Xperia E: Sony's First 2013 Budget Phone

The past 24 hours has seen a surge of interest in Sony's Xperia offerings with the announcement of the Xperia Z at CES 2013, quite possibly Sony's most attractive offering since entering the smart phone market and most definitely the most popular Xperia announcement at first glance since Sony's buyout of Sony Ericsson. Indeed, Sony seem to have set the standard early on for what is in store for smart phone enthusiasts across 2013.

CES 2013: Sony Xperia Z

Straight off CES 2013, Sony have today announced the Xperia Z which we previously reported under its former codename the Xperia Yuga. The device is being dubbed by Sony as the most water resistant (IPX5/7) and dustproof (IP5X) phone on the market, making it a contender not only in the personal smartphone market space, but also industrially where conditions may vary, requiring durable smartphones that are less likely to break under hazardous conditions.

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!

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

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.

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.

Developer Ethics - Fair vs. Unfair

I have always fully supported that small price for an application, or "buy me a beer" button for the developers within the mobile community, for afterall, it is they who unlock an otherwise air-tight platform within technology. I have, and will always support and understand their needs to make a living out of what they do.

This is, when played fairly, a request which I accept, and find myself in deep frustration when others do not. An advertising banner; in-game purchases; lite versions; add-ons - the list goes on. But there is a limit. There comes a point where a person can loose all respect for a developer otherwise favoured amongst all when their greed comes to light.


I have for now, beyond a month, been following an extremely popular developer (or development team, as it appears) within the android market, GameInsight, otherwise known as Cooper Media Corp. Where originally they were a development team focussed on iProducts only, they have recently opened up to audiences on Facebook, but struck gold with their support on the Android platform. Almost instantly Paradise Island, their first Android title, sprung up to the top of the list for most grossing on the android market in both the US and the UK, and has so far maintained its position.

My Country, by GameInsight/Cooper Media Corp

Within the past week (or two, as it may have been) GameInsight released their second Android title, My Country. As a fan of the first title, I felt inclined to try it out, and I was not dissapointed. It is however, the developers greed that has outraged me. The product is fine. The product is great. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for he or she behind the product.


The aim of My Country is to start off with one road and a selection of buildings, and expand over a wide canvas. I'm actually on my second play through as I managed to totally screw my phone up this weekend, but that's another story. It's the ol' scenario of many in-game items being free, but with luxuary items as a cost for "country bucks", the in-game premium currency. This is very fair. If I want to play the lite cut down version, I simply ignore those that I cannot afford. If I want to treat this as a product that has had time and money put into its creation and support the developer, I buy an object or two. This is fair, too. Whether or not intentional however, the placing of buttons that use premium currency normally tends to be in areas that are easy to accidentally press with a double tap. For this, I should lay part of the blame on myself, but scour across the market page and the facebook page, you begin to see this as a common problem (amongst others such as launching the game to find your island/city has been wiped clean with no additionally earlier purchased premium currency), which the developer fails to even acknowledge, let alone take action upon (a confirmation of purchase would be nice) hinting more towards this being an intentional "mistake". But, even to me, to lay any disrespect to the developer for my own fat fingers would just be tedious. This is not fair.

But the thing which, of all other things is most unfair, is the grid system, and the developer's dirty tactics of luring its players in. The game uses a 4x4 grid - You start off with one block of land open, and the ability to expand using either in game currency of premium currency. A block of land is good for a varied amount of time - i.e. initially you won't need to expand for a day or two, then maybe a day, three days - it depends on a combination of your game style, pace, and in terms of requiring item drops, your luck. Getting the forth land block took me 2 days, however I played the game from wake till sleep - regardless of whatever else I was doing at the time (I know, kinda sad, but hey ho), so for a casual gamer it could take 6-10+ days before unlocking your 4th land block. This is when the shock hit me - I then noticed that, in order to unlock the next block of land, I could only use in-game currency. ok - so maybe I could collect those in game countrybucks you earn when levelling up - but then another moment of acknowledgement when I realised how many countrybucks were required... €170 - in real money that's just short of $20 (the game requires premium currency to be purchased in USD). Now - when I say I support the developer, buying them a beer costs about £5.

For anyone familliar with the modern mini-"build em up" format, will be familliar with the fact that expansions are critical to in-game growth. It's the same with FarmVille, and many games of the same genre.

Having seen this, I felt instantly deceived by the developers greed. Had I seen this in the market for $20, for what it is, I would have just left it. But it felt as though the developer of this game planted a bomb-shell by getting it's players addicted later on in the game, after the player has already (in many cases) already used real-world cash to purchase premium currency. Lets face it, if you're going to support the developer for a great product, it's likely going to take less than 6 days before you've made that judgement. So had I bought the developer a beer, so to speak, donating £5 - or the closest I could at $10, I would only have been paying for the trial/demo. Only once the player becomes hooked on the game does the bombshell drop.

As much as I enjoy the games which GameInsight release, I have always had an eerie impression of them - the first "mission" (as it where) is to write a 5 star review of the game on the android market (my review was 3 stars - I still passed the mission) - no wonder it comes across as being so popular! Another mission is to take a photo of your country and submit it to facebook - Paradise Island contained these shameless promotion missions too, but not to the extent of My Country.

GameInsight came into the Android Market a little on the late side considering their presence on iDevices, so it's no surprise their arrival co-insided with the launch of in-game purchases on android. I have seen proposals of new advertising methods too (going off topic a little, but still on the right side of 'the line'), most notably advertisements on the notification bar. The general opinion of this advertising proposal was extremely negative, from consumers and advertisers alike, though I doubt something like this would shame the likes of GameInsight, so watch out for these ads, coming to a notification bar near you!

In my opinion there are many lines to be crossed, and understandably not crossing any of these lines gives you little room to move, but in my opinion, little over a long period is much more better than a lot at once, and developers (and other businesses) that use deceiptful methods only last so long before their true colours shine.

So I'm interested to get your opinion on this - what are your views on in-game purchases vs. the more conventional payment methods for free vs. premium, such as demo vs. full? How do you see proposals of notification bar advertising affecting the industry?

I look forward to hearing what others have to say - but the best way I can conclude this (particularly long) blog post is to offer the advice to steer clear of GameInsight/Cooper Media Corp.

Is that a dual-c-.... oh wait.... no it's not.

"The DR" Xperia arc clone

Engadget today reported on a new device from the chinese market, cloning the XPERIA arc in cosmetics, although that's about as far as it goes in terms of what is comparible between the arc and the new chinese device. The biggest thing that stuck out to me, however, and the reason I wanted to run this article, is the dual-core perspective of the device.

The device reported by Engadget supposedly sports a dual-core ARM processor - but wait, it goes beyond that. Not only does the device supposedly contain a dual core processor (I say supposedly, as it's not true dual-core, just a half arsed attempt), but those cores are already reserved; one for the OS, and one core exclussive to the radio partition.

In the great debate of 'to dual, or not to dual', I have to admit, I openly express my opinion that dual core in mobile phone technology is not the end of the world. It's just an extension to the posessors e-peen. You can have dual core that, if not implemented correctly, is a waste of time. You can also have single core devices that are done well enough to challenge dual core devices. Personally I think that may have been the objective when Sony Ericsson built the arc, and this clone goes back on that.

With 624MHz in total (and to put this into perspective, the first Android phone released to the general public in 2008 ran on 528MHz), and 208MHz reserved for the radio, this 'dual-core' device is on no par with the actual Sony Ericsson range, but that's ok. We wouldn't expect it to be. But what this does go to show is just how having a dual core phone doesn't instantly make your phone better than one with a single core. I do however imagine many people will ignore the numbers that actually mean anything, and head straight for the buzz word that plagues this story due to it's innacuracy, 'dual-core', drooling at their screens in Envy that they do no posess one of these Chinese rarities.


Source: Engadget