Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog

Get ready to grab 50GB online storage!

December 19th, 2011 by neofactor.is3

Ever dreamed of saving your files online and sharing it anywhere in the world? Well, here’s the chance! Sony Ericsson together with Box announced a promotion that will give all the Xperia owners a free online storage space of 50GB. What you’ve to do is just install the app on your Xperia and get it all outright.

The offer is valid until 31 December 2012.

If you’re interested in Sony Ericsson’s official statement, here it is,

“With people taking more pictures, listening to more music and watching more video on their Xperia smartphone than ever before, especially over the holidays, we wanted to make sure that they had the ability to upload their content to the cloud and share it across multiple devices.. Xperia™ and Box® will provide consumers with access to a massive amount of content on the go putting their smartphone at the very heart of their connected lifestyle.”

source: sony ericsson press room

From Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog: http://blog.se-nse.n…online-storage/

Posted in uncategorized | 3 Comments » | Discuss in forums »

ICS alpha now on arc

December 19th, 2011 by neofactor.is3

Last week SE released the initial stage of it’s Icecream sandwich for the public to test and comment on the work. There was a little bit of disappointment that it was available only for Xperia arc S, ray and neo V. Now to the owners of Xperia arc there is something to be happy about! Yes, the ROM has been successfully ported to Xperia arc and it seems all the options that were either disabled or unavailable in the SE release works on the ported ROM; that includes calls, bluetooth, wifi and google apps. Thanks to DooMLoRD (xda-developer)
More info on how to install and use the ROM can be found here

Source: Xperiablog

Posted in Xperia Arc | No Comments » | Discuss in forums »

Ice Cream Sandwich alpha for Xperia released.

December 19th, 2011 by neofactor.is3

It’s great to know that Sony Ericsson is really working hard to make its customers pleased with the company! A week back they scribbled on their blog about how hard developing a ROM is.

Now, they’re giving an option for the public to taste the ICS for the first time. But it won’t be a good news for a lot many because:

1. The ROM is available only for arc S, ray and neo V.

2. It’s just the alpha version and a couple of options are unavailable which includes basic telephony, bluetooth and wifi.

I know what you’re thinking now! “So, what’s the use of such a release?!” Good question. SE has the answer:

“Another ambition with this release is to work with all of the talented developers in the open community to get feedback on this alpha ROM. If you download and install the alpha ROM, please try out the software and go to our Ice Cream Sandwich alpha ROM survey for Xperia™ phones, to send us your feedback. It is very much appreciated – the summary of this survey will be used for future product and software strategies short term and long term. Your voice counts!”

If you want to discuss this alpha ROM initiative, please check out the Ice Cream Sandwich alpha ROM for Xperia thread on the XDA forum. Here you can discuss with other developers, and ask questions to us. We will monitor this thread and reply to any questions as soon as we can.”

This clearly sheds light to the fact that Sony Ericsson has prepared itself to take into account what the users need from their Xperias. Last year the company had a bad time; the decision to not update the 2010 Xperia handsets beyond android 2.1 resulted in a flood of criticizing comments in their blog and the facebook page. Now, this year it seems the company has made up it’s mind to give the 2011 Xperias what ever it can take. (or even more!).

Here is what they have included in ICS ROM (things are subjected to change in the final release which is rumoured to be in February or March 2012):

New “Roboto” font.
New “Holo” theme is supported (you are able to test apps written to make use of the Holo theme).
Music player control from lock screen.
Updated UI in the Settings menu.
Updated UI in the web browser.
Updated UI and interaction with the new messaging action bar.
Updated UI for improved multitasking.
Swipe to dismiss notifications, tasks and browser tabs in the Notification menu.

These are the features which are not working or either turned off:

Google Mobile Services (GMS) apps are not included (for example, Gmail, Google Maps, etc.).
Modem is turned off and SIM card will therefore not be recognised (this also means you can’t make any phone calls)
Bluetooth™ is turned off.
Wi-Fi® is turned off.
ANT+ is turned off.
FM-radio is turned off.

About how to install (For advanced users and those who really like to play with their phones.)

For Ordinary Users:

Source: Sony Ericsson Blog

From Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog: http://blog.se-nse.n…peria-released/

Tags: android, xperia
Posted in Xperia Arc S, Xperia neo V, Xperia ray, release | No Comments » | Discuss in forums »

More leaks of Xperia Nozomi

December 4th, 2011 by Theonewithideas

More pictures of apparent LT26 are out. This one on the right is particularly interesting, as it shows Nozomi with ICS (judging by the lockscreen), with recognizable Xperia UI colours, opposite of last information stating that ICS will come to SE devices skinless.
Other than that, cropped specs on the side suggest that it will have dual-core processor, and cropped title could as well be ” Xperia Cloud”.

Next leak is all about specs:

1.5 Ghz dual-core processor
1Gb RAM, 32Gb ROM
4.3″ Reality display with Mobile Bravia engine, but this time HD resolution of 720 by 1280 pixels.
Whopping 12 megapixel Exmor R camera, with 1080p full HD video recording
720p HD front-facing camera
1750 mAh battery

Date of official announcement? Probably between 10 and 13 January, as that’s when the 2012 CES is holding up, and we traditionally expect reveal of the next Xperia flagship phone right on those three days.

By Aleksandar, via XperiaBlog

From Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog: http://blog.se-nse.n…-xperia-nozomi/

Posted in android, bravia, concept, future, new-phone, uncategorized, x-series, xperia | 14 Comments » | Discuss in forums »

SE Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich – Date Rumours Begin!

November 28th, 2011 by KkSCchaos

Following on from the official announcement of Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) on SE’s Xperia 2011 range, we now are starting to see a couple of rumours fly when we will get the newest version of Android will hit our handsets.

The first date came from SE Italy, via a reply on their Facebook page by Maurizio De Palma, the Head of Marketing for SE Italy, saying that the update should arrive by March 2012. As pointed out by our source, this would normally be within the release of a flagship phone (at this time of writing, expected to be the much rumoured Xperia Nozomi) based on the past two years (Xperia X10 and Xperia Arc)

However, just to throw another spanner into the works, a Sony employee has tweeted some comments about Ice Cream Sandwich and suggests a date of the first week of January 2012, but finds it rather confusing with the March date being mentioned. He also said that SE are working on a “skinless” version of ICS and that there is a chance of getting Android 2.3.4 to the X10 etc Personally though I wouldn’t get your hopes up about the latter.

It is nice to see some rumours about when we will get the update. However I would still prefer an official announcement, and it kept to.

The fact that the Sony employee is talking about a “skinless version of ICS” does puzzle me though. Recently I brought the Xperia Pro, and, going through the (generic) user guide for Android 2.3.4, it seems to match it pretty much apart from the Facebook Inside Xperia. I can’t honestly see SE ditching Facebook Inside Xperia, unless Google have forced them to. Anyway, speaking of the Xperia Pro, I will be posting a review of it soon.

As for the current rumoured dates; lets take those as a pinch of salt. I can’t see SE giving away ICS for its current platform before its even released its new range yet, with we hope ICS on it already. I suspect the update will be delivered in late Q1 or early Q2. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t mind having it in January or March though.

Source for the January date: XperiaBlog

From Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog: http://blog.se-nse.n…-rumours-begin/

Posted in X10, Xperia Arc, Xperia Arc S, Xperia Duo, Xperia Mini, Xperia Mini Pro, Xperia Neo, Xperia Play, Xperia Pro, Xperia active, Xperia ray, android, firmware, flashing, future, rumour, update, xperia | 10 Comments » | Discuss in forums »

Xperia Mini Pro needs a change of internal hardware to fix the electrostatic noise issue

November 23rd, 2011 by Flo95

Back in Septmember the first Xperia Mini Pro users were facing an electrostatic noise problem on their devices.
That means when you recorded a video, an electrostatic crackling could be heard in the background when played back at loud volumes.

Sony Ericsson acknowledged the problem and said that the issue would be solved with the roll out of the 4.0.2.A.X.X firmware in October.
But unfortunately that didn’t fix the issue, it just reduced the electrostatic crackling. The problem still exists but not in a way to detract the user experience according to SE

Since end of September the hardware is fixed and the electrostatic crackling is not there anymore.

From Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog: http://blog.se-nse.n…ic-noise-issue/

Posted in Xperia Mini Pro, android, firmware, hardware, modification, update, xperia | 8 Comments » | Discuss in forums »

Sony Ericsson made camera libraries (drivers) available!

November 17th, 2011 by Theonewithideas

SE is giving quite a bit these days! From announcement of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update, to supporting FreeXperia group, Sony Ericsson is making a big step in development, and what’s more important, making a step ahead of the others. We just might see SE going up the ranks.

Making camera libraries, (essentially camera drivers) public, means that modders around the world can modify those libraries, make adjustments of their liking, and ultimately have better experience with Xperia smartphones and their cameras. Similar situation already happened with Sony Ericsson cellphones, now you got whole array of camera drivers that are better than original ones, even that they are model-dependent.

This libraries come with special EULA licence (in archive), it’s not that long, it’s not strict, but do read it carefully before doing anything.

SE says that they decided to do this because, at first, drivers made some trouble to FreeXperia group, as libraries they used heavily relied on Xperia’s default ROM, while FreeXperia group used custom ROMs, which didn’t totally support the camera. Next move was by Sony Ericsson. They rebuilt the drivers, essentially keeping same files, but made it less reliable on default Xperia ROM. And then they decided to make them public, as they realized that this could help people using custom ROMs, and even users with default ROM, that wanted to get out every bit of their cameras.
On the other side, we expect fixing of Xperia Mini Pro’s electromagnetic noise problem, as some believe that faulty drivers are causing trouble.

You can download the libraries here (remember to read that short license inside archive)
At the moment, it’s not very clear on how to edit libraries, but they should hopefully explain it soon at FreeXperia XDA thread

From: Aleksandar, via SE Dev World

From Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog: http://blog.se-nse.n…vers-available/

Tags: cam driver, development, drivers, freexperia, modding, xperia
Posted in Xperia Arc, Xperia Arc S, Xperia Mini, Xperia Mini Pro, Xperia Neo, Xperia Pro, Xperia active, Xperia ray, android, camera, customization, developer, x-series, xperia | 7 Comments » | Discuss in forums »

It’s official, 2011 Xperia portfolio will get Ice Cream Sandwich!

November 15th, 2011 by Theonewithideas

Yes, gentlemen, it’s official. Earlier today, Sony Ericsson posted on their product blog:

“There have been a few questions here on the blog and in our support forums regarding our upgrade plans beyond Gingerbread. We can today confirm that we plan to upgrade the entire 2011 Xperia™ portfolio* to the next version of Android known as Android 4.0 or Ice Cream Sandwich. We are working on merging our current Xperia™ experience with the new features in Android 4.0. More detailed information regarding this upgrade, timing and global availability will be communicated in due course here on the blog.

* “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™”

And that “merging current Xperia experience” should mean that it will not be a stock ROM, whatsoever, I hope update won’t disable features that Xperia ROMs have, and there are many of them.

Only remaining unknown is the date. Well, as I said, I hope they don’t hurry and pack this ROM with all goodies that comes with Xperia. We shall keep you informed on any information that comes available, as well as post some screenshots from various devices as they get ICS.

Theonewithideas, from SEMC Product Blog

From Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog: http://blog.se-nse.n…cream-sandwich/

Tags: ice cream sandwich, Update, xperia
Posted in Xperia Arc, Xperia Arc S, Xperia Mini, Xperia Mini Pro, Xperia Neo, Xperia Play, Xperia Pro, Xperia ray, announcement, firmware, operating-platform, update, x-series, xperia | 4 Comments » | Discuss in forums »

Market of the Xperia Arc got updated

November 9th, 2011 by Flo95

My Xperia Arc just updated to the latest version of the Android Market which is V3.3.11
The layout has changed a little bit, but not much. You have more apps on the pages now.
Other than that there’s a new icon and some new settings, like:
- auto updates activated by default for all apps
- auto updates just over Wi-Fi
- auto-add shortcuts

Also I find it snappier than V3.1.5.

I don’t know if other Xperia devices got the update yet, but if not, they should get it soon.

From Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog: http://blog.se-nse.n…-got-updated-2/

Posted in Xperia Arc, android, market, update, xperia | 17 Comments » | Discuss in forums »

Sony Ericsson Xperia Nozomi

November 6th, 2011 by Madfish

As most of you all know, Sony Ericsson is preparing a new device, which will be their first dual core phone.

We already talked about it here. The rumour was it will be called Xperia Duo.
Now few things changed from then.

It will be driven by snapdragon 1.5GHz(MSM8660) dual core processor, with help of 1GB RAM, although as you may notice, images shows only 691MB. It’s jet to be seen how many MB of RAM will it have. It also has a 4.3″ screen with amazing resolution of 720 by 1280, which gives 320dpi. You will have 32GB of storage for keeping your data, unfortunately without memory card option.
And all that will be powered with 1750mAh battery.

More rumours also suggest that this will be first Sony Ericsson phone to be used with micro-SIM and will have NFC. Of course, the exception being the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arco, which is released only in Japan and is their only model with an NFC chip.

All this specifications are maybe the reason they called it Nozomi, which is also used for fastest train service in Japan.
Here are few pictures of the phone itself:
Nozomi system information