XperiaRay
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O2 UK denies Xperia Ray, Arc and Neo owners Ice Cream Sandwich
It's bad news for Xperia Ray, Arc and Neo owners on O2's UK network, as the carrier's reported it won't be updating these Sony handsets to Ice Cream Sandwich. O2 claims it has tested three versions of the OS update and decided not to approve it, due to increased hardware requirements resulting in "speed and performance" issues. This is curious, since Sony itself had no problems getting Android 4.0 up and running on the devices -- even if it did take a while. If you know your way around a ROM, you probably stopped scoffing Gingerbread a long time ago. However, if you're yet to tinker and ain't scared by O2's "you can't go back" warnings, an hour or two on some specialist forums should have you sticky in no time (at your own risk, of course). Update: O2's been in touch assuring us the decision was not taken lightly, and that although Sony has released ICS for these handsets, they did so with clear disclaimers on performance concerns (see the Sony source below).
Refresh Roundup: week of June 11th, 2012
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!
PSA: Sony details ICS rollout for 2011 Xperia smartphones, Nordic regions to get first dibs
Good news for all you owners of 2011 edition Xperia smartphones -- Sony's Xperia Product Blog has just confirmed that the devices will begin receiving a tasty upgrade to Android Ice Cream Sandwich. The update is set to first rollout in the Nordic countries of Norway (naturally), Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Finland -- specifically for the Xperia arc S, ray and neo V -- followed by an expansion into other markets within the next "four to six weeks." Don't fret if you don't own one of the aforementioned devices, though, as Sony has noted that near the end of May it should have ICS ready for the Xperia arc, Play, active, neo mini, mini pro, pro and Sony Ericson Live. If you're hungering for more specific information on when you'll be able to update your device, you'll have to keep it posted to the source links below in the meantime.
Sony's Xperia Ice Cream Sandwich rollout pushed to mid-April (and beyond)
To be fair, things have... changed a bit since we heard back in November that the Xperia handset line would be getting Ice Cream Sandwich by March of 2012. Specifically, Sony Ericsson is no more, and it's up to Sony Mobile alone to continue the torch carrying. At any rate, the outfit has made clear today that it'll be mid-April at the earliest before any of the Xperia smartphones see an Android 4.0 update, with the Xperia Arc S, Xperia Neo V and Xperia Ray amongst the first on deck. We're told that the updates will start hitting that trio in the middle of next month, with every last owner to be gifted in the four to six weeks following. Beyond that, the Xperia Play, Xperia Neo, Xperia Mini, Xperia Mini Pro, Xperia Pro and Xperia Active will start seeing ICS "from the end of May / early June." You know, pretty much right when Android 5.0 will be unveiled.
Refresh Roundup: week of February 20th, 2012
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!
Sony details Xperia's Ice Cream Sandwich progress, remains on track for late March kick-off
Yes, Sony Ericsson has already gone about communicating its intention to deliver Android 4.0 to its Xperia smartphone collection, but the company is now sharing further details about the pending arrival. So, we thought you'd like to be in on the know. For starters, the first devices to receive the upgrade will be the Arc S, Neo V and Ray, each of which are on-track for a late March / early April rollout. Then, beginning in late April / early May, Sony intends to deliver Ice Cream Sandwich to the Active, Arc, Mini, Mini Pro, Neo, Play and Xperia Pro handsets. Even the Live with Walkman is set to receive a new lease on life during the time frame. In each case, the latest version of Android will be rolled out in phases, over the course of a few weeks. Now, let's just hope that Sony Ericsson is able to keep to its schedule.
Ice Cream Sandwich alpha released for Xperia trio, is Sony Ericsson's '143' to the dev community (video)
Sony Ericsson has a clear stance on the Android dev community: one love. In what is, apparently, a first for the company, an alpha ROM of its in-development Ice Cream Sandwich port is available for install across a trio of unlocked Xperia devices -- the arc S, neo V and ray. But hold your horses on that download trigger finger, this early build is only for "advanced developers" and quite a few features, like Google apps, WiFi, Bluetooth, voice, FM radio and ANT+, simply aren't functional. In other words, don't depend on this as your daily driver, but do dive deep if you know what you're doing and want a peek at Google's soon-to-be ubiquitous OS upgrade. Head on over to the source below for the cautionary how-to and remember to flash at your own risk.
Sony's latest Xperia update brings WebGL support to 2011 smartphone lineup (video)
Why Sony chose to sit on this one, we have no idea, but the company just revealed that its software update for the 2011 lineup of Xperia phones -- which was released last month -- also adds browser support for WebGL. This means that if you're holding an Xperia Arc, Mini, Neo, Play, Ray... or any other of its most recent handsets, then there's a good chance you're wielding one of the first Android phones to support this modern graphics platform. Designed to bring advanced visuals and gaming to the web, the API holds roots in JavaScript and has been used to develop everything from Angry Birds to far-out music videos. Sony Ericsson first previewed its WebGL efforts back in February, and after all these months, its official arrival is a welcome one, indeed. For a quick demo video, be sure to hop the break.
Xperia Ray makes US debut, goes unlocked for $425
Giving you a new opportunity to tell your favorite carrier exactly where it can stick that nasty two-year agreement, the unlocked Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray has made its official debut in the United States. In partnership with NewEgg, the handset carries an MSRP of $425 (although it currently sells for $380), where shoppers may choose between gold, black, white and pink varieties. As carrier compatibility goes, the phone features quad-band GSM support, along with 3G capability over the 2100 / 1900 / 850MHz airwaves, which makes it best suited for AT&T in the US, or Bell, Rogers and Telus up north. The Xperia Ray packs an MSM8255 SoC -- which features a 1GHz CPU and an Adreno 205 GPU -- along with a 3.3-inch FWVGA display and Android 2.3. Of particular note, it also sports an 8.1 megapixel lens with an Exmor R sensor that's well-suited for low-light situations, along with an LED flash and the ability to record video at 720p. So, if you're mad as hell at two-year ordeals, here's a reason to not take it anymore. Howard Beale would be so very proud.
Mobile Miscellany: week of September 12, 2011
This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of September 12, 2011: Vodacom South Africa has joined the data throttling club, though this carrier is taking a slightly different spin: BlackBerry users consuming more than 100MB of data each month will find their download speeds downgraded to GPRS or EDGE. The company claims this will only affect less than five percent of its BlackBerry customers. [via N4BB] Bada fans: the Samsung Wave 578 is featured on Orange's site as "coming soon." [via The Inquirer] Motorola announced the availability of the Fire and Fire XT in India this week. [via Motorola] The Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray is now being sold at Vodafone UK. [via Vodafone] Parrot announced the most recent addition to its lineup of Bluetooth products, called the Minikit+, a refresh of its popular hands-free speakerphone. The new model offers simultaneous pairing and voice commands. [via Parrot] Research in Motion is hoping to put the NFC functionality in OS 7 to good use, as it announced that the BlackBerry Bold 9900 / 9330 as well as the Curve 9350 / 9360 will support HID's iCLASS digital keys, which means corporate folks will able to use their smartphone as an access card. [via PhoneScoop] While digging through the Droid Bionic's webtop app, the names of two unknown Motorola phones were discovered: the Edison and the Common. Little is known about the Common, but a recent FCC filing mentioned the Edison and is speculated to be the follow-up to the Atrix, albeit sans LTE as originally hoped. [via Droid-Life] The manager of the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace, Matt Bencke, wrote a post pleading developers to submit their Mango-compatible apps as soon as possible, as the new update is coming to existing phones soon and it's obviously very important to have Windows Phone 7.5 run as smooth as possible. [via WMPowerUser] A leaked Radio Shack roadmap indicates the HTC Vigor should be available in stores by October 20th, and the QWERTY-packing Samsung Stratosphere will be up for online ordering as early as October 6th. As this is a third-party retailer, we can't say with surety that these dates reflect the carrier's official release. [via Droid-Life]
Samsung Galaxy W to launch on Three network in the UK next month
Samsung-thusiasts in the UK will be happy to know that the brand spanking new Galaxy W is coming to the British Three network in September. Just yesterday, we caught a glimpse of this beaut running Gingerbread with a 3.7-inch WVGA touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera, 4GB of internal memory, a 1.4GHz processor and HDSPA connectivity. Those on Three can also expect the new line of BlackBerrys -- the Curve 9360, the Torch 9810 and the Bold 9900 -- soon, as well as the white Samsung Galaxy S II and the Sony Ericsson Xperia ray sometime in September. We hope to get some hands-on time with the W at IFA in Berlin next week -- roadtrip anyone?
Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray shows up on Vodafone UK, inches towards launch
If you've been counting down the days leading up to the Xperia Ray's release, get set to add a few more X's to that calendar. A recent product page over on Vodafone UK teases an imminent launch for the svelte, Sony Ericsson handset, and slims down that multi-hued selection to one gold-backed option. The 3.3-incher had previously been up for pre-order on Play.com with a purported mid-August release, only to see that date slip back into the folds of September. Whenever the phone does finally make it to market, expect to see this quadband HSPA-capable device sporting an 854 x 480 Reality display, 1GHz processor, 8.1 megapixel rear-facing camera and Android 2.3. Import-minded types can look forward to running an unlocked version on AT&T, or just wait around for a potential stateside release. Eager for more info? Then head to the source below where you can sign-up for the deets.
Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray swings through FCC donning AT&T bands
We've known it as both the Urushi and the ST18a, but Sony Ericsson's latest handset was just "accepted" over at the FCC as the Xperia Ray, getting the fed green-light with a full set of photos to boot. A quick perusal of the docs confirms that the Xperia Ray will bring on quadband HSPA compatible with AT&T and global carriers, but the lack of AWS indicates we won't see this showing up on T-Mobile shelves. Also included on the list of tested items is the ANT+ wireless tech responsible for the device's fitness-monitoring functionality. Making it through the FCC is always a significant hurdle for a company to jump over, so we'd suspect the phone's still on track for its planned Q3 release. In the meantime, however, check out the gallery below for the images so graciously provided to us in the documents. %Gallery-128114%
Sony Ericsson's Xperia ray up for UK pre-order, ships in August?
Do you hate proper capitalization, live in the British isles, and have a spare £350? Excellent, because Sony Ericsson's Xperia ray has just gone up for pre-order on Play.com. Scheduled for release on August 15th, the specs of the Gingerbread-toting gizmo haven't changed since we first spotted them. New to us, however, are the four hues we spied on the duo's website (which you can peep after the fold). Unfortunately for pigment lovers, one can only call dibs the black version this far out, but with more than a month before shipment, we'd pull the trigger anyway -- you've got more than enough time to sweat color choices, we say.
Sony Ericsson introduces the Xperia ray and Xperia active for the fashion and fitness focused
Sony Ericsson has finally come clean about the Urushi or, as it's now known, the Xperia ray (SE spits in the face of your capitalization conventions). As we already heard, it's packing a 1GHz processor, an 854 x 480, 3.3-inch Reality Display, an 8.1-megapixel rear-facing camera, and Android 2.3, all while coming in at a svelte 9.3-mm thin. The company also unveiled another uppercase eschewing handset, the Xperia active -- a phone for those who spend as much time running or snow boarding as they do texting. The dust proof and water resistant phone also pushes Gingerbread with a 1GHz CPU, but scales the screen back to three inches and a 320 x 480 resolution, while going with a lesser 5-megapixel rear shooter. More importantly, it boasts both a barometer and an ANT+ wireless radio to compliment the usual GPS and compass for tracking your workouts. You'll find full specs for each in the PR after the break, though how much they'll cost when they land in Q3 is still a mystery.
