Sony Xperia Mini gets Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

ANDROID 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) is finally rolling out to the pint sized Sony Xperia Mini, giving the phone some new features.

The Android 4.0 ICS update, which can be downloaded via Sony's PC Companion software or Bridge for Mac, promises to improve the performance of the miniature smartphone, and comes just weeks after the operating system arrived on the Xperia Mini Pro.

Amongst the new features are a reworked user interface with resizeable widgets, an improved web browser and support for WiFi Direct, enabling users to get up to five devices on the web using the handset's 3G connection.

To see if Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is available on your Xperia handset, you'll need to find its 8-digit sales item (SI) number, which is underneath the phone's battery. If your SI number is listed on the Sony web site, you'll be able to download the ICS update.

If your device's SI number isn't on the list, Sony is promising that it will be added within the next few weeks.

Although it is being upgraded to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, it's unlikely that the low-end phone will be bumped up to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. µ