AnDevCon III is just around the corner, and that means a lot of Android developers are ramping up to go to San Francisco and dive into the latest Android developer and technology discussions. The Sony Developer World team will also be there, and we have some goodies in stock for you – all our latest products on showcase, an inspiring and useful dev session and the chance for developers interested in creating app extensions to get a SmartWatch for free! Read on for more details on the event.
Do you want to know more about your Android™ device and compare it to other users’ devices? Check out Anfish – a new app from one of our partners called AZSoft Technology Inc. In Anfish you can view info about the hardware of your smartphone, along with statistics on popular devices and most common Android versions in your area. Read more about Anfish after the jump!
As part of ongoing contributions to the open source community, we’re today releasing two extensions for the Sony SmartWatch as open source. The first one is an extension to the Music player, which makes it possible to control the music player in your phone from SmartWatch. The second extension is called 8 Game, a puzzle game that can be played on the SmartWatch. With our Sony Add-on SDK, you can use these apps as a base for creating your own music player extension or game for SmartWatch. This is an excellent opportunity to get an innovative edge on your competition, and to get better visibility as your app will be easy to find for all SmartWatch users.
Continue reading for downloads, details on the extensions and instructions how to use them!
Right now (or pretty soon, depending on your market), the Xperia™ sola, Xperia™ P and Xperia™ U are available to buy around the world. These smartphones are powered by the NovaThor™ U8500 platform from ST-Ericsson, which is the first OpenGL ES 2.0 conformant, multi-core GPU that provides 2D and 3D acceleration with performance scalable up to 1080p resolutions. In this article, we’ll explain why the NovaThor™ U8500 will give you the same level of CPU performance as from a larger and faster uni-processor CPU while using less power. You’ll also get some pretty interesting insights in what the specs mean for app developers. Read on to find out more.
Last week, the Sony PlayStation® team announced that the Developer Program for PlayStation Suite is now available as an open beta program, free for anyone to join. So if you’re a developer targeting PlayStation™certified devices and PlayStation® Vita, and aiming to be present in the PlayStation® Store, this is something for you. Currently the Xperia S, Xperia ion, Xperia™ acro, Xperia acro HD, Xperia PLAY and Xperia arc are PlayStation certified smartphones. In addition, the Sony Tablet S and the Sony Tablet P are PlayStation™certified.
If you’ve developed a mobile app, there’s a good chance that you’ve got at least one user that’s from Silicon Valley or California, which might not seem like a big deal. But if you’re also collecting user data, it can be a big deal because of an existing, but little known state law, called the California Online Privacy Protection Act. According to this law, if a mobile app collects any personal data from a California resident, the app must provide a security policy for users. Read on to understand more about this law, to learn about what data you should collect, and to get hints for keeping user data secure.
Hey developers, now that the spring season has arrived, it’s the perfect time to get fresh start on your Android™ development. Would you be interested in trying out and testing an Xperia™ smartphone, without any cost, to ensure that your app is compliant? If yes, then why not borrow a smartphone from our Device Loaner Program? This program is intended as a low cost (free!) option to allow you to test your apps on a physical Xperia smartphone or accessory device for up to 30 days. And we’ve just added two more models to the lineup – the Xperia arc S and the recently announced Xperia S. Get more details after the jump.
Are you an app developer looking for a powerful app analysis tool? Do you want to get a good view of the architecture and dependencies in your app? Ever tried to disassemble bytecodes in Android™ apps? You can do all this and much more with ApkAnalyser, our new virtual analysis tool that we’re also making available as open source. Learn more after the jump.
![Powerful tool to analyse your APKs now released [open source]](http://developer-static.se-mc.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/04/apkanalyser-220x163.jpg)
Ever thought about how Gingerbread (GB) and Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) platforms differ on a technical level? In this blog post, we’ll describe some of the technical differences between GB and ICS, and what the differences in the user experience might be. This way you can decide if ICS is right for you, or if you prefer to stay on Gingerbread. Maybe you will prefer the new UI in ICS, or do you give a higher priority to the extreme stability of the Gingerbread platform? Read more after the jump!
![Learn about the technical differences between Gingerbread and ICS [Updated]](http://developer-static.se-mc.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/03/ICSvsGB-1-220x163.jpg)
Upon request we’re today releasing an Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) beta for Xperia™ PLAY, and we’re really interested in getting your feedback on this beta release. As games are such a crucial part of Xperia™ PLAY, we would like to know how well this ICS beta for Xperia™ PLAY works when you’re playing games. Read on for download links and installation instructions!
![ICS beta ROM now available for unlocked Xperia™ PLAY smartphones [download]](http://developer-static.se-mc.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/03/XperiaPLAY-ICSbeta-220x163.jpg)
