xperia - 3/6 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Mar

Sony Releases Open Source Archive For The Xperia S, Includes Handy Build Instructions

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Development, News, Sony, Xperia S (Nozomi)

Sony released the Xperia S open source archive today, providing all the tools necessary to build a kernel and start cooking up ROMs for the Xperia S from Sony's source code. In a post to Sony Mobile's developer blog today, the company also noted that the opening of the Xperia S archive marks the first time Sony has published source code for a product built around Qualcomm's Snapdragon S3.

The post goes on to advise that in order to flash the software, users will need to complete a few extra steps and run a special script (which is linked, along with a proprietary firmware file, in the original post).

Feb

[MWC 2012] Sony Unveils The Xperia P And Xperia U, Younger Brothers Of The Xperia S

Posted by Nate Kimmey in News, Sony, Videos, Xperia P (Nypon), Xperia U (Kumquat)

Sony's portfolio of non-Ericsson branded phones has just received two more additions, though they aren't much more than variations than the already-announced Xperia S.

The Xperia P features: a 4-inch "WhiteMagic" display, optimized for viewability in direct sunlight (for comparison, the Xperia S has a 4.3" display). It also features a 1 GHz dual core processor, 8 megapixel camera, NFC, and HDMI connectivity. The Xperia P will also launch alongside the SmartDock, which allows content on the phone's screen to be streamed to a TV.

The Xperia U is similar, but offers a nice alternative for those who aren't interested in the recent slew of giant phones.

Feb

Sony Releases Android 4.0 Beta ROM For Some Unlocked 2011 Xperia Smartphones

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, Xperia Arc S, Xperia Neo V (Haida), Xperia Ray (Urushi, ST18i)

Back in December of '11, Sony [Ericsson] released an Android 4.0 alpha ROM for the Xperia Arc S, Neo V, and Ray. The Sony dev teams has now released an update to this ROM, bringing into its beta stages.

Since the previous release, Sony has made a number of improvements to the ROM, including an updated UI, improved lockscreen, activated GSM modem and FM radios, and a quick dialer.

Unfortunately, Google Apps are not available for this ROM, nor are Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, as they're both still waiting for approval before they can implemented into the product.

If you intend on flashing this ROM, however, you need to be aware that it's intended primarily for developer use, and there are still a lot of quirks.

Jan

[CES 2012] Video Hands-On With The Sony Xperia Ion And Xperia S, Including Their Speedy 12MP Rear Cameras

Posted by David Ruddock in News, Sony, Videos, Xperia Ion (Aoba), Xperia S (Nozomi)

We stopped by the Sony booth earlier this morning at CES, and got some hands-on time with the very first Sony smartphones (Sony-Ericsson is no more, subject to regulatory approval) - the Xperia Ion and the Xperia S. While these devices were designed before the Sony Ericsson breakup, they'll be marketed as Sony devices when they hit retail channels.

First up is the Xperia Ion, announced a couple of days ago by AT&T. As you may already know, Sony's upcoming flagship device (headed to AT&T in Q2) will be powered by a dual-core 1.5GHz processor, 4G LTE, and features a 720p display with a truly impressive 12MP rear shooter.

Dec

CyanogenMod Team At It Again - Nightlies Arrive For Several Xperia Devices

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Development, News, Xperia Active (Satsuma), Xperia Pro (Iyokan)

Just after expanding Nightly support to Samsung's Epic 4G and a slew of LG handsets, the CyanogenMod team has brought nightlies to a handful of Xperia devices, including Coconut (the Xperia Live with Walkman), Iyokan (the Xperia Pro), and Satsuma (the Xperia Active).

In a Google+ post earlier today, CyanogenMod announced that CM7 support had arrived for multiple new devices, throwing out a special hint to Xperia users.

For those not familiar, a "nightly" is a brand new released, built on a daily (or nightly) basis with a day's worth of new code. Often times, new features contained in nightly updates may be unstable or not fully tested.

Dec

[Update: Now With Dates] Sony Ericsson Promises Ice Cream Sandwich For 2011 Xperia Line... Again

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, Sony Ericsson

Update 12/21: SE published a blog post this morning vaguely detailing a timeline as to when ICS should start hitting devices. It looks like the Xperia Arc S, Neo V, and Ray will be the first to get the update sometime in late March/early April. After that, the Arc, PLAY, Neo, Mini, Mini Pro, Pro, Active, and Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman will all receive the update as well, though no ETA for that bunch was given.

Sony Ericsson has been taking owners of Xperia devices on a roller coaster ride concerning future updates -- namely the update to Ice Cream Sandwich.

Nov

BF Deal Alert: Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc X12 For $319.99 ($230 Off) On Newegg

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in AT&T, News, Sony Ericsson, Xperia Arc (Anzu, X12)

Thanksgiving is over, but you know what that means - Black Friday is now officially in full effect, and we're seeing some pretty good deals, some of which are getting snatched up in mere seconds (cough, $199.99 Toshiba Thrive).

One of such BF deals is the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc X12 with AT&T 3G frequencies for $319.99. The MSRP is listed at $549.99, and the price before today was somewhere around $370, so if you're looking for a slim and sexy Android Gingerbread device without signing a contract, this phone may very well be for you.

The Arc, which we absolutely loved at CES this year, features the following:

1GHz Scorpion CPU (MSM8255)
Adreno 205 GPU
512MB RAM
512MB internal storage
4.2" 854x480 TFT display
8.1MP camera with F2.4 aperture, 720p recording, and Mobile Bravia Engine technology
8.7mm
117g
full HDMI out with HDMI CEC
Android 2.3

Source: Newegg

Sep

CyanogenMod Joins With FreeXperia Team To Bring CM7 Support To Ten New Sony Ericsson Devices With Upcoming Release

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, Xperia Arc (Anzu, X12), Xperia Mini / Mini Pro (Smultron / Mango), Xperia Neo (Hallon), Xperia Play (Zeus, PlayStation Phone), Xperia X10 (es209ra), Xperia X10 Mini / Mini Pro (Robyn / Mimmi), Xperia X8 (Shakira)

At the beginning of August, the CM team announced that they would be supporting the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, arc, and neo. Cyanogen himself has now announced via Google+ that they have joined together with the FreeXperia Team to bring CM7 to seven other Xperia devices in future releases, totaling the number of supported Xperia devices to ten. The full list includes:

Xperia Arc
Xperia Neo
Xperia Mini
Xperia Mini Pro
Xperia Play
Xperia Ray
Xperia X10
Xperia X8
Xperia X10 Mini
Xperia X10 Mini Pro

There's no word on when this update will roll out, but we'll make sure to keep you posted.

Sep

Sony Ericsson: No Decision Has Been Made To Bring Ice Cream Sandwich To Xperia Devices

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, Sony Ericsson

Earlier today we reported, with great skepticism, that Sony Ericsson would be bringing Ice Cream Sandwich to all of its Xperia devices. It looks like our doubts were dead on, as SE told Slashgear that "no such decision has been made."

When it comes to future platforms of the Android OS, we will make them available to consumers in a timely manner as long as they improve the user experience and are viable from a hardware point of view.

Like we pointed out earlier, some of SE's devices have been upgraded to Gingerbread in the past several months, while others were left behind long ago, suggesting that there's no clear plan of any kind where OS update are concerned.

Sep

[Updated] Sony Ericsson Promises 2011 XPERIA Line Will Get Ice Cream Sandwich, We Try To Act Skeptical

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, Sony Ericsson

Update: We knew it was too good to be true, and Sony Ericsson has released an official statement on the matter. Let's just say that Xperia devices may not be seeing ICS after all.

It seems Sony-Ericsson's PR arm has found its way straight to the heart of Android fanboys: by promising major OS updates. There really is no better feeling for an Android phone owner than knowing that, at some point, their phone will be getting the bump to the latest version of the Android operating system - and not left to die on the streets of software obsolescence.