Nobody knows about the future of Sony’s mobile division, while the company has stated that they don’t plan to quit this business, their smartphones have not been selling as much as the company would like. Still, they are taking an interesting approach when it comes to updating their devices to newer versions of the Android operating system. While some manufacturers start soak tests in order to check how their devices behave under the new software, this usually happens a little closer to when the software gets released. This is not the case with Sony, as they have released experimental versions of the software that will run on their Xperia phones.
Everyone is eager to install Android 6.0 Marshmallow on their phones, even when the changes included in this version are not extremely noticeable. Sony gave this chance to 10,000 users from select European regions who own an Xperia Z3 or Xperia Z3 Compact. The build is in a very early stage, so this is intended for more advanced users who are willing to sacrifice some features and report back to Sony about any bugs or issues. Users have really liked the Doze mode, as it really seems to extend their battery life. The UI looks a lot like the stock version of Android but it has some apps that are made specifically for Sony devices. It is very likely that the company will customize the software a little bit more before releasing it, though.
Today, the Sony Marshmallow Android Concept is being updated over the air. The build number is MRA58K.Z1.2085 and it includes some nice additions. Users will now be able to tap the screen to wake their phone, there’s support for MIDI via USB and more bitrates for files in FLAC format are also supported. The keyboard is also being updated, which should take care of the update error. We will probably see many more updates for this concept software before it gets released, and they could show the changes that Sony has been working on. It’s nice to see that companies are working on bringing the operating system updates a little faster this time around.