Wth Android 6.0 Marshmallow released on the majority of intended devices, Sony Mobile is bringing an end to the Xperia Beta Program.
There will be no more planned beta firmware releases, the last firmware that rolled was build number 23.5.A.1.238. Sony confirmed that there will be new commercial firmware release that will hit all Xperia Z2/Z3 owners “in the coming weeks” – anyone on the beta program will be updated to this new firmware automatically.
It was only a matter of time before I would have to cover something about Pokemon Go and here it is. Dan Gooding writing for Ars Technica:
Researchers from antivirus provider Eset report finding at least three such apps in the Google-hosted marketplace. Of the three, the one titled “Pokemon Go Ultimate” posed the biggest threat because it deliberately locks the screen of devices immediately after being installed. In many cases, restarting an infected phone isn’t enough to unlock the screen. Infected phones can ultimately be unlocked either by removing the battery or by using the Android Device Manager.
But it gets better.
You’ve heard it time and time again, Android is one sweet tasting – but fragmented as hell – OS. Ina Fried writing for Recode:
That often means a lot more time and money spent testing and supporting Android than Apple’s iOS, but with Android making up the majority of smartphones out there, what’s a large developer to do?
Apparently the answer is to take drastic measures like cutting out nearly all Android handset makers.
Early last week, news spread that Sony was looking to launch another flagship smartphone in 2016 with the model number F833X. The news always felt odd as Sony had gone out of their way to point out that through 2018, the Xperia X family would be their new lineup going forward. Afterwards, Sony had also gone on record stating that the line would replace the Xperia Z5 and it made sense. After all, the Xperia X lineup had been built from the ground up and hailed as a new start for Sony Mobile so another flagship device within 6 months of launching the X family felt odd at best.
Still, the GFXBench benchmarks made a pretty compelling case for new devices and now there are some photos to go along with it as well.
For better or worse, Samsung has become the bellwether for Android and its insularly offshoots like Android Wear, due to the sheer size of the company and the breadth of products they’re able to release in any given year. As for the other manufacturers, be it Sony, LG, or HTC, even if they stopped producing smartphones tomorrow, it’s highly unlikely that there would be a big impact on Android.
Mark Sullivan writing for Fast Company:
It was at Google I/O two years ago that Samsung announced its Gear Live smartwatch (now discontinued) running the Android Wear OS. Two years later the collaboration is over. Samsung executives told Fast Company today that no more Samsung Android Wear devices are in development or being planned.
So where does this leave the other companies producing Android Wear devices like Sony? In short, not in a good place.
A few days ago, I posted Engadget’s brief review of the Xperia X Performance which, in short, was ‘a good phone that costs too much.’ However if you’re looking for a more in depth and decently fair take on the flagship phone, their video review is worth your 5 minutes.
According to the J.D. Power 2016 Fitness Band Device Satisfaction Report and J.D. Power 2016 Smartwatch Device Satisfaction Report:
Apple ranks highest among manufacturers of smartwatches, and Samsung ranks highest among manufacturers of fitness band devices
Many of you and reviewers haven’t been that impressed with the Xperia X lineup, including the Performance version. As Engadget writes for their Xperia X Performance review:
The Xperia X Performance isn’t a bad phone, per se. It’s just that Sony’s newest flagship doesn’t bring anything new to the table. For $700, it offers fast performance (as its name suggests), and the design is water resistant, so that’s nice.
You know how the Xperia X Performance was part of Sony’s completely-built-from-the-ground-up line of 2016 phones that was to be the company’s flagship model for 2016? Welp, there might be another flagship smartphone coming from Sony in late 2016.
Any Xperia fan will tell you that the writing has been on the wall for years and that the outlook of Sony Mobile in the US looks dismal. After all, just a few days ago, Sony during an investors day laid out the future of their mobile division and one key moving forward is to defocus on India, USA, China, and Brazil. The irony in all of this is that from the outside, it’s hard to tell how Sony ever did focus on these territories. Now to add further irony to all of this, Sony has opted to give the Xperia X a price drop in the US after just 10 days.
That sound you hear is the agonizing moan from millions of Xperia fans as they continue to wait for Sony Mobile to ‘get’ to North America and other small markets like China and India. I hear a few people live in each of those countries.
This is turning out to be a great week for Android. When it rains it pours, rights? Jessica Conditt writing for Engadget:
Hackers can use brute force to break into tens of millions of Android devices using full disk encryption, thanks to a series of security issues linked specifically to Android kernel flaws and Qualcomm processors, Neowin reports. The vulnerabilities were uncovered by security researcher Gal Beniamini, who is working with Google and Qualcomm to patch the problems — and some of the flaws have already been addressed. However, a few of the issues may not be patchable, instead requiring new hardware, the report says.
When looking at the greater world economy, this isn’t all that surprising. A decade ago, Brazil was poised to be join the top 5 economies of the world but today, the country is near economic collapse. Making matters worse for business has been the less than stellar treatment of outside companies doing business there.
Now Sony Mobile is finally leaving the country though they’re not the only ones to exit. Angelica Mari writes for ZDnet:
Another mobile manufacturer that decided to downsize operations in Brazil recently is Xiaomi – the Chinese company ended its local manufacturing deal with Foxconn just a year after launching operations in the country.
Just last week, I posted a video which compared the Xperia X against the Galaxy S7, its competition from Samsung. But how does the Xperia X compare against its predecessor, the Xperia Z5? I’d previously posted a similar piece, albeit a written one, but today’s comparison comes in the form of a video by Nicole Scott, a self proclaimed Sony fanboy. In the video, Nicole:
takes a look at Sony’s new midrange smartphone, the Xperia X, [and] she put it up against last years flagship the Sony Xperia Z5. if you’re wondering what is missing in the Xperia X vs the Xperia Z5, Nicole takes a look at what they’ve added an what they’ve improved upon.
I’m seriously at times amazed at the people who are in charge of Sony Mobile. One of the most peculiar announcements when the Xperia X family was unveiled was that Sony would not be offering the Performance model in the UK and Germany. This always struck me as an odd choice, seeing how Germany and the former EU member UK (too soon?) are one of the richest countries in the region. Why would you not offer your best and most expensive device there?
Luckily Sony eventually shifted course and announced the release of the Xperia X Performance in the UK, albeit in limited availability. Now they’ve done the same for Germany.
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