Xperia Play will not receive Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade

Sony's Xperia Play phone will not be updating to Android version 4.0, also known as "Ice Cream Sandwich," as noted on a recent product blog entry. Sony cites consistency and stability in its decision to withhold the phone from the list of devices receiving the upgrade, which was initially planned to release at the end of May/early June.

Sony explained that "after extensive in house testing with our developer teams and working with our partners, we have concluded that a consistent and stable experience, particularly with gaming, cannot be guaranteed for this smartphone on Ice Cream Sandwich." Its decision appears bolstered by feedback from advanced users and game developers that used a beta ROM of the Android version on their Xperia Play devices.

While instability in the software could compromise a "quality gaming experience" on the phone, we secretly want to believe that a patent unveiled in late April indicates a dual-keyboard device is on the way.