Sony tablets get Android 4.0 ICS update soon

Sony Japan has announced that it will release the Android 4.0.3 ICS update for the Tablet P and Tablet S devices in April. The S and P tablet owners in India can also expect the update in the same time. The devices will get the Small Apps features that will allow users to make certain apps on top of the others that are running.

The Small Apps feature will allow the users to open and drag the apps on top of the ones that are running. This way they get computer like experience on their tablet. For instance, if Google Maps is open, the user can open Calculator and use on top of Google Maps app. This does not involve task switching.

This update is expected to bring many other improvements like better multi-tasking ability. The company offers a new Recopla app that will stream the live TV programs to the tablets directly through Wi-Fi. This app will be able to control the Sony Blu-ray Disc recorders and Sony Google TV.

Developers are quite skeptical about the performance of the Android ICS update. The engineers of Sony are using the old Linux 2.6 based Android Kernel. The changes will be visible only on the battery life and on the power management.

It is not clear if the Android ICS update for the S and P tablets will bring optimizations on the Linux 3.0 Android Kernel. However, its definitely good news for users as they will get the Android update.