Sony gets behind the Android Open Source Project for Xperia S

The Sony Xperia S smartphone comes with Sony's Timescape UX by default. Now, Sony has pledged to support a third-party project to port "stock" Android to the device.

In August, Android Open Source Project (AOSP) Technical Lead Jean-Baptiste Queru started a new experiment to port the vanilla version of Android to the Sony Xperia S, Sony's first post-Ericsson smartphone. Yesterday, the Japanese smartphone manufacturer announced its support for Queru's experiment by publishing the binaries for the Xperia S via the Sony Developer page.

To support the LT26i project, which Sony calls "really nice", the Japanese manufacturer has also assigned one of its senior engineers, Björn Andersson, to review, contribute patches, and lead the project from Sony's side.

Sony is "really excited" by the CyanogenMod team's efforts to contribute to the Xperia S (also known as LT26i) project, and said it expected the Xperia S to now be able to "boot to the homescreen," a major step in the project's evolution. Though the project may not be suitable for a "daily driver" phone, Sony's involvement in the project is commendable because it shows how the open source community can get the wheels moving on Android development for certain hardware, and a high-end manufacturer will take note.