The Ice Cream Sandwich update for Sony's wedge-shaped Tablet S here at last, bringing such delights as panorama photo mode and access to notifications from the device's lock screen.
Sony confirmed that the update is out via its official blog. Next time you connect your tablet to Wi-Fi, you should see a notice offering you the upgrade.
A comprehensive list of new features is detailed on Sony's site -- the most interesting of which look to be direct SD card access, 'Small Apps' for multitasking and a beefed-up web browser that lets you save pages to view offline, and switch between a site's desktop or mobile version.
Once you've updated, tapping the power and volume down buttons will take a screenshot, making it easy to take a snap of your gaming high scores to send to, well, everyone you know. If you've updated your device, let me know what you think in the comments.
My esteemed colleague Andrew Hoyle gave the Tablet S the review treatment, awarding it a healthy three and a half stars, praising the decent screen resolution and quirky design. If you're shopping for an Android tablet, you could definitely do worse.
There's been no word on whether the Tablet S' little brother -- the fold-up Tablet P -- will also be getting Ice Cream Sandwich. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Tablet P stuck on Honeycomb, at least for the foreseeable future. I imagine the unusual shape could make a software update a tricky affair.
Are you a Tablet S owner? Or will this software update persuade you to splash out? Let me know in the comments or on our Facebook wall.
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Comments 12
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anonymous 27 April, 2012 17:36
My arc s just got the update today. Some nice improvements but feels a bit sluggish in comparison with android 2.3
anonymous 27 April, 2012 18:53
I did the update and the features and small details rock, the problem is that I use my tablet on the dock for a desktop clock and alarm clock every day and for some reason the screen flickers a lot now, I'm not sure whats going on and if its something conflicting with 4.0 but I have been posting everywhere and yet no one has tried to help fix the issue. overall awesome but still some small tweaks that need to be fixed!!
anonymous 28 April, 2012 10:29
this is cnet UK, yet the update is not yet ready for UK release?
anonymous 28 April, 2012 15:26
Great upgrade. Ice Cream Sandwich brings a lot of new features. I could swear the wi-fi reception is better (or at least tge signal indicator shows it's better) and the fontsbon the browser seem clearer. The Small Apps feature is awesome. It allows me to multi-task. I can watch a movie and open a browser at the same time. Would have been great to have an option to resize the first application's window so I could watch a movie and surf the web side-by-side though.
Having folder-like capabilities was sorely needed. This greatly cleans up the various screens. And tge ability to take screen shots and save pages for later viewing is very much appreciated. The panoramic photo capoability is likewise appreciated and seems to work well .
Unlike the previous poster, I don't have the issue with the flickering screen.
anonymous 28 April, 2012 18:18
Not being offered the update yet (US only at the moment?).
I bought this tablet after the drop to £299 and the promise of ICS. The two main things I'm hoping to see are the wifi problems sorted out (poor reception and constant disconnects - particularly when asleep) and proper access to the SD cards. I was utterly gob-smacked to find that you cant use the SD card to expand the devices memory, but merely transfer files to and from.
Fingers crossed...
anonymous 29 April, 2012 08:27
I mnot sure if its that we only got the tablet yesterday, but we havent been offered an update go ics (from the uk) and already its annoying me...
Plus I wrote this on the sony tablet s.
Is there a way to close open apps on the tablet?
anonymous 30 April, 2012 12:05
Im in singaore and I havent gotten the update yet. Is it a regional thing?
anonymous 16 May, 2012 16:47
no update for my tablet s yet. this is getting annoying now.
anonymous 1 June, 2012 07:36
flickering bad any idea how to fix it ?
anonymous 4 June, 2012 10:54
yes the update to Ice cream sandwich is a welcome gesture from sony, i was surprised to have an update so early (for me at least, owning from just one month)
I'm very happy with the update for direct access to SD cards, i was very upset with it initially when i had to copy-paste everything on tablet itself.
The update went pretty smooth throughout - with a 221 MB i thought would take hours but once downloaded it was quick and hassle free
anonymous 4 June, 2012 10:56
i am from india , and got the update.
anonymous 13 June, 2012 02:40
for the external SD card, can you save photo from the camera apps to the external SD card?
i also try astro file manager, when it access the external SD card (/mnt/sdcard2). it failed write error, cannot create directory.
i am in sydney.