Sony Mobile will release Ice Cream Sandwich updates for its 2011 Xperia smartphones, starting with the first models from mid-April. The first Xperia models to receive the upgrade will be Xperia arc S, Xperia neo V and Xperia ray. Sony said the rollout would start mid-April and continue over 4-6 weeks.

Following on, Xperia arc, Xperia PLAY, Xperia neo, Xperia mini, Xperia mini pro, Xperia pro, Xperia active and Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman will receive their scoop starting from the end of May/early June.

Customized software specific to each operator and handset will be made available as soon as they're ready to go.

Because this update is a significant revamp of some of phone's features, Sony wants to want to make sure users take a conscious and informed decision to upgrade. Therefore, the company will only be making it available for download via PC Companion and Bridge for Mac (i.e. not over the air via 3G or WiFi), and users will also won't receive any update requests or notifications.

The new Sony Xperia S will be upgraded to Android 4.0 starting from the later part of the second quarter.