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Sony Ericsson Helps Out FreeXperia Developers

Posted by Soulskill on from the helping-hand dept.

hypnosec writes "Smartphone maker Sony Ericsson has decided to work closely with developers creating custom Android ROMs for devices in order to learn from them. The company said in a blog post that it has decided to support an open source developer group called 'FreeXperia,' which creates custom Android ROMs based on the CyanogenMod for several Sony Ericsson phones like the Xperia ARC and Play. Sony Ericsson maintained that it does not approve of some of the work carried out by independent developers but was keen to work with people who were creating custom ROMs."

6 of 50 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Head asplodes by silly_sysiphus · · Score: 2

    People frequently forget that Sony-Ericsson works as a mostly separate entity from (big nasty evil) Sony. While SE hasn't exactly caught on quick how to play the smartphone game, this sort of behavior clearly distinguishes them from the company that brought us rootkitted CDs, etc.

  2. Re:A hacker phone is a powerful phone by hedwards · · Score: 2

    Hmm, that's a good point. When I think about it, ultimately this isn't really that much different than installing a different OS on a computer. Doing that doesn't typically require one to void ones warranty.

  3. Re:Keep your friends close, and your enemies close by MrZilla · · Score: 2

    Yeah... The only way to figure out how an open source project works is to infiltrate it. Makes sense.

    --
    mov ax, 4c00h
    int 21h
  4. Re:A hacker phone is a powerful phone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    We have put an open boot loader in our new models. Feel free to visit our unlock site: http://unlockbootloader.sonyericsson.com/

  5. I see this being an end run on x10 hacking by tlambert · · Score: 2

    I see this being an end run on x10 hacking.

    The main developers doing the heavy lifting there get newer toys so they don't play with the older ones, and SE gets positive credit with the community. The blog comments in the blog referenced above are largely about the x10 bootloader not being unlockable.

    The x10 is running a straight Snapdragon processor, which means it's using T-Zones in order to run the baseband firmware on the same chip as the OS. The reason it's not unlockable is because of that, since it would require exposing the Qualcomm hypervisor internals. This is the same reason the HP Touchpad wasn't really as much of a deal as it seemed. You don't know what code Qualcomm is running in there.

    The newer phones have a Snapdragon for the baseband, and a separate application processor, similar to the iPhone design with a separate baseband, so the unlock is for the application processor without exposing the baseband firmware to similar tampering (i.e. they get to provide the carriers with the assurance of carrier lock, in the same vein as the iPhone carrier lock).

    The only real question is whether they've moved the carrier lock t user space on the application processor, where it should have been on the iPhone, or if there's still an incentive to do baseband hacking to unlock the device from a particular carrier. That's the part of jailbreaking that Apple objected to for legal reasons. There was a real risk of losing FCC/country equivalent certification and contractual obligations to carriers for disallowed options such as tethering or pushing large amounts of data around, which is why there was a limit on the size of an app you could buy over the air instead of sync'ed via iTunes and downloaded to your (non-tehthered) desktop/laptop.

    -- Terry

  6. Re:Head asplodes by tlhIngan · · Score: 2

    There are still people using OtherOS, since if you wanted to keep it, all you have to do is not update your PS3's firmware. Sure you'll lose access to PSN, but PSN is their playground with their ball, so it's your choice.

    You lose all access to games made after April 2010, too, because PS3 games insist on updating the firmware. If you're running old firmware, no games for you. Ditto Blu-Ray playback if an update is needed.

    So it's OtherOS *OR* games and movies. Before it was "It does everything". Now I have to choose, and it seems Sony owes me a PS3.

    PSN can be ignored now with the new ToS, but not running new firmware isn't an option anymore if you want to play anything recent.