Software bugs delay April 1st Xperia Play launch on O2

The wait for the long-awaited Sony Ericsson Xperia Play smartphone just got a little longer, as O2 have confirmed that a number of bugs have caused the release of the phone to be delayed.

The phone, which features PlayStation branding and the familiar Cross, Triangle, Square and Circle gaming controls has undergone rigorous testing, which has uncovered a number of significant bugs.

“We get to know each phone inside and out and, by the time it goes on sale, need to be absolutely certain it’ll offer our customers a great experience,” said Stuart Hibberd, head of O2’s testing team.

“Sometimes we discover bugs and issues on a phone. This is perfectly normal – bugs can appear in every form of software. When we discover these issues we work with our phone manufacturer partners to fix them and make sure that O2 customers will have the best possible experience when they use their phone.”

“This is what has happened with the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY” continues Hibberd.

“We’ve been testing the phone non-stop for weeks and have found some bugs in the software that, if they’re not fixed, means customers won’t have a great experience. We’ve been working with Sony Ericsson to get these bugs ironed out, but haven’t been able to get them fixed in time for us to be able to launch the phone on April 1st as we originally planned.”

It’s a bold move by O2, and in our books, a wise one too. No-one wants to go home from the store with a faulty device, no matter how long they’ve waited for it. With O2 setting the quality standard, it’ll be interesting to see if the other networks who’ve nabbed the Xperia Play will follow suit with delays of their own.

Via: O2