If you’ve purchased a Sony Xperia Z and you’re quite happy with it, then you may just be in for another pleasant surprise. The Sony Xperia Blog has just announced that just like the Xperia S last year, AOSP is now available for the Xperia Z on Sony’s GitHub.
According to Marcus Hansson, Senior Community Manager at Sony mobile, Developer Relations, the move is to allow Sony to keep the platform open and to allow commits to AOSP to be checked. The project will also allow greater collaboration with Google and Qualcomm as well.
The Sony Mobile Blog has the entire announcement :
You might remember the Android Open Source Project for Xperia S our Developer World colleagues worked on last year – because of the interest and participation in that initiative, we’re now running a similar AOSP for Xperia Z.
It’s part of our ongoing commitment to support and collaborate with the Android community – the Sony software code will be open for external developers to work with and contribute to, and it’ll be overseen by the same team that was behind the Xperia S AOSP.
It’s worth noting that the software isn’t intended for everyday use, and it doesn’t include apps and services as part of standard phone software – everything you need to get started can be found on Sony’s GitHub and don’t forget to check out Developer World for all the info.
We’re excited to kick this off and look forward to working with as many developers as possible!
The phone has no apps installed and is not intended to be a daily driver. Only the basic functions that are included in AOSP are in the build right now, so there is no GMail, Calendar, Google+, Currents etc included, however the camera works as do phone functions and data. If you’re keen on contributing to the project you can check out the code which is available on the Sony GitHub but check out the demo video below and see what you think.
I will seriously consider Sony next time I upgrade my phone, they are the only manufacturer that I am aware of that is releasing products even close to the Nexus line.
you should go Moto, your pic there looks like their logo.
Guess you’ve never heard of Motorola.
The Razor MAXX HD looked interesting from a battery perspective, but as far as killer features go, a water proof phone is pretty damn good.
I’d be inclined to just wait it out. It’s too late in the year to be considering Xperia Z. Just my 2 cents.
Cool bananas.