Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2011/03/25/o2_delays_sony_ericsson_xperia_play/

Software bugs block O2 PlayStation phone release

Other networks seemingly glitch free

By Hard Reg

Posted in Personal Tech, 25th March 2011 16:08 GMT

O2 has set back its PlayStation phone - aka the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play - release because it has failed to score sufficiently highly in the carrier's network tests.

"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," said Stuart Hibberd, the head of O2’s testing team.

"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 1 April as we originally planned," Hibberd admitted on the company blog.

When the Play will appear, Hibberd couldn't say. Passing the test will involve fixing the glitches the O2 team spotted and then re-running the network tests, and that will clearly take more than a week to do.

For its part, Sony Ericsson said the UK launch will go ahead on 1 April - who chose that date? - minus the participation of O2.

The operator has "decided to prolong the testing period in order to ensure that the software loaded on the phones meets the requirements of its procedures", it said. ®