Articles about Sony

On Monday, Japanese smartphone manufacturer Sony announced two new handsets, the Xperia L and Xperia SP, aimed at the low-end and mid-range smartphone markets, respectively.

The Xperia L smartphone is Sony's new low-end offering. The device comes with a 4.3-inch display with an effective resolution of 854 x 480 and is powered by a dual-core 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus (MSM8230) processor, 1GB of RAM and a 1,700 mAh battery. Other specs include: 8-megapixel back-facing camera with 720p video recording; 0.3MP front-facing camera; 8GB of internal storage; microSD card slot; HSPA+ connectivity: NFC (Near Field Communication); as well as the usual array of sensors.

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Japanese device manufacturer Sony and global telecommunications company Telefonica have announced their support for Firefox OS, Mozilla's endeavor in the mobile market. To show its commitment for the operating system, Sony has also released an experimental build of Firefox OS for the Xperia E smartphone, that provides a glimpse into the future.

"At Sony Mobile, we continue to evaluate innovative technologies that can help deliver the premium user experiences that Sony’s consumers expect," Bob Ishida, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Head of Products Business Group at Sony Mobile Communications says. "Our engineers are now working with Firefox OS Mobile and HTML5, evolving technologies which show great potential". Normally, the Xperia E is a low-end Android smartphone similar in specifications to Keon, the base development phone for Firefox OS made available by Geeksphone, but now it's been given a shot at worldwide recognition among enthusiasts.

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Well, somebody finally announces something that's actually shipping. One of Mobile World Congress' worst traditions is the unveiling of new products not available for months. Today, Sony stepped out from the ranks with the ultrathin, waterproof, Xperia Tablet Z, which goes on sale March 1. That's right, this week! Damn, if only my local Sony store wasn't closed for renovations (until April).

The 10.1-inch tablet stands apart from many of this week's MWC 2013 announcements. Many of the new devices are down-market, offering lower-performance for less money, targeting economy shoppers in mature or emerging locales. By contrast, Xperia Tablet Z packs premium features at premium price.

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I'm not loving this year's big phone trade show. The news coming out of Barcelona is about as doldrums as the Spanish economy. Generally, the big stuff drops Day 0 and Day 1 at Mobile World Congress. They're done, and so far the product announcements are generally less than last year. The phone launch seemingly everyone waits for, Samsung Galaxy IV, comes in March. That's big commentary on what's missing from MWC 2013.

So far, I would call most new gear as the race to the bottom -- same concepts as the last couple of years, only offering less, selling for less and marketed to less-developed smartphone or tablet markets.

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With Sony's efforts to support the Android modding and developer community, it really should come as no surprise that the recently-unveiled Xperia Z smartphone is now bestowed with root. The noteworthy achievement is facilitated by the CF-Auto-Root solution available for the LG-made Google Nexus 4, a device which shares most of the underpinnings of the Xperia Z.

The two devices share the same 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset and because of it the developer has only slightly modified the Nexus 4 ramdisk from CF-Auto-Root to unleash elevated privileges on the Xperia Z. The app chosen to manage rooting requests is the traditional SuperSU.

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Sony's Android 4.1 Jelly Bean upgrade for 2012 Xperia smartphones is a long time coming. The Japanese manufacturer announced its plans in mid-October last year, and followed it up with a brief update two months later. Finally, as planned, deployment is set to kick off "this week".

The first smartphones to receive the coveted upgrade to the original Jelly Bean iteration are the Xperia T and Xperia, with Xperia TX owners having to wait until next month for the same software treatment. In an attempt to appease impatient users and to drum up some interest, Sony has decided to spill the beans on what Android 4.1 Jelly Bean entails for Xperia users by providing a list of significant changes included in the upgrade.

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If you are looking to cut the cord to your cable or satellite provider, you have an ever-increasing number of options to fill that sudden void. There's Hulu, Netflix and the recent Redbox Instant, and that's just a few of the big players. And now there's another option. Sony, still a giant in the entertainment business despite lagging profits, has launched its Entertainment Network in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil.

Sony has previously made some of its content available via its Crackle service, which can be accessed both online and through a mobile app. However, that service has a pretty limited amount of material, especially when compared to the new Sony Entertainment Network.

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Following the new smartphone flagships introduced at CES 2013, the Xperia Z and Xperia ZL, Japanese Android device manufacturer Sony has unveiled the successor to its Xperia Tablet S slate. Dubbed the Xperia Tablet Z, it sports a dust-proof and water-proof shell, and a lightweight and thin form factor.

The Xperia Tablet Z comes with a 10.1-inch display with a 1920 by 1200 resolution (known as WUXGA), backed by Sony's Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 technology. The panel features a 16:10 aspect ratio, an interesting choice seeing as how Sony's own recent smartphones feature the narrower 16:9 aspect ratio for each of their respective screens.

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Right before the big opening day at CES, Japanese manufacturer Sony took the wraps off two new Android smartphones -- the Xperia Z and Xperia ZL. Both sport similar under-the-hood specifications but different looks on the outside. Likely making up for the late upgrade schedule for previous Xperia handsets, Sony is adamant that it will update both smartphones from Android 4.1 Jelly Bean to the second Jelly Bean iteration "shortly after launch".

The Xperia Z and Xperia ZL follow smartphones like the HTC DROID DNA and Oppo Find 5 in delivering large 1080p displays paired with quad-core processors. Both handsets feature a 5-inch TFT panel with a resolution of 1920 by 1080, with the former of the two devices protected by a "shatter proof sheet of scratch-resistant glass". Power comes from a 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor paired with an Adreno 320 graphics card and 2GB of RAM.

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For an Android manufacturer that supports the modding community, Sony sure knows how to keep customers waiting. Almost two months after the previous announcement, the Japanese corporation released an updated Android 4.1 Jelly Bean upgrade schedule for 2012 Xperia smartphones and, sadly, the news is no better this time around.

The upgrade plans for the company's newest smartphones, the Xperia T, Xperia TX and Xperia V, appear unchanged. The three devices will receive Android 4.1 Jelly Bean "during February and March" 2013, on par with the previous estimate provided by Sony just under two months ago. However, for older smartphones, customers will have to wait a little longer for the coveted upgrade.

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Android modding is often perceived as a rare disease that must be treated at all costs with tightly locked bootloaders and impossible to root devices. When users do want to remove the shackles imposed by manufacturers, and carriers alike, there's always a sense that someone will suddenly knock on the door and say: "Stop, we'll void your warranty. Your device must run unadulterated software!" That's just limited thinking. Modding is beneficial and not just for those roaming around in obscure corners of the interwebs.

Some argue that modding is just that insignificant other that is over-hyped per the overall scheme of things. When enthusiasts ask for unlocked bootloaders or maybe easier to root devices, those very same people will shorty argue with "Most people don't need that, so your wish doesn't matter!" Obviously there's some "truth" to that, because in most cases the deniers don't bother to read thousands of forum posts or even to check custom Android distribution statistics. Yes, there are such things.

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Japanese manufacturer Sony has announced the release of a beta tool that can be used to restore factory software on a number of Xperia smartphones. The program targets green droid modders that wish to go back to stock, after running custom distributions such as CyanogenMod 10.

Sony says that the beta tool is released at the request of the Android community and currently works for the Xperia S, Xperia arc and Xperia arc S, with plans to increase the number of supported devices. At the moment users only have the ability to restore to a single software variant on each smartphone, but the Japanese manufacturer says it intends to include a wider version selection in the future.

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The custom recovery plays an important role in Android modding by allowing users to install new ROMs or to perform full device backups. But finding and installing the right one can be a problem, which is where RecoverX comes into play. It comes with an impressive list of supported devices.

RecoverX offers a step-by-step guided process in order to install a custom recovery. The program only requires the brand and name of the Android smartphone or tablet, and it will display a list of available options. On a Google Galaxy Nexus, RecoverX can install ClockworkMod Recovery or ClockworkMod Touch Recovery, but depending on the device Amon-Ra Recovery and/or xRecovery is available.

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After Google dropped the Sony Xperia S from the Android Open Source Project, AOSP Technical Lead Jean-Baptiste Quéru announced that the Mountain View, Calif.-based corporation will improve the tools required for manufacturer AOSP contributions. The intended purpose is to help manufacturers upgrade to new Android versions faster, and facilitate their contributions to the AOSP tree.

The revised tools, in short, make it easier for manufacturers to organize device-specific files in the same manner that Google does. 

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Just over two months ago Sony announced that it would back-up the efforts of Android Open Source Project (AOSP) Technical Lead Jean-Baptiste Quéru (JBQ) in porting stock Android to the Xperia S tablet. Those efforts have changed somewhat, as the Japanese manufacturer has announced its intentions to take the lead on the project starting with Jelly Bean MR1.

Sony says that Quéru is pleased with the outcome of the Xperia S AOSP experiment, but in order to keep things running, the company has moved the project to a Sony git on GitHub. The problem apparently is on Google's end, as it cannot maintain non-Nexus devices in the long run, likely due to limited resources. As it is, the Xperia S boots stock Android with reduced functionality including SD card, sensors and Wi-Fi.

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