I’ve made it known that Sony has been extremely slow at rolling out Android 2.1 for the Xperia X10 and its little brother, Xperia X8, being months behind other handset manufacturers. Well guess what, Sony is frustrated with the process as well. On their Facebook page, the company points towards AT&T, stating that “the technical requirements that must be met” over which Sony Ericsson has “no control” are far more rigorous than elsewhere. Sony goes on to say that it takes months for these updates to get approved, indicating that they have had Android 2.1 in the pipeline for some time and we can only assume that Android 2.3 is sitting in the pipes as well. Of course, Sony is not the only manufacturer of Android, but is one of the few which relies on AT&T to provides the platform. They can have different requirements than Verizon which is the big Android carrier. Part of this is also tied down to the fact that AT&T networks handle both Voice and Data at the same time while Verizon does not, which points to additional tweaks and checks required from AT&T to make sure all is running adequately. Hit the jump for the full Facebook post.
[Via Sony Ericsson Facebook]
Hi,
Many of you are aware that we are currently in the midst of rolling out a software update for the Xperia™ line of handsets. We’d like to take a moment to address your questions about how and why an update is made available.
One factor in determining a software update is when a country first received the handset. The Xperia™ X10 has been available in some countries since March 2010 and they are also the first to receive the update. The U.S. received the X10 in August 2010 and will receive the update after the initial countries.
The second and more impactful factor of the timeline addresses the technical requirements that must be met in order for an update to take place — no matter which country you live in. Unfortunately, we have no control of that timeline factor. Those requirements are provided to us and we work hard to meet and test them as quickly as we can. In the U.S., the testing process is especially rigorous, and can take months to complete, which is why we cannot announce the timing for availability of the X10 update in the U.S. It’s not that we don’t want to; it’s that the timing is undefined until such testing is completed.
We hear and understand your frustration. We too want you to enjoy the most out of your Sony Ericsson products. We promise to keep you updated on where we are in the process moving forward as more information is ready to be made public. Please stay tuned to this Facebook tab!
Thank you,
Sony Ericsson USA