Sony Mobile has confirmed that the Xperia Lounge app will be decommissioned by the end of August 2019. This makes it another in a long line of Sony’s mobile apps that the company will be looking to close. Xperia Lounge was Sony’s way of rewarding its users by offering competitions, news and exclusive Xperia Themes and wallpapers back in its heyday.
Sony originally had Gold and Silver members of the app, depending on whether you bought the latest flagship or mid-ranger, but it reined back on this tiering last October. Will you be sad to see Xperia Lounge go? Let us know in the comments below. [read more…]
Sony Mobile has recently been rolling out a number of firmware updates to its smartphone portfolio, adding August 2019 Android security patches in the process. Sony has released new firmware to a number of handsets including the latest Xperia 1 flagship (55.0.A.6.16), and Xperia 10 mid-rangers (53.0.A.8.71).
Other updates with August patches include the Xperia XZ2 family (XZ2, XZ2 Compact, XZ2 Premium) and XZ3 through build number 52.0.A.8.131. The Xperia L2 also saw an update with firmware number 49.0.A.6.90. [read more…]
A number of Sony Xperia XZ1, XZ1 Compact and XZ Premium owners have been wondering recently if their phones would receive any further updates. The last update arrived nearly two months ago in mid-June with build number 47.2.A.10.80. Well, Sony is indeed rolling out a new firmware update, moving the build number to version 47.2.A.10.107.
This latest update adds the 1 July 2019 Android security patch, it’s not clear why Sony did not just add the August 2019 patches given the time it has been released, but we imagine Sony doesn’t have too many more updates planned for these devices. If you’ve updated, please let us know your impressions below. [read more…]
by XB on 1st August 2019
in News
Sony recently reported its results for the quarter ending 30 June 2019. For those hoping that the launch of the Xperia 1 would help lift sales, then you’d be disappointed to here that volumes fell by 55 percent year-on-year to just 0.9 million phones – Sony managed 2.0 million phones the year before. Sony’s struggles are still very much real, although the launch of the Xperia 1 only happened at the end of May, so we may see a bounce in the subsequent quarter.
Sony Mobile reported quarterly revenues of 101 billion yen, a 23 percent fall from last year. However, a reduction in operating costs meant that the business actually reported an operating profit of 1 billion yen, versus a loss of 11 billion yen. [read more…]
Sony Mobile is looking to shutter two more apps according to notices that have appeared. Both the ‘What’s New’ app and the ‘Audio Recorder’ apps will be retired on 30 September 2019. The ‘What’s New’ app was Sony’s curated selection of apps that it was looking to promote. Most users always looked for a way to disable the app, so we don’t imagine many will miss it.
This is not likely to be the case for the ‘Audio Recorder’ app, which provided a clean, minimalist UI to record audio and it’s a shame that Sony is removing all subscription data by the end of September. It’s very likely that the app will continue afterwards, but Sony says the app “may not function as intended”. Will you miss these apps? Let us know in the comments below. [read more…]
Sony Mobile is rolling out a new firmware update for the Xperia 1 flagship, which moves the build number from 55.0.A.2.278 to version 55.0.A.2.314. The update adds the July 2019 Android security patches. It is currently live on the dual SIM variant of the Xperia 1 (J9110), but should shortly arrive on the single SIM versions too (J8110, J8170).
We await to see if this new update brings some promised fixes to the camera, including the addition of native 21:9 photos. If you have updated please let us know your impressions in the comments below. [read more…]
Sony Mobile is rolling out a new firmware update for the Xperia XZ2, XZ2 Compact, XZ2 Premium and Xperia XZ3 which adds the July 2019 Android security patches. The new firmware moves the build number from 52.0.A.8.83 to version 52.0.A.8.107. No other changes have been noticed, but if you have updated, please let us know your impressions below. [read more…]
Sony may be about to jump onto the foldable tablet bandwagon, judging by Twitter leaker Max J. (@Samsung_News_). Max has a good track record of leaking Samsung products, and he was also the first to claim that Sony will release a hexa-cam Xperia smartphone.
Many Xperia fans may wonder why Sony would want to jump so early into the foldable tablet market, when both Samsung and Huawei are obviously having troubles getting their respective Galaxy Fold and Mate X tablets to the market. Even more so considering that Sony continues to struggle making a dent with its smartphones. [read more…]
Somewhat unexpectedly, a new Sony Xperia smartphone model has just popped up on XperiFirm – a third-party repository to download Xperia firmware. XperiFirm does not host any files themselves, but replicates what they are seeing on Sony’s servers. This normally only happens once the phone is due to launch within weeks.
Therefore, the fact that this new model – the Sony J8010, codenamed ‘Sphinx’ – has appeared suggests Sony has a new phone to be announced very soon, perhaps even before the IFA 2019 tradeshow, which takes place in early September. Are you excited? What would you like to see in this new model? Let us know in the comments below. [read more…]
US Xperia fans are able to rejoice. Often they get the raw end of the stick when it comes to any pre-order offers for the latest Sony Xperia devices. Typically there’s never any offers, however in a turn for the books, Sony is throwing in a pair of Sony WH-1000XM3 wireless noise-cancelling over-the-ear headphones if you pre-order the Xperia 1.
The Xperia 1 is available at various retailers (see the list in the below tweet) and is available for $949. To get the free headphones you will need to pre-order at the suggested retailers prior to 12 July 2019, when the phone will officially launch in the USA. If you’re in the US, do you plan to take up this offer? Let us know in the comments below. [read more…]
Sony Mobile recently announced the Xperia Ace (SO-02L) for the Japanese market. This is Sony’s smallest handset released in 2019, with a 5-inch FHD+ display, a water resistant body, Snapdragon 630 chipset, 4GB RAM and 64GB storage.
While we only had the initial renders to view on release, we now get to see the first in-the-wild pictures, and from what we’ve seen, we’d love to see an international release. [read more…]
