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One of the best parts of LineageOS (and its predecessor, CyanogenMod) is that it can breathe life into older devices. Some phones and tablets can end up with several more years of Android updates thanks to the ROM community. Since we last looked at LineageOS, a whopping 10 more devices have been added, most of which are a few years old at this point.
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- According to Xperia Blog, the Android 7.0 Nougat update OTA has also started rolling out to the Xperia Z3+ and Z3+ Dual. It has the same firmware number 32.3.A.0.372 and weighs a little more at 1347MB.
The Xperia Z5 series (Z5, Z5 Compact, and Z5 Premium) was on the list of devices that Sony promised to bring Android 7.0 Nougat to. After releasing the update to the more recent X Performance and XZ, then the X and X Compact, Sony is now ready to bring Nougat 7.0 to the Z5.
Normally only Nexus and other first-party Google devices get a taste of an upcoming Android version before it's released, barring custom ROMs and other end user activities. But Sony has been offering experimental AOSP builds for some of its phones for some time, and today the company has surprised and delighted owners of the former flagship Xperia Z3 with a custom Android N developer preview. This is more or less the same as the preview builds for Nexus phones and tablets, and it includes the Play Store and Google Services - everything one needs for a full Android experience.
After updating more recent flagship devices to Marshmallow in March, Sony commenced its Marshmallow rollout for other phones and tablets in its range earlier this month, including the Xperia Z2, the Z3, and the Z3 Compact. Now the Japanese consumer electronics company is updating more of the Xperia line to Marshmallow, including the Z2 Tablet, the Xperia Z3 Dual, and other Z2/Z3 variants from around the world.
I'm not going to mince words here: if you don't have a Nexus phone, odds are pretty good that you aren't running Android 6.0. The best that you can say of most manufacturers when it comes to this software cycle is that maybe they're kinda-sorta trying to update last year's flagship phones. Sony has been a little better than most in that regard - they've already updated several phones and tablets from the Z4 and Z5 series, and now even older models are getting in on the action. According to XperiaBlog, the Xperia Z2, Xperia Z3, and Xperia Z3 Compact are being updated to Android 6.0 starting today.
Few would be surprised to hear that the Xperia Z5, Sony's latest flagship, would eventually get Android 6.0. The question is when that update will arrive.
Few Android OEMs take their updates as seriously and as extensively as Sony does, and Marshmallow is no exception. Ever since the source code for Android 6.0.0 was released by Google, the company revealed which devices in its portfolio will get it (hint: they go as far back as the Xperia Z2), released AOSP binaries for a slew of devices including its new Xperia Z5 and Z5 Compact, and announced concept Marshmallow builds for the Z3 and Z3 Compact that are open for 10,000 testers. Now these builds are starting to roll to users who signed up for them and you have more opportunities to try them out if you own a compatible smartphone.
Sony is ahead of most other OEMs when it comes to its support of open source. It contributes significantly to AOSP and even releases binaries for many of its devices so developers can build AOSP ROMs for them. Today, Sony is announcing support for the first three 64-bit devices in the Open Device project.
Sony's de facto flagship right now is the Xperia Z3+ (AKA the Xperia Z4 in some regions). It runs a Snapdragon 810 processor, which has gained a reputation for running hot. Sony's camera software isn't doing anything to prove that assumption wrong. Watch in the video below as the camera app crashes in a few seconds because of high temperatures.
Most over-the-air updates include a few bug fixes, maybe a new bloatware app or two, and are thus not really worth getting excited over. Not so for the latest addition to T-Mobile's customized version of the Sony Xperia Z3. In addition to the long-awaited upgrade to Android 5.0, today's update flips a software switch that enables access to band 12, the 700MHz spectrum that T-Mobile began using for LTE earlier this year. If the prospect of wider, faster LTE for your phone doesn't make you excited for an update, I don't know what will.
Sony has just announced the follow-up to its flagship device, the... why does it feel like I've written this story before? Oh, because I have. So a month after making its Xperia Z4 official in Japan, Sony is taking that device and releasing it with a more appropriate name for the global market: Xperia Z3+. Let's face it, the changes compared to the Z3 are minimal enough not to warrant a full number increase, so the switch back to the Z3+ is more honest on the company's behalf.
Earlier this month, a tweet from T-Mobile's official Twitter account said that the Sony Xperia Z3 was no longer available from the carrier, and the phone was nowhere to be found on its website. Instead, searches redirected to refurbished Sony devices. This news came less than half a year after the phone's October release.
Xperia owners, watch out. Lollipops are raining from the sky and smashing straight into your screens. If you welcome this phenomenon, don't do anything. These lollipops have heat-seeking sensors and will find your devices wherever they lay. If you prefer KitKat, you can swat the intruders away, but you'll never get to experience the future changes in store for your Android device.
Sony promised it would bring Android 5.0 to all its Z series phones, and now it's starting to live up to that. The newest generation Xperia Z3 and Z3 Compact are first up. The OTA is rolling out now to devices in Nordic and Baltic countries, but other markets should follow within two weeks. There's a nifty demo video to go along with the announcement.
T-Mobile bought up some spectrum licenses in the 700MHz block A space in 2013, and has started upgrading its towers just recently to take advantage of it. However, there are only a few devices available that can connect to Tmo's 700MHz (band 12) network. That's about to change, according to an updated webpage on T-Mobile's site. The Nexus 6, Sony Xperia Z3, and other phones will be getting an update to add support soon.
Sony's international phones have unlockable bootloaders, and the company even encourages users to tinker around with neat extras like AOSP builds. Alas, in markets like the US the carriers are still the keepers of the keys for a lot of customers, and T-Mobile has once again insisted on locking that sucker down for anyone who buys its version of the Sony Xperia Z3. Now users with this lamentable affliction can at least get root access on their phones, thanks to a bounty-winning method from an XDA user.
CyanogenMod supports a few new devices today, all of them Sony. Just head over to the CM download section and you can get nightly builds for the Xperia Z3, Z3 Compact, and Z3 Tablet Compact with LTE (that's Scorpion). This follows the WiFi version of this tablet getting support just a few days ago.