Sony announced last month that it would release the Sony Xperia Tablet S Jelly Bean update soon, and now the company makes good on its promise.

Sony Xperia Tablet S owners will receive the update to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean this week. The update will roll out in stages and it will reach users in the U.S., Canada and Latin America. The latest Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, meanwhile, remains just a dream for now.

The Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update starts rolling out for the Sony Xperia tablet S on Thursday, April 18.

"We are pleased to announce the release of the Jelly Bean update for the Xperia Update which will be pushed out to our production server on April 18^th between 9am - 10am pacific standard time," reads the announcement on Sony's blog. "The Xperia Tablet will receive a notification on the bottom right hand corner that a System update is available."

The Sony Xperia Tablet S seemed stuck on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), which means the Jelly Bean update is a major upgrade bringing lots of benefits to the slate. A slew of additional apps such as Music Unlimited and more, as well as Sony's own user interface (UI) changes aim to provide a much better user experience.

Sony has yet to release a detailed changelog of the update, but it should include all the usual additions Jelly Bean brings to the table. This includes Project Butter, which delivers a faster, smoother, better experience and user interface, while also improving battery life. Google Now voice search will bring more convenience, while expandable notifications and a better keyboard will make everything easier.

An update from Android 4.0 ICS to 4.1 Jelly Bean is a big leap and should be quite hefty, so make sure you have a strong Wi-Fi connection and sufficient battery life (at least 80 percent is recommended). Keep in mind that the Xperia Tablet S update to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean just started rolling out, so users might have to check for updates several times in their settings menu. For instructions on how to perform a system update, check out Sony's support page.