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Sony dishes ICS update plans for Xperia line, excludes Play

Sony is prepping almost all of its Xperia phones for Android Ice Cream Sandwich, with a notable exception.

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Sony Xperia P
The Sony Xperia P will be Sony's second phone to update to Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

Sony confirmed today in a blog post that it will give the people what they want: updates to the Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS in a handful of Sony Xperia smartphones.

The Sony Xperia S will start off the pack at the end of June, followed by the Xperia P, and later in the third quarter, the Xperia U.

Update plans don't end there. Starting next week, Sony will also pull the Xperia Arc, Xperia Neo, Xperia Mini and Mini Pro, Xperia Pro, Xperia Active, and Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman phones from 2.3 Gingerbread to 4.0.4

Last month, Sony began an Ice Cream Sandwich rollout phase to the Xperia Arc S, Xperia Ray, and Xperia Neo V.

Owners of the Xperia Play gaming smartphone won't be as lucky. After testing ICS on the device, Sony determined that a "consistent and stable experience, particularly with gaming, cannot be guaranteed for this smartphone on Ice Cream Sandwich," so it'll be left out of the update pool.

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Watch this: A preview of Sony's sleek Xperia S phone