Awooga for the Yuga!

There has been a lot of talk over the past month of so about the next Sony Flagship, codenamed Yuga (C660X). Today, Mobile-Review, who have previously been accurate in their early reviews, have posted about the up and coming device which is set to be a huge entry into the smart phone market.

Whilst Mobile Review have a tendancy to be on the spot, it's important to consider that until a full announcement has been made, these should all be regarded purely as speculation for now. The article is very in depth and can be found here however for the sake of keeping things short, I want to focus on some of the things that stood out to me.

Xperia T: The Best Bits

A few weeks ago I managed to get hold of an Xperia T following on from its use in the fantastic Xperia Face Off promo which ran through November over at the Sony Mobile GB Facebook page.

With all considerations of its use, prior to finding its way into my pocket, as you can imagine it is a little beaten up here and there, but I've managed to gleam a lot from it in terms of Sony's direction. So from what I've discovered over the past 5 weeks, here are my top 5 features, in no particular order, of the Sony Xperia T.

Count Them.... Xperia 2012, and What Happens Next [poll]

So as the year begins to draw to a close, Sony Asia announced a brand new Xperia phone exclusive to the China market whilst Sony as a whole are already talking about their next flagship hot off the heels of the Xperia T release.

Now, I may have missed a few out here, but off the top of my memory, here are the devices that I can recall having been released this year:

Guest Blog: Life with One Touch - An Introduction to NFC

You may be aware of my position within the Sony Mobile Test Lab, a group of regular consumers invited by Sony to participate in product trials and provide honest feedback.

I recently got talking to a fellow test-labber, Simon Tompkins, about getting him in as a guest blogger. I asked Simon if he would provide his experiences of Sony's implementation of NFC, and here is the end result. A fantastic account of one mans experiences, and I hope you'll agree.

Google Calendar Spam

If, like me, you've recently found yourself plagued with 'advertisements' and what could categorically be described as 'spam' across your Google Calendar, you may be wondering where these 'events' have come from? After all, the Google Calendar adds to Google's portfolio of products that make android an all round platform of convenience.

You may be wondering if Google have 'sold out' or if your Google account has been hacked. Fear not, the simple truth is - well, just that - simple.

10 Questions: Round 2

Back in august I ran a blog post collecting some recent questions asked by the fans of the Sony Mobile facebook page, providing some responses in an FAQ form. With the recent release of the Xperia T, the up and coming release of the Xperia J, a handful of regional variations and some kick ass accessories, I wanted to revisit the segment and answer some more recent questions.

So without further ado, let round 2 commence!

Playstation Mobile goes Live Today

Due to less fortunate events I was left without my trusted Xperia S earlier this year and am awaiting a replacement device (fingers crossed for the Xperia T!) and so have been relying on my Xperia arc S recently, however my eyes are still firmly placed on the goings on surrounding the Sony Mobile world.

Exploit Wiping Samsung Galaxy Phones

Just a quicky this time around. In an earlier post, I ran a comparison for the best browser for ICS in which Chrome came out on top. In light of an article published today on UK newspaper The Telegraph's website, I would like to re-affirm Chrome as my browser of choice now for the most important reason of all.

The article details how a small code consisting of just 11 characters can be embedded onto any website, prompting an unsuspecting Samsung Galaxy SIII to be wiped. This includes restoring the phone to factory settings whilst also deleting contacts, photographs, music, apps and "other vulnerable data". It is not clear whether this only effects local resources or if cloud storage (such as google contact sync) is affected, however at this point in time, MB assumes it is only the former.

Whilst this concern is isolated to Samsung phones, it would be worying to hear an exploit like this circulating the web targetting Xperia phones.

The recommended solution to this problem is to use Google's Chrome browser rather than the stock browser, as Chrome will prevent the scripts from running. As the scripts require no user intervention and performs the wipe in a matter of three seconds, a block such as this is the only way to to be certain not to come across this through a website without deciding to stop browsing the web completely.

The internet is not the the only way to exploit this as text messages, QR Codes and NFC tags can also make use of this script. This is of great concern, however at this point we would recommend that whilst Xperia phones are not affected, using Chrome may prevent you from finding out when such a script does begin to affect Xperia devices. Also if you are using a Samsung device, then we extend this advice to you, aswell.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/samsung/9565395/Hidden-web-code-means-hackers-can-wipe-Samsung-Galaxy-S3.html

The police want my money!!

ok, this blog post isn't necessarily anything to do with mobile phones or android, or sony, or anything that I normally blog about, however is still within the technical assistance I aim to deliver through experiences I've come across. Hopefully you'll never need this blog post, but it's here incase you do.

10 Questions from the Sony Mobile GB Facebook Group

So this is the first time I've done this, and depending on how successful it is I may look into doing this on a somewhat regular basis.

The idea is that many many people are using social networking to request more information or support on their products, much of which gets ansered, some of which that doesn't, but most importantly, a lot of these questions are shared amongst multiple members of the community. In an effort to add a further contribution to the Xperia community, I've found 10 questions on facebook and provided my own responses.

How many Xperias does it take to get online?

What an end to a very long week. Probably made so by the fact the weekend just passed was non-stop during a family BBQ to celebrate my birthday. I haven't rested in nearly two weeks and I'll be lucky to get any rest this weekend coming up.

However, the point of this blog post isn't to show you my family photos. It's to tell you about how Xperia saved the day in a modern world where internet dependency is etched within our nature.

Happy Birthday MB!

It occurred to me today this blog is now over a year old, and I never threw a party! So, over the past year I have aimed to provide blog posts favouring quality over quantity. Posts have been a bit of a mix, be it tutorials, troubleshooting, even general debate, however now I want to know what you wish to see from Making.Believe in the future.

The Browser Challenge

It should now be widely spread news that Sony have released Ice Cream Sandwhich for a number of platforms including the Xperia S. Whilst at this stage many of you will be waiting to receive the update, I can advise that the transition from Ginberbread to Ice Cream Sandwhich is a major one with many things you'll want to consider. If I get the chance, I'll write up a full transitioning guide later on in the week, however for now I wanted to focus on the available internet browsers.

MTP Fix No Longer Working - But an Alternative Solution

Earlier on this week I posted about a problem I have been experiencing with the MTP USB Device driver, for which I also included a fix. Whilst this has worked a few times, regrettably I stumbled across the issue again yesterday, which I was unable to fix.

Now, at this point, I spent many many hours trying to resolve this and have hit another dead end. I don't have many more hours to waste as I'm extremely busy with university and kinda expect a phone to be simple to use without needing to go through all of this.

Xperia S MTP USB Device Driver Issue [FIX]

If you're only here for the fix, scroll down :-)

I recently managed to get hold of a brand spanking new Sony Xperia S. I have got to say, so far I'm totally blown away by it. Whilst it does have it's quirks, overall it's a damn good phone - and VERY fast! This is all for another day however.

Do you know about Sony's favourite apps?

 

As ever the app explorer I like to think I am, I do enjoy the occasional wonder around the android market to see what clever new goodies are about. One place I like to look on ocassion is Sony Ericsson's (soon to be Sony) own corner of the android market.

A Beginner's Guide to Rooting, Part 1: Turboboost Your Android Smartphone

NOTE: Whilst this blog post contains steps on how to achieve things that are possible on most android phones, this guide is based on the Xperia 2011 range, specifically the Xperia arc S. The guides should also be applicable to the other Xperia 2011 range devices, however may not be applicable to other devices.

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