XperiaPlay
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Vodafone UK posts pre-order page for Sony Ericsson Xperia Play
Sony Ericsson's next great thing, the Xperia Play, has just appeared on Vodafone UK's pages as its newest pre-order treat. Scheduled for a March 31st launch with a price tag of £free if you're willing to pony up £35 or more a month on a two-year contract. Vodafone's Xperia Play will ship with six preloaded games including Crash Bandicoot, Fifa 10, Star Battalion, Tetris, Sims 3, and Bruce Lee on the included 8GB memory card -- and includes some unnamed "desk stand" if pre-ordered before April 1st. We're kinda curious if any of you out there are going to jump on this newest Android 2.3 toy, so feel free to let us know what you think in the comments below. [Thanks, lewis]
Sony Ericsson's latest Xperia Play ads are disturbing, yet awesome (video)
Kristen Schaal has eyeballs. Red, fiery eyeballs lusting for the blood of her enemies on the battlefields of the PlayStation Suite. Yes, Sony Ericsson is keeping up the fine tradition of freaking us the hell out with its Xperia Play ads, this latest round starring an innocent-looking lady with a devilish demeanor. Skip past the break for those vids and if you're wondering why Kristen's so psyched about the Play, check out our very latest hands-on with the device -- it's coming to Verizon with stock Android, don't you know! [Thanks, Calvin]
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play for Verizon hands-on (video)
Well, we knew it was coming, and tonight at CTIA we finally got our dirty little hands on Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play for Verizon. It's pretty much what we expected: an Xperia Play that's lacking a SIM slot but displaying a couple of Verizon tattoos logos. The front-facing camera is still on the menu, along with a tasty serving of Gingerbread -- Android 2.3.2, to be exact. Strangely, the custom skin we saw during our hands-on at MWC was nowhere to be found on Verizon's model, being replaced instead by what appears to be the stock Gingerbread UI with some Sony Ericsson wallpapers and widgets. The Xperia Play app was on full display on the demo phones, which came preloaded with Ashphalt 6, Bruce Lee, Crash Bandicoot, Star Battalion, Madden '11, and The Sims 3. Take a peek at our gallery below, and poke your way past the break for our hands-on video.
Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play ad: gross human thumbs stitched onto robots, drugged clubgoers, not much more we can say
Is this the creepiest ad ever produced to introduce a new video game console? That's a high bar to pass -- but is it the creepiest ad for a new smartphone? Perhaps. The minute-long spot for Sony Ericsson's upcoming Xperia Play called "The Donor" appears to explain the backstory behind its last ad, relaying the tale of a young gentleman who was clubbing with friends, met an attractive woman, took her home, and woke up the next morning to discover that his thumbs were stone cold gone (notice the dirty, poorly-bandaged stumps on the table as he tells his tale of woe to a local law enforcement official). Cut to the next scene, where we've got our cute, lovable Android bot waddling around town... oh, and he's got human thumbs crudely sewn onto his arms. Go ahead, recoil in horror, vomit in the trashcan next to your desk, then cue the inevitable increased desire in owning this phone. Follow the break for the video, if you dare.
Sony Ericsson Spain confirms Xperia Play for €649 on April 1st
Apparently in an effort to reduce confusion and settle the situation once and for all, Sony Ericsson's Spanish outpost has taken to the wires today to clarify the pricing and availability situation of the Xperia Play there: €649 off contract and unlocked (which works out to roughly $907) on April 1st. That more or less lines up with what we've been hearing in other European locales, though in Spain, Vodafone will have a 15-day exclusive on the white model -- other carriers will only have access to black at first, and none of the carriers have come clean with on-contract pricing details just yet. Clearly, $900 is an enormously tough sell, but a weak dollar never helps these situations -- we'll need to wait for word on the US retail picture before we've got the whole story.
Sony Xperia Play hits the UK on March 31st, thumbsticks coming never
Readers in the British Empire get ready for Sony Ericsson's biggest UK marketing campaign ever. That's in the lead-up to the release of the Xperia Play, a phone that we've been hearing about for so long that we'd need some pretty shocking commercials to get us all excited again. You may feel differently, though, so mark your calendars for March 31st. That's the end of the month and falls in nicely with the "late March" word we'd heard for elsewhere in the world, though that is awfully late. As to where you can buy it, it's said that "all the mobile operators and retailers" will have it, so you shouldn't have to wander too far. And, with six games pre-installed, you should even be reasonably well equipped to kill the rest of that Thursday.
Havok physics engine comes to Android 2.3, demoed on Xperia Play (video)
Great graphics are often a component of great video games, but fancy physics can help too, and last week Havok announced that it was bringing those to Android, along with all of the requisite development tools. That means smartphones with Android 2.3 or up can potentially enjoy the same procedural animations and pretty dresses that we've enjoyed on PC and home console for years, and as the first gamer-centric smartphone with Gingerbread on board, Sony Ericsson's forthcoming Xperia Play got to be the first to demo them. Watch a pickup plow through road hazards, a gorilla get catapulted across a football field, and an Assassin's Creed-esque warrior run, jump and climb with the best of them in the video above. Oh, and just so you know, we got a (very brief) hands-on with all three demos in person at GDC 2011 last week, and each was practically enjoyable enough to be an Android game of its own. The realistically bouncing ball's in your court, developers. Don't let us down.
Xperia Play goes back to the FCC, this time with GSM (update)
We're all familiar with this handset by now, but what we weren't suspecting (although we have yet to finish our first cup of coffee) to see a GSM version of the Xperia Play come through the FCC this sunny Tuesday morning. While we know that Verizon won't be the sole carrier of the phone in the states (we heard that from Sony Ericsson CTO Jan Uddenfeldt himself), there is yet to be another carrier confirmed. So maybe this is an indication of another possible future? Or, most likely, this is just one of those "north of the border" jobs -- as you know, the FCC gets its look at all Canada-bound phones, and this particular phone is exclusive to Rogers. Get a closer look after the break. Update: Further examination of the docs reveal that this bad boy has global GSM bands and 900 / 2100MHz 3G, which is primarily used in Europe and Asia.
Sony Ericsson details Xperia Play development: buttons easy, touchpad just a little trickier
In a post on Sony Ericsson's Developer Blog coinciding with the official launch of the Xperia Play at MWC earlier this month, the company clued in developers on how to take advantage of the game-specific controls they'll be dealing with on that glorious slide-out board. In short, it's insanely straightforward for the most part: the hard buttons just generate standard key codes, which explains why existing games worked so well with the unit we'd previewed. The only tricky part comes into play with the center-mounted touchpad, which can't be accessed through the standard Android SDK -- for that, you'll need to turn over to the NDK, the native-code escape hatch that Android devs use when they need higher performance and want to get closer to the hardware. SE's published a 16-page guide on getting to the touchpad through the NDK, and it seems straightforward enough -- and plenty of game developers are well acquainted with the NDK already, anyway -- so we're guessing it won't be much of a hurdle. Getting devs to support an input method that's only available initially on a single commercial device might be a bigger hurdle... but we digress.
Xperia Play shows up in Verizon's inventory
By now you should be doubt-free that the Xperia Play exists and is coming to Verizon, but if not, let this clear things up. A well-trusted tipster has just sent us the above screen shot of the Sony R800X (the 'x' here indicating CDMA as opposed to the model R800i we've been seeing), better known as the Xperia Play, hanging out in Verizon's system. We're bummed to not have a release date or price, but we're digging for more info. Head past the break for some exclusive product details straight from the depths of Verizon's backend.%Gallery-117125%
Sony Ericsson breaks out white Xperia Play, makes it an O2 exclusive in the UK
We'll confess, we did see Sony Ericsson execs flashing white Xperia Play handsets during the company's MWC 2011 press event, but curiously enough none of those made their way to the demo areas. Now we've finally got ourselves some fully fleshed out press shots, along with the news that O2 will be the sole carrier for this alabaster gaming smartphone in the UK. Other markets have yet to announce availability of the white Xperia Play, but you'll know more just as soon as we do. Skip past the break to see how the front end looks. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Sony Ericsson Xperia family portrait at MWC 2011
Sony Ericsson shook up MWC before it had even begun this year by introducing the Xperia Play -- the world's first PlayStation Certified phone -- alongside a pair of new members of its Xperia line of smartphones, the midrange Neo and QWERTY-sliding Pro. Taken together with the Xperia Arc that debuted at CES in January, this little bunch of Android Gingerbread runners will form SE's principal attack on the ever-fickle smartphone consumer's wallet this year. We can't yet tell you which of them might be the one for you, but we can certainly provide a gallery stuffed full of side-by-side pictures to help you visualize the differences, both big and small, between the four new Xperias. Enjoy! %Gallery-116992%
Xperia Play and Xperia Arc confirmed for Rogers in Canada (update)
In case you missed the announcement, a recent press release has confirmed what we already knew: Xperia Play is coming to Canada, exclusively to Rogers. Set to hit shelves sometime this spring in late March alongside the Xperia Arc, both of these bad boys will run on Android 2.3 Gingerbread, with prices to be disclosed at launch. Remember when we used to call Xperia Play the "PlayStation Phone?" That was fun. PR after the break.
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play MWC 2011 hands-on! (updated with video)
We've spent extensive time with our prototype of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, but how's it feel to use the real, near-finished model? Quite a bit better, actually. The phone looks identical, to be sure, but the hinge is much sturdier. The speaker quality has gone up, too, although in the crowded room it was much too noisy to really make a solid judgment call there. The screen attracts fingerprints like no other, but it's basically on par with other Xperia models. Its skinned Android Gingerbread UI was snappier, to be sure, and the customizations obviously a lot more complete, but really our biggest concern here was the games. (Check out our Pro, Neo, and Arc previews for more thoughts on the interface.) We were able to play three titles: Star Battalion, FIFA, and Asphalt. All were found via the applications pane amongst all the other software, but they were also highlighted by the eponymous Xperia Play app. (There was additionally the infamous PlayStation Pocket app, but more on that later.) The former title, very much a StarFox ripoff, had tight controlling via both the gamepad and optional accelerometer option. The trackpads wasn't supported, however, but when we swapped over to FIFA, we found the left "pad" could be used for moving the player. Though definitely usable, it felt rough under our thumbs and we couldn't smoothly slide about as we would with an analog nub. It is large enough to do varying degrees of a direction like an analog stick, but you won't really be fine-tuning your shot so much. The indents work really well to help gauge your thumbs' position without having to look down. Both titles took quite a while to load, crashing a few times in the process; we were told multiple times this was largely due to early software. Multiplayer was not an option at the show, but we did make it through Asphalt far enough to notice it was being run still by Gameloft and not via Sony servers. As for Xperia Play (the app), we couldn't help but notice the Get More Games section, no matter how simple, does a much better job at highlighting individual games than the Android Market currently does. The PlayStation Pocket app on most demo units was as barren as our own model, but we found at least one running Crash Bandicoot for PS One (the "legendary pre-installed title," as referenced in the press conference) at a smooth 60 frames per second. To compensate for only two L and R triggers, the settings menu offers six different button layouts where you can use the trackpads as secondary shoulder buttons (which prevents their use as analog nub replacements) or have L2 / R2 on screen virtually. Thankfully, jumping out of the app saves the game's state, and you can return by clicking on the app. An additional confirmation screen confirms you're really ready to play, which though we can see being a nuisance to some, will be welcome to others who often mis-click. The rep told us no multiplayer, but still you can toggle between the game pad being seen as controller one or two. We also heard that the PS One library will likely be rolled out on a weekly basis and not be available all at once. What we needed to convince us of the Xperia Play's viability as a game platform was the games itself, and we will say that Sony and SE are doing well to assuage our concerns there. The form factor is still sleek despite the slide-out gamepad, which feels great to use. The initial PlayStation Suite launch line up is... promising, but we hesitate to give it higher marks without more flagship original titles. What it'll take to attract more developers is a larger reach for the platform, which ironically will take more PlayStation Certified devices -- and as for when that'll happen, no one's saying yet. We'll have hands-on video of the Xperia Play later tonight; meanwhile, find hands-on pictures of the phone (and dock!) in the gallery below! Update: Fleshed out impressions, and video after the break! %Gallery-116439%%Gallery-116462%
Sony Ericsson touts Xperia Play multiplayer gaming, promises 50 titles at launch
A gaming phone's not very special without some games to back it up, and Sony Ericsson has thankfully filled in at least a few new details about that part of the equation at its MWC press conference today. That includes a hint of some mobile hotspot-based multiplayer gaming, and a promise of "over 50 titles" that will be available at launch, including Guitar Hero, Assassin's Creed, Dead Space and Reckless Racing. Unfortunately, it's not clear how many of those will actually be exclusive to the Xperia Play as opposed to Android phones in general, although it seems that Dungeon Defenders Wave 2 will be one non-PlayStation exclusive to the platform (along with some extra levels for Reckless Racing). Stay tuned for more details as we get them. Update: Head on past the break for a video that gives a glimpse of a few more games.
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play available in March, on Verizon in 'early spring'
The phone itself was hardly a surprise, but one of the details we didn't know about the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play was release date. We still don't have a specific day, but we do at least have a month: March. The phone is said to be coming to the US first, and Verizon will be the exclusive carrier domestically. Things are even more vague about when it'll be coming to VZW, nothing beyond "early spring," but March certainly falls in that window. Lots more details in our Sony Ericsson MWC liveblog.
The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play (update: video and full spec sheet!)
We'll forgive you if you thought the Xperia Play was eons before. Let's quickly run through its short-yet-illustrious history: we published first details in August last year, followed by the very first pictures in late October. More and more details emerged throughout the remainder of the year. By the time 2011 hit, a prototype was making the Chinese media rounds (teardown included), and then we managed to get our own Xperia Play prototype for preview. It's at this point that Sony Ericsson joins in on the fun with its creepy Super Bowl ad reveal. But after months of detailed leaks, early hands-on previews, and numerous executive non-denials, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is finally 100 percent official. As we've heard for ages now, it'll run Android 2.3 Gingerbread on a 1GHz Snapdragon processor with Qualcomm Adreno 205 graphics and display those games on a sizable 4-inch, 854 x 480 multi-touch LCD screen, the combination of which Sony says will provide 60 frames per second playback and manage up to 5 hours, 35 minutes of battery life in a single game session with the slide-out PlayStation Certified controller. Gaming credentials aside, you're looking at either a quad-band GSM or CDMA and EV-DO smartphone with a 5-megapixel autofocus camera, LED flash, stereo speakers, Bluetooth and WiFi functionality baked in, as well as Sony Ericsson's Timescape UI layer. The phone comes preloaded with a "legendary" PSone game of the undisclosed variety, as well as a bevy of popular Android games including Asphalt 6, The Sims 3 and Tetris, and Sony Ericsson promises a library of 50 additional titles available at launch from 20 publishing partners. Some games ported from existing smartphone platforms (like Reckless Racing) will have bonus content on Xperia Play, too. Local area multiplayer gaming is a go, as you'll be able to host a WiFi hotspot on one device and join the game with another. It's launching in March, and will be available on Verizon (a US timed exclusive) in "early spring," suggesting that we'll see the European launch before it hits the States. Update: Press release, full, gigantic spec sheet and loads of video after the break! Update 2: A brand new Xperia Play hands-on with games! %Gallery-116429%
Live from Sony Ericsson's MWC 2011 press event!
It's really no secret what Sony Ericsson plans to show off at its MWC 2011 press conference -- leaks notwithstanding, the Xperia Play (aka PlayStation Phone) was unveiled and made quite official in a Super Bowl commercial. We're about to see it presented all over again, but we'll also get a chance to see what else the company has up its sleeve... and under its thumbs, of course. The event kicks off 6PM local time (that's noon ET), so join us promptly, won't ya?
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play may be headed to Verizon
If you're looking for reasons not to jump on the Verizon iPhone bandwagon, here's a pretty compelling, albeit unconfirmed, one: the Xperia Play may be headed to Big Red as well. In comparing Sony Ericsson's thumb-friendly Android handset to the iPhone 4, Wirefly has listed VZW as the carrier for the Play. This is the first we've really heard of a US provider for the phone, though we'd hardly be surprised if Sony Ericsson opts to spam it out to all four major networks. It did as much in the UK, where every single operator will try to sell you one in April, and we don't see why that strategy should change on US soil. The Xperia Play will be announced in full this Sunday, February 13th, when we might just learn more about its global availability... if we're really polite and wear our PlayStation T-shirts, presumably.
Xperia Play coming to Canada, exclusive to Rogers?
O2, Vodafone, Orange, and T-Mobile UK... who else is getting Xperia Play, you ask? Anyone in North America, perhaps? Looks like the once (and in our hearts always) PlayStation phone has popped up on Sony Ericsson Canada's site, and will be exclusive to Rogers -- that is, if a certain tip that Mobile Syrup has received is to be believed. Either way, it looks like it's less than a week until we get all the sordid details.
