FXP Founder Alin Jerpelea Joins Sony Developer Program

If you own a Sony Xperia device, you’ve undoubtedly heard of the FreeXperia Project, or FXP. For the few who are unfamiliar, FXP is best known for its massive efforts to bring official CyanogenMod support to dozens of Sony Xperia devices ever since its start in 2010. Chances are that if you’ve heard of FXP, you’ve also heard of the project’s founder, XDA Senior Recognized Developer jerpelea (formerly username “FXP”). Something else that practically every Sony device owner is familiar with is the OEM’s cooperative attitude towards the development community. So what happens when you combine Sony’s positive attitude towards the development community and FXP’s talent at breathing new life into Xperia devices?

Two days ago, Sony officially announced that jerpelea had joined the Sony Developer Program. His role will be to help strengthen Sony’s work in open source, as well as its efforts to work with the development community. And in jerpelea’s own words, “I look forward to utilising my knowledge and experience to help Sony further drive open source initiatives.”

This obviously isn’t the first time a major manufacturer has picked up a high profile open source developer (remember Cyanogen’s brief stint with Samsung?). However, this is the first time we’re aware of where the developer’s role is so close to what they are known for. It’s great to see an OEM actively working with and hiring from the community. To get the whole story, head over to the Sony Developer World blog post.

[Many thanks to OEM Relations Manager jerdog, Recognized Developer Rizal Lovins, deveron3 and everyone else who sent this in!]

source: xdadevelopers