Sony Xperia Z Kernel Source Released Prior to Worldwide Device Launch

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One of the most highly-anticipated devices debuted at CES 2013 is the Sony Xperia Z. With a 5″ 1080p screen with a ~441 ppi, sitting atop a quad-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm S4 Pro with 2 gigs RAM and a 13.1 MP camera, there’s no doubt that anticipation is warranted. With the device recently released in Japan, and a worldwide release date is speculated to be in the next few weeks, what is this? Kernel source already?

This year, Sony Mobile has already demonstrated with their commitment to supporting the open source developer community. The most recent previous example is their kernel source code release for their alpha Jelly Bean build for the Xperia T (massive GPL-compliance anyone?). Now, they’ve released the kernel source code for the Xperia Z, which hasn’t even gone on sale around the world yet. Sure Sony isn’t the first OEM to do this, but they have a track record of releasing complete, compilable, and working kernel source (cough, cough Samsung). They also have shown consistency at releasing source immediately (sneeze, HTC). And to top it off, they just plain release the source (ahem, Rockchip, Huawei, and countless others) like the GPLv2 requires you to.

So if you are in the mood for compiling a kernel for a new, top-of-the-line device even though you don’t have it in front of you, head on over to Sony Developer’s Open Source Downloads site. Obviously, you won’t be able to test out the source, but it can provide a good indication of what they have planned for a device that is slated to be the big one for Sony Mobile in 2013.