15
Aug
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The Sony Xperia Ion, which we first saw back at CES (and later saw as an AT&T exclusive device), while not a flagship superphone, is definitely a decent device – it packs a dual-core snapdragon processor at 1.5GHz, a 4.55" LCD display at 720x1280 (~323ppi), 1GB RAM, and a 1900mAh battery.

If you like the looks of the Ion but are still waiting for just the right deal before pulling the trigger, this is it. Best Buy is offering the Ion for exactly $0.00 with new 2-year contract or upgrade plus free shipping. Those inclined to buy from Amazon Wireless can still get the phone at a deeply discounted rate of just $30.00.

31
Jul
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Recently, a Sony representative took to Facebook to announce the company's Jelly Bean plans for some of its Xperia devices. As it turns out, Sony wasn't too pleased with this move and has now backpedaled on everything the rep said, adding that it was still "actively investigating" Jelly Bean upgrade options. In the meantime, the rollout of Ice Cream Sandwich to Xperia S and 2011 Xperia smartphones will continue as planned.

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Source: Sony

05
Jul
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If you own an Xperia phone or Sony's Tablet S, then you're finally going to get a treat before the others do. The Tiny Bang Story is a game centered around the inhabitants of Tiny Planet. An asteroid did a number on this planet, and now it's in shambles. Fortunately, you don't need cheap labor to rebuild. Just some solid problem solving skills.

Update: The exclusivity period will last until August 5 2012.

The game features a wide variety of puzzle games, including actual puzzles. As in, with pieces that you put together. The variety of brain teasers is actually pretty impressive and the artwork is fantastic.

13
Jun
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Sony has had a busy morning so far, announcing no fewer than four new Android smartphones. The newly announced Xperia miro, tipo and tipo dual will all ship with Android 4.0, despite each having underwhelming specifications, whilst the HSPA version of the Xperia ion is still set to ship with Android 2.3, but as the name suggests it will be lacking 4G.

Xperia miro

The Xperia mio packs a 3.5-inch display with a resolution of 480 x 320, Android 4.0 and a 5MP rear camera. Unfortunately, this is all being powered by a 800 MHz Qualcomm MSM7225A processor, so don't expect any performance miracles.

08
Jun
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Sony may have disappointed by backing out of bringing Ice Cream Sandwich to its PlayStation-certified Xperia Play, but there are still several other Xperia devices out there due an upgrade to Android 4.0. Having recently dealt with the Xperia Arc and Neo, next up is the pint-sized pocket slider, the Xperia Mini Pro. As you might expect, this will include Sony's usual UI customizations, but considering the Xperia Mini Pro's rather unique form factor such additions may be welcome in this case. With many of its QWERTY brethren such as the Droid 4 or Captivate Glide still awaiting Ice Cream Sandwich updates, this makes the Xperia Mini Pro a rare device indeed.

30
May
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Sony loves making stuff that's hard to break. The Xperia Active was probably the pinnacle of this obsession (see: hilariously awesome video), but now that Sony has decided to make pretty much all of its phones look exactly the same, it's out with the old, in with the new.

The Go and Acro S are the newest additions to Sony's rugged family, and for rugged phones, they don't look nearly as god-awful ugly as almost everything else in that segment of the market. In fact, the press images make it pretty hard to tell they've been ruggedized at all.

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The Go and Acro S, pictured respectively, will be available in Q3 this year (so, by September 2012).

10
May
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Sony, you really confuse me sometimes. The US is just about to get the Xperia Ion on AT&T, supposedly the Sony-branded flagship smartphone. The problem is that the Xperia GX just took that crown from the Ion - before it even came out. I'm not sure what Sony's grand master plan here is, but looking from the outside in, it seems like the company (that lost $5.7 billion last year - most of it in the fourth quarter alone) is flying completely and utterly blind.

Sony got into the Android smartphone game way back in 2009, with the announcement of the Xperia X10.

18
Apr
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All manufacturers want to make sure that apps work properly on their devices. Of course, the best way to make sure an app works on any given phone is to actually test the app on the device in question. For developers, though, that could cost a substantial amount of money - just think about how many Android devices are out there at the moment.

As an answer to this quandary, though, Sony has come up with a unique plan to allow developers to borrow Xperia devices. For free.

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The deal is pretty simple: Sony is willing to offer up a few of its more popular devices  as loaners for developers to test their apps on for 30 days.

13
Apr
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Sony has done an excellent job at being transparent with its progress on the bringing Ice Cream Sandwich to a number of Xperia devices. It has kept users aware of what's going on throughout the process, as well as shared alpha and beta builds along the way. Now, though, it looks like the beta days are behind them and the build is ready for prime time for a certain Xperia devices.

The rollout will being with unlocked variants of the Xperia arc s, neo v, and ray (seriously, Sony, stop with the lowercase device names. It looks awful) in Nordic Countries and will continue over the next four to six weeks.

30
Mar
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Before Sony Ericsson became Sony Mobile, the company seemed committed to developing an Android 4.0 update, going so far as to release alpha ROMs for a number of Xperia devices, and more recently a beta for the Xperia Play. Here we are, a quarter of the way into 2012, and Xperia owners are still gnawing on last year's official Gingerbread. Although, there may finally be a light at the end of the tunnel; the Sony Mobile blog has announced that the first Android 4.0 updates will roll out to select Xperia phones in mid-April. Don't get too excited when wireless carriers are involved though.