Sony Ericsson - 11/13 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Oct

Sony Ericsson LiveView Priced And Dated For Europe, X10s To Get OS Update In November?

Posted by Brian O'Toole in Android OS, Eclair 2.1, News, Sony Ericsson, Xperia X10 (es209ra), Xperia X10 Mini / Mini Pro (Robyn / Mimmi)

The lucky folks over at French tech blog JournalDuGeek got themselves some on-wrist time with Sony Ericsson's OLED Bluetooth watch/remote/alert terminal. If you're not familiar with the device, check out our coverage of its official announcement in September: Sony Ericsson Outs The LiveView Remote For Android Devices...

JDG posted some rather blurry pics of the device, whilst also disclosing a price and rough release date: €59 in November. Considering Sony are known for "aspirational" pricing, this is very pleasing if true. Not much was said about the device itself, and it is unknown as yet how legible the OLED screen is in sunlight.

Oct

Universal Androot Hits The Market, Now Supports One-Click Rooting Of 23 Android Phones

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Development, Droid (Sholes), G1 (Dream), Hero, Hero (Sprint, HeroC), Milestone, Milestone XT720, myTouch Slide (Espresso), News, Nexus One (Passion), Streak, Xperia X10 (es209ra), Xperia X10 Mini / Mini Pro (Robyn / Mimmi)

Last Updated: October 16th, 2010

Update: As Artation has pointed out in the comments below, Universal Androot has since been removed from the Market for unknown reasons. If you're still heartbent on using it though, you can download it it from here.

If you can think back to the time Universal Androot was released, you'll recall the then small xda-developers startup that allowed for one-click rooting of a very limited number of phones, all of which had to be running Android 2.1 Eclair or lower.

Now, the app has hit the Market and is ready for prime time with support for a multitude phones, including devices running Android 2.2 FroYo (though, only limited to Nexus One before 2.2.1 and an older FRG01B Droid build), 2.1 Eclair, 1.6 Donut, and even phones stuck on 1.5 Cupcake, like the HTC Magic.

Sep

Sony Ericsson Outs The LiveView Remote For Android Devices, Good Luck Using It With The Xperia X10

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Donut 1.6, Eclair 2.1, News, Sony Ericsson, Xperia X10 (es209ra), Xperia X10 Mini / Mini Pro (Robyn / Mimmi)

Somebody over at Sony Ericsson headquarters must have had a tad too much beer last night - the company has just announced one of its best products yet: the LiveView, which is essentially a Bluetooth remote control for your Android device. The catch? It requires Android 2.0 or above, which is something SE's own Xperia X10 family of phones don't currently have.

Regardless, the square little OLED-packing device does look pretty nice, with functionality that is said to make it a "micro display that mirrors the phone," although it is not yet clear how a 4.3 or even 5-inch 800x480 display will be mirrored on a tiny 1.3" device with a physical resolution of 128x128.

Sep

Sony Ericsson: No Plans For Any New Symbian Products, It’s All Yours Nokia

Posted by Brian O'Toole in News, Sony Ericsson

To the sound of a resounding “Meh”, Sony Ericsson have publically indicated that they have dropped Symbian off their roadmap for future handsets. Having been a member of the Symbian Foundation since its creation, Sony Ericsson are now jettisoning the aging platform for greener fields, leaving Nokia as the sole steward of the Symbian brand. According to spokesman Aldo Liguori:

“[Sony Ericsson] have no plans for the time being to develop any new products to the Symbian Foundation standard or operating system”

Funnily enough, Sony Ericsson are still part of the Symbian Foundation, they just don’t have any Symbian handsets planned.

Aug

Xperia X10’s Android 2.1 Upgrade Due By “The End Of September” According To Sony Ericsson UK

Posted by John Thompson in Eclair 2.1, News, Xperia X10 (es209ra)

With the US release of Sony’s Xperia X10, we were given taglines such as “smarter is coming”, but with Android 1.6 running the show, smarter may be a little bit of a loose term for now. Those of us on the other side of the pond may be in luck pretty soon, however, as Sony Ericcson’s UK Twitter account posted a reply to a user stating that Android 2.1 is due for release in the UK “before the end of September this year.”

If this information is indeed accurate (and we sure hope that it is), then X10s all over the UK may finally get the upgrade to Android 2.1 from Android 1.6, which has plagued the device since its release.

Aug

Sony Working On PlayStation Branded, Android-Powered Gaming Phone

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

Earlier today, Engadget broke an exclusive regarding Sony-Ericsson’s work on an Android gaming handset that is currently “in the late stages of planning.” There have been rumblings of a PlayStation phone for quite some time, and it seems like this device may be Sony finally delivering on those long-standing rumors.

According to Engadget, the device will feature:

3.7-4.1” WVGA screen
5MP camera (may not be final)
Slider-phone design, but instead of a QWERTY keyboard, a gamepad
Gamepad will have:
- Touchpad for directional controls instead of joysticks
- A standard D-pad,
- Standard PSP buttons
- Shoulder buttons
“Likely” to have a 1GHz Snapdragon Processor
Mostly black chassis, some silver highlights (looks like a Captivate crossed with a PSP Go)
Will run Android OS “Gingerbread”
Phone-specific software skin
Will have access to a new and exclusive Android Market Games section
Game titles will include some PSX oldies, as well as newer PSP games

Mockup Created By Engadget

Engadget has speculated the device and the new Android Market Game “ecosystem” could be available as early as October.

Aug

Universal Androot App Offers One-Click Root On A Multitude Of Devices (G1, Nexus One, Droid, Droid X, Hero, X10, Streak, And More)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, Droid (Sholes), Droid X (Shadow), G1 (Dream), Hero, Hero (Sprint, HeroC), Magic, News, Nexus One (Passion), Streak, Xperia X10 (es209ra), Xperia X10 Mini / Mini Pro (Robyn / Mimmi)

Looking for an easy way to root your Android Device? Universal Androot may just be what the doctor ordered. The one-click root fad seems to be catching on and Universal Androot is an app that covers multiple Android devices, making it easier for those who may be reluctant experience the mighty wonders of root.

Universal Androot is the simplest root/unroot method I have seen to date and probably the safest - it has been confirmed as working by multiple users (apparently it uses the same exploit used to 1-click root the Motorola Droid X).

Note: This application just gives you root and does not unlock the /system partition or the boot loader on those devices that have them locked, such as the Droid X.

Aug

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Finally Comes To The US - Available For Pre-Order Now, Out August 15th On AT&T

Posted by Nate Kimmey in AT&T, Donut 1.6, News, Sony Ericsson, Xperia X10 (es209ra)

Yesterday, a countdown showed up on SonyStyle's website, promising something "smarter was coming." Here's what it looked like:

The contour and image enhancement (cranking the brightness all the way up) all but confirmed that Xperia X10 was imminent. Sure enough, this informed guess was correct, and Xperia X10 is headed for AT&T. This will be AT&T’s second high-end Android handset, and the first Android phone from Sony to launch here in the US.

In case you’re not familiar with the phone, it’s got all the high-end specs you’d expect from a smartphone in 2010:

1 GHz processor
4.0” screen
8.1 megapixel camera with LED flash
WiFi 802.11b/g
and expandable memory up to 32 GB (it ships with a 2 GB microSD card)

However, there is one big exception: the phone is most likely running Android 1.6, and there’s been no word on an update to Froyo, though an update to Android 2.1 is expected sometime this quarter.

Aug

O2 FroYo Update Schedule Revealed

Posted by Andrew Gould in Android OS, Desire (Bravo/BravoC), Flipout / Twist, Froyo 2.2, Milestone, Xperia X10 (es209ra)

The official German O2 Twitter account posted a tweet this weekend that the Motorola Milestone (better known as the Verizon Droid to us Yanks) will be getting Android 2.2 in mid-late September of this year. Also contained in the announcement was news that the HTC Desire will be receiving FroYo in mid-to-late August, and the Galaxy S in mid-September while the Flipout and X10 are still TBD. It’s great to see these phones receiving prompt updates to the latest OS version after the slower rollouts of some of the previous updates (We’re looking at you Eclair).

Source: EuroDroid

Jul

Unboxing: Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 Mini / Mini Pro

Posted by Jose R. Ortiz in News, Phone Reviews, Reviews, Sony Ericsson, Videos, Xperia X10 Mini / Mini Pro (Robyn / Mimmi)

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

You didn’t think the unboxing goodness was over did you? Well just in case the Captivate and Intercept didn’t quite fill your appetite, here’s a two-in-one unboxing for you: Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro.

In November 2009, Sony Ericsson announced its entry into the Android arena by adding the X10 to its XPERIA line. Three short months later, SE decided to put the X10 under a shrink-ray to create the X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro. To say these Mini handsets are small is an understatement. The X10 Mini measures a scant 83mm tall and 50mm wide with its QWERTY packing brother being only slightly larger.