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Showing posts with label sony. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sony. Show all posts
Screenshots allegedly show Sony Xperia Z4 Dual SIM UI
Several screenshots allegedly taken on an Xperia Z4 Dual give us a peek at the new UI coming from Sony and confirm that the flagship will have a dual-SIM version. One screenshot shows a Qualcomm MSM8994 chipset, aka Snapdragon 810, and Android 5.0.2.
The interface sticks very close to Material Design though Sony still made some modifications.
The Sony Xperia Z4 and Z4 dual are supposed to have a 5.2" 1080p or QHD screen, Snapdragon 810 chipset with 3GB of RAM, 21MP camera, waterproof body and stereo speakers. With such a concentration of leaks, we would be very surprised not to see the Xperia Z4 at the MWC in Barcelona (the Xperia Z4 Compact, Z4 Ultra and Z4 Tablet should also be unveiled sooner or later).
Xperia Z3 has its Lollipop update certified, may roll out soon
The Sony Xperia Z3 running Android 5.0 Lollipop has been certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance. The handset obviously already had been certified over there while running previous versions of the software - so this means we could see Lollipop rolling out to Xperia Z3 units worldwide soon.
You can see the certification notes in the screenshot below, which also reveals that the Xperia Z3 with Lollipop got the all clear just a couple of days ago.
A release of Android 5.0 for the Z3 in a short while would make sense especially as the Japanese company itself promised this would happen in February. We're now past the half point of this month, and Sony's competitors have been faster with getting Lollipop to their flagship devices, so the company really needs to act sooner, rather than later.
The good news is that, slow as it may be, Sony's Lollipop rollout is set to include the entire Z line of tablets and smartphones. So if you own one of those, be convinced that an update is in the works - it may just take a while for it to actually be released, as it turns out.
Sony Xperia E4 on pre-order in mainland Europe for €130
Last week the new Sony Xperia E4 went on pre-order in the UK, since then it has expanded to mainland Europe. It's still a bit difficult to find but we managed to find it in a few stores at €130, practically on par with the £100 pre-order price in the UK.
The shipping date is set for 2-3 weeks from now, but nothing more concrete than that.
The Xperia E4 has a 5" IPS screen with qHD resolution (220ppi) and will launch with Android 4.4 KitKat, though it's on the waiting list for 5.0 Lollipop. It's powered by a MediaTek chipset (quad Cortex-A7) with 1GB of RAM. It has a 5MP/1080p main camera and a 2MP/720p selfie camera.
And more importantly, it costs less than the Moto G (2014), which is already on Lollipop and has a sharper, 720p screen. No 1080p video capture though.
Anyway, there's still no sign of the Sony Xperia E4 Dual, so it's price is unknown.
VAIO announces two new Z series hybrid laptops: VAIO Z and VAIO Z Canvas
The VAIO PC brand, which became an independent company after Sony sold it off to a to Japanese investment fund last year, has announced two new Z series PCs: the VAIO Z and VAIO Z Canvas.
The VAIO Z features an Intel Core i7-5557U (3.1GHz) processor, a 13-inch display with a resolution of 2560×1440 pixels, and Intel’s Iris Graphics 6100 GPU. It comes with 8GB/16GB RAM and 256/512GB SSD options. Connectivity options include Bluetooth 4.0, HDMI, USB 3.0, as well as IEEE802.11 ac / a / b / g / n wireless support. The device is said to have around 15 hours of battery life.
Measuring 324.2×215.3×15.0 and weighing in at 1.34kg, the device can operate in various modes, including a multiflip mode that lets users switch between a tablet/slate, a mode where the screen faces away from the laptop, and of course, the normal (laptop) mode. The VAIO Z is priced at around $1,600, and will be up for preorder today.
On the other hand, the VAIO Z Canvas features a 12.1-inch display with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,704 pixels, a detachable keyboard, and a digitizer stylus, and is likely to have 1TB of storage. While details are scarce, the laptop may cost up to $1,800, and is expected to be launch in May this year.
Deal Alert : Sony SmartWatch 3 is now $50 cheaper at Verizon
Sony’s original SmartWatch 3 that comes with a silicone wristband has now become cheaper by a cool $50. That’s only true if you buy yours from Verizon, though. Sure, the carrier may not be the first retailer you think of when considering a wearable purchase, but right now it does have the best price for the SmartWatch 3.
You can grab one for just $199.99, which compares pretty favorably to the normal selling price of $249.99. You should know however that there’s no indication of whether this is a limited time deal or not.
So if the SmartWatch 3 seems interesting to you, perhaps you should take the plunge now that it’s available at a lower price. If this version of the watch isn’t right for you, then the stainless steel variation should soon cater to your needs.
The Sony SmartWatch 3 boasts a 1.6-inch 320×320 transflective LCD touchscreen, a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage, Bluetooth, NFC, Wi-Fi, GPS, and a few sensors: accelerometer, compass, gyro, and one for ambient light. It’s IP68 certified for water and dust resistance, and it runs Android Wear.
Sony Xperia E4 goes on pre-order in the UK at £100
The Sony Xperia E4 quietly sneacked onto the stage yesterday and the announcement was so quick we didn’t even get a launch date and a price. Clove UK has answered both of these questions by putting the new handset on pre-order.
It's priced at £100 and will be available in late March. Clove also cleared up the OS situation – the Xperia E4 will launch with Android 4.4.4 KitKat and get 5.0 Lollipop later. Note that the price is for the single-SIM version, there's another one with two SIM slots but there's no price for it yet.
Expansys is also accepting pre-orders but hasn’t listed a price or a launch date. We couldn’t find it in other stores for now. Three UK has a post about it, which just speculates on price but points to mid-February as the launch window.
Sony lets you win the new Xperia E4 in Facebook competition
Mere hours ago Sony took the wraps off the new Xperia E4, and now the company is giving you the chance to win one. All you have to do is participate in Sony’s special competition, which is taking place on its Facebook page.
You have to answer a maximum of seven questions. The first one is up now, and for each answer you get one ticket for the draw. To win you’ll need to have answered at least one question correctly. Sharing the contest with friends also looks set to bring
you some additional chances to win.
you some additional chances to win.
The next question will be available tomorrow, so it could be that you’ll get one new question each day for the next week. The contest may not be available worldwide, but if you can see its page, then you can participate (unless you’re from Turkey or Quebec, for whatever reason). If you’re lucky enough to win the Xperia E4, it will be shipped to you around one month after it officially launches in your country, whenever that may be.
Sony Xperia E4 and E4 Dual promo videos promise budget party phones
Sony quietly unveiled the Xperia E4 and E4 Dual – entry-level smartphones with a 5″ qHD screen, quad-core processor and a surprisingly good 5MP/1080p camera. The phones will launch with at least Android 4.4.4 KitKat though Sony’s web site claims 5.0 Lollipop.
I’ll leave the promo video (though one has been removed) to introduce the Xperia E4 couple in more detail.
An interesting new addition to Sony’s complement of camera features is Party Share – it will automatically collect and share photos from your party. It can even set the mood in a room by using Wi-Fi Direct so people can take the role of a DJ and share their music.
Sony Xperia Z4 visits GeekBench with its Snapdragon 810 chipset
The Xperia Z4 leaks keep mounting, the latest coming from GeekBench. The benchmark confirms a Snapdragon 810 chipset and Android 5.0.2 Lollipop, which is what previous rumors have claimed. The benchmark only found 3GB of RAM though, not 4GB as earlier leaks have suggested.
The Qualcomm MSM8994 chipset, aka Snapdragon 810, features four Cortex-A57 cores and four Cortex-A53 in a big.LITTLE configuration. The processor was only detected at 1.55GHz, which is the top speed of the A53 cores, the faster A57s go as high as 2GHz.
On the graphics side the new Adreno 430, succeeding the 420 in the Snapdragon 805. The new GPU is supposed to offer 30% better performance over the old design, the Cortex-A57 is similarly set to bring 30% more oomph than the A15.
Unfortunately, GeekBench is a CPU-centric benchmark and didn’t even list the screen resolution. It has been suggested that Sony will launch the Xperia Z4 with both a 1080p screen and a QHD one. There's nothing on the camera either, reportedly it will be a 21MP shooter, perhaps using the new IMX230 sensor.
The Sony Xperia Z4 has gotten certifications from the FCC and its Indonesian and Japanese counterparts. We've also seen several of its components leak, all suggesting the handset is close to ready. However, with no press conference at the MWC, chances are Sony won't launch it there and will hold its own event instead.
Sony Xperia E4 and E4 Dual quietly unveiled
Sony just announced the Xperia E4. It has a bigger screen than the Xperia E3, a similar a quad-core processor and 1GB RAM, plus a 5MP/1080p camera. It doesn’t have LTE though, what it does have is a dual-SIM version similar to the Xperia E3 and E1.
While it's not perfectly clear which phone is being replaced by the Xperia E4, but it will be Sony's first phone to launch with Android 5.0 Lollipop.
Update: in the promo video the OS version is listed as 4.4.4 KitKat. Hopefully Sony will get its story straight soon, but the earlier Android release looks more likely.
Sony Xperia E4
The phone is powered by a MediaTek MT6582 chipset with four 1.3GHz Cortex-A7 cores and a Mali-400MP2 GPU with 1GB of RAM.
Note: The official specs page still says Adreno 330, which is clearly wrong.
The main camera is a 5MP shooter with 1080p video, while the selfie camera is a 2MP/720p unit. The selfie camera is an improvement over the VGA snapper of the Xperia E3 and you get double the storage out of the box – 8GB. There's a microSD card slot, of course.
Xperia E4 lifestyle photos
For connectivity there's optional dual-SIM, 3G HSPA, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1. There's FM radio and Sony's usual assortment of audio-enhancing tech.
Since the Sony Xperia E4 and E4 Dual were announced without much noise we still don't know details like price and the launch time frame.
Note that these two are the E2003 and E2033, not the E2105/E2115 that leaked yesterday as the "Xperia E4."
Sony might not hold formal press conference at MWC 2015
MWC 2015 is just a few weeks away now and all eyes are on the major mobile players. Everybody seems to be preparing to bring their A material to the venue. Everybody with one notable exception as it appears. Despite imminent fan disappointment, Sony might just skip on formalities and not do a major press conference in Barcelona.
According to industry sources the Japanese tech giant will most likely keep a low profile this year and avoid the big stage and live streams of previous years. This is somewhat understandable considering that Sony might not have much new hardware to show at the venue.
Earlier this week another inside rumor hinted that the eagerly anticipated Xperia Z4 flagship will not be unveiled at MWC. Instead the company will rely on the Z3 with a brand new purple makeover along with a few new midrange offers.
Sony might not have a lot to brag at MWC, but it is still not going to miss the event. The company’s booth will be formally open on Monday March 2, as was hinted earlier and despite the absence of the Z4 the tech giant is sure to still have at least a few interesting things in store.
Renders of Sony phone probably show the Xperia E4
Renders of a new Xperia phone have leaked – thanks to a case manufacturer, of course – which suggests the device is pretty much ready for an appearance at the MWC in the first days of March. The E2105/E2115 model number matches with the Xperia E4 that leaked in December.
The specs also fall pretty close to the Xperia E1 II, which showed up on a phone retailer's web site. There was some uncertainty there about the screen size as the site lists both 4" and 5", though the given dimensions match the Xperia E1 exactly and that one just doesn’t have the room for a 5" screen.
Sony E2105/E2115, likely the Xperia E4
Whatever the official model name, the Sony Xperia E2105/E2115 should have a 5" screen with qHD resolution (540 x 960px), a quad-core processor courtesy of a MediaTek chipset, 1GB of RAM and 5GB of storage, plus a 5MP main camera and 1.9MP selfie camera. The phone ran Android 4.4 KitKat when it was previewed in December, months ahead of its official announcement.
Sony Xperia E1 II surfaces at an online retailer
Announced a year ago, the original Sony Xperia E1 is an entry level smartphone with a 4-inch screen.
Today, thanks to a tip by one of our readers, we spotted that the website of a Spanish retail chain shows the specs of the next iteration of the smartphone. Interestingly, it won't be called Xperia E2 or similar, but Xperia E1 II instead.
By the looks of it, the image listed on PhoneHouse.es is not the new Xperia E1 II, but rather the original model. Their specs page however describes a completely different device.
Regardless of what the slightly changed name may suggest, the phone's internals have been upgraded a lot.
The new Sony Xperia E1 II still has a 4-inch screen, but this time it's got a resolution of 540 x 960 pixels instead of 480 x 800px.
Then, the dual-core 1.2GHz processor has been upgraded to a quad-core 1.3GHz one (or 1.4GHz one depending on which part of the page you read).
The camera has also been upgraded to 5MP compared to 3MP of the original model. The front camera is 2MP.
There is 1GB RAM and 8GB on-board storage - both representing double jumps over the previous specs. The Xperia E1 II runs Android 4.4.
Unlike the internals, the physical dimensions of the Xperia E1 II as listed on the website are suspiciously identical to the one of the Xperia E1, so we would have to wait and see is they really won't be changed at all.
By the looks of it, the Xperia E1 II is bound to be announced at the MWC 2014, which will take place in the beginning of next month.
Sony SmartWatch 3 with a metal band goes on sale in the UK
Just as promised, the Sony SmartWatch 3 with a metal band starts selling in the UK from today.
Clove UK is the first store to offer the smartwatch. The price of the regular SmartWatch 3 is around the £180 ballpark, but its metal counterpart is slightly more expensive at. £ 215. Sony’s UK store as well asAmazon UK still haven’t listed pricing of the SmartWatch 3 with a metal band.
The smartwatch offers a 1.6″ transflective display with 320×320 pixel resolution. It’s waterproof with an IP68 rating and runs the latest version of Android Wear on a quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU and 512MB of RAM. In addition to Bluetooth 4.0, the connectivity suite is enhanced with NFC, too. The battery is 420 mAh and is rated to last 2 days with normal use.
Sony E2003/E2033 mid-ranger with 64-bit chipset uncovered
A new Sony mid-range phone is in the works, its existence given away by GFX Bench. The Sony E2003/E2033 looks like a successor to the Xperia E3 with a 4.6" qHD screen (540 x 960px) and a 64-bit MediaTek chipset.
The chipset is MT6752 with four Cortex-A53 cores (at 1.5GHz), coupled with 1GB of RAM and a Mali-T760 GPU. There's also around 5GB of user-available storage pointing to 8GB total. The phone runs Android 4.4.4 KitKat, surely with Sony's usual skin.
The Sony E2003/E2033 has s 5MP main camera that shoots 1080p video and a 2MP front-facing camera that goes up to the unusual video resolution of 1,600 x 1,200px. This is a single-SIM device (at least these two versions are) and the chipset supports LTE though that's not something that the benchmark can detect.
Sony has a MWC event for March 2 and while we are not sure if it will feature the Xperia Z4, this E2003/E2033 mid-ranger might show up to fill in the ranks.
The whole thing sounds almost exactly like the Xperia E4, though that one has a bigger screen (5") and a 32-bit processor (based on Cortex-A7). That one has a model number of E2105 and waspreviewed in December, months before it's official unveiling.
Lollipop update for Xperia Z2 and Z3 coming soon
Sony has regularly been criticized for its support policies, leaving behind mid-range models and taking its time with flagship updates. The entire Xperia Z lineup has been promised the Lollipop update, though, and the company is slowly delivering.
Vodafone Australia has confirmed that the Android 5.0 update for the Xperia Z3 and Z2 is nearing, with the carrier awaiting the software for testing later this month. That would likely push the actual release to March for Vodafone branded devices. Stock firmware Xperias should receive the update somewhat earlier.
The HTC One (M8) update, mentioned in the Vodafone document, is no headline news to us, as we've already witnessed it seeding in India and Europe among other countries. Still, Aussie folks should expect it anytime soon, as it's already in the testing phase.
Android 5.0 has finally worked its way to the OS distribution chart this month, and with more manufacturers catching up, we should see it climb up the ranks in following releases of the chart.
Sony Xperia Z4 to sport slim bezels and new speaker design
The Sony Xperia Z4 is one of the less likely announcements expected to be seen at the MWC a few weeks from now, judging by the lack of tangible info on the device. A recent leak on Chinese social network Weibo, however, might force us to rethink that position.
A couple of front panels have appeared in live images revealing interesting facts about the upcoming flagship, and suggesting its nearing launch. Revolutionary changes are out of the question obviously, but a few design tweaks are observed.
Most noticeably, the front camera and ambient light/proximity sensors have swapped positions. The bezels appear marginally slimmer than the ones on the previous generation, but if Sony's design language is to be followed, the outer frame will add a few more millimeters to the footprint.
In a move away from the Xperia Z3 and back to the Xperia Z2 the speakers have been repositioned behind thin slits at the edges of the panel. HTC One (M9) was recently revealed to sport a similar design.
No additional info has surfaced on the hardware, but the prevailing top-end specsheet of the year includes a Snapdragon 810 SoC, and 4GB of RAM. Screen size will be anywhere between 5.2 and 5.5 inches and perhaps both FullHD and QHD resolutions will be available.
Either way, the wait for the Mobile World Congress just got even more exciting.
Sony expects smaller loss in 2014, mobile division slowing down
Sony revealed that it expects the annual loss for its financial year 2014 (which ends on March 31) to be smaller than expected by analysts and the revenue to be bigger. The buoys are the PlayStation and the image sensor divisions, while the Xperia smartphone business is still struggling.
Smartphone sales in China are slowing down and Sony cut its forecast for the full-year sales from 41 million smartphones to 39.2 million. This means the company expects to sell just 8 million phones in the three months ending in March, that would make it the lowest quarter of the financial year (it went 9.4M – 9.9M – 11.9M).
Despite smaller unit sales, the division will return a small profit of JPY 9.3 billion ($79 million), better than expected. Still, for the full 2014 Sony expects the mobile division to lose JPY 215 billion ($1.83 billion), up from JPY 204 billion ($1.74 billion) predicted in October. That's on an estimated revenue of JPY 1,320 billion ($11.3 billion).
Sony had already cut 1,000 jobs but plans further cuts – 2,100 by March 2016. Kazuo Hirai, CEO of Sony, will announce a new business strategy on February 18, but has given no official details (some are already expecting the worst).
The game division is expected to finish the quarter with JPY 1,380 billion ($11.8 billion) in revenue making JPY 40 billion in operating income ($340 million). The Devices division (maker of image sensors) will be the other big earner with JPY 100 billion ($852 million) in expected operating profit on JPY 950 billion ($8 billion) in revenue.
The consolidated revenue for 2014 is JPY 8,000 billion ($68 billion) with a net loss of JPY 5 billion ($42 million).
These are predicted numbers, Sony will delay the release of the actual numbers (including the results for the final quarter of the financial year) because of the hack of Sony Pictures.
Sony's MWC conference could be held on March 2
With MWC just a month away preparations are well underway in the mobile world for the biggest mobile venue of the year. Major players are all expected to hit hard with anticipated flagships such as theSamsung Galaxy S6 and HTC One (M9). Sony will undoubtedly also be present in Barcelona and reliable sources point towards March 2 as the date for the conference.
Naturally fans are eager to hear more about the Japanese company's next high-end device, presumably the Xperia Z4, but it seems that the handset might not make an appearance at the event. Information on the Sony flagship has been scarce at best, which only further proves that the device is still a long way off.
We do have some general idea of the specs sheet on the Xperia Z4, which should be rocking a Snapdragon 810 SoC, a 5.5-inch display and as much as 4GB of RAM. Other rumors point towards two resolution options, including Full HD and QHD panels for the future smartphone. Hopefully Sony will change its plans and decide to push the Xperia Z4 along faster to meet the MWC deadline, which seems feasible enough, considering the phone recently got certified by Japanese wireless authority.
If plans don’t' take a sharp turn Sony will continue to pitch the Xperia Z3 as its flagship. This might be the reason why the manufacturer recently announced a purple variant of the device, just to keep things fresh.
The Japanese manufacturer has traditionally kept to an end-of-March release scheme for its premium models, but insider sources now point to a summer release for the next generation flagship. This is surely associated to some extent with Sony's continuing struggle to keep up with competition in the face of Apple and Samsung. According to Reuters, the company intends to further shrink its smartphone business by an additional 30% by cutting 1000 jobs by March 2016. There has even been talk of selling the phone business, but for now we can keep hoping that the tech giant still has a bright future on the mobile front and will continue its popular Xperia line.
Xperia Z4 gets certified in Indonesia, may be out soon
Sony's upcoming Xperia Z4 smartphone may have just received the necessary certification from Postel, the Indonesian authority that deals with such things.
Three Sony phone models have been given the all clear by Postel, one of which could in fact be the Xperia Z4. The Indonesian authority has only given us the devices' model numbers, but we can make some assumptions based on them.
So let's start with the E6533. Last year's Xperia Z2 had the model number D65xx, while the Xperia Z3was D66xx. The letter used has to do with the year of release - so "E" is right on track for 2015, "D" was for last year, and "C" for 2013. If Sony keeps its naming scheme for the model numbers intact, and there's no reason why it shouldn't, then the E6533 could very well be the Xperia Z4.
Joining it in the Japanese company's portfolio at some point during this year will be the E5333, as well as the E2353. The latter will obviously be the lowest-end of them all, and could actually serve as the successor to the Xperia M2 (which is the D23xx).
The E5333 looks like a midranger by its model number, though exactly which handset it's supposed to replace in Sony's roster isn't clear. The closest older device to its model number is the Xperia T2 Ultra phablet, but that doesn't necessarily mean that this one will have a big screen too.
As for the Z4, if it has started its certification tour already then it should become official sooner, rather than later.
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