In the wake of some rather uncommitted posturing from the likes of Samsung and HTC, it is good to see that Sony has made an official commitment to the Android 4.3 update. In an official post, the Japanese smartphone maker confirms that the Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, Xperia ZR, Xperia Tablet Z, Xperia SP and Xperia Z Ultra will get Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean).

This announcement comes just a day after Google officially rolled out the new smartphone operating system, at least for the Nexus line of devices. Read details here.

“Yesterday you probably saw Google announce the next version of Jelly Bean (Android 4.3) – we’re already getting stuck in and can confirm we’ll make 4.3 available for: Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, Xperia ZR, Xperia Tablet Z, Xperia SP and Xperia Z Ultra…”

Rest of the smartphones are dependent on the manufacturer committing to an update schedule and actually rolling out an update for the phones basis that.

Sony also goes as far as saying that certain older devices, currently running Android 4.1 may get a straight jump to Android 4.3, but the details about those devices will be revealed in due course of time. “We’re also looking at uplifting some of our other devices running 4.1 direct to 4.3 – we’ll share more info / deets / timings when we can.”, the company says.

However, before you get too excited and start tapping the software update refresh option in your Xperia phone, Sony’s Android 4.2 rollout is still under process. “So, Sony’s Jelly Bean 4.2 upgrade for Xperia Z and Xperia ZL is well underway* – next up, Xperia ZR and Xperia Tablet Z will start receiving 4.2 from early August.”, says the update from Sony.


We don’t think that the Android 4.3 update will arrive on any Xperia smartphone before September this year, unless Sony decides to forego Android 4.2 for the remaining devices and readies Android 4.3 within the next few weeks, which is extremely unlikely.