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Possible Sony Xperia Play 2 prototype surfaces eight years after it was canceled
Much sleeker than the Play 1 and looks like it had a 3D gimmick on board
Gaming phones are commonplace now that mobile gaming has reached a level of maturity, although most half-decent phones can play modern games to a pretty good standard these days anyway. Rewind back to 2011, and the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play 1 was a unique proposition with its slide-out PlayStation gamepad and stereo speakers. A follow-up was sadly canceled, but it appears as though images of a prototype have surfaced all these years later.
Sony was among one of the first manufacturers to be completely transparent about bringing Ice Cream Sandwich to its devices. Throughout the process, the company has posted numerous entries on its blog regarding the process, where they were at with various devices, and even offered up downloads of the beta product for advanced users and developers to test out.
I know, I know. 4.0.2 sounds a lot like Android 4.0, but it isn't. It's actually Gingerbread 2.3.4, and Verizon Xperia Play owners who wish to rock out like it's May 2011 need only mash the update button.
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.
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.
It looks like the Cyanogenmod team, in a continued effort to bring continually-updated Gingerbread goodness to as many devices as possible, have brought nightlies to a new crop of handsets, including AT&T's variant of the Samsung Galaxy SII, the Motorola Atrix, LG's Optimus Black and a handful of Sony devices including the Xperia X10, Play, Arc (X12), X10 mini, ST18i, and about five others.
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:
Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play, also known as the Playstation Phone, will be hitting AT&T's HSPA+ network on September 18th for a mere $50, finally allowing gamers rocking Ma Bell to let go some of that envy towards VZW. This portable gaming/smartphone hybrid sports a 4-inch screen, 1GHz processor, 512MB RAM, 5MP rear shooter, and Android 2.3 out of the box; what really makes this device unique, though, it its slide-out Playstation gamepad and exclusive gaming content.
Skysoft... errr, I mean Skype updated its previously measly Android device support from 5 devices to more than 20 today with the introduction of version 2.1 of its Android app. There are no new features outside of expanded device support, which was badly needed in order for the app to climb out of the sea of 1-star reviews (although stability and quality improvements would have made today's release even sweeter).
Good news, Xperia Play, neo, and arc owners: the worlds greatest custom ROM, CyanogenMod, is coming soon to a device near you! Thanks to some newly submitted code, support for these devices can be expected to hit the CyanogenMod repositories soon, and nightlies will be available shortly after that.
We've known that Minecraft is coming to Android for some time now - we even witnessed a video of the game in action on the Xperia Play back in May. What we didn't know, however, was when it would become available on the Market and how much it would cost for eager gamers to take everyone's favorite pixelated game with them on the go.
It's been quite some time since we first heard rumblings of the PlayStation phone. The concept - a high-end Android phone mashed together with familiar PlayStation controls - seemed like one that could revolutionize gaming on Android. In theory, this device could have done just that.
This is quite the deal if you've been thinking about getting an Xperia PLAY: with a new two-year agreement, you can get the one-and-only Playstation phone for less than one dollar at both Amazon and Wirefly - $0.01 and $0.99 respectively, to be exact. If you're already on VZW, you can still score this device for $50 with a two-year agreement renewal.
If you're the proud owner of the recently released Xperia PLAY, then you'll probably welcome what Sony Ericsson announced today via its product blog: the Xperia PLAY Experience Pack. Sounds pretty intense, right? The contents: a multimedia dock, pocket USB cable, "music cable to connect the dock to your audio system," and three free games from Gameloft. Ah, that last part got your attention, yes?
The Playstation phone Xperia PLAY may not have quite hit store shelves yet, but it has been up for pre-order for a few days now. Amazon and Wirefly are both stepping up their game in an attempt to beat Verizon's price of $200 with contract, though, and have discounted prices accordingly. Specifically, Amazon has dropped the price for new accounts to just $100, and upgrades are $150. Wirefly has pegged both prices at $150, but hopefully they reflect Amazon's lower price in order to stay competitive. Then again, Wirefly includes a $25 Android Market Card and free backup service for life.
Looks like Verizon isn't waiting until May 25th to ship the Xperia Play - at least a few customers have received confirmation that their phones have already been mailed.
Like clockwork, the thumb-hungry Xperia Play from Sony Ericsson went up on VZW's site, ready for some early pre-order action. It will set you back $199.99 on a 2-year contract and should ship out May 25th to be in your hands by May 26th, all for free.
Verizon released a press-release today (see below) confirming the availability of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play. The device is set to hit VZW shelves on May 26th for $199 with a two-year agreement, but customers can pre-order the device online beginning May 19th. Voice plans start at $39.99 a month and the compulsory unlimited data plan is $29.99.