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This decision may come as a surprise to some of our readers, particularly given the sales figures posted by Samsung for recent product launches such as the flagship Galaxy S3 and Note II. Nonetheless, this year, the XDA Developers’ OEM of the Year is Sony Mobile.
The relationship between XDA and Sony has been frosty in the past, thanks in part to the locking of bootloaders, subsequent lack of updates, and Sony’s efforts in early 2011 to target open source community “developers” with lawsuits in other product categories (such as the Playstation 3). This resulted in many top developers turning a blind eye to anything and everything Sony. They eventually dropped the suit later on in the year, but that was no consolation to the community.
Despite these events, a change was signaled in September of 2011, when Sony’s Head of Developer Relations posted a notice to the community that they supported independent Android OS developers. Then in early 2012, Sony Mobile released the Sony Xperia S, the first Sony Android phone to be released with flagship-level specs. Soon after, Sony signaled a change in their stance towards open source development by releasing a guide for unlocking the bootloader on the Xperia S and then releasing not only the kernel source code but also a guide for building it.
In just over 12 months, they had gone from suing a developer that hacked the bootloader on his own purchased device, to providing the tools to unlock the bootloader on a high-quality device and giving users the instructions to build the kernel source. No other manufacturer had done that, nor have any others to date. That is full-on GPLv2 compliance like we’ve never seen before at XDA.
Here is a list of the other steps they took towards openness in the community in 2012:
In March Sony officially released a public beta of ICS for the Xperia Play when no other manufacturer was officially releasing betas.
In April Sony released ICS for their entire 2011 line of devices, becoming the first manufacturer to do so.
Their Sony Developer Relations team announced a program to allow developers to borrow devices for application testing.
In August the Sony Xperia S became the first non-Nexus device (not counting the Motorola Xoom) to be included in the AOSP device tree as an experimental device. They then followed that up by releasing the AOSP binaries for the Xperia S.
Later in August Sony began open-sourcing their own code for the Dynamic Android Sensor Hardware Abstraction Layer (DASH for short) to the community.
In October they joined XDA at the Big Android BBQ to discuss their plans for further open source interaction in the community.
They announced they would be taking the lead for the AOSP source for the Xperia S and manage it themselves in their own github, and begin merging in Android 4.2.
They continue to utilize their highly active development blog where their developer team discusses their views on Android, and announce preview “Alpha” and “Beta” builds of updated device firmware and seek user feedback.
CyanogenMod custom firmware distribution is maintained for several Sony devices by a number of Sony Mobile developers, in their own time.
Given the recent trend by companies such as Samsung to often overlook the custom ROM developer community (in favor of application developers), it is refreshing to see Sony going far beyond what is required to improve the experience of their devices for anyone interested in developing for the platform. Given their contributions to the Android community-at-large in 2012 alone, and their complete turn around in less than 16 months, Sony is XDA’s OEM of the Year for 2012!
If you’re looking for a couple great options for Sony devices, we recommend the Xperia S or the Xperia T.
Now, what we really want to hear is YOUR top OEM for 2012. Vote below to let us know!
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The link
The only thing holding me back from this device is the locked boot loader:crying:
Pretty sure one major reason why LG won't make the bootloader open is the exclusive game and software contracts they have on this phone with certain service providers in Asia.
The funny thing about Sony, and other companies, is that they will only release a bootloader like this if someone is not willing to pay to keep it closed. So the praise for Sony here is a bit misplaced, to put it like that. Generally rooted phones receive a limited amount of support afterwards, simply because they believe they don't earn any money on them afterwards.
I.e., the only reason Sony does something like this isn't because they will design their own software shell to operate with other shells. Instead it's for two reasons:
1. They're 100% confident that rooted shells are inferior to theirs, and is locked down in certain ways that makes it useless as far as replacing the original one.
2. They realize that an extremely small number of people actually do root their phones or use a custom kernel.
Now, if they came out and said: "We have a sales philsophy that isn't tied to the locked down shell, and instead one that is focused on the device and the features of the device only. While the software we have can be used interchangeably with other shells, because of the way it's designed from the bottom up to do so - and we encourage the community to create their variants of the surrounding software package". If they did that, they'd deserve praise.
Something like this - well, that's about the same level as praising a mugger for telling you where he's going to fence your stuff.
UIQrules said:
Pretty sure one major reason why LG won't make the bootloader open is the exclusive game and software contracts they have on this phone with certain service providers in Asia.
The funny thing about Sony, and other companies, is that they will only release a bootloader like this if someone is not willing to pay to keep it closed. So the praise for Sony here is a bit misplaced, to put it like that. Generally rooted phones receive a limited amount of support afterwards, simply because they believe they don't earn any money on them afterwards.
I.e., the only reason Sony does something like this isn't because they will design their own software shell to operate with other shells. Instead it's for two reasons:
1. They're 100% confident that rooted shells are inferior to theirs, and is locked down in certain ways that makes it useless as far as replacing the original one.
2. They realize that an extremely small number of people actually do root their phones or use a custom kernel.
Now, if they came out and said: "We have a sales philsophy that isn't tied to the locked down shell, and instead one that is focused on the device and the features of the device only. While the software we have can be used interchangeably with other shells, because of the way it's designed from the bottom up to do so - and we encourage the community to create their variants of the surrounding software package". If they did that, they'd deserve praise.
Something like this - well, that's about the same level as praising a mugger for telling you where he's going to fence your stuff.
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Well you are actually misguided on this one. Sony's Developer Relations team does not want any of their device's bootloader locked - it's the carriers who desire them locked. At the executive level, Sony has to deal with misperception that unlocked bootloader == rooted phone. They are slowly changing that mindset, but it's an uphill battle. There are a large number of Sony devices capable of being unlocked, and they go to great lengths to make sure they help the user do it.
What will always be a struggle is the carrier's and their hold on the industry. Once that hold gets loosened, then we'll see a lot more positive things.
So ya I'm working on a research about the expending Chinese smartphone market
And I want to know what westerner like you guys think about Chinese smartphone, like what is your impression on Xiaomi or one plus one, and of course I'm a Asian so please help !!!!
If you can, I also want to know what phone you are using as a reference
thank you
Well I like my Chinese devices, why have one good device when you can have many faulty ones for the same price which you can get many refunds and replacements!
The last two months have been like this for me:
-bought Pendo pad 7 dual core, kitkat android tablet ($50) Didn't like it and it had a live of dead pixels so I got a refund about a week later.
-bought a Pendo pad 7 quad core Windows 8.1 tablet ($90). Liked it but as I mostly downloaded stuff on it with malware, I often fully wiped it. It stopped getting wiped and had a hardware rattle, so I refunded it.
-missed having an android tablet, so read some reviews and decided the one I had was probably really bad, so I bought both the Windows and android tablets at the same time.
-my non Chinese phone broke, so I sold the android Pendo pad to my brother, and bought a (I think its Chinese) ZTE tempo for $50.
Had no faults since. I like the Chinese phones/tablets, since they are so cheap. However, because they can be high maintenance, I understand they are not for everybody.
-also bought a matching Pendo keyboard for the tablets, and also had to get a replacement as it stopped pairing with the devices.
Side note:
I bought all these devices from local stores (except the keyboard, it was about an hours drive away), so it wasn't hard to get refunds/replacements. I wouldn't recommend buying electronics straight from China.
With my experience with tons of Chinese device I can say: It's cheap, average perfomance but really bad hardware quality. But some are really good like Xiaomi or Onda....
I have one plus one dude and its awesome.
Hey, Chinese devices are high-tech devices that present technologies just launched on the market, few know about them because they do not have their own famous brand. Not everyone is good because even the level of external radiation may be higher than normal, in a nutshell, you have to buy with care.
Sorry for my BAD ENGLISH, I'm ITALIAN!
TitanusDeveloper said:
Hey, Chinese devices are high-tech devices that present technologies just launched on the market, few know about them because they do not have their own famous brand. Not everyone is good because even the level of external radiation may be higher than normal, in a nutshell, you have to buy with care.
Sorry for my BAD ENGLISH, I'm ITALIAN!
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Hola
sheldon1998 said:
So ya I'm working on a research about the expending Chinese smartphone market
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That's very detailed ackground info.
sheldon1998 said:
And I want to know what westerner like you guys think about Chinese smartphone, like what is your impression on Xiaomi or one plus one, and of course I'm a Asian so please help !!!!
If you can, I also want to know what phone you are using as a reference
thank you
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It is difficult to lump all chinese smartphone manufacturers together in one group but,.....one difference that I can see is the tendency to create phone with permanently locked bootloaders, not providing kernel sources as the GPL demands, not providing post-sales support and updates and, not providing any AOSP code that can help kickstart custom rom development. On the plus side, they tend to have decent specs (only looking at Qualcomm models - MediaTek, Allwinner, RockChip devices etc are usually to be avoided) and are cheaper than familiar brand names.
Companies like Oppo and OnePlus that try to create devices that are unlockable, rootable and well supported with AOSP roms get my vote. The vast majority of chinese manufacturers big and small like Lenovo, Xiaomi, Huawei, ZTE, Gionee, Coolpad etc make products that can never make it to my shortlist because they are dead-end devices. I've advised everyone I know who bought one of these devices to return them.
No bootloader unlock, usually no root, no kernel sources, no custom roms?. No thanks!
MiyagiSan said:
That's very detailed ackground info.
It is difficult to lump all chinese smartphone manufacturers together in one group but,.....one difference that I can see is the tendency to create phone with permanently locked bootloaders, not providing kernel sources as the GPL demands, not providing post-sales support and updates and, not providing any AOSP code that can help kickstart custom rom development. On the plus side, they tend to have decent specs (only looking at Qualcomm models - MediaTek, Allwinner, RockChip devices etc are usually to be avoided) and are cheaper than familiar brand names.
Companies like Oppo and OnePlus that try to create devices that are unlockable, rootable and well supported with AOSP roms get my vote. The vast majority of chinese manufacturers big and small like Lenovo, Xiaomi, Huawei, ZTE, Gionee, Coolpad etc make products that can never make it to my shortlist because they are dead-end devices. I've advised everyone I know who bought one of these devices to return them.
No bootloader unlock, usually no root, no kernel sources, no custom roms?. No thanks!
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So in short, you are also a flashaholic, aren't you?
I've found Huawei to have lots of development. Otherwise, I agree.
Maynard100 said:
So in short, you are also a flashaholic, aren't you?
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No, not really. I use these criteria as a measure of whether a device is a dead-end device.
Further, it is only right that a device that I buy is under my control and that I am able to do as I please with it.
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Jesse72 said:
I've found Huawei to have lots of development. Otherwise, I agree.
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Huawei and ZTE have some well known devices that have enjoyed decent development support. On the whole though, they churn out devices that don't enjoy any or much dev support AFAICT.
MiyagiSan said:
No, not really. I use these criteria as a measure of whether a device is a dead-end device.
Further, it is only right that a device that I buy is under my control and that I am able to do as I please with it.
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Huawei and ZTE have some well known devices that have enjoyed decent development support. On the whole though, they churn out devices that don't enjoy any or much dev support AFAICT.
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Ya, I agree that huawei doesn't have dev support which turn potential buyers away.
Please sign our petition requesting Moto to provide the Android N update to the Moto G 2015 and Moto G Turbo. https://www.change.org/p/motorola-please-include-moto-g-3rd-gen-for-android-nougat-update
You may be wondering why I am asking other Moto owners to support the G3 and Turbo by signing our petition... We are asking Moto to simply do what they said when they released the device, by providing fast updates for 18 months and not drop support for this clearly capable device. This could easily effect all of you in the future just like Moto is trying to do to these devices if we don't call Lenovo/Moto on their clear violation of what they stated previously as if they get away with this, what is to stop them from providing updates for any other device in a far shorter time span than promised.
Part of the beauty of Moto devices was the promise of a near stock Android experience with fast updates for an 18 month period, this is one of the reasons many of us purchased these devices over other choices that were available, we should hold Moto to what they sold us on and letting them get away with not doing that now will likely mean other devices will be dropped before their time in the future.
As of this posting, we have over 680 supporters and could still use everyone's support.
I thank you in advance for your assistance. Feel free to share this link in any appropriate group or community you chose.
I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has signed the petition... We have exceeded the 1000 signature milestone and received confirmation this be a featured story on at least major Android news outlet in the coming days.
I am still requesting everyone to actively sign the petition.
Again, thank you.
Sent from my Motorola XT1575 using XDA Labs
Not strictly Motorola Droid 4 related, but for those of us in this section of the forums, I would imagine there is some level of interest in a phone made within the last 4 years that has a physical keyboard.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/physical-keyboard-mod-for-moto-z#/
This campaign is a "fixed goal," which means that they will only receive the funds if they reach their $100,000 goal.
As skeptical as I am, I've put in on this. I'll gladly pay $60 for hope.
It should also be noted that they also stated on Reddit that they are probably not going to be able to have a secondary battery component as part of the keyboard.
joefuf said:
Not strictly Motorola Droid 4 related, but for those of us in this section of the forums, I would imagine there is some level of interest in a phone made within the last 4 years that has a physical keyboard.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/physical-keyboard-mod-for-moto-z#/
This campaign is a "fixed goal," which means that they will only receive the funds if they reach their $100,000 goal.
As skeptical as I am, I've put in on this. I'll gladly pay $60 for hope.
It should also be noted that they also stated on Reddit that they are probably not going to be able to have a secondary battery component as part of the keyboard.
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I saw that, thanks for spreading the word. What's the scene for the Moto Z look like? Not going to consider jumping ship unless I can root and install Xposed.
hockeymikey said:
I saw that, thanks for spreading the word. What's the scene for the Moto Z look like? Not going to consider jumping ship unless I can root and install Xposed.
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Looks as though there is an active development community.
When upgrading from Sony Xperia Pro, the bigger and heavier Droid 4 felt like a brick in my hands, but I got used to it.
Moto Z+Slider - I'm tempted because it features a real wire connection instead of bluetooth+additional battery, but unsure if it's size will still feel comfortable in my pocket...
http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=3779&idPhone2=4418&idPhone3=8094
Does anyone know how to contact the people who started the Indiegogo campaign for the physical Moto Z keyboardc These modern websites are too confusing for someone like me. I can't even figure out how to contact them. Or should I say that I tried and got no reply. I could REALLY use a physical keyboard on my next phone.
An update on this. The campaign finished successfully and they went to production with two different keyboards, one with no battery and one with an additional battery. But that's where it turns ugly, showing all the hallmarks of a major product-development fustercluck. First, a problem was uncovered that the keyboard isn't recognized by the Z without a major firmware update. Then, a large chunk of the team at Motorola in Chicago that developed the Moto Z phones and does software and hardware interfaces were laid off. And now, the update they pushed out via OTA from Moto has been problematic. Thanks to broader financial problems at Lenovo, the entire future of the Mods ecosystem is in doubt.
I have not received a reply to my request to purchase one of these post-campaign. All production has been placed on hold pending resolution of the software update.
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Oh, and there's also this:
Liangchen Chen - Campaigner - 9 days ago
When we solve the OTA issue of K1L and resume shipping, I will open for pre-order. I want to get everything 100% confirmed before taking more orders, and avoid future delays.
As for support with 3rd-party OSes, there's this:
Sean McCreary - 5 days ago @liangchen Chen Yes, I maintain the addison build for LineageOS, and we have been working on the requirements for Mod support for over a year. Unfortunately Motorola’s closed source approach makes it unlikely full Mod support will ever be possible in builds distributed by us, but I am hopeful we can add support for the keyboard Mod.
Phew.... so I'm lucky having acquired a new Blackberry Priv a couple of months ago - for the same price as the sole slider mod. It doesn't get any updates anymore but at least it is running stable... Smartphone mods are a niche market. Just as phones with hardware keyboards
Hey all, I'm Nirave. I've been a member of the forums since the late 2000s during my Windows Mobile days. I still remember how many times XDA helped me fix my Xperia X1 and the early days of my foray into Android.
Since 2009, I've been writing about technology. I used to run a UK site, and prior to joining the leadership team at XDA almost a year ago, I worked for Mobile Nations, Future, and Android Authority. I help direct all the content that's published across our family of websites, as well as the boring wider company stuff!
I've used pretty much every flagship launched over the last 8 years and always carry at least two phones. One is an iPhone, one is an Android phone. Oh, and I love foldables – my arsenal includes the Z Fold 2, Mate Xs, and ThinkPad X1 Fold!
Glad to meet you Nirave! I also had some Window Mobile device's which were a blast from the past!
nirave said:
Hey all, I'm Nirave. I've been a member of the forums since the late 2000s during my Windows Mobile days. I still remember how many times XDA helped me fix my Xperia X1 and the early days of my foray into Android.
Since 2009, I've been writing about technology. I used to run a UK site, and prior to joining the leadership team at XDA almost a year ago, I worked for Mobile Nations, Future, and Android Authority. I help direct all the content that's published across our family of websites, as well as the boring wider company stuff!
I've used pretty much every flagship launched over the last 8 years and always carry at least two phones. One is an iPhone, one is an Android phone. Oh, and I love foldables – my arsenal includes the Z Fold 2, Mate Xs, and ThinkPad X1 Fold!
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Other things to know about Nirave: he doesn't sleep, he is a great cook (if you like a killer curry), and he likes to buy more phones than he actually needs or will ever use (ahem, I think he learned that from me...).
I know many other secrets about Nirave that I'll undoubtedly reveal over time. xD
i once was knew good cook ..
it was fun .. xD