CES 2015 was filled with a handful of surprises in the tech world. Sony took to the stage at its keynote on press day during the conference and announced a couple of additions to its tech lineup for 2015. The Smartwatch 3 Steel was unveiled along with a brand new Action Cam that shoots 4K video…
Sony has announced that all 2015 models of its Bravia TV line will be powered by Android TV during today’s CES press conference. The televisions will be able to accept voice commands in over 40 languages and will feature full support for Google Play apps and Google Cast wireless streaming from mobile devices.
Sony just kicked off its press conference at CES 2015, and one thing for the company will be showing off during the event is a new stainless steel designed SmartWatch 3. The SmartWatch 3 was originally released in October of 2014, but Sony has taken the opportunity at CES to give it an updated, more high-end design.
Sony is about to start its CES 2015 press conference, which will undoubtedly provide a look at the company’s next-gen mobile devies, among other products. If you want to watch the event live, Sony will be providing a live stream on its website. We’ve embedded it below for your convenience.
As usual, NewGeekGuide will be covering all of the major announcements for the event as well.
Sony sold off its VAIO PC brand earlier this year to investment firm Japan Industrial Partners, but it looks like Sony’s ex-brand might have some interesting new technology up its sleeves for 2015. According to a new report this morning out of Japanese paper Nikkei, the company is working on a line of smartphones to be announced in the coming months. And they might be coming sooner than anyone might have expected—possibly next week at CES 2015.
Sony is definitely going to have some amount of presence at this year’s International CES in Las Vegas, and today they’re giving us a little tease of the things they have to show off. The video makes a bunch of different references, but the most obvious is the beginning cut showing what looks to be the side profile of a new tablet or smartphone. (The fact that the mysterious hand seems to grab the device at the end of the scene suggests that it’s probably not a super-thin TV or other larger device.) Additionally, it looks like the company is finally ready to show off its flavor of Android Lollipop, giving a solid few seconds of the below video to a young girl eating a bright red sucker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gC_NIVpXf4
Emails found among the documents recently stolen from Sony by hackers have revealed what looks to be concept art for an unannounced smartphone. The “XPERIA Z Fourth Generation,” seen above, was pitched by Sony executives for product placements in the recently announced 24th James Bond flick “Spectre.”
The executives haggle over pricing for the placement of the phone, questioning whether they should pay the full $5 million for star Daniel Craig to use the phone, or settle for actor Ben Whishaw’s much cheaper “Q” to show it off.
Google has published a post on its Public Policy blog responding to recent revelations that the Motion Picture Association of America was working with a group of movie studios in order to find new ways to force the search giant to modify its results to omit sites that contained stolen copyrighted material:
We are deeply concerned about recent reports that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) led a secret, coordinated campaign to revive the failed SOPA legislation through other means, and helped manufacture legal arguments in connection with an investigation by Mississippi State Attorney General Jim Hood.
In a developer blog post this morning, Sony announced that developers can now build custom versions of Android for all 2014 Xperia devices with a Qualcomm processor. This is made possible through Google’s AOSP (Android Open Source Project), a project dedicated to keeping Android open and giving developers the power to build their own custom ROMs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIdJg7KNH3A
Sony has uploaded a video to its developers channel that demonstrates how to unlock the bootloader of a Sony Xperia device, allowing for custom ROMs to be installed. Sony warns that you may void your device’s warranty and cautions about certain other risks that may occur.
The process involves generating an unlock code for your device through Sony by entering a unique IMEI number associated with the device. Then, you must install the Android SDK and all drivers and connect to Fastboot. Sony has a list of supported devices on its website.
New emails uncovered by the Verge from Sony’s stolen files have revealed that the company, along with several other studios and executives at the MPAA, worked together to create a plan of attack against Google, which they see as one of the biggest enemies Hollywood has.
The plan, which was codenamed “Project Goliath,” would involve each of the major movie studios contributing money toward a $500,000 fund to support legal attacks against the Mountain View company for its (unwitting) role in helping pirates find stolen media.
Sony announced on Wednesday that Android 5.0 Lollipop is rolling out this week for the Xperia Z Ultra Google Play Edition, while confirming that other devices in the Xperia Z lineup will receive the latest software version in early 2015. Sony pledged in October that it would bring Android Lollipop to its entire lineup of premium Z-series devices.
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Sony’s diverse product portfolio is about to lose a little weight. Despite the company’s popularity and historical success the Japanese corporation is going to be cutting down its TV and mobile lineups to cut costs. Over the past few years Sony has steadily lost its wireless momentum to rival companies like Samsung, Apple and Xiaomi. The outfit’s new focus will be for its struggling TV and mobile divisions to simply turn a profit.
There’s no denying the appeal of the Sony Xperia Z3, however if you’re the type who likes to tinker with your phone, its current lack of root access might be a deal breaker for some folks. If you happen to fall into the aforementioned group of people and you’ve been holding out in hope of a resolution, your ship might soon be coming in thanks to a group of ambitious (and generous) individuals over at the XDA developers forums.
Sony’s Backup & Restore Android application that comes pre-installed on its Xperia Z3 smartphone appears to have been compromised. A Google Play entry has been added for the app listing “Nirav Patel Kanudo” as its publisher, along with the software’s description claiming that it’s managed by the “HeArT HaCkEr Group.”
Sony announced a new imaging sensor today that the company says will improve smartphones cameras. The Exmor RS IMX230 is a stacked CMOS sensor that packs 21-megapixels into a small 1/2.4-inch design. One of the key talking points of Sony’s new chip is its 192 point phase detection autofocus, which makes it easier to shoot photos or video of a fast moving subject with your smartphone.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFxnj2mb2hg]
If you own an Xperia Z1, Z2 or Z3 handset and are eagerly awaiting an update to Lollipop, Sony announced on its blog that it currently has the latest ASOP version of Android in testing ahead of a planned rollout next year.
This week Google released the source code for Android 5.0; Lollipop – and to celebrate that we have the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) version up and running on Xperia Z1, Xperia Z2 ….and Xperia Z3
There will be a beta-test program for Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z3 Compact devices, but the bad news is that this will initially be limited to Swedish owners on the 3 network. Developers, however, will be able to get their hands on the binary files “soon.”
We are working to provide you with the necessary binary files as soon as we can. Once you have them, these binaries can be used as a base for compiling your own custom version of Android, together with source code for AOSP device configuration from the Sonyxperiadev GitHub. Device configurations are already available for Xperia Z1 and Xperia Z2, these will be updated, and are coming soon for Xperia Z3.
Sony is one of the main contributors to the Android Open Source Project.
[youtube=http://youtu.be/PzFc5zGMjCk]
After releasing the the new PS4 Remote Play app for Xperia Z3, Xperia Z3 Compact and Xperia Z3 tablet, Sony today announced it’s bringing the feature for remotely playing games from a connected PlayStation 4 to its Xperia Z2 lineup. That means following an update for the Xperia z2 and Xperia Z2 tablet, users will now have access to the PS4 Remote Play app and full support for the PS4 DUALSHOCK4 wireless controller.
The update for Xperia Z2 and Z2 tablet also brings hi-res audio, the latest Battery STAMINA Mode feature, Sony’s Smart Social camera apps including Sound Photo, AR fun, Multi camera and Face in, and much more.
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Google’s Chromecast supports screen mirroring for a limited number of mobile devices and it appears that the search giant’s popular media stick has added support for a few new products. Owners of the Sony Xperia Z3v, Z2 and Z2 Tablet can now share their respective device’s screen on their big screen if they wish to do so.
Sony Corporation announced on Thursday that it will appoint senior vice president Hiroki Totoki as the new president of its Sony Mobile division on November 16th. Totoki, who currently serves as corporate planning director at the Japanese company, will replace outgoing Sony executive Kunimasa Suzuki to run the smartphone business.
The corporate mixup is largely unsurprising given that Sony has been faced with declining Xperia smartphone sales due to tough competition from rivals Apple, Samsung, LG and others. The company has been forecasted to once again report slowing smartphone sales when it announces its latest quarterly earnings results on Friday.
As of November 16, 2014
Kunimasa Suzuki
(New)
Group Executive, Sony Corporation
Executive Vice President, Sony Entertainment Inc.
(Current)
Corporate Executive Officer, Executive Vice President,
Officer in charge of Mobile Business, Sony Corporation
President & CEO, Sony Mobile Communications Inc.Hiroki Totoki
(New)
Group Executive, Sony Corporation
President & CEO, Sony Mobile Communications Inc.
(Current)
Corporate Executive, Senior Vice President,
In charge of Corporate Planning, Finance and New Business Creation Department, Sony Corporation
After a rebranded run with Verizon, the Xperia Z3 is now officially on sale at T-Mobile. Last week, some of the carrier’s customers received their pre-orders early, but if you weren’t among the lucky few, you can now purchase Sony’s waterproof flagship smartphone directly from the magenta-hued wireless carrier for no money down at a price of $26.25 per month for two years.
The SmartBand Talk—which we leaked and was announced alongside the SmartWatch 3 earlier this year—is about to launch worldwide in the coming weeks, but today, its app has officially launched on the Play Store. Alongside the launch of this main companion app, the company has also launched four extension apps, which bring even more features to the SmartBand Talk.
Verizon’s version of the Sony Xperia Z3 went on sale today and while T-Mobile won’t officially offer the device until next week, some lucky customers are receiving their pre-orders ahead of schedule. A group of Android enthusiasts over at the XDA developers forums have an ongoing thread up where some folks have received the Xperia Z3 already and others are set to get it before its October 29th street date.
Just like Motorola, NVIDIA and HTC, Sony is hopping on the Android 5.0 bandwagon. In a blog post today, the company pledged to bring Lollipop to all of its “premium Z series” devices.
