.
In the case of Sony, when the manufacturer first came out with the list of handsets that will get a taste of Ice Cream Sandwich, the company confirmed that its Xperia line of smartphones will get upgraded to the Android 4.0 refresh. In fact, Sony was one of the first manufacturers to come clean and be transparent about its plans of bringing ICS to its handsets. Not only that, the manufacturer also dutifully kept us updated with details as to where they were at in terms of ICsSdevelopment and at one point even offered beta products for download and testing of developers and the more advanced users among our smartphone-crazed brethren.
And when Sony first confirmed the release of ICS for its Xperia line of devices, the Sony Xperia Play was actually included in the handsets of the company that will get a taste of ICS for that matter. Sad to say, there seems to be a bad news if you happen to have a Sony Xperia Play for your mobile weapon of choice because with the updated ICS list that the manufacturer recently released, the handset is nowhere to be found in the list of handsets that will get a taste of Ice Cream Sandwich in the future.
It turns out that the company has already shelved its plans of getting the smartphone slash gaming console updated to the latest Android version. According to Sony, their developer teams working on the iCS update for the Sony Xperia Play did extensive and exhaustive testing on the supposed ICS update for the handset only to find out that that particular version of the android operating system will not be able to bring a stable and consistent experience to the handset in general and to its gaming in particular, which happens to be the selling point of the Sony Xperia Play.
With this, Sony concludes that the latest version of Android cannot be handled properly by the Sony Xperia Play and despite the disappointment that this piece of news will bring to users of the handset, it still is very commendable of Sony to be upfront and honest about it instead of keeping mum and avoiding the issue for as long as possible. Disappoint though it may be, I’m pretty sure that users of the Sony Xperia Play will at one point in time get over this and still enjoy the gaming experience brought about by the handset, an experience that is said to match the one brought about by real gaming consoles.
