Sony Mobile has today officially confirmed the Xperia smartphones to receive Android 10. First up are the latest flagships, the Xperia 1 and Xperia 5, which will receive Android 10 from December 2019.
Other Sony Xperia models to get Android 10 include the Xperia XZ2 and XZ3 series, as well as the Xperia 10 and 10 Plus. All of these models are expected to get Android 10 from “early 2020 onwards” according to Sony. [read more…]
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Sony Mobile has updated a few handsets in recent weeks. First off, the current flagship, the Xperia 1, has seen its firmware update move to build number 55.0.A.10.26. This update brings the October 2019 Android security patches, although it’s surprising why we haven’t seen an update with the November patches – maybe Sony is contemplating Android 10, although it is keeping quiet about an official release date for now.
In addition, Sony has pushed out a new update for Xperia XZ2 and XZ3 devices in the form of build number 52.0.A.11.32. This new firmware adds November 2019 security patches, so these devices are ahead of Sony’s latest flagship right now in terms of security patches. We’ll being you any firm news on the Android 10 roadmap as soon it’s here. [read more…]
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We have often written about the number of services that Sony has been dropping over the last 18 months or so. Well we have more news on that front today across multiple fronts:
1) Sony has confirmed that the official Sony Email app will not be supported from the Xperia 5 and future devices. The Sony Email app will not be available on the Google Play Store for these devices unfortunately. It’s a shame to see the app dropped, but it’s hardly a surprise given Sony’s stance towards other first-party apps.
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Sony reported its latest three-month results for the quarter ended 30 September 2019, and it remains a sober read for the performance of its mobile business. The launch of the Xperia 1 appears to have made no difference to shipments, as Sony shipped just 600,000 units – its lowest number of shipments ever, down by over 60 per cent year-on-year.
Sony hasn’t given any colour on the decline, but losing scale and dropping a number of regions is likely leading to a spiralling fall in unit sales. As a result, Sony has once again lowered its full year forecast – now expecting full year shipments of just 3.5 million units (from 4.0 million previously). This means it needs to sell 2 million units in the second half of the year, which isn’t guaranteed given current run rates. [read more…]
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Apologies for the lack of updates recently. While we’ve been away, there have been a number of Sony Xperia smartphones have received new firmware updates. This includes the first update for Sony’s latest phone, the Xperia 5, which received October 2019 Android security patches with firmware build 55.0.A.11.25.
Sony has also been busy with the Xperia XZ2/XZ3 range which has received numerous updates over the last couple of months, the latest being build version 52.0.A.11.3 which adds the October 2019 security patches. [read more…]
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Sony Japan has unexpectedly announced the Xperia 8, a new mid-ranger with similar design cues to that seen in the Xperia 10. This is one of Sony’s first mid-rangers that has IP65/68 dust and waterproof protection. It also has a rear dual camera with a 12MP F1.8 and a 8MP F 2.4 lens combination. The front-facing camera is 8MP.
The Xperia 8 has a 6.0-inch FHD+ (2520 × 1080) 21:9 display and comes with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 chipset with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. Other features include a 2760mah battery capacity, NFC, headphone jack and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor. [read more…]
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Sony Mobile is rolling a new firmware update for the Xperia 1 that moves the build number from 55.0.A.6.16 to version 55.0.A.6.56. The update adds the 1 September 2019 Android security patches, but it also adds a number of stability fixes too.
This includes camera improvements, with a more optimised camera interface and improved picture quality and zoom framing. Other changes relate to the stability of Bluetooth when connecting to headsets, as well as power management enhancements. If you recently updated, please let us know what Xperia 1 improvements you have noted in the comments below. [read more…]
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Sony has announced its latest flagship smartphone in the form of the Xperia 5 (J8210, J8270, J9210). As the name suggests, this sits in the middle of its 2019 flagship Xperia 1, and the mid-range Xperia 10 devices. The Sony Xperia 5 is smaller than the Xperia 1, with a 6.1-inch 21:9 CinemaWide OLED HDR display with Full HD+ (1080 x 2520) resolution, compared to the Xperia 1 which has a 6.5-inch 21:9 OLED 4K HDR display.
Sony has been careful not to use the ‘Compact’ moniker with the Xperia 5, after all when you compare it to the 4.6-inch displays of most of Sony’s older Compact models (or even the 5-inch display of the Xperia XZ2 Compact), it’s hard to justify calling a model with 6.1-inch display as ‘Compact’. However, that hasn’t stopped Sony referring to the handset as “sleek and compact” and having a “pocket friendly design” in numerous places in its press release. We’d guess that the previous ‘Compact’ form factors aren’t making a return at any time soon – this is as close as we’ll get going forward unfortunately. [read more…]
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Sony is very shortly due to host its IFA 2019 press conference, due at 1pm CEST today. We are expecting Sony to announce the Xperia 5, a smaller version of the Xperia 1 flagship. You can watch the livestream below, and let us know your impressions as the event unfolds. [read more…]
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Sony had a mishap earlier today when it accidentally live-broadcast the video test it was doing, ahead of its IFA press conference tomorrow. We revealed last week that Sony’s latest flagship would be a smaller version of the Xperia 1, and that it would not carry the ‘Xperia 2’ namesake. Sony has instead opted to call this handset the Xperia 5, judging by the leaked screencaps.
We’ve not often understood Sony Mobile’s smartphone naming conventions, and the same applies here, so we really hope Sony explain the rationale in their press conference which is scheduled for 1pm CEST tomorrow. Apparently pre-orders will begin next week, with a European launch scheduled for October 2019. The Xperia 5 will launch in four colours (black, white, blue and magneta). [read more…]
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Sony Mobile’s operations is run out of two main offices, one in Japan and the other in Sweden. The Japanese entity is called ‘Sony Mobile Communications Inc’, while the office in Sweden is called ‘Sony Mobile Communications AB’.
Local Swedish media is reporting that the Lund office is cutting a further 60 jobs, which is on top of the 200 jobs that was announced at the end of last year. Those at risk include both engineers and support staff. This is part of the continuing savings programme where Sony Mobile is looking to halve costs by the end of March next year. [read more…]
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