Sony Xperia Jelly Bean schedule makes for grim reading

Sony's given some precious time estimates on when customers can expect updates to Android Jelly Bean, so if you own an Xperia phone that came out this year, get ready to mark your calendar. You may have to flip forward quite a few months, though.

On its official blog Sony says that the Xperia T, Xperia XT and Xperia V updates are, "progressing as planned", and will be landing on smart phones during February and March. That matches Sony estimates from October.

That's roughly a three-month wait, which is quite a while if you're already anxiously watching other Android fans joyously receive updates. Other phones will be waiting even longer though -- the Xperia P, Xperia J and Xperia Go will be updated "from the end of March".

Following that, the Xperia S (which started this year as Sony's flagship phone), Xperia SL, Xperia Ion and Xperia Acro S will be updated "in subsequent weeks", which probably means an update close to May.

Waiting half a year for an update is quite a kick on the teeth, and puts Sony on schedule to be rolling out Jelly Bean updates just as Google is gearing up to reveal an all-new version of Android. Manufacturer updates are often delayed too or held back by mobile operators, so don't be surprised if these dates slip even further out of grasp.

Not every Sony phone will be nibbling on Jelly Beans next year. The Xperia U, Xperia Miro, Xperia Tipo and Xperia Sola won't be moving beyond Android Ice Cream Sandwich, Sony has confirmed. It's no secret that Sony is lagging behind the likes of Samsung in the smart phone wars, so a more ambitious update schedule would have been appreciated.

Is Sony being unfair by making customers wait so long, or are you happy with your Xperia phone the way it is? Shout out in the comments or on our Facebook wall.