Sony Tablets S & P To Get Android 4.0 ICS Update At End of May

The Japanese electronics company confirmed that all of its tablets will get Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update by the last week of May and that includes Sony’s Tablet S and Tablet P covering all regions. In a Tweet, Sony Electronics confirmed Tablet S update will be before the month ends. Talking CNET, a Sony representative put all speculations to rest by confirming the company’s desire to get all their devices from all over the world updated to the latest version of Android.

Sony Japan hinted of May 24th as the drop date for all firmware and starting that day, Sony Tablet S and Tablet P owners in Japan would be able to pull down updates from Sony’s servers. Basically, such drop date could also be applicable for owners from different countries. Otherwise, the rest of the world will have to wait for just a few days before Sony tablet owners can actually start pulling down packages and update their devices. According to the company, it must stay on top of Android updates so that people would see its relevance in the Android tablet market but it failed to explain why it is always late in rolling out updates for its devices.
To recap, Tablet S owners in the United States (US) is actually enjoying the Android 4.0 ICS update being rolled out for the device since April but the owners from the United Kingdom (UK), Europe, Japan and other countries were only given access to Android 3.2.1 for the Tablet S and Tablet P. Other manufacturers such as HTC and Samsung often have the devices in their home country get updated first but Sony is doing it differently. And so far, based on previous updates, the US will get the first tasted of what the company has to offer leaving behind the rest of the world wondering when or why everybody has to wait except the US.
Considering Sony has a great following in the UK and Europe, the frustration of the European Sony tablet owners is seen as one of the reasons the sales would go down considerably. While many European find Sony products as among the most reliable, putting the people hanging in terms of updates would surely push them to go for other devices and manufacturers who exhibit interest in them. That’s actually what’s happening with Samsung Galaxy S3. The Korean manufacturer is actually enjoying every day since its flagship was officially launched as pre-order figures keep rising each day. Majority of those who pre-ordered are from the UK and Europe.
It’s not the first time Sony was delayed in delivering better service to the global market except for the US and people are actually starting to feel the lack of interest of the company. The question is, could Sony still expect the same warm welcome when it releases new products in the future? I doubt that. But I admit, getting all its tablets updated to Android 4.0 ICS this month is good news for current owners. But it could have been better if it was done since last month.