Last week, on a job listing website, Sony had run a particular help wanted ad that has since been pulled, stating that they were looking for a “Senior Staff Software Engineer (Android)”. The description went on to say that they would be “developing application software for digital reading and other consumer electronic devices”. This for Sony automatically points towards their eReader product. Some sites have speculated that this would even trickle down to Sony’s Xperia lineup of phones that are of course running on Android.
If Sony were to move in such a direction, this could really position them well to fight of the Nook and the Kindle. Although both the Nook and Kindle are fairly good at what they were designed to do–be book readers–both lack sophistication beyond that point and both companies continue to want to push their device to do more. Part of this is the iPad effect. That device can not only do what the best eReaders can do, but also do another 101 things. Even with the basic eReader war, Sony has fallen behind to the Kindle and maybe eventually the Nook as well (although Sony does have a much bigger headstart than they do). If we do focus on the Kindle, Amazon has done a few steps that have helped them stay ahead of the game. First, they have been very aggressive with their price points, even introducing a new $139 Kindle while Sony has finally dropped the price of their older unit to $149. From there, the Kindle has embedded its software everywhere. There is the Kindle App for your Mac, PC, iOS and Android devices. This gives Amazon a large amount of leverage and presence of their device. Plus, it gives the user the peace of mind that their content which is most important will be accessible to them no matter what device they use.
This is where Sony and Android can step in. Although there are plenty of Kindles out there, one key advantage that Sony has under its belt is that Sony is traditionally a hardware company. They know how to make beautiful devices that are thin, powerful and efficient. Amazon is not a hardware maker. But where Sony tends to lack is software. They have been slow to the software game because of the deep hardware culture of the company. Android can help change that. All Sony needs is a good idea and implementation of the plan and Android can take care of the rest. The core is there; Sony just needs to design it as they see fit. Furthermore, if anybody has used a Kindle or Nook, you know that the software is slow, ugly and clunky. With sleek hardware and a new set of functionality from Android, Sony can really stand out from the Kindle and Nook front and give eReaders a true alternative to the iPads reading capabilities.
By the way, hit the jump for a look at the now pulled job listing.
Senior Staff Software Engineer (Android) – Digital Reader Business Division at Sony Electronics
Location: San Jose, US-CA (San Francisco Bay Area)
Type: Full-time
Experience: Mid-Senior level
Functions: Engineering
Industries: Consumer Goods
Posted: July 15, 2010
Employer Job ID: 21445Job Description
As a part of Sony Electronics’ engineering team you can ensure that what we produce is just as extraordinary as the ideas that inspire us. While we run on fearless creativity and innovation, our engineers make certain that everything we do is of the highest quality. Every day, they work with advanced technologies, including some that most people never even thought possible. Some may call it magic; we call it a commitment to innovation, quality, and style and design.
Sony’s Digital Reading Business Division (DRBD) currently has an opening for a Senior Staff Software Engineer in our San Jose, CA office. As a Sr Staff level Software Engineer, you work with Sony’s highly talented application software engineering team developing application software for digital reading devices and other consumer electronic devices. Responsibilities include developing application software for digital reading and other consumer electronic devices; working closely with Product Planners to understand the feature requirements; implementing features according to the product requirement documents; designing product architecture; working with test engineers on bug fixes and resolving issues; writing unit test codes, instrument your code for measurements, actively participating in code review, and performing “pre-flight” testing. Additional duties assigned as necessary.
* Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or related field; or 10 years related experience required
* Programming experience with Google Android SDK, Microsoft Windows, and/or Apple Mac OS X
* Programming experience with C/C++/C#/Objective-C and/or Java
* Familiarity with standard software development tools including: Eclipse, Apple Xcode, Microsoft Visual Studio, and others
* Superb communication skills (both written and verbal)
* Experience working within software development lifecycle
* Love of solving challenging problems
* Product sensibilities – enthusiast with regard to digital media, devices, and related products
* Experience with packaged application software productExperience with cross-compilation environments like Qt
Experience supporting a consumer electronics device platform
Linguistic skill in Japanese is a definite plus