We have seen several Sony branded devices being supported under the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). The Xperia S was supported back in 2012 and a more recent addition was the Xperia Z smartphone. As of today, Sony has announced AOSP support for the Xperia Tablet Z. Similar to those other offerings from Sony, this latest basically means that the Xperia Tablet Z software will be open and available for developers.
Take note of the word developers though because this is not going to be a build for the average end user. In fact, Sony has made a point to mention the “purpose of this project is not to make stable software suited for daily use.” In other words, that seems to be another way of saying that not everything will be working.
For example, some of the proprietary pieces will likely not be supported. Sony hasn’t specified exactly what is, and what isn’t working however in the past the unsupported items have included the modem and camera. Again, the release of this software goes to the developers and from here, Sony is looking for contributions. The project has a home on Github, which is listed as sonyxperiadev / device-sony-sgp321.
Aside from the launching of the AOSP, the Xperia Tablet Z recently came available for pre-order for those in the US market. The tablet is priced from $499.99, which is for the 16GB model. That model is available only in black, however the 32GB model is available in two colors — black and white. The 32GB Xperia Tablet Z is $599.99.
As of now the tablet is expected to begin shipping on May 24, 2013. A quick recap of the specs shows a device that will be running Jelly Bean and launching with a 10.1-inch Full HD Reality Display, quad-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2GB of RAM, NFC and HDMI. The Xperia Tablet Z is also water and dust-resistant and measures in with a thickness of just 0.27-inches. Those interested in the tablet may also benefit from our previous hands-on coverage.
SOURCE: Sony
