Przedstawiciel PLAY LUBLIN

Play we współpracy z agencją Grandes Kochonos przygotował nową kampanię, reklamującą wyjątkową ofertę telewizji Cyfry+, idealną na długie, jesienne wieczory. Teraz wybierając abonament w Play Klient otrzymuje pakiet CANAL+ Start HD z 55 kanałami, w tym aż z 16 kanałami HD w prezencie przez cały okres trwania umowy. Każdy kto skorzysta z oferty, będzie miał [...]

Trwa właśnie konferencja prasowa, na której pokazujemy wspólną ofertę Play i Cyfry+. Zobaczcie prezentację

Trwa właśnie konferencja prasowa, na której pokazujemy wspólną ofertę Play i Cyfry+. Zobaczcie prezentację

Hi everyone!

Ant’s been keeping you posted on all the Xperia news here from Berlin at IFA 2012, but it’s not just Xperia smartphones and our new Xperia tablet S that have been turning heads on the Sony stand.

Booth-goers have also been treated to a look at some cool new additions to our Smart Accessories range, and we thought we would keep you guys in the loop with a quick update on what they’ve been getting to grips with…

New additions to the SmartTag family

Our NFC SmartTag family is expecting a few new additions! The original tags prescribed tasks and actions to your smartphone based around “Where Am I?”, the new SmartTags will have a new theme “What am I doing?”.

With new colours and a theme inspired by Play (green), Watch (purple), Listen (orange) and Active (grey), the SmartTags also offer new functionality.

Stay tuned for a feature post on how to make the most of the new SmartTags in the group.

Wireless Speaker SRS-BTV5 with NFC pairing and connecting

This little portable speaker features intuitive one-touch NFC pairing and connecting, allowing you to simply touch the NFC area on the speaker with your smartphone and it will start playing your favourite tracks, or even share a call with others in the room.

Wireless Speaker is small, portable and beautifully round (almost like an apple!), and because it’s so tiny you can take it with you wherever you go!

TV Dock comes to Xperia™ T and Xperia™ TX

Get that big screen experience from your Xperia T and Xperia TX with the new TV dock, which charges your phone while allowing you to flick through film clips, online TV, music and pictures on your big screen.

Discover Smart Connect

Smart Connect is an Android 4.0 app in your smartphone that lets you decide what happens when you connect your smartphone to another device. You can choose between single and multiple actions. If it is not pre-installed on your Xperia™ smartphone, you will find it at Google Play. Smart Connect is a renamed and significantly upgraded version of an Android connectivity app previously called LiveWare™ manager.

Smart connect reacts to any device connected to your Android smartphone via Bluetooth™, NFC, micro USB or the audio input. For some accessories, there are pre-configured actions. Make Smart accessories smarter. Discover Smart Connect.

We’ll have more news and updates from the Sony booth throughout the IFA 2012 show, so stay tuned!

Let us know what you’d like to see more of in the comments below…

Yesterday, Sony announced the Smart Connect app, which improves the way your smartphone connects and controls accessories or other devices. Smart Connect (which replaces LiveWare™ Manager) will be available on Google Play starting in mid September, but we thought we would give you developers an introduction to the user experience in advance.  Just like the LiveWare™ manager, Smart Connect lets you set up actions to perform when your Android™ smartphone connects to an accessory or another device. In addition, Smart Connect also lets you condition Events depending on what time it is, which opens possibilities for a new, smooth experience. Read on for more details!

Compared to the LiveWare™ Manager, there are also several new actions to choose from when you as a user define your Events. For example, you can now choose to post a message to your Facebook Timeline, have incoming text messages read to you or turn on the Wi-Fi hotspot functionality.

Screenshot showing an example of the dialogue that will appear first time a device or accessory is connected after installing Smart Connect. In the image, a charger has been connected at night time.

Customise your experience depending on device and time
You can define your own experiences by creating Events in Smart Connect. This means you can set up your smartphone to trigger an Event when connecting a special accessory (or another device) at a special time, with up to 10 actions per Event. So, for example, if you create a new Event called “Music & Office” in Smart Connect, you can set the WALKMAN™ player to start between 7:00 – 9:00 together with your headset while you are commuting to work. Then between office hours, connecting the same headset can trigger the conference call app to start.

There are a great variety of actions to choose from when you define your experiences. For example, you could start an application, adjust the sound volume, post to your Facebook timeline, and turn the wireless connectivity on or off.

Screenshot showing examples of actions in Smart Connect.

Besides creating your own Events, as a user you can also choose to use predefined Events, enabling smooth user experiences in everyday life. Smart Connect comes with a number of predefined Events for accessories such as Xperia™ SmartTags, headphones, chargers, and headsets.

Screenshot showing examples of Events in Smart Connect.

App developers, use Smart Connect to increase the visibility of your app
From Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), Smart Connect will also be the app to configure settings and extensions for Sony Smart Accessories™ like the SmartWatch and Smart Wireless Headset pro. In addition, Smart Connect will help users find new apps for their Smart Accessories™. This means that as an app developer, you can gain visibility for your app by making an extension for one of our Smart Accessories™. Check out the Smart Extension SDK page for more information. Smart Connect replaces the LiveWare manager from Android 4.0 and onwards.

Download Smart Connect from Google Play from mid September
Our coming smartphones starting with the Xperia V will have Smart Connect pre-installed. But we also support earlier Xperia™ smartphones, as well as Android smartphones of other brands. The devices need to run Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwhich) or above. In those cases, you simply download the app from Google Play. Note that some services and features are market dependent.

So would you like to try Smart Connect? What actions would you use it for? Drop us a comment below and let us know. Smart Connect will be available on Google Play starting mid September, so remember to check it out!

More information

• Read about Smart Connect and new Smart Accessories at the Product blog.
• Watch the Smart Connect video on YouTube.
• Check out the Smart Extension SDK.
• Have a look at the Xperia SmartTags.

Hey guys!

Just checking in – this morning we’ve been doing the rounds at the Sony booth, and having a play with Sony’s Media applications: WALKMAN®, Album and Movies – seeing how they look and function across multiple Sony devices.

Sony’s media applications mix the best of Sony’s signature and current technologies to connect you to a host of sweet entertainment services, including Music Unlimited! As a key part of the UI on Xperia smartphones, tablets and VAIO PCs, they provide connected and consistent laughs, smiles, giggles and joy…

Here’s a little more about them..

• With the “WALKMAN®” application, you can play, recommend, discover and experience tunes in soul-moving, body-grooving clarity. Pick album art colour, and enjoy enhanced sounds through Sony’s audio genius; manual equaliser and Sony’s ClearAudio mode. Facebook integration makes it easy to can share, recommend and find out what your friends are listening to… before debating and deciding on what to share via NFC one touch or DNLA
• Sort, browse and share your favourite photos and videos with the “Album” application. The super-intuitive interface let’s you pinch, grab and zoom to enjoy your snaps in crystal-clear clarity (using your Xperia smartphone’s mobile BRAVIA engine, naturally). Fancy critiquing your snap-happy friends? Easy – see their Facebook photos, and add your thoughts instantly with likes and comments. As you’d expect, you can also throw photos via one-touch to friends, or to a big screen TV instantly and wirelessly.
• Watch your favourite movies and TV shows with the “Movies” application, in the highest quality audio and video. For the budding film buffs amongst us, you can discover extra info using Gracenote’s rich database integration. And.. that’s right, you can also hook up to a TV via HDMI or DNLA to enjoy your own cinematography or the latest blockbuster on the big screen straight from your Xperia device!

Don’t take my word for it, have a gander at the shot’s I snapped earlier below for a first glimpse at Sony’s media applications on our new Xperia smartphones and Xperia tablet S.

Like what you see?

Over and out.

Inspired by one of Jay’s excellent Lumiappaday videos, this week’s App News is brought to you by AppVegas. I’m spinning the wheel and taking a look at where the journey takes me.

So, having downloaded AppVegas, I was all set to go. Faced by the slot machine-inspired spinning wheels, I can see the following options on the third reel – ‘Paid, Trial, Free’ – and with the ability to lock down an option, I selected free, and got ready to spin (shake).

Gym PocketGuide

Cost: Free in the Marketplace
Availability: Everywhere
In a nutshell: Simple guide to your gym program

First step of the journey is this handy little guide to your gym life. Not much more than a diary listing what exercises to do when, it’s well designed and seems to do exactly what it promises. I say seems because it is Day One, and I haven’t had a chance to test the results yet. Choose whether you are male or female and the aim of your gym visits (muscle building or fat loss), then follow the instructions. It has a clear, clean design and seems to be straightforward to follow.

A good start…time to spin the wheel again…

Basketball

Cost: Free in the Marketplace
Availability: Everywhere
In a nutshell: Side show silliness

I won’t spend much time discussing this one. That game you play at the midway/side show where you shoot as many hoops as you can in a limited amount of time, and the machine spits tickets out? ‘Basketball’ is that. There is the chance to ‘level up’ as you pass the score set and the basket moves further away. But that’s about it as far as I could tell. Fun for a while and a definite time-filler. Get past Level 3 if you can!

Let’s call that not quite a miss, but a rimshot. Spinning for the final time…

Math Challenge

Cost: Free in the Marketplace
Availability: Everywhere
In a nutshell: Brain training

With Junior, Senior and Genius settings, Math Challenge is a test of all things addition, subtraction and…you get the picture. You can practice for a while with easier questions to get used to the numerical input, then challenge the world in a variety of challenges. But be careful, incorrect answers incur time penalties (fat fingers beware!). This was kind of addictive, trying both to beat my own time in practice (who knew I knew so many square roots?), and then taking on the world. 1+1 thumbs up for this one.

So ends my AppVegas journey. It was fun, I discovered a couple of new things. I will say that the app isn’t perfect (I haven’t found a way to bypass foreign language apps, for example), but it’s a very neat way to discover something new if you have no ideas of your own. Have you used AppVegas? How do you find new apps? Let me know in the comments, or send me a tweet.

[Image credits: Gym PocketGuide - WMPowerUser forum

Basketball - Windows Gracias

Math Challenge - 1800 Pocket PC]

eBuddy XMS is a web and mobile messaging service that works across many different platforms. This means that no matter what phone you or your friends own, you can send and receive messages for free using an Internet connection.

eBuddy itself isn’t a new app, but over at the Nokia Beta Labs you can download eBuddy XMS for practically any Nokia device; Nokia Asha, Nokia Anna and Belle and Series 60 devices. Include the fact that it’s also available for the Nokia N9 and Nokia Lumia shows the versatility of this messaging app. In total, eBuddy processes over 17 billion messages every month with 30 million unique monthly users.

With this app loaded onto your phone, you’ll be able to send text-based messages, as well as photos, to other eBuddy XMS friends. If you’ve got lots of friends on the service, you can send messages to large numbers of people at the same time. And, if you’re into using emoticons, eBuddy has loads for you to use; there’s one for every occasion.

Download the free eBuddy XMS from the Nokia Beta Labs today and get your friends to do it, too. If you’d like to give feedback to the Nokia Beta Labs team regarding this app, they’re always keen to hear what you have to say, so please do so.

For those who are lamenting the end of summer, there’s one group who are just getting revved up. Those who love American football are filled with excitement, as the start of NFL season is about to kick off.

Regardless of your favorite team, there’s another group that is super excited; Fantasy Football players who love the thrill of the draft, building their teams and bragging to friends throughout the season.

For those unfamiliar, Fantasy Football is a virtual competition where individuals – aka team general managers – build virtual teams of football players and compete against one another each week. During the season, you start with the draft and go on to trade, add/drop players and change rosters as the season marches on.

Windows Phone Exclusive to Lumia
Today, we’re proud to announce that the best place for fantasy – ESPN Fantasy Football – is now available for Nokia Lumia.

The app is exclusive within the Windows Phone platform to the Nokia Lumia and brings the power of ESPN Fantasy Football to owners, making it possible to manage and track their teams’ performance all from the comfort of their trusted Nokia Lumia phone.

On the Windows Phone exclusive Lumia app, team owners can easily manage their multiple teams and leagues, plus add, drop and trade players or make waiver claims, all from your Lumia phone. Of course, you can also follow your teams on game day with real-time FantasyCast scores and news.

ESPN Fantasy Football is the perfect mobile extension of the website that fantasy footballers have known and loved for years.

Bring in the experts

Going beyond team management, fantasy footballers can view news, video highlights and even watch analysis from ESPN fantasy experts, to make sure you have the knowledge to manage your team with an experts’ eye.

ESPN Fantasy Football is exclusive within the Windows Phone platform to Nokia Lumia and can be found in the Nokia Collection inside Marketplace.

Important notice: there might be a publishing delay (1-2 days) on Windows Phone Marketplace. Just wait a bit until the Windows Phone Marketplace page updates. Thanks for your patience.

Photo credit: minds-eye

When Neil Armstrong died on Saturday the world lost one of humanity’s genuine heroes. It wasn’t just that he was the first man to ever step on the moon, or that he did so in a spaceship that had less computing power than your smartphone. What really made Neil Armstrong so special was that despite his legendary status, he never let fame go to his head. Perhaps unsurprising in a man, who when asked about his moon walk, said, “I didn’t feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.” As a tribute to him and his life, we’ve unearthed ten rare photos of him doing what he loved best, being a flyer.