AT&T announces Sony Xperia TL, landing November 2

While many eyes are on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 these days, Sony's slipping out the Sony Xperia TL for $99.99 on a two-year contract with AT&T starting November 2. Yep, this is the "James Bond phone." If you missed our hands-on at AT&T's big unveiling event earlier this month, here's what you can expect. 

4.6-inch "HD Reality Display" at 720 x 1080 resolution with the Mobile Bravia engine13-megapixel rear cameraPlayStation certifiedNFC1.5GHz dual-core processorLaunching with Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich, with an upgrade to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean to come.

Though it's not showing up in AT&T's online store just yet, you'll eventually be able to find information on snagging one at www.att.com/xperiatl. What do you guys think, does that camera impress you? Anyone looking forward to the new Bond flick?

Source: AT&T

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Sony Xperia Go arriving in Canada this November

The mid-range waterproof Sony Xperia Go will be coming to Canada by way of Rogers-owned Fido this November.  Sony also announced that a snazzy exclusive yellow model available if you're picking one up unlocked from Sony stores, while Fido will have black and white versions available.  

The Xperia Go was originally announced running Gingerbread, but an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich was rolled out a few weeks ago. Who knows if it'll be lucky enough to get Jelly Bean, but it seems like the real selling point for the Xperia Go is its ruggedness. We've seen this thing take a fair bit of punishment, and if it can keep the pricetag relatively low, there may be a lot of value there. Unfortunately, Sony stayed mum on how much it would cost either on Fido or unlocked, but the UK launch over the summer should provide a good idea of what to expect. 

Specs and additional details are in the press release below. Any Fido customers considering picking this one up? 

Smart, sleek and durable smartphone made to resist life’s challenges without compromising on design or functionalityReality Display for razor-sharp clarity and fast capture camera to go from sleep to snap in just over a second

October 24, 2012, Toronto, ON – Sony Mobile Communications today announced the Xperia™ go, the latest Android smartphone for consumers who desire premium specifications and beautiful design with extra durability and water resistance. As Sony’s most durable, water-resistant smartphone, the Xperia™ go is built to handle life’s unexpected moments. It has a scratch resistant mineral glass display and meets the IP67 ratings for protection against dust and water immersion between 15cm and 1m for up to 30 minutes. The Xperia™ go will be available in November through Fido and exclusively at Sony Stores in a limited edition yellow.

Industry research demonstrates that consumers consider durability and water resistance as important features when purchasing a smartphone. In a 2012 poll on Sony Mobile’s Facebook community, more than a third of global participants identified durability as the most important feature when choosing a smartphone. Not only can it go from sleep to snap in just over a second, the Xperia™ go is also scratch- and water-resistant, making it an ideal phone for users who want a phone they can rely on without the worry of easily damaging it. Wet screen control lets you operate the device even when standing in the rain, lounging by the pool or on the beach.

“The Xperia™ go is the ideal smartphone for the everyday user looking for a device that can keep up with their lifestyle regardless of whether it rains or shines,” said Peter Farmer, VP Marketing for Sony Mobile Communications. “This phone has the highest level of dust and water resistance in its category and we feel many consumers will appreciate its durability and uncompromised performance.1”

This powerful device conceals its rugged nature in a slim and attractive design, and, at only 9.8mm thick, users can enjoy its lightweight feel and easily transport it in a pocket or bag among keys, change and other items with reduced susceptibility to marks or scratches. The Xperia™ go’s sleek and stylish design means durable no longer has to look bulky and ruggedized.

The Xperia™ go has a 3.5-inch display that provides a visually brilliant viewing experience with razor-sharp clarity and brightness. The 5-megapixel fast capture camera, quick launch feature, and 720p HD video recording capabilities help to catch life’s unexpected moments in crystal clear quality.

Providing premium entertainment, the Xperia™ go will come preloaded with Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited apps from Sony Entertainment Network. Consumers can access Hollywood blockbusters, TV series and millions of music tracks. With so much entertainment to be enjoyed, this device comes with up to 8GB internal memory and the option to add up to 32GB external (microSD™) memory. As an added benefit, simply sign-up or access Box** from your Xperia™ go to grab 50GB of file storage from the cloud – free, for life!

Key Features for Xperia™ go:

3.5” Reality display powered Mobile BRAVIA® Engine gives razor-sharp clarity5MP fast capture camera goes from sleep to snap in just over a secondScratch resistant mineral glass display with wet screen controlHighest level of dust and water resistance in a smartphone (IP67 rating)1, 21 GHz dual core processor gives consumers super-fast performanceLaunching on Google Android 4.0 Ice Cream SandwichAvailable in black and white through FidoAvailable unlocked in a limited edition yellow exclusively at Sony Stores across Canada

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Ice Cream Sandwich update coming to some Xperia Ion users on AT&T

Showing up quickly after the international Xperia Ion started to receive an Ice Cream Sandwich update, the AT&T model of the same phone has started to show up in SuS -- Sony's PC companion software -- for some users over in the XDA forums. The AT&T model, LT28AT, is being pushed up to software build 6.1.c.1.105 which brings all of the features and visual cues associated with ICS. We won't know for sure what other fixes or changes are included in this update until AT&T spills the beans officially.

We'll see if the update starts to roll out to more users in the next couple days, and hopefully it'll start to come out over OTA rather than relying on Sony's PC software. Check your own device and let us know in the comments if you're seeing the update.

Source: XDA Forums; Thanks Terry!

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Sony Xperia Tablet S gets new update to fix Wifi woes

If you've recently picked up Sony's Tegra 3-powered Xperia Tablet S, you'll want to check for software updates this morning, as reports indicate that the device has just had software release 5 pushed to it over-the-air. The software is still based on Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich, but it does include fixes for a potentially troublesome issue with Wifi connectivity. Release 5 claims to improve Wifi performance overall, hopefully eliminating connectivity problems reported by some Xperia Tablet S owners.

If you're rocking a Sony Xperia Tablet S, head on over to Settings > About tablet > Software updates to get yourself updated.

Source: XperiaBlog

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Sony Xperia T drops by the FCC with AT&T LTE support, we feign surprise

You already knew the Sony Xperia T was headed to AT&T, right? The phone's cropped up a couple of times before sporting AT&Ts "globe" branding, and today brings further evidence, as the device has appeared at the FCC with support for AT&T-friendly LTE bands. The international Xperia T, due to launch next week, doesn't feature LTE support at all, and it looks like the AT&T version has undergone some minor changes in order to enable 4G connectivity. As we pointed out in earlier leaked renders of the AT&T Xperia T, the back is split up into segments, most likely to help out with antenna performance.

There's no word on exactly when the Xperia T will be arriving on AT&T, but given the half-year wait Sony fans endured for the Xperia Ion, we're not holding our breath.

Source: FCC, via: PhoneArena

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New Sony Xperia phones get tentative eurozone pricing

The first European pricing information for Sony's new Xperia T, Xperia V and Xperia J smartphones has come to light, as several German retailers have put the devices up for pre-order. According to online stores Idealo and notebooksbilliger, the high-end Xperia T is listed with a €549 price tag, while the LTE-enabled Xperia V will set you back €580. Meanwhile, the budget-focused Xperia J will apparently sell for €265. These prices roughly equate to £450 for the T and £210 for the J for British consumers (with no LTE networks in the UK, it's unlikely we'll get the Xperia V at all). These are also SIM-free prices, so as ever, if you pick one of these up with a contract, you can expect to pay considerably less.

We've already seen one UK retailer report SIM-free pricing for the Xperia J, and with a SIM-free pre-order price of £190, Clove's pricing closely matches what we're seeing from these German retailers.

Pre-order prices are always subject to change, but with so many retailers reporting the same RRP, it's likely the final pricing won't stray too far from that mark. Sony's new Xperia phones are expected to appear from tomorrow, Sept. 5, starting at UK retailer the Carphone Warehouse.

Source: XperiaBlog

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Sony Xperia U ICS update expected in 'next few weeks'

Sony might be preparing to launch a whole new range of smartphones, but it hasn't forgotten about its early 2012 line-up, some of which remains on the rapidly aging Android 2.3 Gingerbread. One such device is the company's leading budget offering, Xperia U, which we reviewed earlier in the year, and which has long been promised an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich. Now it appears Xperia U owners won't have too long left to wait for their Android 4.0 update, as Sony has revealed that the new software will be available in a few weeks time. Here's what the company posted in a post-IFA Q&A on its official blog --

"The ICS rollout for Xperia U will kick-off within the next few weeks and rollout gradually – more information to follow soon!"

That's far from specific, but at least it's a rough timeframe to work with. Now, how about some Jelly Bean updates?

Source: Sony Mobile, via: XperiaBlog

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Google launches 'experiment' to bring AOSP vanilla Android to Sony Xperia S

More interesting news for open-source geeks this morning, as it's emerged Android Open-Source Project head Jean-Baptiste Queru has kicked off an “experiment” to bring AOSP support to Sony’s Xperia S. Previously, the only official AOSP target devices have been Nexus phones and certain “Google Experience” products like the Motorola Xoom. So the fact that work is underway to bring this kind of support to the Xperia S, which ships with a skinned UI and a bunch of proprietary Sony tech, is a fairly big deal, even if it is just an experiment for the time being.

In selecting the Xperia S, JBQ notes that it’s a powerful GSM device with an unlockable bootloader, and said that Sony had been “very friendly” towards AOSP. On that last point, Sony has long contributed code back to AOSP, and it’s even helped out amateur devs like the FreeXperia team working on CyanogenMod support for Xperia phones, giving them AOSP-friendly proprietary code for certain devices. The manufacturer has also released alpha and beta builds of some major software updates ahead of time, and actively sought feedback from advanced users. So despite its comparatively small market share, Sony seems a good for for this kind of project.

In his message to the Android Building mailing list, Queru encourages community developers to get involved with the project, but to do so while staying on the right side of the rules when it comes to handling proprietary binaries. As far as we’re aware, AOSP-friendly propertiary code will have to be released by Sony in order for this experiment to progress towards fully-functional builds, just as was the case with FreeXperia and CM. The camera firmware, for instance, is packed with proprietary Sony tech, so an entirely new binary might have to be created for this project.

Aside from the technical challenges ahead -- and there are more than a few -- it’s certainly cool to see the AOSP brass playing around with open-source Android on one of the more dev-friendly Android devices. We're a long, long way off having easily-flashable Google-approved AOSP available for certain devices alongside the manufacturer’s own ROM -- in fact, we’ll go on record and say that probably won’t ever happen. However, if this little experiment is a success, it could open the door to other non-Nexus phones being initiated into AOSP, and that can only be a good thing. We can't help but wonder what Google's long play might be in this respect.

We’ve reached out to Sony Mobile for comment on this experimental project, and we’ll keep you posted with any information they have to share.

Source: Android Building Group, via: The Verge

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Sony Xperia SL gets official - 1.7GHz Snapdragon S3, coming in four colours

After numerous leaks, Sony's Xperia SL (LT26ii) -- a refreshed version of the Xperia S -- is now listed as "coming soon" on the company's website. The site listing confirms earlier rumors that the phone's Snapdragon S3 CPU has been clocked to 1.7GHz (up from 1.5GHz), and that two new colors, grey and pink, will be available in addition to the Xperia S's black and white. On the software side, the Xperia SL comes with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box, so you won't need to worry about applying any updates when you first start the phone up.

We imagine the Xperia SL will be joined by a wide range of other Sony Xperia phones at the company's IFA press conference on Aug. 29. Naturally, we'll be live in Berlin to bring you full coverage.

Source: Sony, via: Engadget

"AC's resident Brit, cooking up steaming bowls of European Android coverage every day."

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