Since the release of its first smartphone, Sony was always
pinning special UI on the top of Android operating system that's running.
However, different from other vendors, Sony's UI didn't change the appearance
drastically. However, some people still prefer to see the 'pure' appearance of
Android as being brought by Nexus device.
Previously, we had seen a number of smartphones from Samsung
and HTC that brought 'pure' Android OS with a special label "Google Play
Edition". Apparently Sony also wants to take a similar step, but rather
cooperate with Google directly; Sony prefers to take its own initiative.
Recently Sony introduces a new project called Sony's Concept for Android, which is actually a new operating system with Android 5.1 Lollipop
as a reference. Now it looks almost identical to the Android Lollipop OS that's
run by Nexus device, with a number of features and additional applications from
Sony, such as cameras and Xperia Lounge.
However, Sony has just started this project in Sweden. About
five hundreds of Xperia Z3 users in that country will get a chance to try out
the Sony's Concept for Android.
In addition to bring a new look that's almost similar to
Stock Android, the project of Sony’s Concept for Android is actually also used to
gather input from users related to what they like and dislike. This testing
will take place from July 27 until September 13, 2015.
The goal is Sony hopes that it could launch the latest
version of Android faster than before. As we know, in addition to Nexus users,
the users of other devices usually have to wait quite a while before getting a
new OS update.