Will Sony release API's now that the NX is "obsolete"?

[jpolz]

Seems to me that they have nothing to hide anymore seeing as how they're flagship model, the UX, has gone the way of standard palm API's, plus they already gave up on the CF issue with the NX73/80. I don't even really care abou the camera/mic API's, I just want decent sound!

[squeff]

Doubtful. In fact, they are even less likely. Sony has a very limited budget and staff for these things and tend to have their people focussed on what's NEXT.

[jpolz]

What would staff and budget have to do with it? This is information they already have documented and lying around, all they have to do is release it.

[tprime76]

I think you are missing the point. Why would Sony release the APIs of a now obsolete model? Breathe new life into the NX series? They want you to drool over the new models and decide that your old NX70 is not good enough and move on to the latest and greatest. I agree that it would be the right thing to do, and it would also be what the consumer wants, but what in Sony's past has indicated that they want to allow you to upgrade your PDA?

Relase APIs = no additional revenue
Don't release = additional revenue

I wish they would, god knows that I would like for developers to be able to write apps that fully leverage what my NX70 is capable of.

[cbulock]

I agree, even though they could release the API's, it would in no way benefit them, so I doubt it will ever happen.

[CliePet]

There is a relatively new developer forum, where Sony staff moderate and answer questions/requests.

http://www.cliedeveloper.com
[you must register to access the forums]

BTW: They are under staffed, but are driven by number of requests. [eg: they want 200 requests for a Camera API before they will consider creating one for us]

[CliePet]

>... I don't even really care abou the camera/mic API's, I just want decent sound!

That's on the top of my list as well (well above camera)

If you are trying to play back 'decent sound' in your own program, you can (with some major limitations) using the undocumented API.
This approach does not work for MP3 players since streaming playback is not supported.

[squeff]

Originally posted by CliePet
There is a relatively new developer forum, where Sony staff moderate and answer questions/requests.

http://www.cliedeveloper.com
[you must register to access the forums]

BTW: They are under staffed, but are driven by number of requests. [eg: they want 200 requests for a Camera API before they will consider creating one for us]

CliePet, you read my mind.  I was just about to mention this.

It's not all that new -- it has recently undergone a name change (used to PDADEV or something like that).

There are some things to realize about the forum, however:

* There is really only ONE person, CLIE-MJC, from Sony (who appears to refer to the company as Clie and not Sony) who responds.

* As CliePet mentions, they are understaffed.  I've seen some responses from CLIE-MJC which state that the staff and funding are very small for them, so there is often little they can do.

* CLIE-MJC has indicated, on several occasions, that (s)he is not privy to any business decisions.  Which means that a "I want a sound API" request will hit upon deaf ears.  I get the impression that if someone from Sony ever asked CLIE-MJC what (s)he'd do with $X in order to support developers, (s)he might say "release the Sound API" or "develop a WiFi sniffer" or "release the camera API."  However, until someone asks, your postings will only get responses along the lines of "yes, I agree that a Sound API would be nice.  But there were decisions made that I'm not privy to and the decision is that we're not releasing it."

* This is a developer's forum.  While it might help the have thousands of postings there in order to make a point to Sony, I fear that the forum will get pulled if there are too many non-developers.  So, be careful about what you post.

So, bottom line is that you're not likely to get much out of the one person who staffs the developer's forum.  On the other hand, you will learn a lot about why Sony is ignoring its customers from an insider who isn't afraid to say "management made a stupid decision... but there is nothing I can do about it."