Xperia arc S, neo V and ray users: No need to wait, upgrade to ICS today by Xperia Blog

The Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich rollout commenced few days ago for three handsets of the 2011 Xperia line up (Xperia arc S, Xperia neo V and Xperia ray). Sony Mobile confirmed that the update is now rolling out to the Nordic countries (Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Finland and Norway) with other regions expected to see the update within 4 to 6 weeks.

However, if you have any of the aforementioned handsets then you don’t need to wait for the update to hit your country. Xperia blog have outlined a couple of methods below to get the ICS update right now. Click through to get started.

Method 1: Rebrand to Nordic firmware

This is perhaps the easiest way to get the Xperia ICS update, although it is not free. First of all you need to register with WotanServer and download the client to your PC. Then proceed to flash your phone to Generic Nordic firmware. It will cost you €1.99 to flash.

Once this is done use SEUS or PC Companion (which will now see the update) to flash to Ice Cream Sandwich.

Method 2: Use FTF file to flash ICS directly

This method involves using FlashTool to flash your handset. The steps are similar to those we posted in our Xperia S debrand tutorial, however you’ll need to use the correct FTF files for your handset. The correct ICS files are available on xda-developers as follows:

Xperia arc S
Xperia neo V
Xperia ray

A word of warning though, FlashTool is currently missing a command to handle the new ICS partition resizes. A fix for FlashTool is in the process of being submitted, but in the meantime there are some workarounds including this tip which many users are reporting to work successfully.

Some Xperia arc (LT15) owners have also managed to flash ICS using the above method. The phone will now be recognized as the Xperia arc S (LT18) but will work without any issues.

[Note: If you don't want to flash ICS directly, you can rebrand to Nordic Gingerbread firmware first using Flashtool. However, you will need to first find the correct FTF files from xda-developers for your handset. Once completed, you can then use SEUS/PC Companion to upgrade officially to ICS.]

Via: Xperia Blog