Things are getting sweeter for Sony Xperia owners. Android Jelly Bean is coming next month

By Joshua Sherman February 8, 2013

xperia-arc-jelly-bean — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Get out that sweet tooth Xperia owners! Sony plans to release its Android 4.1 Jelly Bean to owners of the Xperia T and Xperia V in a rolling update between and now late March, meaning you too will have the glory of Google Now and other new Jelly Bean features in no time.

Sony’s Xperia series has gotten a lot of attention in recent months as the iconic smartphone behind James Bond, but the coming Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update is coming for all users of the 2012 portfolio of devices, not just the suave spy himself. A blog post by Sony announced the coming updates and also noted that the 2011 Xperia series will have to stick with Ice Cream Sandwich. If you do have a 2011 series Xperia you can always check the development world for an unofficial update, but either way Jelly Bean brings plenty of new features to the table including Google Now, a faster interface, and bragging rights among your friends.

Does anyone else think James Bond will opt for the update? He seems to be the kind of person who likes the latest and greatest gadget upgrades. Like Bond, you can grab the update and all it has to offer sometime between now and late March, when Sony plans to finish rolling out the update to customers. Unlike Bond, you probably won’t have ladies swooning all over you because of it.

(Image via Androidegis)

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Joshua Sherman is a contributor for Digital Trends who writes about all things mobile from Apple to Zynga. Josh pulls his…

Mobile

Rumors say Sony is making an Xperia phone with a six-lens rear camera

Sony Xperia 1 review

How many camera lenses should your phone have? If you're Google the answer is one (for now), for Apple it's two, while Samsung seems to have settled on three for the moment. Nokia, in a stroke of mad genius, made the Nokia 9 PureView, which has five lenses. But surely any more than five lenses would be pure fantasy? Not according to the rumor mill, which is saying Sony is making an Xperia smartphone with an incredible six-lens rear camera suite.

There's little to report about the design or proposed specs of Sony's new Xperia device, but what little we do know, perhaps unsurprisingly, centers around the camera system. The only news we have about this phone comes from the leaker Max J. (@Samsung_News_). While probably not the final camera specs, the tweet shows a device with an extremely strong and versatile camera system, both on the front and the back of the phone.

Mobile

The Google Pixel 8a is official. Here’s everything that’s new

Someone taking a phone call on the aloe Google Pixel 8a.

A week ahead of its annual developers' conference, Google has dropped a new budget phone in its Pixel-A series. The Google Pixel 8a retains the line’s signature look with a horizontal camera island at the back, but serves it in a package that embraces rounded corners and also happens to be fractionally smaller and lighter

The most meaningful changes are reserved for the display, silicon, and battery. The OLED screen’s size remains the same at 6.1 inches with a resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels. However, the refresh rate has been increased to 120Hz, up from the Google Pixel 7a's 90Hz display. This HDR-ready panel offers a peak brightness of up to 2,000 nits and also features a fingerprint sensor underneath.

Mobile

Apple has quietly killed its cheapest iPad

Three 2021 iPads are stacked on a table.

The iPad lineup has received a price bump after Apple quietly killed its cheapest iPad model. Apple’s 9th-generation iPad used to cost $329, but has been discontinued. At the same time, the company has reduced the 10th-gen iPad’s starting price by $100, which means it’s now priced at $349. As a result, getting the cheapest iPad means you'll now spend $20 more than before.

The 9th-gen Apple iPad was launched in 2021 with the A13 chipset and Apple's Center Stage featur,e but retained the same old design with the already-old Lightning port and home button. With Apple moving to a USB-C port on all devices to comply with EU laws, it was inevitable that Apple would discontinue the 9th-gen iPad this year. The iPhone SE remains the only Apple product with a home button and a Lightning port that's still available in the company's lineup.