Sony Mobile is finally getting around to updating some of their older smartphones and tablets to Marshmallow. Specifically, Sony is releasing Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow for the:
More info after the jump.
One of the things that fascinates me the most and will likely be the biggest selling point of the upcoming Sony Xperia X will be its camera. In a new promotional piece, Sony is highlighting the phone’s predictive Hybrid Autofocus feature which can automatically track a subject and predict their next move and, in turn, keep them in focus the entire time. From Sony:
Xperia X’s Smart Capture technology helps you banish blur. Enabled by Sony’s new Predictive Hybrid Autofocus, Smart Capture lets you choose a person or object and automatically track it. Now your subject stays in focus, even when moving, and the most unpredictable scenes come out in the sharpest detail.
If the feature works as advertised, the Xperia X will have something most competitors lack and could act as a key driving force of sales for Sony. The video showing off Predictive Hybrid Autofocus can be found after the jump.
A new update is rolling out for the Sony SmartBand 2.
Sony Mobile has updated the companion app for the SmartBand 2 SWR12 fitness tracker, which brings numerous improvements. The newest version (build 2.1.17) adds a new feature called “Get moving” which gently encourages you to get off your arse if you’ve been sitting idle for too long.
Alongside added functionality to the app, Sony is also wisely allowing third-party apps to tap into the SmartBand’s heart sensor.
Sony now also allows you to use the heart-rate sensor with third-party apps, which is great to see. Other changes include automatically entering STAMINA mode when the battery is low and a lower vibration setting for notifications.
This is a good move by Sony which can help unlock the unit’s functionality and usefulness. While stock apps like the one provided for Sony are always nice, it’s sometimes more niche apps that help define a device for users and by allowing other developers to use the sensors of the SmartBand 2, Sony makes their own hardware (where they’re making money from) far more attractive to consumers with little work needing to be done on their end. The update is now live on Google Play.
With Android 6.0 Marshmallow, Google introduced a feature dubbed Doze which replicated some of the same functionality as Sony’s own Battery STAMINA Mode. Despite not being nearly as efficient, Sony didn’t see a reason to compete directly with the feature and in turn, removed it from all phones running on Marshmallow. This was from Sony then:
The Marshmallow version of Android has its own smart solution for managing power consumption (Doze and App Standby). These functions are integrated directly into Android 6.0, which made Stamina mode redundant. In other words, Stamina mode was removed from M.
Now, thanks likely to the outcry from within the Sony community and beta program, it’s looking like the missing feature will be making its return after all. More after the jump.
It would have been nice for February, but starting next month, in select countries, you can get your hands on a pink Xperia Z5 Premium. Designer Murai-san talked about the Xperia Z5 Premium Pink:
The colour was first created for Xperia Z5 Pink and the hue also lent itself well to the finish of the Z5 Premium. As with other Z5 Premium devices we wanted to give an expression of light, so we adapted the colour to the Z5 Premium’s materials, the result is a deeper, rich tone due to its glossy finish – the perfect complement to its Premium name tag. The colour is also one of the trend colours for 2015AW-2016SS, so Xperia customers can tailor their look and colour co-ordinate their phone and outfits with the latest fashion trends.
Unfortunately Sony doesn’t want to do any of the leg work to help you find one of these on sale. Instead they simply say:
Xperia Z5 Premium Pink will be available in select countries only from beginning of May (depending on local market availability, please check with you local retailers/operators).
I expect sales will be massive.
Chris Barraclough from recombu was lucky enough to be invited to Sony HQ to get a closer look at the Sony Xperia Agent, the company’s answer to Amazon Echo. Xperia Agent can actually do a whole lot more than Echo, thanks to its built-in projector and small display.
Even cooler is the built-in projector, which pops out to beam images onto the tabletop in front of the Agent. So for instance, you can get the Agent to show you a photo feed from your social networks, or play a video. The projected image isn’t massive, but at least it’s clear and colourful
As for the device itself, Xperia Agent is designed to be seen – whereas Echo is meant to disappear into the background.
The Agent looks like a cross between a mini robot and a coffee machine, complete with a ‘face’ that animates when the Agent is on duty. That front panel is actually a secondary display that offers up useful information, which is also spoken out loud in case you’re out of sight.
Unfortunately, unlike the Echo which is already on the market and even just saw the release of a smaller companion unit, even Sony isn’t sure when Agent might come to market.
Right now the Xperia Agent is still a ‘working concept’, so the Agent’s functionality is likely to change before it hits market. And Sony doesn’t even have a vague idea of a possible Agent release date, so it may be many months – or perhaps even another year – before we finally see it in stores
After the jump, a video preview that gives you a pretty good idea of how Xperia Agent differs from other units out there.
Android 6.0 Marshmallow has returned for owners of the Xperia Z5 and Xperia Z5 Premium in Canada after being mysteriously pulled two weeks ago.
We’re pleased to announce that #Marshmallow is now available for #XperiaZ5/#XperiaZ5P for @Bell customers. Thx for your patience. Enjoy!
— Sony Xperia CA (@SonyXperiaCA) April 11, 2016
No details yet on what exactly was the culprit but it’s nice to have the update back. Now, could you imagine the outcry if Apple released an update, only to pull it and now have it return after two weeks?
Just hours after talking about a new Android 5.1 Lollipop build being released for the Xperia C5 Ultra, images of its likely successor leak. Specs are currently nonexistent but from the pictures, we can see a 6-inch phone with very minimal side bezels, a design cue from the Xperia XA. Like the C5 Ultra, this phone appears to sport a large front-facing camera and flash.
For those playing at home, the C5 Ultra was the only phone from Sony to provide both a 13-megapixel front-facing camera and flash so it’s not that preposterous to assume that its successor will have that as well, likely with improved specs. Other things we know about the mysterious phone include dual SIM card support and USB-C charging. Of course, even if the leaks are 100% credible, it doesn’t always mean the product at hand (in this case, literally) will actually come to market.
After the jump, a few more pictures.
Sony is going on a bit of a bug squashing spree. The Xperia Z5, Z5 Compact, and Z3+ have already received new Android Marshmallow updates and now the Xperia C5 Ultra is also joining the update bandwagon:
moving the build number from 29.1.X.0.87 to version 29.1.X.0.101. The update is live on both the single SIM (29.1.A.0.101) and dual SIM variants (29.1.B.0.101), although only in select regions at the time of posting. For the dual SIM Xperia C5 Ultra, the update is live in the Nordics, Malaysia and Vietnam, whilst it is only out in Turkey for single SIM owners right now. The update should open up to more regions very soon.
If Sony was able to get more devices on the same OS build as Apple which famously gives their latest release to as many devices as possible, it might in the long term actually make development easier for them as they don’t have to juggle working on numerous builds of Android and can focus on one iteration at a time and push forward with that.
Alas while the C5 Ultra is supposed to receive Android 6.0 Marshmallow at some point, it’s unclear when that update will arrive. With Sony still releasing Lollipop updates on the C5 Ultra, I’m not sure if that’s an indicator that Marshmallow is still far off or them doing their due diligence.
Sony is pushing out a new Android Marshmallow update for
Curiously, the update isn’t available for the Z5 Premium, but it could just be a matter of time before it lands on that device as well. It’s interesting that despite the Premium being their most prestigious flagship smartphone, it tends to get things last and have a highly scattered availability. As for the update, it takes the
build number from 32.1.A.1.163 to version number 32.1.A.1.185.
So what does it do? Not a whole lot it seems, other than minor bugs that Sony is squashing so don’t expect any new features.
Good news for those of you with a Sony SmartWatch 3. Via an over-the-air software update, you can now download Marshmallow for your wearable which brings it up to Android Wear 1.4 and build number MEC24H. Ryan Whitwam writes:
There was some concern after two months of waiting that Sony and Google were going to leave this device behind. It’s the last watch to get the Marshmallow update, but at least it’s getting it. We don’t know why this watch took so long, but it probably has something to do with the unique hardware (it has a Broadcom ARM chip) and general issues with slow development (it’s Sony).
One of the things I hate writing about the most is job losses and when writing about Sony, I’ve had the displeasure of doing it too often. Just yesterday, I reported that Sony Mobile had a new US head, Kunihiko Shiomi, who has taken over operations since January. For Sony Mobile, that’s not all that will be new as the company is moving – or has already moved – its HQ from Atlanta to San Francisco. It seems to be the latter of the two but there is very little information coming from Sony.
Unfortunately the shakeup and move will also result in job losses at the company’s US headquarters. Details are slim but we do know that Sony has:
cut an unspecified number of jobs during the move
It’s not quite clear how many personnel Sony Mobile HQ employs or what the number of cuts will be but no matter the number, it’s unfortunate news to report. Of course for Sony, personnel numbers and high costs have little to do with their troubles in the US. That instead has to do with a lack of vision, marketing, and carrier partners.
Ina Fried reporting for re/code:
After years of declining market share, Sony has quietly moved its U.S. phone operations from Atlanta to the San Francisco Bay Area and named a new leader.
The first surprise to me is that Sony Mobile had their offices in Atlanta. No wonder they’ve been unable to make any big gains in the US when they don’t even operate where all the action is. So why Atlanta?
Sony’s mobile business, then a joint venture with Ericsson, set up shop in Atlanta in 2009 to be closer to AT&T’s mobile business. At that time, the company still had about 4 percent of the U.S. market.
I couldn’t think of a more short-sighted reason than this. In a world where carriers are becoming less and less important and you can purchase phones with SIM cards that are capable of connecting to multiple carriers, Sony saw fit then to cozy up to carriers, likely as a way to break into the US market. Ironically, Sony has enjoyed a near non-existent relationship with US carriers, including AT&T.
So who is in charge of the company’s US operations now? Those details after the jump.
There is still a lot we don’t know about the Xperia X, Xperia XA, and Xperia X Performance smartphones from Sony which are set to arrive some time in the summer. Based on what we do know, they are here to replace Sony’s current flagship Xperia Z5 lineup but more important than a simple place in the lineup is how Sony will position and market these phones. To some in the community, the Xperia X line doesn’t seem as premium as what it’s replacing so the story that Sony builds around them will be quite interesting to watch.
If you do want to know more about the new phones, Erica Griffin was able to get some hands on time with them at MWC 2016.
Note: the one I have is the Performance! Not all of the Performance devices are brushed aluminum! I did also show the X at times though. I had a chance to play around with the Xperia X Performance and here are my thoughts so far. It is so very similar to the other 2: Xperia X and Xperia XA. I think it is a very nice device but it leaves me severely confused. MWC 2016.
The video is after the jump.
Sony is no stranger to winning awards for their design and quality. Unfortunately for them, awards doesn’t usually translate to sales but it does mean that despite their much smaller scale compared to their competitors, Sony isn’t cutting any corners. At this year’s Red Dot Awards, Sony raked in 18 awards which includes two Best of the Best: the Sony Glass Speaker and RX1 RM2 camera.
After the jump, the list of Sony products that won a Red Dot Award.
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