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Sony Xperia Play dropped from Ice Cream Sandwich update list

Sony has quietly dropped the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play from the list of phones set to upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich.

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Richard Trenholm Former Movie and TV Senior Editor
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
Expertise Films, TV, Movies, Television, Technology
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Richard Trenholm
2 min read
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Looking forward to Ice Cream Sandwich on the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play? Not so fast, my friend -- Sony has quietly dropped the Play from the list of phones set to upgrade to Android 4.0.

Sony has already tried to convince us that in some ways Ice Cream Sandwich isn't as good as Gingerbread, trying to persuade Xperia owners to be happy with what they have rather than getting all hot under the collar for an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich. But it's also promised an update for all its 2011 phones -- which did include the Xperia Play, but not any more.

The Play was released just over a year ago, in early 2011. But the gaming slider is mysteriously absent from the official list of Sony phones due for an upgrade.

I've contacted Sony to ask about the Play situation, but we've yet to hear back. We'll keep you posted.

It's not like Sony hasn't been working on an Ice Cream-flavoured update for the Play: a beta version of Ice Cream Sandwich for the Play was released in March.

Sony's upgrade list includes the Xperia Arc and Xperia Arc S, followed by the Xperia Neo, Neo V, Xperia Mini, Xperia Pro and Xperia Mini Pro. Then there's the Xperia Active, Xperia Ray and Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman.

There's nothing wrong wth the current Gingerbread software, of course. But when you've bought a phone around a year ago, it's not unreasonable to expect to upgrade to the latest software.

HTC and Motorola have both confirmed that they won't be offering upgrades for older or low-powered phones that can't handle the cutting edge Ice Cream Sandwich experience -- but the Xperia Play is neither older nor low-powered.

To see what all the fuss is about, check out our ten reasons why Ice Cream Sandwich beats Gingerbread.

Are you a Play player? What are Sony Playing at? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.