14 DAY TRIAL // Today, Sony Mobile officially announced the AOSP for Xperia Z project, which builds on the success of the similar initiative for the Xperia S, and which will be maintained by Johan Redestig and Björn Andersson, senior software engineers at Sony.
The project is aimed at developers and provides all those interested in the matter with the possibility to use and contribute to the software.
“This is a way for us to continue our commitment to support the open Android community. It is also a tool for us to facilitate and verify contributions to AOSP on the MSM8064 Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro platform,” Sony notes in a blog post.
Sony also announced that, in order for the AOSP on Xperia Z project to run, app builders would be provided with a series of binaries on Developer World. These binaries are, for example, hardware drivers, specifically designed for a certain chipset, Sony explains.
“Since some of the binaries are proprietary files provided by Qualcomm, you can download Xperia Z binaries after accepting an end-user license agreement that states how the files can be used and what limitations that exist,” the company continues.
“Remember that the software is not intended for everyday use, and it does not include some apps and services that are part of standard phone software. Build instructions can be found in the readme file in the AOSP for Xperia Z project on GitHub.”
For the time being, the software is not meant for everyday use, but many of the features packed inside it are already working. This includes the boot up SD-card, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, LED light, and sensors.
The modem and camera are running internally (as can be seen in the video embedded below), yet both of them require proprietary binaries that cannot be published at this time.
“If you are interested in making contributions, head over to the AOSP for Xperia Z project on GitHub. Make yourself familiar with the code and feel free to have a look at the issue list to see where you might be able to help out. All contributions are handled through the GitHub tool,” Sony explains.
