Sony announces water/dust-proof Xperia go, acro S

Sony Mobile Communications (“Sony Mobile”) today announced two new Xperia™ smartphones for consumers looking for premium specifications and beautiful design with extra durability and water resistance. Xperia go and Xperia acro S have scratch resistant mineral glass displays and meet industry standard IP ratings* (International Protection) for protection against dust and water immersion.
Xperia go and Xperia acro S enable easy connectivity to share and enjoy content on TV, smartphone, laptop or tablet. They also come preloaded with Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited from Sony Entertainment Network giving access to Hollywood blockbusters, TV series and millions and millions of music tracks. Xperia go and Xperia acro S will be available globally from the third quarter of 2012.
Consumer demand for durable and water resistant smartphones
Industry research demonstrates that consumers consider durability and water resistance as important features when purchasing a smartphone. For example, a study conducted in Japan by Mobile Marketing Data Labo** highlighted water resistance in the top three most important features for smartphone buyers. In a recent poll*** on Sony Mobile’s Facebook community more than a third of participants stated durability as the most important feature when choosing a smartphone. Also, Xperia acro HD, which has the same durability and water resistance features as Xperia acro S, has been the best selling smartphone in Japan since its launch in March****, further demonstrating the appeal of durability and water resistance.
Xperia go – the stylish Sony smartphone made for extra durability
With Xperia go consumers can watch the latest movies and TV shows in razor sharp quality and with super fast performance. Its sleek and stylish design means durable and water resistant smartphones no longer have to look bulky and ruggedized.
Xperia acro S – The stylish water resistant HD smartphone
Xperia acro S boasts a 4.3” HD Reality Display for razor sharp clarity, full HD video recording, HD video chat and easy HDMI TV connectivity to enjoy content on the big screen. NFC enabled, Xperia acro S can easily open applications with one touch against an Xperia SmartTag.

Sony pushing ICS to more devices next week, confirms Xperia Play won't be upgraded

Owners of the Xperia Play, it's time to curl up with a teddy bear and your favorite ice cream -- just as long as it's not in sandwich form. After the sudden and unexplained disappearance of the "PlayStation Phone" from the Android 4.0 upgrade list yesterday, Sony has followed it up with a full confirmation accompanied by the usual explanation. As you may have already guessed, the manufacturer tells us that after extensive testing, it was determined that "a consistent and stable experience, particularly with gaming, cannot be guaranteed for this smartphone on Ice Cream Sandwich... in this instance the ICS upgrade would have compromised stability." Sony went on to discuss that it received similar feedback from the developer community after releasing a beta ROM. Still, after being told repeatedly that the entire 2011 smartphone lineup would receive the update, we can't help but be a bit heartbroken by the news.
In the same breath, however, Sony also updated its timeline for the rest of the lineup that is still on schedule to receive upgrades to Ice Cream Sandwich: the Xperia arc, neo, mini, mini pro, pro, active and Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman will begin receiving their refreshes next week. The Xperia S is still on track for an end of June rollout, with the Xperia P closely following it and the Xperia U sometime in the third quarter. It's just unfortunate that the good tidings must be balanced out by equally horrible news, depending on which device you own.

Sony India start rolling out Android 4.0 for Xperia arc S, Xperia neo V, Xperia ray

Sony Mobile India has announced on its official Facebook page that company has started rolling out much-awaited Android 4.0 update for three of its Xperia series smartphones. These smartphones are Xperia arc S, neo V and Ray.
This update can now be grabbed via the PC Companion tool, which is available for download from Sony’s website.
This update brings the ICS goodness like Face Unlock, re-sizable widgets, performance improvements, new task switcher and much more.
Other devices in the Xperia range – Xperia arc, Xperia PLAY, Xperia neo, Xperia mini, Xperia mini pro, Xperia pro, Xperia active and Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman will get the update at the end of May or early June.
More on the update here.