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Now in the middle of its transition, Sony has been making many great changes in its mobile department. Its device line-up is starting to look more promising, as well as software and gaming plans. But all these changes have raised other concerns for the Android community. One of the most important being the idea that the Japanese manufacturer might spread its wings to other horizons.
Recently, there have been talks of the possibility of Sony making its own operating system in the future. It would be based off its very own Vita OS. And while it seems like this will not be happening anytime soon, the company is not disregarding the possibility.
But what about other current operating systems? While Sony (and Sony Ericsson) has recently been exclusively working with Android, it also has a history with other operating systems (like Symbian). And it would not come as much of a surprise if it was looking into working with Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS.
Over a year ago, Sony Ericsson stated that the company was open minded about such possibility. Sony Mobile communications has not taken such step, mainly due to Windows Phone’s poor popularity. The company’s position is still standing.
According to Stephen Sneeden, Product Marketing Manager of the Xperia line, the idea is still within the company’s eyesight. But there are no current plans due to the fact that “no one really cares about Windows Phone.”
As it goes with such large manufacturers, they surely do not want to burn any bridges. As technology changes, anything could happen. Especially in the mobile ecosystem, and Sony Mobile Communications is keeping this in mind.
Taking Android’s popularity into account, it seems rather unlikely that Sony will be working with other platforms anytime soon. It has been investing much of its resources in bringing its game back up. But things haven’t been looking great for the past few years. Which is probably a great reason for Sony’s lack of Android loyalty in its future plans.
We will have to see how the company plays its cards in the coming year or two. The plans are looking very promising. But if it does not work out, we might see Sony working with multiple OS’s, much like HTC and Samsung. Regardless, we will most likely have Sony in our side for a while.
How do you guys see this going? I have high hopes for Sony’s changes, and believe that the manufacturer’s devices and services will substantially improve in the coming year. Do you believe Sony could do better working with another OS? Would you like to see the company offering devices with different platforms?
[Source: Phone Arena Via: PocketNow]
One thing is for sure. It won’t run ios.
As long as they give me a Xperia Ion, I could care less what ecosystem they use later :)
I don’t like Sony.
They’ve made some pretty great gaming consoles though…
They had a few good consoles. The PS3 is debatable.
My problems with Sony include
1) the rootkit they included with their CD’s (Google ‘sony rootkit’),
2) their use of the proprietary ‘Memory Stick’ over standard USB/SD card storage,
3) the artificially-inflated price of their products,
4) the lack of security on the Playstation Network, etc. etc.
5) the years of energy they wasted on Playstation Home
I’m a gamer so I briefly considered the Xperia Play until I realized that only forgettable PS1 games were being offered rather than modern games like, say, Tekken 5 or God of War.
instead of ‘modern’, I should have said ‘more modern’. lol
I think Sony should stick with Android, unless perhaps Windows Phone looks like a profit maker.
They need compelling, popular phones/hardware first. If/when they have that, then they can consider other OS’s.
They new to support tmobileUS 3G now!
tmobile is gone within 2 years. Sprint will follow. Both are HORRIBLE networks.
T-Mo has been wanting to exit the US for the past few yrs; they’ll be gone as soon as a buyer comes along that the US Just. Dept likes enough to greenlight. Sprint signed it’s own death warrant with the recent Apple deal; they won’t last most than 5 yrs without a merger, which will be blocked when people scream “monopoly”, and the company will die slowly
What difference does it make for citizens of the USA? You can’t buy the latest Sony phones in the US. You can get the underpowered Xperia Play, but that’s about it.
They can blame their hardware for their recent struggles. Their downturn precisely coincided with their drop in hardware design and quality.
These OEM companies need to get it through their head that they are HARDWARE manufacturers. As long as they produce top-notch hardware, they will have good sales. The Android platform is at the point that it is selling itself.
Ditto. The Xperia S is pretty disappointing. I got too excited because it oozed sex but apparently, it has a detachable back cover for some unknown reason. It doesn’t have support for microSD nor user-replaceable batteries and it has too many crevices that could trap dust bunnies. It doesn’t really help that the Galaxy S II, a one year old phone can match it spec for spec and can at times perform better than Sony’s newest product. Sure it doesn’t have a 720p screen but its also not using last year’s parts for today’s phone. The One X, the LG 4X and Galaxy S III will be more competition than the Xperia S can handle. Experience tells me that Sony does not know how to price their phones and this one is no different. In six months time, I will be looking at the same scenario: Xperia Arc S being cheaper by only $30 than a Sensation.
Sony just announced their re commitment to being a premium brand : )
Too bad it mainly consist of prevent retailers from dropping the price of their products with a change in hardware quality lol.
Sony’s problems are two-fold. 1st, the hardware generally is a generation behind, but they do compensate with some appealing designs. This is compounded by their 2nd problem which is that they have built themselves a history of abandoning software support for their products, in some cases even before they stop selling them. Even the updates they do provide are guaranteed to be delayed.
Don’t believe me? Let’s see if ICS really does start rolling at the end of the month.
Sony is on its last legs..
there are webOS and MeeGo
Sony still has some of the best technology out there. The Vita competes with the ipad 3 on hardware and has better games. They have great camera tech and their displays are still pretty good. But unless they learn how to put it all together they will have trouble competing on Android nevermind any other platform.
“Sony in our side?” Is that like, “A thorn in our side?” Just asking.