Sony Xperia Z2 Media Apps and Live Wallpapers Now Available Online

One of the high-end smartphones that users out there will be able to purchase in the coming months is the Sony Xperia Z2, which went official on Monday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

The mobile phone arrives on the market with a 5.2-inch 1920 x 1080 pixels screen, complemented by a 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon MSM8974AB processor, and with a 20.7-megapixel camera on the back. At the same time, the handset was announced with the Android 4.4.2 KitKat operating system loaded on top, as well as with various customizations coming from Sony Mobile themselves, including updated applications. Among these, we can count the Sony Album app, Movies, Walkman, and Video Unlimited, all of which have been extracted from the device and are now available for download for interested users. According to XperiaGuide, the Album app is available as version 5.4.A.0.22, Movies as 6.1.A.0.16 / 6.1.A.0.4, Walkman at 8.1.A.0.6, and Video Unlimited as version 10.0.A.0.3. Compared to the applications that have been included in the latest Android 4.3 Jelly Bean release from Sony, only the Movies and Video Unlimited applications appear to have received major updates in KitKat.

We assume that the updated software will be delivered to users as part of the Android 4.4.2 updates that will arrive on the latest Xperia devices out there as well, though some will certainly want to get a taste of them before that happens. One thing that should be noted here is that users might need to root their smartphones in order to install the leaked applications. In addition to these apps, the Xperia Z2 Live wallpaper was also brought to the web, so as to enable users to further personalize their devices with it. The live wallpaper is said to be compatible with devices running under Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean and higher, though it will also require root in order to be installed, it seems. It comes with 6 color moving transitions, as can be seen in the screenshots below.

On top of that, you can also download the official Xperia Z2 lock screen wallpapers, also extracted from the Android 4.4.2 build destined for this device (from a final unit, not a prototype, it seems). They feature a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels, which is lower than the resolution of home screen wallpapers for the device (2160 x 1920 pixels). Owners of handsets in the Xperia Z family should have no issues when it comes to downloading and installing these wallpapers.

Sony Xperia Z2 live wallpapers
Image credits to XperiaGuide

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BlackBerry Says BBM May Arrive on Asha Smartphones

BlackBerry has recently announced that its most treasured mass market service BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) will be available on Windows Phone devices. Moreover, the Canadian company has confirmed that BBM will also come on Nokia X smartphones, which will soon be available on the market.

In fact, Nokia X can already be purchased in select markets, while the other two handsets in the series, Nokia X+ and Nokia XL will go on sale in early Q2. You may be wondering why BlackBerry announced that its BBM application would be available on Nokia X family, given the fact that these smartphones are powered by Android operating system. Well, it appears that some Android applications need some tweaking before they can be installed on Nokia X devices. This is probably the reason BlackBerry and Nokia have been working together to make BBM available on the X family as well. But what if BBM were available on Asha smartphones as well? The question has recently received a partial answer from David Proulx, BlackBerry’s senior director of BBM.

When asked by the folks over at Nokia Conversation whether BlackBerry would be willing to bring its instant messaging service on Asha phone, Prolux said: “We want BBM to be as broadly available as possible so in this context, I wouldn’t rule anything out, especially considering the great partnership we have forged with Nokia this week.” This is not a confirmation that BBM will arrive on Asha phones, but rather an acceptance of the idea that anything is possible in such a competitive market. For the moment, the chances that BBM will be available on Asha phones mostly depend on the partnership between Nokia and BlackBerry. As long as the companies continue to team up on various endeavors and benefit from each other’s work, we don’t see why BBM on Asha would not be a viable project.

The only thing that might stand in the way is Nokia’s recent acquisition by Microsoft, which will probably have some influence on the former’s partnership with BlackBerry. However, we’re not sure whether this would have a positive or negative influence on the Nokia / BlackBerry current partnership. Given the fact that BlackBerry has already some experience in working with Microsoft, since they are bringing BBM on Windows Phone, we believe that Nokia’s partnership with the Canadian company won’t end abruptly the moment the acquisition process is complete. Asha users should expect more surprises from Nokia and BBM might be one of them. Watch this space for more details on the matter.

BBM logo
Image credits to BlackBerry

David Proulx, BlackBerry’s senior director of BBM
Image credits to Nokia Conversations

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