The new Xperia Tablet Z and its smartphone equivalent, Xperia Z, are the latest Sony products that include Small Apps and IR remote sensor functionality. If you’re ready to start developing your own Small Apps or your own IR remote sensor-enabled apps, you’ll want to do so using the new Sony Add-on SDK. Read on for a quick look at how you can get your development started right away!
You’ve all been able to develop app extensions for SmartWatch and Smart Wireless Headset pro for a while with the old Smart Extension SDK, but now we have replaced this with the new Sony Add-on SDK. So far, hundreds of apps have been created or extended to work with these devices. Read on for a walkthrough of the most useful facts and tips, for those of you looking to develop an app for SmartWatch and Smart Wireless Headset pro with the Sony Add-on SDK (and learn more about the SmartWatch update being released today!).
Do you have an app or service around music? Or maybe you run a music store app, an artist information site, an artist oriented app, a fan site or something similar? Then you can develop an app extension for “WALKMAN” music player, using the Music Infinite API available in the Sony Add-on SDK that was launched last week. In the “WALKMAN” music player app, the Infinite button can be used to access related information, content and services about the song or artist currently being played.
Today we are happy to announce our new Sony Add-on SDK, which unifies some of our most innovative APIs for Sony Xperia™ smartphones, tablets and Smart Accessories. With the Sony Add-on SDK, you can develop apps for SmartWatch and Smart Wireless Headset pro, or you can develop Small Apps and IR remote sensor enabled apps. You can also develop apps for the infinite button in the “WALKMAN” music player, which is available on most Sony Xperia™ devices. All of these options are available in one package to improve the overall ease of use and developer experience! Learn more about how you can get more visibility for your app after the jump.
Today, we’ve officially announced the global availability of Xperia™ Tablet Z, the world’s slimmest LTE tablet. This premium HD tablet sets new standards for tablet thinness, weight, and water-resistance. Measuring only 6.9mm and weighing under 500g, it’s the thinnest and lightest LTE tablet available. And it has the highest levels of water resistance (IP55 & IP57) ever delivered in a tablet. Xperia™ Tablet Z is also the first tablet to run on the Qualcomm® quad-core Snapdragon™ S4 Pro processor. Read on to get the full specs for Xperia™ Tablet Z.
![Sony’s Xperia™ Tablet Z globally available [video]](http://img.youtube.com/vi/eycTT-YSSlo/0.jpg)
The newly-announced Xperia ZL is the first smartphone from Sony with an IR (infrared) remote control. With it, you can use your smartphone to control entertainment devices that use IR, including the TV, DVD player, satellite box, and more! And if this triggers any innovative use case ideas for you as a developer, you can actually create IR remote sensor-enabled apps by using the Sony Tablet SDK Add-on! Because this feature is so new, the potential use-cases are only limited to your imagination. Read further to learn more about the IR remote sensor functionality.
Many of the regular Developer World readers surely know of the Small Apps functionality for Sony tablets, but did you know that the newly announced Xperia Z also includes Small App functionality? Small Apps are like super-widgets that run on top of other applications and can add smart solutions for daily routines requiring multi-tasking. And if you’re a developer, you can start creating Small Apps for Xperia™ Z today! If you’ve already created Small Apps for Sony tablets, those extensions will also work on all Small Apps-supported smartphones, including Xperia™ Z and Xperia™ ZL. Read more after the jump.
A few weeks ago, we challenged all you developers out there to create an app that makes use of the Small Apps multi-tasking functionality in the Xperia™ Tablet S. We received a lot of interesting submissions that deserve mention, such as Muhammad Hakim A’s Al Mishbah Small App and Victor Kropp’s Board Game Dice Roller Small App. But one Small App stood out above the rest – tebaokoshi’s Mini camera . This simple, yet elegant Small App uses the tablet’s camera functionality, and has some handy options. We reached out to tebaokoshi to share the good news, and to learn more about how the Mini camera Small App was developed. Read more after the jump.
Yesterday, we published the Sony add-on SDK on Developer World, and today, we thought we should highlight how you can create new innovative IR remote use cases for your app on the Xperia™ Tablet S, such as an app that could switch the channels on TV, based on specific genres (sitcoms) or interests (sports). Or that you can create a new app, such as a cool TV remote, using the IR remote functionality of the Xperia™ Tablet S. With the open sourced IR remote sensor API for the Xperia™ Tablet S, all this is possible. Read on to learn more and download the IR remote sensor code examples and documentation kit.
![Create IR remote-enabled apps for Xperia™ Tablet S [code]](http://developer-static.se-mc.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/11/IRRemoteSensor_660x384-220x128.jpg)
Now we’ve gathered all Xperia™ developer tools at Developer World, as we now make the free Sony add-on SDK available for download from this site. The Sony add-on SDK enables you to easily develop apps that make use of the special features included in Sony tablets. For instance, you can develop Small Apps, which are miniature apps that run on top of other applications in the Sony Xperia Tablet S. You can also develop apps that make use of the IR remote sensor features in the Sony Xperia Tablet S, such as a TV remote app that switch the channels on TV, based on specific genres (sitcoms) or interests (sports). Head over to the Sony Add-on SDK section to learn more and get code examples, emulators and documentation. Happy coding!
