Sony cans Jelly Bean for last year's Xperia Arc S and others

Bad news if you bought a Sony Ericsson Xperia phone last year, I'm afraid -- the most powerful of the 2011 crop, the Xperia Arc S, will not be upgraded to the latest Android 4.1 Jelly Bean software, Sony has confirmed.

"Unfortunately Arc S won't be getting the Jelly Bean update," Sony product manager John Cooper posted on Sony's Facebook page, "but we're always developing new phones and making sure they get the latest updates."

So the message from Sony seems to be: bad luck, buy a new phone. Cooper also specifically mentioned the 11-month-old Xperia Mini Pro as not getting Jelly Bean, and as the Xperia blog points out, it's fair to assume none of last year's phones will be updated if the top of the range model is missing out.

"ICS should now be approved for all Xperia S handsets," Cooper told another user. "We currently don't have anything to announce regarding Jelly Bean for the Xperia S."

The Xperia S is this year's flagship phone from the company, and I would expect it to be boosted up to Jelly Bean at some point, along with at least some of this year's less powerful blowers, such as the Xperia U and Xperia P. Cheaper phones such as the Miro and Tipo are less likely to make the jump.

So what are you missing? Not a huge amount this time round. The jump from 2.3 Gingerbread to 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich was a lot more important, with tonnes of features and app enhancements. The hop to 4.1 is more of an experience upgrade, with menus and animations much smoother and more graceful, but little in the way of cool new features.

Still, it's disappointing that a phone that came out in October is effectively out of date. It's still widely available, and not for nothing -- it's about £200. I can understand Sony not being terribly bothered about supporting phones with the outdated Sony Ericsson name, but it's hardly a good way to carry over what little brand loyalty Son Eric might have still had.

Have you been hoping for a little Jelly Bean action on your Xperia? Do you think phone makers should keep supporting older phones or focus on making the new ones even better? Upload your cranial impulses to the comments section below, or our always up to date Facebook page.