Hasta La Gadget!

Giving Sony phones hands-on time before they’re even announced must be in vogue this year. Hot on the heels of its look at what’s now called the Xperia T, Mobile-review has given the entry-level Xperia J a full inspection without even the hint of a press release in sight. The very, very early review makes clear that cost-cutting is the rule of the day: a 2010-era Snapdragon chip, 512MB of RAM and a fairly low-grade 4-inch LCD don’t afford much in the way of bragging rights. The absence of a microSD card slot doesn’t win any fans, either. Still, the Xperia J looks to be carrying a lightweight instance of Android 4.0 that keeps it reasonably up to date, the battery life is good and the 5-megapixel camera will capture some memories in a pinch. Sony could supposedly have its starter phone on the market as early as September, and for as little as 150 euros ($186) outside of a contract — no doubt the real selling point if it’s at all true, as the cost would be roughly half that of the already budget-minded Xperia U.

Filed under: Cellphones

Sony Xperia J gets a pre-unveiling hands-on, suggests we’ll get exactly what we pay for originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Aug 2012 10:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Android Open Source Project has typically (and understandably) been a very Nexus-focused affair — until now that is. Technical Lead for the AOSP, Jean-Baptiste Queru, announced this week that for a “new challenge” he’d like to target new hardware — and Sony’s Xperia S is the lucky benefactor. The choice of hardware is said to be due to it being a powerful, current device with an unlockable bootloader, with Queru noting that Sony has always been kind to the project. There’s not a lot in the git project right now, but Queru appears keen to rally support from developers to get the ball rolling. Wondering how this might differ from CyanogenMod’s device targets? Where CM might have a focus on stability, Queru believes that AOSP will head in a more experimental “bleeding edge” direction. Sound like something you can get behind? Head on over to the source for more info.

Filed under: Cellphones

Android Open Source Project targets Sony Xperia S, wants to get experimental originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 18 Aug 2012 11:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Add another future Sony Xperia model to a rapidly growing pool. The LT25i Tsubasa (not to be confused with the ST25i/Xperia U) has been caught by Tencent in AnTuTu and NenaMark2 tests, seemingly running the same mix of a 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4, a 720p screen and Android 4.0 that we’ve seen in the upcoming Xperia T (LT30p). So what’s different? There’s rumors of in-cell touch to keep the display thin and vivid, but even the unverified source isn’t certain that it will become a reality. The crew at Xperia Blog also claims that there will be international LTE and HSPA+ models along with China- and Japan-specific editions. Assuming the details are at all consistent with the truth, having the Tsubasa arrive on the scene mostly hints that Sony might be readying a broader speed-up of its roster than we first thought.

Filed under: Cellphones

Sony LT25i Tsubasa pops up in benchmarks, may swell the high-speed Xperia ranks originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Aug 2012 18:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Now what you see above has been rumored to be a leaked image of the Sony Xperia tablet, and while the latest leak involves just a trio of images, there is a very important clue which was gleaned from this particular image – it will fall under the purview of the Xperia brand, no doubt about it. Unlike previous tablets from Sony, the “Xperia tablet” that you see here seems to have shelved its wedge shape, although this clearly did not do away with a wedge impression which remains there at the top of the tablet. It will come in two tones, complete with a rear-facing camera that is stashed within the aluminium clad body.

The alleged Xperia tablet’s home screen also shows off the cosmic flow wallpaper which is more or less the most common kind of wallpapers spotted on Xperia smartphones. Could this be a precursor of things to come, perhaps Sony is centralizing the development of tablets and other mobile dvices?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich confirmed for half a dozen Sony Xperia smartphones from 2011, Sony Xperia Masona is the Xperia miro,

The Xperia GX passed muster at the FCC labs a few weeks back and is filling shelves of NTT DoCoMo stores starting today. If you like your smartphone screens big and high-resolution, you’ll probably be very happy with the Xperia GX‘s 720p 4.6-inch display, wrapped in a curved frame similar to last year’s Xperia Arc. There’s no word on whether the phone will remain a Japan-only exclusive, but Sony is likely to have something new to show off at European trade show, IFA, in only a few weeks. Arguably more of a looker than the Xperia S, perhaps we’ll see a global model — there’s a pentaband 3G radio in this iteration — sidling up next to an Xperia tablet in Germany very soon.

Filed under: Cellphones

Sony Xperia GX makes Japan debut today originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Aug 2012 04:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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