The Members Forum

It's no secret that Sony has been in the news a lot lately. From the PSN downtime, with the identity theft issue that comes with it, to the numerous court cases launched to try and quell the PS3 hacking Scene.

It may come as a surprise to many, then, that Sony's mobile smartphone division has taken an almost polar-opposite approach - they're actively encouraging developers to create, modify and install customised Linux kernels into their latest lineup of phones, including the Xperia Play, the device that was once known as "The Playstation Phone".

When Sony originally released their Xperia line of Android phones, many people were disappointed at how locked down the devices were. Many people consider Android's flexibility one of its best features, yet it's difficult if not impossible to install a customized OS if the phone's bootloader is locked down.

This was particularly noticeable on Sony's phones as they were slow to roll out newer Android OS versions, leaving many users on Android 1.6 while different manufacturers happily rolled out 2.1 and even 2.2. Many users were annoyed at the lack of updates, but also at the inability to install an unofficial Android ROM.

Sony took a lot of this criticism on board and announced that their 2011 range of phones, such as the Xperia Arc and the Xperia Play, would have the ability to have their bootloaders unlocked. Before the phones were even in stores, Sony launched a dedicated site for unlocking your phone.

Neowin has the details HERE!