BacklogTool is a light weight planning tool that allows users to plan their daily work and easily rank their tasks using drag and drop. BacklogTool was developed at our internal software tools department, and since we like it so much we shared it on GitHub a while ago. Now it’s been updated with several new features, read on to learn more!
Today we added Xperia Tablet Z to our Android™ Open Source Project (AOSP) for Xperia™ devices. Xperia Tablet Z follows in the footsteps of Xperia Z and Xperia S, which are open for developers to explore. Learn how to participate and get the latest technical status in the full post.
![Xperia™ Tablet Z added to the AOSP for Xperia™ project on GitHub [open source]](http://img.youtube.com/vi/16WZOqgFBI8/0.jpg)
Today we’re happy to tell you that a number of Sony devices have been made available at Testdroid Cloud, which is a premier cloud-based Android testing platform for apps and games. Testing and verification are becoming more and more important for app and game developers, as more software platforms and devices are introduced all over the industry. To make it easier to verify your apps and games, Sony and Bitbar (the company behind Testdroid) have added a number of different Xperia™ devices to the Testdroid Cloud service. Read on to learn more about Testdroid and what Sony devices are currently available.
Today, we’ve announced the new Xperia™ ZR, which closely follows on the heels of its bigger sibling, Xperia™ Z, with its waterproof* and dust-resistant capabilities. Xperia™ ZR comes equipped with a Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ S4 Pro quad-core 1.5 GHz processor, Adreno 320 GPU, 4.6” HD Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA® Engine 2, Android™ 4.1 (Jelly Bean), LTE, NFC, GLONASS, Battery STAMINA mode, and a 13 megapixel fast capture camera with HDR video and “Exmor RS™ for mobile”. Xperia™ ZR will launch in various global markets from Q2 2013 (availability will vary by market). Full specs are available after the jump.
![Sony Xperia™ ZR: a quad-core, waterproof* smartphone [video]](http://developer-static.se-mc.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/05/Xperia_ZR_black-220x128.jpg)
Last year, we published a story covering GLONASS (Globalnaya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema), a Russian, radio-based satellite navigation system covering the globe (locations mapped above), which a number of our Xperia™ devices support. In addition to an overview of GLONASS support in our latest Xperia phones from Sony Positioning Specialist, Magnus Persson, he also explained how you can incorporate the feature into your own apps. And in that time, our list of GLONASS-support devices has increased from 8 to 21. Read on to get the full list and a general recap of GLONASS technology.
Do you remember Sony’s ChkBugReport tool that was published on our GitHub last year? ChkBugReport is a tool for analysing the output of an Android™ bugreport. Now Pál Szász, who created the tool, has added some new features and made several updates to it. You can also download a presentation about ChkBugReport that Pál held at Droidcon Berlin a couple of weeks ago. Learn more after the jump!
![ChkBugReport bug analysis tool updated with new features [presentation]](http://developer-static.se-mc.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/04/frompresentation-220x127.png)
One of our most popular services here at Developer World is the flash tool for Xperia devices, which lets you flash Sony software on a device with unlocked boot loader. This is convenient if you want to go from a custom ROM to generic Sony software. We’ve now added software for several more models, most recently Xperia go, Xperia ray and Xperia neo V. At the moment, we support 13 different models, including Xperia Z and Xperia T. Check out the list of supported devices or click the read more link below for more information!
***Update: Software binaries updated. ***
Remember our Android Open Source Project for Xperia S? Because of the great interest we saw in that project, we’ve now decided to create an AOSP project for Xperia Z as well. This means that the software will be open for you as a developer to use and contribute to. This is a way for us to continue our commitment to support the open Android community. It is also a tool for us to facilitate and verify contributions to AOSP on the APQ8064 Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ S4 Pro platform. Get the details after the jump!
![AOSP now available for Xperia™ Z on Sony’s GitHub [open source + video]](http://img.youtube.com/vi/74_1nB_Z1Hw/0.jpg)
Our friends at App Promo have just opened up their 2nd Annual Developer Survey, which looks at how developers are performing with their apps from a discovery and financial perspective. The study aims to gather data to illustrate trends and insights that represent the developer community at large, and which will be used to create an infographic and white paper at the end of May this year. The survey runs from now to May 5, 2013. As an incentive for completing the survey, App Promo is also giving away the chance to win an App Store Optimisation package worth $1,500. So get started on the App Promo survey right away!
Click the Read more link below to read all of our App Promo developer tips.
Designing and implementing an efficient network communication in your Android application is not an easy task. This is something Sony research engineer Erik Hellman has put a lot of thought and work into, and he shared some of his best hints and tips regarding this at his presentation at Droidcon London 2012. Check out the video and the presentation after the jump.
![Make your apps fast, user-friendly and power-efficient [video + presentation]](http://developer-static.se-mc.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/04/hellman_droidcon2012-220x128.jpg)
