Update:
The Xperia Ray does currently not support Android Open Accessory. See post #3 for details.
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Short version:
Does the Xperia Ray support Andriod Open Accessory?
Long version:
I have been looking for an Android phone to hook up to my Arduino ADK ([arduino-homepage]/en/Main/ArduinoBoardADK), and have more or less set my heart on the Xperia Ray.
However, I cannot seem to find confirmation whether or not the Ray supports Android Open Accessory. According to: ([official android developer page]/guide/topics/usb/adk.html) it is required that the device runs at least 2.3.4, which the Ray (and other Xperia handsets) should recently have been updated to. But the same website also states that: "Accessory mode is ultimately dependent on the device's hardware and not all devices will support accessory mode".
I hope someone can help me clarify whether the Ray supports Android Open Accessory, as it is pretty much a deal breaker for me if it does not.
Btw, sorry for the weird 'links', but as a new user I am not allowed to link to external websites. I hope the syntax is understandable
Follow-up
Just a quick follow-up. My deadline passed and I did not find out whether the Ray supports ADK or not, so I ended up taking a different path in my project.
@mods: This thread can be closed or left open if the question is deemed generally relevant. I will not be checking back regularly from now on.
Answer from SE
Inspired by xkcd_com/979/ I thought it appropriate to post an update, as another effort into answering my original question has paid of
The answer is that the Ray currently does not support Android Open Accessory:
"We don't have support for this in the current software but we are planning to add this in our coming platforms."
Source: talk.sonyericsson_com/message/131166#131166
From the answer my personal guess that there might be chance that it will support it as of the announced ICS update in March. But I should stress that I really am just guessing.
(to use links, replace '_' with '.' (stupid new-user-prevent-spam-rule))
Hey guys,
New to the board, new to the Ray. I used to frequent the Arc, Play, Nexus S, and Desire S boards under a different user name but I've not posted in a while so I've since forgotten my User info, so thought I'd make a new one.
Anyways...
I got my Ray, bought it out unlocked, and unlocked the boot loader. I was really excited to get my Cyanogen on and enjoy this beautiful device. Only...Cyanogen Rom for the Ray is HORRIBLE. The Camcorder is broken, the live wallpapers option is non-existant, and the control widget is completely useless for brightness control. Seriously, WTF is wrong with that ROM its is absolute garbage.
I can understand the Ice Cream Sandwich ROM being bug ridden, its early time, but at the very least I expected Cyanogen 7 to be fully functional. Geez.
Those are the only 2 ROMS I've tried so far, the rest look boring. MIUI I am not interested in, and outside anything that slightly alters the Stock firmware there is NOTHING AVAILABLE?
Where are the ROMS? Where is the support? Where are the quality developers?
All we have are half backed ideas, ROMS that don't work properly, and nothing else.
Maybe we should start up a fund and maybe donate a few Rays to some good developers that can actually provide because at this point, there is no point in using anything other then Stock Firmware.
The Ray is a capable device, similar to the Arc, there should be more support. I miss the great support that the Nexus S and the Desire S recieved. Especially the Desire S, the Developer from that board are truly amazing. Proxuser and Super kid were really really good developers, and we need developers like them who dedicate the time needed for quality ROMS. Our support is a joke compared to what they have, and I think we need to either put up some money or some incentive, like maybe donating a few Rays, to get the ball rolling.
I agree with you, it's pretty disappointing.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure the differences between Ray and Arc are minimal, so it's quite surprising that Arc gets tons of support and Ray gets basically nothing. Even more that inferior devices such as the Minis are more supported. Maybe the device is not selling well and not many people have it? I don't know.
Obviously I'm just a tinkerer and not a developer, so I don't know how hard it could be to port Arc stuff to Ray, but yeah, this devices needs more support. How to get it? I have no idea.
I think the stock rom is pretty good, I don't find any major problem with it, it look pretty good and it's decently fast (with Supercharger it's much better), so for now I don't really feel the need to install an unofficial one.
Also, many Arc mods to the interface work on Ray too, so check out those forums too and see if there is something you like. I installed the Xperia styled torch widget and the modded battery icon (with percentage) from the Arc board and they worked fine.
MarkMRL said:
I agree with you, it's pretty disappointing.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure the differences between Ray and Arc are minimal, so it's quite surprising that Arc gets tons of support and Ray gets basically nothing. Even more that inferior devices such as the Minis are more supported. Maybe the device is not selling well and not many people have it? I don't know.
Obviously I'm just a tinkerer and not a developer, so I don't know how hard it could be to port Arc stuff to Ray, but yeah, this devices needs more support. How to get it? I have no idea.
I think the stock rom is pretty good, I don't find any major problem with it, it look pretty good and it's decently fast (with Supercharger it's much better), so for now I don't really feel the need to install an unofficial one.
Also, many Arc mods to the interface work on Ray too, so check out those forums too and see if there is something you like. I installed the Xperia styled torch widget and the modded battery icon (with percentage) from the Arc board and they worked fine.
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Re-reading my initial post I may have sounded a bit harsh. Its just very very disappointing coming from a device that had a TON of support to one that has virtually none.
I will take your advice and check out some of the Arc's mods.
I've owned a ton of Android devices (Xperia x10, Captivate, 2 Xperia Arcs, Nexus S, another Xperia Arc, HTC Desire Z, HTC Desire S, and finally the Xperia Ray) and this is by far the worst support I've ever seen.
Adreno said:
Re-reading my initial post I may have sounded a bit harsh. Its just very very disappointing coming from a device that had a TON of support to one that has virtually none.
I will take your advice and check out some of the Arc's mods.
I've owned a ton of Android devices (Xperia x10, Captivate, 2 Xperia Arcs, Nexus S, another Xperia Arc, HTC Desire Z, HTC Desire S, and finally the Xperia Ray) and this is by far the worst support I've ever seen.
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Click to collapse
I agree with you!...even my previous worst phone...Se X8...got tons of support ...i am really disappointed seeing Ray being put aside...
Sent from my ST18i using Tapatalk
What are you guys on anyway? The X8, since it was mentioned, was released 1 year ago. With 1.6 on it... there have been, what 4 different versions? And Gingerbread is sub par on it.
Regarding Adreno's note on HTC Devices.... As you are aware HTC makes phones for many companies, including T-mobile and Google. So most of these devices have almost the same internals. Hence development on those devices is really easy (you just copy paste files from one rom to another and bam you got your kang).
So on to the Ray... It was released 4 months ago. It has a different screen than most phones (480x854) so porting any generic rom onto it requires some smali editing skills. And... There is NO AOSP release for Xperia devices... at least so far. What makes other devices so "different" than the Xperia's is that some of them have been build on AOSP.
For example the DesireZ - Tmobile G2. One has Sense, the other is built on AOSP. So you have 2 completely different builds for the same device.
And some food for thought... Sony Ericsson needs about 6 months, an enormous team of developers and a ****load of money to build their own Firmware based on Already released Code. What makes you think you will see something "new" from some amateurs in less than 6 months time?
Yes i have built my "own" Rom based on the Stock Rom for the Xperia Active. I dont even consider my self an amateur. I am a total noob.
So, to finish this rant, since development for these devices is young, yet the android system as it is, is quite mature, I would recommend you to assist the people who have already developed a Rom for the Ray, in order to make something good from it. Creating a Thread in the development section, complaining about the development being "dissapointing"... then i rest my case.
/rant off
dumraden said:
So, to finish this rant, since development for these devices is young, yet the android system as it is, is quite mature, I would recommend you to assist the people who have already developed a Rom for the Ray, in order to make something good from it. Creating a Thread in the development section, complaining about the development being "dissapointing"... then i rest my case.
/rant off
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I personally don't want "assisting" of the developers that have been working on the Ray thus far, as I said my original post I don't believe that they are up to the job.
I want to entice more talented developers. What can we do to bring experienced developers that know what they are doing to the Ray?
At this point, rooting and unlocking the bootloader is pretty pointless. You are screwing yourself out of over the air updates, and there is nothing that can fill the void from the development community thus far. What. is. the. point.
This is where you are wrong.
What do you actually want from a Rom? Speed? Stability? Battery Life?
I have managed to do all these with no real coding at all. The Xperia Active with DooMLoRD's Kernel and various tweaks that i found on XDA, when on max OC ranks between the Sensation and the SGS2. Both are Dual core with a far better GPU than the Adreno 205. Oh and the OC is completely bulletproof.
For the time being, the best developers for these devices is Sony herself. It is stable, and battery efficient. You on the other hand can make it more "personalized" and fitting to your needs... Gaming-browsing... whatever...
dumraden said:
This is where you are wrong.
What do you actually want from a Rom?
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Even if I had just Cyanogen working properly I'd be happy.
On the Desire S board Superkid had Ice Cream Sandwich ported (AOSP) to the desire S within 2 weeks, only being able to work on it on the weekends. Thats like 6 days.
On top of that, he had everything working flawlessly other than the camera by week 3.
Thats the kind of development I am talking about. Imagine how hard that was.
We don't have anything like that over here.
No it wasnt that hard. I say again. You need to be able to edit THE WHOLE DAMN BASE, if you want it in a different resolution than the one it was intended.
Yes some guys are simply amazing at what they do, but as i said earlier, most HTC devices use the same chipsets, boards, cpu's, modems etc. Sony uses a board (codenamed mogami i think) specific to the mini's. It uses a different one for the Ray, Play etc.
You will almost never have something like that. Be happy that the Cyanogenmod Team is actually working on these devices.
Hell, the mini's dont even have a MIUI build. Its either CM7 or Stock. But honestly i couldnt care less. I got bored of flashing a new rom every 2 weeks, just to see nothing different. The only difference was Sense 2.1 Sense 3.0 Sense 3.5. The rest ROMS use the same old AOSP build with an ADW launcher or a LPP on top... Big deal.
Now if someone gets sense on these devices... i'd be impressed
Complaint/rant threads about developers are not allowed at XDA. If you want something done, make it happen!
Many of us have purchased the xperia s due to its 'FANTASTIC' 12MP camera (which now has auto-focus issues) or the 'BRILLIANT' 4.3'' 720p display. All of which are quite exceptional when you read the specs, and all of this is backed up with Sony's legendary support with devs. BUT one THING that FUSTRATES ME and i am certain many other people are the UNBELIEVEBLY long time Sony takes to upgrade the android os version. (espicially when theyre releasing 10 phones a month!) I understand rolling out new software takes testing and trialing but, news is that -
The Sony Xperia S/Acro S/Ion smartphones are scheduled to receive their Jelly Bean update by end of October/early November 2012! Unrealistic. But I hope that this does change and overall i do not mean to offend anyone.
LINK to the news of when YOUR NXT phone will recieve JB-http://www.techenclave.com/news/exclusive-sony-xperia-gosolapu-getting-jelly-bean-early-december-other-models-also-in-queue/533/
All xperia jb related discussion goes here.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1829591
Thread closed
Sent from my Nocturnalized One XL using Forum Runner
Hey guys I have a little question. From the leaks and rumours, I believe the Sony Yuga will be the best out of the 1080p devices... But we all want a Phone thats easy to root and which has a big community of developers. I never had a Sony device so I want to ask you: How was your experience rooting Sony devices like the Xperia T? Is it easy and does Sony support it?
Thanks
Alain
AlainDee said:
Hey guys I have a little question. From the leaks and rumours, I believe the Sony Yuga will be the best out of the 1080p devices... But we all want a Phone thats easy to root and which has a big community of developers. I never had a Sony device so I want to ask you: How was your experience rooting Sony devices like the Xperia T? Is it easy and does Sony support it?
Thanks
Alain
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Click to collapse
Sony in general is one of the most developer friendly OEM's out there. There devices never usually ship with an easily lockable bootloader (Except some Verizon devices like the Xperia Play in the past but even that has now been unlocked) that can be unlocked following these instructions as well as other methods. As far as rooting wise they are generally simple and straightforward to root thanks to some great work by people like Bin4ry. Also because of there openness pretty much all of the recent Sony devices have gotten CM10, AOKP, Paranoid Android, etc. in addition to some cool mods and excellent themes. Overall, Sony is very developer friendly and promotes unlocking, rooting and developing.
There are a few rooting methods for the 2012 Xperia range, just head to the devices forum and check them out. There are a few original development Developers for us Xperia owners so rooting has never been much of an issue apart from having to wait for the Devs/members to figure out rooting new FW.
Nice thanks! Well now I know what my next phone will be
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
It's clear with the topic. 2 handsets got almost identical hardware and yet there is much more variety in z3 section. Is it hard to port from z3 to z2?
Sorry for too little knowledge. But that really bothers me. I would like to see some variety of roms for our handsets...
furkey said:
It's clear with the topic. 2 handsets got almost identical hardware and yet there is much more variety in z3 section. Is it hard to port from z3 to z2?
Sorry for too little knowledge. But that really bothers me. I would like to see some variety of roms for our handsets...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Roms are ported from xperia z2 to xperia z3. See the below link,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-z2/development/rom-rxsw-z5-experience-t3249370
Its ported from xperia z3. Soon many will start porting!!
Its not too difficult. Only some works.