Sony finally jumped on Android.

[Eug]

The reality is that Sony has been hurt by not streamlining its operations. They have multiple divisions that dont even bother to work together and at times even work against each other. With the purchase of Ericsson and the recent decision to move the R&D division to Japan i think next year will be different for Sony

One thing I remember about my Sony phones (pre-iPhone) was that the hardware was great, but their software and online support was pretty much non-existent.

 

[lothar]

Sony's problem is worse than LG's.
Unlike LG, Sony's problem is BOTH hardware and software.

They release their high-end top of the line Android phone 6-9 months after everyone else has released theirs.
Why wait 6-9 months to get the same exact hardware when you could grab a Samsung, HTC, or LG phone with the same specs? Them releasing that XPeria phone in March that everyone else had 6-9 months earlier made me chuckle. A month later Galaxy S III and HTC OneX was released which both shattered performance records everywhere, and Sony's top of the line is again no here to be found.

They also have almost as bad a record as LG in providing Android updates for their phones.
I won't get a Sony unless it's a Nexus device.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I think it just has to do with the fact that Sony doesn't have that great of a relationship with the US carriers. During the dumbphone era, SE dumbphones were excellent and highly regarded. They had some of the best cameras, and their Walkman line was really the beginning of MP3 phones. All this was taking place while the US was stuck on RaZrs and unable to copy MP3s over, and the only way you could have custom ringtones was to pay up the wazoo... lol

I owned them all. k750i, k800i, k850i. They were all amazing and even when the first iphone came out my reaction was "Whatt no 3G? PoS" LoL.

 

[mammador]

Dropping out of a critical sector? Dropping out after buying out Ericsson? I doubt it. SONY saves their best for Europe and Japan. And they are true gems. I am looking forward to the international version of the GX, which should come out when Skyfall comes out.

What is their market share? phone quality is irrelevant if market shares are low.

 

[Dari]

Sony's problem is worse than LG's.
Unlike LG, Sony's problem is BOTH hardware and software.

They release their high-end top of the line Android phone 6-9 months after everyone else has released theirs.
Why wait 6-9 months to get the same exact hardware when you could grab a Samsung, HTC, or LG phone with the same specs? Them releasing that XPeria phone in March that everyone else had 6-9 months earlier made me chuckle. A month later Galaxy S III and HTC OneX was released which both shattered performance records everywhere, and Sony's top of the line is again no here to be found.

They also have almost as bad a record as LG in providing Android updates for their phones.
I won't get a Sony unless it's a Nexus device.

Their true flagship was delayed from July to August. But this was only in Japan. The Xperia T is expected soon. Not sure why they don't care about America. I wish they would...

What is their market share? phone quality is irrelevant if market shares are low.

I have no idea but, to SONY, this sector is critical so their current marketshare means nothing. As is obvious, they are trying to build the Android line after buying out Ericsson. For them, this battle is just beginning. But they need to move faster because the world won't wait...

 

[lothar]

Sony's problem is worse than LG's.
Unlike LG, Sony's problem is BOTH hardware and software.

They release their high-end top of the line Android phone 6-9 months after everyone else has released theirs.
Why wait 6-9 months to get the same exact hardware when you could grab a Samsung, HTC, or LG phone with the same specs? Them releasing that XPeria phone in March that everyone else had 6-9 months earlier made me chuckle. A month later Galaxy S III and HTC OneX was released which both shattered performance records everywhere, and Sony's top of the line is again no here to be found.

They also have almost as bad a record as LG in providing Android updates for their phones.
I won't get a Sony unless it's a Nexus device.

The problem with Sony continues...

The cards are on the table - Sony just announced the update plan of its Xperia line. Here's the list of models that will get updated to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and the ones that will remain stuck with 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.also
Sony's latest high-end Xperia phones - the Xperia T, TX and V - will be updated to 4.1 Jelly Bean in mid-Q1 next year.
Next up are the global versions of Xperia S, Xperia acro S, Xperia ion, Xperia P, Xperia go and Xperia J. The release date for the update will be announced later. It's still unclear what will happen to the localized versions.
And now, the ones left behind - the whole 2011 Xperia lineup (which got updated to ICS) will not be getting Jelly Bean because Sony "would not be able to guarantee owners of these smartphones the user experience you expect and we demand".
It's a bit disappointing that the Xperia J, which has a cut-down version of the Qualcomm chipset that powers the 2011 Xperias, is getting JB but the older models are not.

http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_announces_which_xperia_phones_will_get_jelly_bean-news-4970.php
Mid Q1 2013 for a JellyBean update for their Android 2012 flagship devices? Not sure if serious...
And some people here still claim Samsung is one of the slowest(or crappiest) with Android updates on their flagship devices.

Samsung already updated their Galaxy S3 to JellyBean last month, and HTC updated their One X flagship models to JellyBean this month.

Even though the Sony schedule says "Mid Q1 2013", I expect the update to be delayed, and some phones on that list that are originally scheduled to receive such an update will be dropped.
That's normal for Sony, LG, and Motorola of course.

The global versions of the Xperia S, Xperia acro S, Xperia ion, Xperia P, Xperia go and Xperia J will be announced later? read: Probably Q2 or Q3 2013.

Xperia J, which has one of the crappiest Qualcomm chipset SoC known to man of all the Xperia lines released in 2011 will get JellyBean, but their 2011 flagship lines will not?

All Sony's Xperia lines from 2011 either have Qualcomm MSM8255(mid-range) and MSM8260(high-end) Snapdragon which are paired with Adreno 205(mid-range) and Adreno 225(high-range) GPU. They are in the SnapDragon S2(mid-range) and S3(high-range) family and won't see any update to JellyBean.

The Xperia J, which uses an SoC that is 3+ years old and has first generation Qualcomm MSM7227A Snapdragon S1, Adreno 200 GPU will see a JellyBean update?
This will be akin to Samsung providing KLP for the Galaxy S3 Mini, but not their flagship Galaxy S3 and S2 phones. Or HTC providing KLP to the Desire X and not their One X or Sensation flagship devices.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

they should just give it up, they cant make phones anyone wants. they had a chance to make a verizon phone and what did they do? they put a stupid game controller on it. that had to have been the stupidest most useless android phone ever. more recently they came out with a new att phone thats twice as thick as samsung and apple phones

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

they should just give it up, they cant make phones anyone wants. they had a chance to make a verizon phone and what did they do? they put a stupid game controller on it. that had to have been the stupidest most useless android phone ever. more recently they came out with a new att phone thats twice as thick as samsung and apple phones

Anytime someone comments on the quality of any US based phone, it almost doesn't mean anything. You need to look at the global models. The Xperia X10 was late, but the Xperia Arc an Xperia S showed they were serious. Just because none of these phones ever make it to the US doesn't mean they're stupid.

I owned them all. k750i, k800i, k850i. They were all amazing and even when the first iphone came out my reaction was "Whatt no 3G? PoS" LoL.

Funny thing is most Americans only knew about 3G because Verizon touted it. Yes CDMA 3G was deployed very early, but no one really cared about AT&T 3G or 3G in general. Most people didn't care about phones with great cameras (thanks to Motorola dumbing everyone down to VGA cams). Anyway, yeah. Sony had some great phones. K750i was what? 2005? 2MP + flash + AF? Amazing photos. K850i had Xenon? 2007? Just as the iPhone came out...

 

[Skurge]

Anytime someone comments on the quality of any US based phone, it almost doesn't mean anything. You need to look at the global models. The Xperia X10 was late, but the Xperia Arc an Xperia S showed they were serious. Just because none of these phones ever make it to the US doesn't mean they're stupid.




Funny thing is most Americans only knew about 3G because Verizon touted it. Yes CDMA 3G was deployed very early, but no one really cared about AT&T 3G or 3G in general. Most people didn't care about phones with great cameras (thanks to Motorola dumbing everyone down to VGA cams). Anyway, yeah. Sony had some great phones. K750i was what? 2005? 2MP + flash + AF? Amazing photos. K850i had Xenon? 2007? Just as the iPhone came out...

Is there any reason why modern phones don't have xenon flashes? I remember some of the highend SE, Samsung and nokia phones with massive sensors, optical zoom and xenon flashes. Feels like we've gone backwards.

 

[Oyeve]

Is there any reason why modern phones don't have xenon flashes? I remember some of the highend SE, Samsung and nokia phones with massive sensors, optical zoom and xenon flashes. Feels like we've gone backwards.

Because its a freaking phone, not a highend camera.

 

[Dari]

they should just give it up, they cant make phones anyone wants. they had a chance to make a verizon phone and what did they do? they put a stupid game controller on it. that had to have been the stupidest most useless android phone ever. more recently they came out with a new att phone thats twice as thick as samsung and apple phones

Why should they listen to you? They are currently selling more phones than Nokia and Blackberry in Europe, 3rd overall, I believe.

 

[Deeko]

Because its a freaking phone, not a highend camera.

Haha dude $5 disposable cameras don't have LED flash, do they? Its not exactly a high end feature.

Is there any reason why modern phones don't have xenon flashes? I remember some of the highend SE, Samsung and nokia phones with massive sensors, optical zoom and xenon flashes. Feels like we've gone backwards.

Battery life, utility (LED flash can also be used for flashlights), and presumably thickness. However, I personally would sacrifice some of those things for a real flash. LED flash is terrible.

 

[WelshBloke]

Why should they listen to you? They are currently selling more phones than Nokia and Blackberry in Europe, 3rd overall, I believe.

Is that smartphones or including dumbphones as well?

 

[Dari]

Is that smartphones or including dumbphones as well?

I don't know. But what different does it make? Smartphones are the future and that is SONY's focus and they are doing well in that arena compared to Nokia and Blackberry...

 

[BladeVenom]

Why should they listen to you? They are currently selling more phones than Nokia and Blackberry in Europe, 3rd overall, I believe.

Link?

TEN BIGGEST SMARTPHONE MANUFACTURERS BY UNIT SALES IN Q2 2012
Rank . Maker . . . . . . Units . . . Market Share . . . . Was in Q1 of 2012
1 . . . . Samsung . . . 50.4 M . . 32.9 % . . . . . . . . ( 30.6 %)
2 . . . . Apple . . . . . . 26.0 M . . 17.0 % . . . . . . . . ( 24.2 %)
3 . . . . Nokia . . . . . . 10.2 M . . . 6.7 % . . . . . . . . ( 8.2 %)
4 . . . . HTC . . . . . . . . 8.8 M . . . 5.8 % . . . . . . . . ( 5.4 %)
5 . . . . ZTE . . . . . . . . 8.0 M . . . 5.2 % . . . . . . . . ( 3.4 %)
6 . . . . RIM . . . . . . . . 7.8 M . . . 5.1 % . . . . . . . . ( 7.6 %)
7 . . . . Sony . . . . . . . 7.5 M . . . 4.9 % . . . . . . . . ( 5.0 %)
8 . . . . Huawei . . . . . 7.0 M . . . 4.6 % . . . . . . . . ( 4.8 %)
9 . . . . LG . . . . . . . . . 6.5 M . . . 4.2 % . . . . . . . . ( 3.8 %)
10 . . . Motorola . . . . . 6.0 M . . . 3.9 % . . . . . . . . ( 3.5 %)
Others . . . . . . . . . . . 10.8 M . . . 7.3 % . . . . . . . . ( 3.3 %)
TOTAL . . . . . . . . . 153.0 M

http://communities-dominate.blogs.c...sung-and-android-solidifying-their-leads.html

 

[Dari]

Link?

TEN BIGGEST SMARTPHONE MANUFACTURERS BY UNIT SALES IN Q2 2012
Rank . Maker . . . . . . Units . . . Market Share . . . . Was in Q1 of 2012
1 . . . . Samsung . . . 50.4 M . . 32.9 % . . . . . . . . ( 30.6 %)
2 . . . . Apple . . . . . . 26.0 M . . 17.0 % . . . . . . . . ( 24.2 %)
3 . . . . Nokia . . . . . . 10.2 M . . . 6.7 % . . . . . . . . ( 8.2 %)
4 . . . . HTC . . . . . . . . 8.8 M . . . 5.8 % . . . . . . . . ( 5.4 %)
5 . . . . ZTE . . . . . . . . 8.0 M . . . 5.2 % . . . . . . . . ( 3.4 %)
6 . . . . RIM . . . . . . . . 7.8 M . . . 5.1 % . . . . . . . . ( 7.6 %)
7 . . . . Sony . . . . . . . 7.5 M . . . 4.9 % . . . . . . . . ( 5.0 %)
8 . . . . Huawei . . . . . 7.0 M . . . 4.6 % . . . . . . . . ( 4.8 %)
9 . . . . LG . . . . . . . . . 6.5 M . . . 4.2 % . . . . . . . . ( 3.8 %)
10 . . . Motorola . . . . . 6.0 M . . . 3.9 % . . . . . . . . ( 3.5 %)
Others . . . . . . . . . . . 10.8 M . . . 7.3 % . . . . . . . . ( 3.3 %)
TOTAL . . . . . . . . . 153.0 M

http://communities-dominate.blogs.c...sung-and-android-solidifying-their-leads.html

http://www.xperiablog.net/2012/10/05/sony-xperia-handsets-outselling-blackberry-and-nokia-in-europe/

 

[deputc26]

Sony's problem is worse than LG's.
Unlike LG, Sony's problem is BOTH hardware and software.

They release their high-end top of the line Android phone 6-9 months after everyone else has released theirs.
Why wait 6-9 months to get the same exact hardware when you could grab a Samsung, HTC, or LG phone with the same specs? Them releasing that XPeria phone in March that everyone else had 6-9 months earlier made me chuckle. A month later Galaxy S III and HTC OneX was released which both shattered performance records everywhere, and Sony's top of the line is again no here to be found.

They also have almost as bad a record as LG in providing Android updates for their phones.
I won't get a Sony unless it's a Nexus device.

This, also sony's hardware often has uselessly large bezels at the bottom and/or top, and their android skin sucks.