Flagship Sony tablet the Tablet S is making its way to the newest version of Android.
Version 4.0, also known as Ice Cream Sandwich, is now being rolled out to device owners in the US.
Ice Cream Sandwich is one of the biggest updates to Android yet, and includes such features as scanning your face to unlock the phone, a much more robust speech-to-text software program, and an entire platform of data sharing that focuses on Near Field Communication (NFC).
NFC so far has been mostly focused on using your phone as a payment device in retail stores, but with Ice Cream Sandwich’s Android Beam, it can also allow users to easily share contact information, Youtube videos, or website addresses simply by waving two phones next to each other.
Several other manufacturers have pledged support for the new update, and a bunch of phones currently running an older version of Android will be eligible to upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich beginning in the coming months.
Sony is betting big on Android. The company’s tablets are only part of its new-found mobile strategy.
The company is also about to delve more powerfully into the smartphone market than it ever has before. Sony bought out its mobile partner Ericsson last year, meaning it now has full control over the design and implementation of future Sony-branded handsets.
Expect that many of Sony’s services, like Music Unlimited, will be integrated into its smartphones very soon. And the biggest potential deal is Playstation connectivity, as Sony tries to be the #1 player in mobile gaming hardware.
