Sony Mobile

Sony Xperia U Lands at the FCC

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 26, 2012 | 16 comments

Do you know about the Sony Xperia U? Yea, the same one that just got delayed along side of the Xperia P till late May for the UK has just landed at the FCC, the final step required before a device with wireless capabilities can go on sale. Of course, like always, the fine folks at the FCC did their best to tear apart the Android smartphone and reveal to us in graphic detail the innards of the handset. Though no big shocks, parts baring the old Sony Ericsson name were found. After the jump, a few more pictures for you.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Arrives for Sony Tablet S

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 26, 2012 | 2 comments

Not that we told you or anything that Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich would be coming to Sony’s Tablet, but if we had, we probably would have told you to expect it in late April. To save us face and humility, our friends at Sony stuck to their guns and pushed through by announcing the availability of the latest from Google for the Sony Tablet S, thus not making a liar out of us. Tablet S owners need to simply navigate to their system update and via Wi-Fi, received all the latest that Sony and Google have to offer. Just what kind of enhancements can you expect? We have all the changes and a video from Sony after the jump.

Sony Updates VAIO E Series 14P with Intel Ivy Bridge Processor

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 23, 2012 | 4 comments

Like most of us who might do some house cleaning around Spring time, Sony is approaching the new season by ousting the old and coming in with the new. In this case, the VAIO E Series 14P is getting the attention with the latest chipset from Intel which provides greater power with reduced power consumption. With the Intel i3 processor out of the picture, Sony has opted for the Intel Ivy Bridge processor with 2.1GHz Core i7-3612QM, capable of 3.1GHz with Turbo Boost. With more power from the chip, Sony is also allowing users two different options for their graphics card, with either the stock Intel’s HD Graphics 4000 or AMD’S Radeon HD 7670M. Now, let’s talk about the new screen.

Sony Xperia P and Xperia U Get Delayed Till Late May

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 23, 2012 | 5 comments

Sony’s always had ambitious plans for their Xperia line of phones. With a glut of Android phones available to the consumer, credit must be given to Sony for designing a line of phones which stand out from the crowd and yet follow in a similar pattern to help build a brand look and feel for Sony. With Kunimasa Suzuki appointed as the new President and CEO of Sony Mobile, which now oversees Sony’s smartphone, tablet and VAIO division, many (including Sony) thought that the company would be turning a new corner with the release of the Xperia ion, Xperia S, Xperia P, and Xperia U. This had even prompted the company’s new CEO, Kaz Hirai, to announce that the electronic giant would launch Xperia phones twice as fast to meet consumer demand and fight of competitors like Samsung and Apple. Now it seems, before the company can start releasing future handsets with twice the speed, it must first work on releasing its current announced lineup which will see the Xperia P and Xperia U delayed till late May.

Future Sony Xperia Phones Will Launch Twice as Fast

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 20, 2012 | 19 comments

It’s no secret that Sony’s been slow to the smartphone races. Like Microsoft who sat back during the crucial first three to four years, Sony has been slowly building up their portfolio with a new breed of Android smartphones to combat Apple and Samsung. Part of Sony’s strategy to get back into the mobiles war entailed for the company to break off their 10 year joint venture with Ericsson and bring all mobile operations in house under Sony Mobile which they’ve now done. Under new Sony CEO, Kaz Hirai, Sony also appointed Kunimasa Suzuki as the new President and CEO of Sony Mobile which now oversees Sony’s smartphone, tablet and VAIO division.

While in 2011, Sony released a wide array of phones, they companies line seemed too vast and sporadic, instead of a unified line of devices which built upon each other. With us nearing the half way mark in 2012, it’s clear that Sony Mobile is headed in a different direction with the Xperia ion, Xperia S, Xperia P, and Xperia U which all share similar design traits and features. Unlike previous years which each Sony smartphone different from one and other, Sony can now better leverage their unified design to help reduce costs and share components, something much harder in years past. Even though the Sony Mobile of today seems on paper drastically different than the Sony Ericsson of the past, Kaz Hirai thinks they need to do more, a lot more.

“I talked about some of the initiatives that we’ve embarked on in the time-to-market area where we are literally cutting by half the time to market for the Xperia smartphones“

Sony Mobiles Transition to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Begins Today

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 13, 2012 | 2 comments

Despite downplaying Ice Cream Sandwich with an article which pointed out some reasons why users may want to stay away from the latest Google, Sony has begun the transition to Android 4.0. Earlier, we had reported on Sony’s timeline to transition their entire 2011 and 2012 smartphones to ICS which would start in mid April and end sometime past June. Now, starting today, April 13th, the first batch of phones can receive ICS in Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, and Norway. So lets talks phone eligibility.

Sony Outlines Why You May Not Want Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 11, 2012 | 4 comments

Sony has done little to hide their ambitions for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest OS release from the folks at ~~Redmond~~ Mountain View. Despite ICS having a slow start and adoption rate, Sony has already updated their Music Unlimited app with ICS compatibility and has outlined the time frame for the Tablet S and Tablet P to gain the latest. Sony’s entire Xperia fleet will also be making the transition to the new OS. Still despite their dedication to the OS, Sony warns users that they might not in fact want to upgrade their devices to Android 4.0 when the update become available for their device.

So what reasons does the electronic giant give to cautious users who may be better off sticking with Android 2.3 Gingerbread? Speed and performance seems to top the list as the new OS requires more processing power and RAM.

Another interesting thing is that many apps use slightly more RAM in ICS. For example, the web browser is quite intensive, and our measurements indicate that it uses 20-30MB more in ICS compared to Gingerbread.

Sony Xperia P Lands at the FCC

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 6, 2012 | 21 comments

Remember the Sony Xperia P, the little brother of the Xperia S? For those in need of a recap, the Xperia P sports a 8-megapixel camera, 1080p video recording with 16GB of internal memory. Coming with a 4-inch multitouch screen, the Xperia P also uses Sony’s exclusive “White Magic” display which is designed to give better viewing during outdoor usage. We still don’t know exactly when the Xperia P be available in the US and which carrier with offer the phone. However, with the FCC approving products with wireless technology for the US, a launch window cannot be far behind. So what has the FCC revealed?

Sony Announces Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Timeframe for Smartphones, Includes Some Delays

by Sohrab Osati | Mar 30, 2012 | 2 comments

It wouldn’t be a Sony software or hardware release without some form of delay. Sony, who originally wanted a slew of their smartphone handsets from last year and this year to be upgraded to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich by the end of April, is now pushing back the time frame by nearly a month. The rollout which is now set to start at the end of April will take Sony past June to complete and will not feature an OTA (over-the-air) update. Sony reasons that, due to the big departure from Android 2.3 and potential performance hiccups, the company want users to consciously download the update instead of flipping a switch and then flipping out from the end results.

Because this update is a significant revamp of some of your phone’s features, we want to make sure you take a conscious and informed decision to upgrade, so that you continue to enjoy optimum experiences from your Xperia smartphone.

Therefore, we’ll only be making it available for download via PC Companion and Bridge for Mac (i.e. not over the air via 3G or WiFi), and you also won’t receive any update requests or notifications.

Now, let’s talk time table and phone eligibility.

Sony Mobile Applies for ‘Navigation Using a Headset’ Patent

by Sohrab Osati | Mar 29, 2012 | 21 comments

Just last week we revealed a new patent from Sony’s mobile division which would help you navigate your phone with simple head gestures like nodding to answer a phone call while doing Night at the Roxbury with your head would send the perfect text message to your lover. Now, thanks again to the United States Patent & Trademark Office, we’ve been able to discover another patent by Sony, filled in September 2010, which aims to make your life and cell phone navigation easier by determining the direction you are facing so that your phone’s GPS can give you more accurate directions.

Sony Chromebook VAIO VCC111 Appears At the FCC. We Have Specs and Pics

by Sohrab Osati | Mar 26, 2012 | 0 comments

Over the weekend, an interesting product appeared at the FCC from Sony. The VAIO VCC111 which like all VAIO units sports a catchy number is different from other notebooks from Sony in that unlike those which run on Windows, this machine is powered by Google, your friendly neighborhood search giant. The Chromebook is a separate project from Google’s Android efforts and is instead designed to give notebook owners and alternate option to Windows. The VAIO Chromebook, power by ‘Chrome OS’ is reliant on the web and Google’s many different services like Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Docs. As the name would suggest, the entire system is than based on this cloud based OS which is perfect for those who deal only with Google web content and horrible for just about everybody else who needs additional programs like Microsoft Office, iTunes, and Photoshop.

Sony Tablet S and Tablet P to Receive Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich in Late April

by Sohrab Osati | Mar 23, 2012 | 17 comments

It was promised that during Q2 of this year, both Sony tablets would be receiving an upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and the fine and dandy folks at Sony have kept their word. Sometime in late April, the Sony Tablet S and Sony Tablet P will be gaining Android 4.0.3 ICS which is expected to bring a host of features associated with the new OS like:

Home screen folders and favorites tray
Resizable widgets
New lock screen actions
Quick responses for incoming calls
Swipe to dismiss notifications, tasks, and browser tabs
Improved text input and spell-checking
Unified calendar, visual voicemail

Meet the Sony Xperia neo L with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. We Have Specs and Pictures

by Sohrab Osati | Mar 21, 2012 | 2 comments

Sony’s ever growing line of Android smartphones for the US and Europe which include the Xperia ion, Xperia S, Xperia P, and Xperia U all have one thing in common, and that’s the lack of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest from the internet search giant Google. But before fans get their pitch forks out and head to Sony’s HQ, it should be noted that ICS will be pushed to all mentioned devices in the near future. So it’s a bit of a surprise to hear that Sony has announced a new smartphone, the Sony Xperia neo L (MT25i) for China and it will be rocking Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich from day one in white or black. If the name sound familiar, that’s because Sony also produced the Xperia neo under the Sony Ericsson moniker, though in this case, it’s more of a recycling of the name than a true predecessor.

Sony Mobile Looks to Patent ‘Head Control’

by Sohrab Osati | Mar 19, 2012 | 0 comments

Companies like Sony often apply for patents that may never be used though they help give you insight in the direction the company might be moving towards. In the case of Sony Mobile, which acted under the name of Sony Ericsson in 2010, the company had applied for a ‘head control’ patent which would help users navigate their smartphone with different head movements. The patent, which has yet to be approved, would be based on a new generation of Bluetooth headsets with motion-sensing technology. Then, the user could create their own custom commands like nodding to answer a phone call while a left to right head movement could indicate the closing of a program.

Sony Tablet S 2 Specs Revealed?

by Sohrab Osati | Mar 19, 2012 | 14 comments

It should hardly come as a surprise that somewhere deep in Sony’s R&D labs, there is a next generation Sony Tablet S being tested. Despite being on the market for 6 months, the Tablet S is a product well over a year old, dating back to early 2011 when Sony began teasing the world about their tablet ambitions. The Tablet S, which originally launched at a $499 price point for the 16GB model, has also seen a price drop, down to $399 with murmurs of additional cuts in the near future. Price cuts alone can point towards a product refresh but a mixture of price cuts and new quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 benchmarks on a mysterious Sony tablet having us thinking of a Sony Tablet S 2.