By Cristina Porter
10th January 2012.
03:57
Category Archives: Blog
The Sony press conference has just finished and Sir Howard Stringer and Kaz Hirai of Sony have shared with us not only the new gadgets Sony is presenting at the 2012 International CES, but also announced the new Xperia™ S, the first smartphone from the new Xperia™ NXT series- the next generation smartphones from Sony*.
The new Xperia™ S is an Android smartphone that combines an impressive viewing experience through the high resolution 4.3 inch display with Mobile BRAVIA engine, a 12 MP camera that takes pictures in just 1.5 seconds from standby, and an amazing Sony HD experience. Xperia™ S also has a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor for a faster performance. Watching HD clips and movies is really a great experience on this phone. And I can’t wait to try out HD games on it! (more…)
During the AT&T Developers Summit, taking place during the 2012 International CES in Las Vegas this week, several of the new phones that will be available through AT&T were announced. One of them is Xperia™ion, the first LTE smartphone from Sony* which will be available exclusively in the US for AT&T.
Xperia™ ion is an impressive smartphone, and I am really excited by it. With an amazing (and really huge) 4.6 inch HD display (with Mobile BRAVIA Engine) it takes HD content viewing, game playing and web navigation to another level. The images really are brilliant and clear, and the sound experience is also really good, so watching HD movies is just amazing. And Xperia™ ion is also PlayStation™ Certified, so you know playing games will also be a really good experience!
So, it’s Sunday night and I am in Las Vegas, where it seems people don’t like to sleep and lights are always on. And in this town, everything is pretty much ready for the 2012 International CES, the largest electronics trade show in the world.
During CES 2012, we will be sharing space with Sony, in a gigantic 30,000 square feet booth, and we expect thousands of people to go to the booth and check out all the new cool gadgets we will be showing. If you are into gadgets, this is the show you expect each year!
Today is Christmas eve… It is still afternoon in Mexico, where I am, and it is still time for a short post about the latest games you can download to play while you wait to open more presents tomorrow… or tonight!
If you like to complete missions for the mafia while running around stealing cars and escaping the police, then Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto 3 is for you. I used to play this game years ago on my PlayStation 3, so I am definitely playing it now on Xperia PLAY!
As previously communicated we will update the entire 2011 Xperia portfolio* to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) as part of our next software upgrade. Our developers are now busy merging our current Xperia™ software with the new features in Android 4.0.
With the holiday season around the corner, we’re happy to confirm that the first 2011 Xperia™ smartphones will be upgraded to Android 4.0 starting from end March/early April 2012. The first smartphones to get the upgrade are Xperia™ arc S, Xperia™ neo V and Xperia™ ray. Soon after, starting from end April/early May, Xperia™ arc, Xperia™ PLAY, Xperia™ neo, Xperia™ mini and mini pro, Xperia™ pro, Xperia™ active as well as Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman™ will get their upgrades.
This will be a phased roll out over several weeks and all kits for a specific phone model will not get the upgrade at the same time. For more information about what’s going on during the process of an Android software upgrade, please check out this blog post from our Developer World team. It gives a comprehensive overview of the steps we need to take to ensure great software qualityonce it reaches the phone in your hand. Below is a summary of the process:
- It starts with public push when we as a manufacturer get access to the new Android release from Google
- Our developers take the existing Xperia™ software and combine it with the new Android release
- Once the coding is done we want to make sure the quality of the new software meets our, our partners and your expectations
- Now we feel the new software is ready but we also need to make sure it’s approved by our external partners
- All good. We’re all set to roll-out the new software. The story continues in your Xperia™ smartphone
As you can see, there are many steps involved and it’s a comprehensive upgrade in terms of number of products.
So, how do you know when the new software is available for your Xperia™ smartphone?
Owners of 2011 Xperia™ smartphone will receive a notification in the phone instructing them to download the software over the air via 3G or WiFi. Alternatively, they will have the option to connect to a computer and download it via PC companion.
Over the next months we will be keeping you up to date on progress and we will also share video demos of the new software running on 2011 Xperia™ smartphones.
* “2011 Xperia™ Portfolio” refers to the following products: Xperia™ arc and arc S, Xperia™ PLAY, Xperia™ neo and neo V, Xperia™ mini and mini pro, Xperia™ pro, Xperia™ active, Xperia™ ray as well as Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman™
