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Sony was one of the first OEMs to focus on designing water-resistant phones, but they weren't always resistant enough. Consumers were brushed off by Sony when their water-resistant phones and tablets showed evidence of water damage. Now, there's a class action lawsuit wrapping up that could result in affected Sony owners getting a 50% refund on their devices.
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.
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.
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- This information has been confirmed. Sony Mobile updated its blog posting from yesterday to add all three devices to the list and announce that updates will start with the Nordics and Baltics.
Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact, Z2, and Z2 Tablet owners around the world may soon have a reason to smile. According to XperiaBlog, Sony has started to roll out Android 5.0 to these three devices in various regions. This news comes shortly after the Japanese manufacturer started pushing out Lollipop to the Xperia Z3 and Z3 Compact yesterday.
Sony is making it easier to get AOSP ROMs up and running on its flagship devices with a few goodies for developers. After showing off stock Android 5.0 running on the Xperia Z3 recently, the company has posted source code and binaries for the Xperia Z3, Xperia Z3 Compact, Xperia Z2, Xperia Z1 and Xperia Z1 Compact.
Sony is releasing flagship smartphones at a furious pace. Barely six months after the Xperia Z2 was announced, the Z3 is already here. If you don't need to have the absolute latest and greatest, there's a good deal on the Z2 today. Just $399.99 gets you a new unlocked device compatible with US LTE bands.
Sony's back to its AOSP tricks, working to release some functional (if not exactly ideal) versions of the latest release of Android based on open-source code. This time they've quickly put together Android Open Source Project builds for the flagships of the last two years: the Xperia Z1, Z2, and Z3. You can see the bone-stock builds running in the video below.
Sony is very serious about giving PlayStation 4 owners the ability to play their console without actually playing with their consoles, so the company is expanding its remote play functionality to more devices. The required app hit the Play Store just last week, but it only worked for the Z3 line of devices. Now that's gradually changing.
Chromecast's screen casting feature is different from general Chromecast support. You can cast content to Google's little dongle with whatever device you have lying around, as long as it's connected to the same network and running a supported app or extension. But to mirror everything that's shown on your screen Miracast-style without rooting your device, you need to have one of the gadgets on this list.
Sony's relationship with "pure" Android is an interesting one. As a company they generally make it easy to root or otherwise modify their phones or tablets, with a few notable qualifiers. The AOSP for Xperia project, which provides the basic tools for building standard Android ROMs on popular devices, is also one way that Sony stays relevant for those who buy phones with the intent to add aftermarket software. Today it gets two new flagship options, the older Xperia Z1 and Z2.
The Sony Xperia Z2 is a water-resistant phone, and it may just be more humble than it puts on. One reportedly managed to survive for six weeks on a sea bed more than 10 meters deep. It didn't come out of the deal without a fair bit of damage, but the phone was still able to boot up and make calls.
Sony is beginning the rollout of a new firmware update for its current flagship, the Xperia Z2. The software (version number 17.1.2.A.0.314) doesn't bump the underlying version of Android, which was already based on KitKat. Instead, Sony is cleaning up the rough edges.
Update 3: Live on YouTube is back, more than two weeks after it debuted and almost immediately vanished. The description still says it's only for the Xperia Z2, but we have no way of confirming that, so your mileage may vary.
The Sony Xperia Z2 is a great device out of the box, but let's not kid around, a certain number of people are going to want to root and flash it if for no reason other than spite. The task requires a good custom ROM to turn to in place of whatever unbearable software the phone shipped with, and fortunately the latest version of CyanogenMod, complete with Android 4.4, is now one such option available to Xperia Z2 owners who just can't bear to let things be. It's offered as a nightly under the name "sirius," a codename for the Z2 that frankly gives the word "Xperia" a run for its money.
As we near the end of spring, so too nears the end of the mainstream release cycle for four of the biggest Android OEMs on the planet. Samsung, LG, HTC, and Sony all have competitive flagship devices on the market now, and none of them clearly edges out the others in a holistic sense. They're all very good smartphones in an extremely competitive product category.
There comes a time in many Android enthusiasts' lives when the urge to flash a custom ROM becomes too great, but that desire alone isn't worth jack squat without a custom recovery. The Team Win Recovery Project (yup, that's what TWRP stands for) is one of the more popular and reliable options out there, which makes it good news to for tinkerers with a Sony Xperia Z2 that support has landed for their device.
If you're tired of the usual Samsung and Nexus deals, perhaps this one will be of interest. Sony's new flagship, the Xperia Z2, is on eBay Daily Deals for the somewhat reasonable price of $599.99 with free shipping in the US.
The Xperia Z2 doesn't support wireless charging out of the box, but Sony has just announced two accessories for the flagship device that will be able to scratch that particular itch. The two products include a flip cover that enables the device to work with Qi wireless chargers and an official Sony-branded circular base to set it on.