Ice Cream Sandwich beta ROM for the Xperia Play is available now

Sony Mobile has released the beta ROM of Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) for the Xperia Play.

But, before you get all giddy with excitement, there are some important points to note. First of all, this ROM can only be installed on rooted handsets. Second of all, Sony Mobile is insistent that this ROM is really just for "advanced developers".

Only experienced Android tinkerers need apply, then. And even they should bear in mind that this beta ROM comes without support for wi-fi or Google services like Gmail and Google Maps.

Having said that, the industrious chaps over at the XDA developers forums have already circumvented some of these limitations, so if you've read the warnings and you're still raring to go, that's a good place to start.

If - like us - you're plagued by anxious visions of voided warranties and bricked handsets, the final version of the Ice Cream Sandwich update is expected to arrive on the Xperia Play around the end of April, so you haven't got too much longer to wait.

To see some of the new features that ICS will bring to your handset, take a look at Sony Mobile's video demo of Ice Cream Sandwich for Xperia.