sony - 14/16 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Dec

Photos Of A Tiny Xperia Phone Hint At An X10 Mini Pro Successor

Posted by Anuj Ahooja in Gingerbread 2.3, News, Sony Ericsson, Xperia X10 Mini / Mini Pro (Robyn / Mimmi)

Sony Ericsson has always had upgrade issues when it came to Android - with the X10, the X10 Mini, and the X10 Mini Pro just recently receiving the update to Éclair (2.1), the majority of Xperia users have been deprived of the numerous features available in Android 2.x. Recently, with leaks of the Playstation Phone (a.k.a. Xperia Play) and the Anzu (a.k.a. X12), it has been made clear that Sony is most likely coming with back with a storm of devices with up-to-date firmware and its usual competitive hardware.

Today, we have a couple of leaked photos of a smaller Xperia phone, similar to the X10 Mini series.

Dec

[Rumor] Playstation Phone To Be Called Xperia Play? Trademark Filing Says Maybe

Posted by David Ruddock in News, Sony Ericsson, Xperia Play (Zeus, PlayStation Phone)

It seems the blogosphere is abuzz with the news that an EU trademark for the name Xperia Play has been awarded to Sony Ericsson, filed the first of the month.

Companies file for trademarks a lot, so we'll see if this name pans out. If it does, it'll quite possibly be the worst marketing decision by Sony Ericsson yet, and may indicate that the Sony mother-ship wants to reserve the Playstation phone name for a later, cooler, probably proprietary-OS device. So, you may actually want this rumor not to be true.

Source: OMHI via Engadget

Dec

Sony Announces Official PlayStation App For Android And iOS

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Applications, Apps/Games, News, Sony

It's not the PlayStation-related Android announcement we were hoping Sony would make, but the Official PlayStation app is still (sort of) intriguing in and of itself. Version 1.0 of the app will be coming soon to both our beloved Android Market and the iOS App Store, though we here in the States will be left out of the fun initially. For those lucky enough to live in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, or the Netherlands, (the areas where the app will be available upon launch) here's what you have to look forward to:

Check out your PlayStation Network trophies and keep up to date with your friends’ games and online status.

Dec

First Google TV OTA Update Rolling Out Along With The Official Google TV Remote Control Android App

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Google, Google TV, Logitech, News, Revue, Videos

The users of Google TV will love Google a little more than usual today, as the company is rolling out the first over-the-air update since launch (I am assuming the OTA my Revue prompted me to download out of the box did not count). Refreshingly, there is no fragmentation present with Google TV (yet?), so both the Logitech Revue and the 2 versions of Sony's GTV should be receiving the updates without delays throughout this week.

Before I describe the updates, I just wanted to note that I received my Revue box last week, installed and configured it in about 20 minutes, with all steps being painless and kind of fun, without any problems I've heard some people having.

Nov

Sony Ericsson CEO Hints At Rumored Playstation Phone, Leaves Us Begging For More

Posted by Stephen Tenerowicz in News, Sony Ericsson, Xperia Play (Zeus, PlayStation Phone)

Bert Nordberg, the CEO of Sony Ericsson, told the Wall Street Journal in a recent interview that “there’s a lot of smoke, and I tell you there must be a fire somewhere” when asked about the PlayStation phone rumors and leaks. Nordberg also said that Sony Ericsson plans to "make a lot of noise" with a new product at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February 2011. Could this be the famed PlayStation phone? Possibly.

Nordberg also stated in the interview that there are some major challenges in developing a gaming-oriented smartphone. Overall, the toughest part seems to be securing rights from game developers.

Nov

Sony Ericsson X12 "Anzu" Previewed, Found To Be A "Suicide Committed By Blowing Yourself Up With A Stick Of Dynamite"

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in News, Sony Ericsson, Xperia Arc (Anzu, X12)

Last Updated: January 11th, 2011

Just about a week after Sony Ericsson's latest plaything was first leaked, Mobile-Review's Martin Elm has gotten his greedy hands on the device, and frankly, his initial impressions make the phone seem seriously underwhelming.

Rather than making a truly competitive high-end device, SE appears to have taken the original X10, which never sold well to begin with, and tweaked it here and there without making any major changes.

On the hardware front, Sony Ericsson's bumped the camera's megapixel count from eight to twelve, although Mobile-Review found that the prototype they handled was limited to taking stills at 3MP, with the maximum resolution for video being 325x288.

Oct

Android 2.1 Now Rolling Out For Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, X10 Mini, X10 Mini Pro

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Eclair 2.1, Sony Ericsson, Xperia X10 (es209ra), Xperia X10 Mini / Mini Pro (Robyn / Mimmi)

Right on time, Sony Ericsson's begun rolling out the update to Android 2.1 Eclair (build number 2.0.A.0.504) for the Xperia X10, X10 Mini, and X10 Mini Pro. Judging by what we're seeing on Twitter and from what our tipster told us, it's only available in Scandinavia for now, so we can only hope that other regions will get to join in on the fun soon enough.

Our tipster also mentioned that Universal Androot does not work, although a bit of digging through the forums revealed that SuperOneClick does indeed root the phones, even after the update. On that note, where's our Froyo?

Oct

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, X10 Mini, And X10 Mini Pro To Start Receiving Update To Android 2.1 In November

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, Eclair 2.1, News, Xperia X10 (es209ra), Xperia X10 Mini / Mini Pro (Robyn / Mimmi)

Try to contain your excitement, here: Sony-Ericsson will begin rolling out an the update to Android 2.1 (Éclair) for the Xperia X10, X10 Mini, and X10 Mini Pro devices starting November 1. As sarcastic as we are about being updated to an already out-of-date version, it's still a huge step up from the current Android 1.6. Major features of the updates:

Xperia X10:
• HD video recording with continuous auto-focus for high quality videos
• Upgrade of the Android platform to Android 2.1
• New back up and restore application, with extended content back up
• 5 homescreens for apps, widgets, shortcuts and folders
• Social phonebook which automatically syncs contact pictures from Facebook and shows when your friends are online

Xperia X10 mini and X10 mini pro:
• Improved Bluetooth functionality with support for sending and receiving pictures, contacts and more
• New backup and restore application with extended content back up
• Automatic synchronization of your contact pictures between Facebook and your phone book
• Improved ways of handling pictures, audio, text and numbers in your messages
• Upgrade of the Android platform to Android platform 2.1

Android 2.1 brings a slew of benefits on its own, so their "Upgrade of the Android platform to Android 2.1" entails an awful lot of changes on its own.

Oct

Sony Ericsson PlayStation Phone Is Real, Looks Just Like Renders & Packs Some Solid Hardware

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Gingerbread 2.3, News, Sony Ericsson, Xperia Play (Zeus, PlayStation Phone)

Last Updated: January 11th, 2011

Remember that Sony Ericsson PlayStation phone we heard about back in August? Turns out it's not only real, but a prototype is out and about in the wild - and Engadget has landed themselves some surprisingly clear and detailed pictures of the device. Better still, it looks pretty close to the renders we saw in August - surprising, given the track record for Android rumors.

Between the PlayStation moniker and the slide-out gamepad, I think it's pretty clear that this beastie will be marketed as a gaming phone. In support of that fact, word has it that the phone will support a custom Sony Marketplace with games specifically designed for the platform - if they can garner enough developer support, that should be a fairly nice selling point.

Oct

Sony Opens Android Developer Registration For Sony Internet TVs

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Apps/Games, Google TV, News

Things are really coming along in the Google TV world, aren't they? First, a survey by Appcelerator showed that developers were showing strong interest in Google TV. A few days later, Google revealed that major players in the entertainment industry were backing GTV in a big way - and also gave us a short preview.

Fast forward to today, and Sony has opened up registration for its Android Developer Site. Thus far, there doesn't seem to be much to it - but they promise that there will be "... exciting news for the Sony Internet TV very soon," and "In the future, look for more extras such as images, examples, tips and techniques to help you create exciting new applications."