As you know, design, hardware as well as software, is a key part of the Xperia smartphone and Smart accessory creation and development process. However, we don’t manufacture the cases and shells that can give your smartphone that extra cool individual look. 

So today, we’re excited to announce new partnerships with leading accessory brands, to enable true personalization of your Xperia smartphone.

We know that when you look to buy a new smartphone, the quality and choice of accessory on offer is important. So, we’re keen to ensure that our consumers get the very best selection of cases and shells for their favorite smartphone.

To make this happen we have created a new partnership program with case and accessory manufacturers. The market leading brands that have joined us so far are: CaseMate, AGF, Incipio, Krusell, Dicota, Copter, Muvit, Roxfit, Orbyx and Shinnorie.

Our new friends will announce exciting and stylish products for Xperia smartphones from mid-May.

We hope you’re looking forward to enjoying them as much as we are and we’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below!

I returned from my holiday this past Saturday to a tremendous, nail-biting weekend of English Premiership soccer.

So, it seems appropriate that my first blog post of the week carries a footballing flavour…

As you might remember, last month we kicked off our Made of Imagination Challenge, where we pitted five freestyle soccer wizards to create tricks you imagined.

Well, the scores are in – check out our video and watch as our five footballers bring your ideas to life.

My favourite has to be the mad skills of hitting an Xperia smartphone-controlled model helicopter – no, I’m not kidding, it has to be seen to be believed

Who do you think CRUSHED it? Head on over to our Facebook page to vote for your favourite freestyler!

Ant.

Dungeon Hunter 3 – Gameloft

A visually stunning role playing game from Gameloft – are you ready for the endless waltz of battle, victory and Glory to free Gothicus from the spread of Evil? 

Embrace your inner Hero and chose to take on the enemy as a warlord, astromancer, trickster or shaman now with a choice of gender for the first time. Use your strength and powers to overcome all kinds of foe in 16 massive arenas that make up the dark fantasy world awaiting you.

Unlock new skills and collect over 1000 items to become the ultimate, most powerful hero in all of Gothicus.

glympse

glympse is an App to solve the age old problem of describing where you are when trying to meet up with your mates. As summer approaches and we gear up for getting out and about and washing away the winter blues, glympse allows you to easily share your location with friends and family privately, and without signing up to a social network. You can share your location via SMS, email or your Facebook and Twitter accounts and save those tiresome conversations of, “where are you… I can’t see you!”.

ScoreMobile

So if you have managed to meet up with your mates using glimpse while out and about, but need to know those latest sports scores, then this is the app for you. Log on and get the latest updates on your favourite sports including: NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB, NCAA, MMA / UFC, Tennis, PGA, NASCAR & more!

So, we hope that these apps bring you a little fun and practical help over the weekend – enjoy and please remember to share what you think of them with us below. Have a good one!

Will…

Here are our picks of the week – the killer Google play apps we’d recommend you enjoy on your Xperia smartphone.

Dungeon Crawlers

Dungeon Crawlers is a fun, fantasy inspired, role-playing game. You must guide one of four characters through the maze of dungeons, goblin-infested hallways, lava-drenched caverns and other hostile environments in pursuit of loot, women, and monsters to vanquish … what’s more, the game is currently exclusive to Xperia and optimized for the ultimate gaming smartphone, Xperia PLAY!

TrackID

Pre-installed on most Xperia devices, TrackID is a fast, accurate and stylish way to find out what you’re listening to. The app works swiftly to identify the song; whether you’re in a bar with friends or just can’t remember the name of one of your favourite tunes. You can then view the music video on YouTube or download the track right to your phone. Sharing tracks is simple too, just click ‘share’ to post on Facebook, and let your friends listen/like/comment or maybe even disapprove…

Paper Camera

Wave your magic wand (otherwise known as your Xperia smartphone!) and watch this instant app transform the space around you to create truly iconic images. Turn your surroundings into a vintage masterpiece with an elegant noir effect, or step into a comic book world with sketch and cartoon filters you can share with your friends. You can also apply the renders to existing pictures to give them a personality and style all of your own making.

Skitch

This is one for those who got into trouble for doodling in class (guilty). You can “draw attention” by annotating and editing pictures and then share the creations/mutations with friends! Because the app is from the brains behind Evernote, the two integrate seamlessly – perfect for syncing and accessing annotated snapshots from meetings, conferences and lectures.

Have a restful and enjoyable weekend

Ant.

To create our Sony Xperia smartphone TV ad, we enlisted the help of the most imaginative people we know – kids. We asked them what they thought was in Xperia smartphones that made them so special and one story stood out – the words of 8 year old Jake Ryan.

We were there to capture how it all came together, so check out our behind-the-scenes video to see how acclaimed director Wes Anderson and Laika/House brought Jake’s imagination to life.

Enjoy.

James May, best known as Captain Slow from the BBC’s world-renowned Top Gear program, has always been a keen advocate of science and learning. He teamed up with publishers ICN supported by Digitcave for 3D capture & rendering and Qualcomm for their AR expertise to produce an exciting new app that helps the public engage with the Science Museum’s exhibits.

By clicking on a marker at selected plinths, a 3D walking talking rendering of James May appears magically on your screen to talk you through the objects, how they work and their place in history.

We think it is a great use of technology to get people to engage with science and its history to drive development in the future. The app can be downloaded here from Google Play, and has an at home, as well as in Museum mode.

For those not easily able to pop into the Science Museum, you can download a marker, print it out and get James’ insight projected onto whatever flat surface you fancy.

Currently James shares his thoughts and insight into ten fascinating exhibits from the museum’s “Making of the Modern World” gallery. These represent a fraction of the museum’s estimated 300,000 objects, so expect the app’s repertoire to expand over the next few months.

Further information can be found on the science museum’s website at www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/jamesmay

As a gadget and technology lover this was certainly a great way to start the day for me. I have been playing with the ‘at home’ marker and showing the app off to my friends ever since – go on, give it a go!

Will…

The Sony software upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich for our 2011 Xperia smartphones; Xperia arc S, Xperia neo V and Xperia ray is progressing as planned and we are continuing the rollout across markets globally.

You can see the released software kits* (customized specific to your operator and handset) on our support community; http://talk.sonymobile.com – please continue to check in if your kit is not yet listed, as it will be updated when new kits become available.

In order to upgrade your 2011 Xperia smartphone you will need to connect to a PC or Mac – please visit http://www.sonymobile.com/update and follow the instructions.

Again, thanks for all your questions, comments and Android 4.0 Xperia reviews – these are all incredibly useful to us, in terms of using your feedback to improve the experience we provide for you – please keep them coming and we will continue to address as many as possible.

Ant.

*The availability and scheduling of this software upgrade and specific models upgradeable to Android 4.0 will vary by market and carrier requirements

We’ll be covering the Android crème de la crème across entertainment, music, gaming, education, lifestyle and many more…

So, here we go:

Mike V: Skateboard Party

This is the only 3D skate game available for Android and it was developed in collaboration with skateboarding LEGEND Mike Vallely. It features great gameplay, challenges across multiple environments, lots of customization options, plus a number of social features to boot – what’s more, is that it comes optimized for the ultimate gaming smartphone, Xperia PLAY!

TuneIn Radio

TuneIn lets you fix your ears to the world with your Xperia smartphone – it brings an immersive audio experience, giving you access to music, sport and news from radio stations and on-demand content from across the globe. It really does bring a whole new meaning to the term ‘channel hopping’… you can easily flick between more than 50,000 radio stations and 1.2million programs worldwide.

TED Air

A little something to inspire and feed your imagination… TED talks have shared incredible stories and inspiring debates from the world-famous to less well-known. From Professor Stephen Hawking to Tony Robbins, all these talks have one thing in common – the power to inspire. Now, this amazing library of 21st Century wisdom is accessible in your pocket to watch on Xperia wherever you are…

Instagram

Instagram needs little introduction – recently launching on Android, it provides a great way to create, enhance and share photos from your Xperia smartphone – best of all, it’s fast, fun and free!

If there’s a particular recommendation you’re after, feel free to drop it in the comments below and we’ll do our best to scour Google play to find that killer app

Have a good weekend!

We got hands-on with SmartWatch at this year’s MWC – you can browse your social networks, read emails, check for missed calls, even flick through your music player… but, by simply downloading some of the innovative apps from Google play, you can also enjoy these unique experiences:

1. The remote control camera, VFinder. Use this app to capture a photo from a different room or almost any accessible location. Simply place your camera ready to take a snap, look through the viewfinder on your SmartWatch, swipe to take your picture and capture it in your image gallery.

2. Take a run (or walk, or cycle) with Endomondo Sports Tracker. It acts as your personal trainer and social fitness partner, letting you track your workouts and challenge friends. With SmartWatch, you can access your performance stats on the move and break your personal best without needing to look at your phone. SmartWatch’s splash proof screen also lets fitness junkies monitor performance when braving the rain.

3. Become the grocery store uber-geek with Pocket To Do. No need for paper lists here – just swipe your items off your SmartWatch once in your basket.

4. Quickly switch your handset to silent mode with Modechanger, perfect for rushing in to work briefings. Talking of…

5. Presentation Pal lets you remotely set-up and configure your work slides and presentations. Simply click the SmartWatch screen to flick on to the next slide. No more fumbling for the laptop keypad or mouse during that all-important meeting.

6. But say you’re stuck in a less-than-important (or never-ending) meeting… Quickly and easily flick through your favourite RSS web feeds to catch-up with the latest news. Your boss will think you’re just checking the time to make sure the meeting isn’t running over

7. Want more reasons to take a break from work? You can now play classic games on SmartWatch such as retro puzzler, Tic-Tac-Toe.

8. SmartWatch doesn’t have a keypad, but you can still respond to texts with the Messaging app. Simply open a text message on SmartWatch then tap “Reply” and select a response from the pre-set options, such as “Call Me”.

9. If you have a Bluetooth headset, you can take calls from other Xperia smartphones on SmartWatch. Simply click your wrist and speak to fellow Xperia users hands free. You can also reject any call you (don’t) like.

10. Last but not least… SmartWatch even lets you tell the time! It may seem obvious, but with all the incredible functionality on offer it’s easy to forget. By downloading apps, you can also change the look of your watch face. Check out Droid Watches for starters!

Sony Smartwatch is shipping globally as you read this – have fun and let us know what you’ve been doing with yours

We’re pitting 5 freestyle soccer wizards to take on challenges that YOU imagine! Simply, head on over to our official Facebook page and challenge them with a trick they’d NEVER expect…

It could be: kick-ups on top of a moving bus, hitting a moving target from 50m, a match on a field of trampolines, blasting breakable objects with powershots, extinguishing a candle with a curling shot – the choice is yours and the only limit is your imagination!

Over the next few weeks we’ll be capturing our maestros attempting the best of your tricks with our Xperia NXT series smartphones, so keep your eyes on the blog for all the footage!