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| Google playing with adding Xperia S support to AOSP |
| By Thom Holwerda on 2012-08-18 10:27:07 |
| Fascinating bit of news dug up by The Verge. AOSP's main man, Jean-Baptiste Queru, has announced that he is going to try to add support for the Sony Xperia S to AOSP - effectively turning it into a Nexus-class device. "Over time, AOSP has added files related to various hardware targets. [...] For a new challenge, I'd like to try to go one step further, and to target some hardware beyond the usual categories. I've added a git project for the Sony LT26, i.e. Xperia S. This seems like a good target: it's a powerful current GSM device, with an unlockable bootloader, from a manufacturer that has always been very friendly to AOSP." AOSP support is usually reserved for Nexus devices, so this is certainly a bold new step for Android to take. Coincidentally, I made a list yesterday of possible Android phones to replace my Galaxy SII if the need were to arise, and the Xperia S sits firmly atop that list because of its distinctive, angled design (as opposed to the rounded blandness of the SIII and One X). In other words, this is yet another reason to go with this one (since my SII is doing just fine, I'm actually holding out for a WP8 Lumia to replace my HTC HD7). |
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| Great news for me :D |
| By Lion on 2012-08-19 19:36:30 |
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As an Xperia S owner: SWEET! My previous phone was a nexus one, so I am accustomed to the vanilla android experience. I am struggling to think of any features that Sony has added that I care about, so simply having the new OSes earlier without the frills is something I would definitely welcome. If you are going to buy one; the SL just got unveiled... basically just an S with some extra clockspeed. This is probably a preferable option :) |
 - Score: 1 |
| RE: I like Sony (phones) |
| By nej_simon on 2012-08-19 19:38:45 |
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"Not for their CD rootkit or Linux PS3 removal etc, but because they don't pay Apple or MS a dime for Android and so their phones have great value for the money." Sony is in many ways as bad as Microsoft and Apple (the rootkit, securom, lobbying for SOPA/PIPA and similar laws, support for the MAFIAA, retarded lawsuits etc). Perhaps these companies simply don't attack their own kind? :) |
| - Score: 4 |
| RE[3]: Sony is the Acer of phones. |
| By zima on 2012-08-25 22:31:55 |
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> I think Manufacturers in the US are starting to figure this out. Motorola has recently committed to building less middle and low end phones and focus on building the best high end ones. That might not work out too well for them overall, long term... You might not see this, but during the last few short years Motorola retreated from most markets, worldwide; this "focus" on the few "lucrative" (& only those where Moto was somewhat strong) ones didn't really turn their fortunes - maybe what they're doing now is not really "less middle and low end phones and focus on building the best high end" (because all low and most of middle they dropped a long time ago), but "no middle, the same or less high end, more ridiculously ultra-end"... Meanwhile, apart from Samsung, the most healthy Android makers are probably Huawei and ZTE (this one even having the most explosive growth overall, I think, likely the 3rd largest mobile phone maker by now) In other news, workstations and "old" computer manufacturers didn't fare well against the onslaught of the PC & it's economies of scale, once it hit "good enough". |
| - Score: 2 |
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