Xperia Play, Arc Get Android 2.3.3 Update From Vodafone Including New Facebook UI

Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Play and Arc smartphones will be getting an update this morning to Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread, but only for our cross-the-pond friends on Vodafone’s network. Sorry Verizonites, but I’m sure your Xperia handsets will get bumped up to 2.3.3 soon. In the mean time, Vodafone Play and Arc owners can look forward to a few bug fixes, and Facebook Inside Xperia, Sony Ericsson’s new Facebook-integrated UI.

According to Vodafone, the Android 2.3.3 update will bring with it improved voice quality, stability improvements, and email set-up and exchange account improvements. But the real meat of this update lies in the Facebook integration. As we reported earlier, Facebook Inside Xperia basically puts the social network at the core of each of your most-used applications, like the address book, the camera and media library apps, and the music player. From there, you can post suggested songs to walls, “like” just about anything, and see extra info on the friends in your address book, pulled straight from their Facebook profiles.

This is a manual update, so you’ll need to connect your device to a computer and use the Sony Ericsson Update Service app to get things rolling. If you’re a gamer at heart, and a social butterfly online, the Android 2.3.3 update should come as a delicious dollop of icing on top of your Gingerbread-powered Xperia Arc and Xperia Play.