If Sony releases the Xperia ZL and no-one is around to take notice it, is the Xperia ZL released? In stealthy fashion, Sony has updated their online portal by taking pre-orders for the Xperia ZL. $759.99 is all it takes to own one and Sony will even throw in free shipping. All three colors (white, red, black) will be available on April 8th. If the price seems high, that’s because Sony is opting to offer their megaphone (though not to be confused with the Xperia Z which will be the true flagship) at an unlocked price. While a good option to have, it’s troubling that Sony continues to not parter with carriers which is so critical in the US. While other countries are used to paying full price for phones, the US consumer is used to subsidized and two year contracts which help bring phone prices between $99-$299.
Sony Mobile
Last week, Sony released a video showcasing the beauty of their latest slate, the Xperia Tablet Z. In the video, Sony went out of their way to highlight both the outer beauty of the Tablet Z and inner beauty by disassembling the tablet and having its innards laid out on the table. While quite the impressive feat, this lead to the logical question of, “can the Xperia Tablet Z be put back together?’ In short, absolutely yes. While iFixIt has complained that the iPad and Surface tablets are nearly impossible to take apart without destroying them, the Xperia Tablet Z is not only put back together, but it’s also powered on to show full functionality.
Th only disappointing part of the video is that Shawn doesn’t end the piece by saying “zim zim zala bim” and then mystically disappearing in a puff of smoke. The magical video awaits you, after the jump.
Owners of the Sony Xperia Tablet S should have late April to early May marked on their schedule. Via their official community page, Sony has announced that Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean is headed to their second generation Tablet S and is designed to address a few major bugs that have plagued users, including us. It remains unlikely that the first generation Tablet S will receive this latest update with the current build only being made available for the Xperia Tablet S. So what type of bugs will this address?
There is no doubt that the Sony Xperia Z, the latest Android flagship from Sony, is a power house. The latest smartphone from Sony features 2GB RAM, 13-megapixel camera, and a beautiful 5-inch front glass display. With a solid build, waterproof design, and powerful internals, what more could owners want? Apparently for them to actually work. On a few forums, including Sony’s own support forums, Xperia Z owners are complaining of a sudden death syndrome with their Xperia Zed inexplicably dying. The sudden death can be trigged in the middle of usage or with the phone sitting in standby mode. Luckily, there is a fix for some while we wait on an official fix from Sony. More on that, after the jump.
A great many of us are gadget lovers and cannot function properly without them. Some of us by choice (hence the reason this site was started) and others due to the benefits that they’ve been able to bring to our daily tasks. Even within the tech and geek community lies a divide – there are hardcores who don’t want to just know what the device does, but they want to know how it does it. What are in its internals and how are they assembled? Thanks to Sony, that group is getting something new to feast their eyes on; a proper tear down of the Sony Xperia Tablet Z.
With the Samsung Galaxy S4 announcement now behind us, the general consensus seems to point towards a dud with an extremely awkward press event. So if you’re ready for a new Android smartphone and or are ready to upgrade from your Galaxy S3, what are some alternatives? May we suggest the Sony Xperia Z which offers 5-inch display in a beautiful glass display, 13.1 megapixels, 4G LTE, and is NFC enabled. Seeing how we’ve been unable to get a review unit, we’ll let you browse over what the other sites are saying about Sony’s latest flagship phone.
Cnet UK: “The Sony Xperia Z combines looks, power and connectivity to supply one of the most impressive Android experiences we’ve seen in quite some time. The lack of Android 4.2 at launch is unfortunate and that 5-inch screen isn’t going to suit everyone, but there’s little room for complaint elsewhere. This is easily Sony’s best phone yet, and one of the best Android phones ever released.”
Stuff: “It’s no mean feat to take on the Galaxy S3 (and Nexus 4) and live to tell the tale but the Xperia Z has stolen our top spot away from Samsung in style. Not only does it make Samsung’s flagship look like a cheap toy with its tempered glass build and thoughtful design details, the Xperia Z also ups the ante with serious specs: a pin-sharp 5in 1080p screen, 4G, a quad-core Snapdragon brain and Jelly Bean 4.2 due just after launch. Sure, you may not feel the full benefit of those stonking figures right now, but you will have a lightning-fast, future-proof beast of a handset.”
Lots more reviews, after the jump.
The Sony Xperia Z is a big and beautiful Android smartphone from Sony. Unlike rivals Samsung, HTC, and, to an extent, LG, Sony’s smartphone efforts have born little fruit as the company was quite late to the party and since has struggled to offer phones for the time. Due to their lack of market share penetration, presence, and marketing, when Sony does release new products, they often go unnoticed, despite their quality.
Because of this, T-Mobile CZ is taking matters into their own hands to raise awareness for the phone to ensure proper presence for what they probably feel is a blockbuster phone. So how do you sell a beautiful and slick phone? With beautiful models of course.
Just yesterday, we reported that the Sony Xperia ZL is not only on track to come to the US, but will also be offered in the elusive and rumored red color. As a recap, the 5-inch display, 13.1 megapixels, 4G LTE, and NFC enabled device will be available in black, white, and red though Sony didn’t go as far as to give a specific timeframe, instead opting to go with the industry standard of ‘coming soon.’ Now, we’ve compiled a Sony Xperia ZL image gallery for your viewing pleasure. Just promise not to drool over the eye-popping red.
Very few companies are able to wield a reality distortion field and Sony is among them. While the company has at times tried to make large claims in the past like ‘next generation gaming doesn’t start till we say so‘ in response to not having released the PS3 ahead of the Xbox 360, it’s usually fallen flat on the promise. So it’s always humbling to see Sony give an honest assessment of its position and goals. Aiming high is always encouraged but so are market realities. To put things into perspective, Sony projecting to sell 34 million smartphones for its 2012 fiscal year, which ends on March 31st while Apple sold 55 million iPhones in the last quarter alone.
Even the Sony Xperia Z, the highly anticipated smartphone which sold a record 140,000 units during its first week in Japan, pales in comparison to the iPhone 5 which sold 5 million during its first weekend. The point of these figures however shouldn’t be that Sony will never reach those numbers, though it likely won’t. It should instead be that Sony doesn’t need to beat Apple, the number one smartphone maker and Samsung, then number 2, in order to be successful and it seems like thats exactly what Sony management is finally realizing.
For good reason, the Sony Xperia Z has enjoyed plenty of press since its debut at CES 2013. Featuring a massive 5-inch display, 13.1 megapixels, 4G LTE, and NFC technology, the hotly-anticipated phone has gone on to win plenty of awards and is off to a solid start for Sony Mobile in Japan, selling 140,00 units in its first week. The phone also marks one of the biggest expansions for Sony who plans to release the phone in an additional 60 countries in a week’s time. Till now, most people (Sony included) seemed to have forgotten about the other phone they announced, the Xperia ZL. Read about the phone’s fate and other details after the jump.
Only a few days ago, Sony Mobile announced plans to begin exploring different options other than a 100% reliance on Android by offering Firefox OS 2014. Being true to this initiative, Sony has now released a new video highlighting some of the UI of Firefox OS on the Xperia E. In fact, those who are eager to get their hands on the OS and have an Xperia E can download Firefox OS ROM. Want more development details? Than the Sony Developer Portable should be your next destination. That is, after you hit the jump and watch the Firefox OS video on the Xperia E.
Are you excited about the latest high end tablet from Sony, the Xperia Tablet Z? You know – the one sporting a 10.1-inch multi-touch screen with a 1,920 x 1,200 display, four built in speakers, and that’s PlayStation certified. Yea, we thought you were. Though not set to launch till May, Sony is doing everything they can to wet your appetite till its release. After the jump, an all new promo video from Sony awaits you, showing off the devices functionality and build quality.
Slowly but surely, Mozilla, the company responsible for Firefox has been building a new and open platform called Firefox OS. Built entirely using HTML5 and other open Web standards, Firefox OS, much like Android will be free for developers and carriers to tinker with. However, Mozilla is taking the strategy one step further by building on HTML5, which is what Chrome from Google is built upon.
Now, you can add Sony to the list of various OEMs and carriers looking to diversify past Android. In order to not be tied down to single provider, Sony Mobile has stated that starting in 2014, you expect to see Sony devices running Firefox OS. Sony commented:
As well as the great opportunity we have in 2013, our further collaboration around a possible device on the Firefox OS mobile platform will create the opportunity to reach new segments of the market, allowing us to provide an even wider choice of premium Sony device offerings for our customers.
Besides revealing details about the Xperia Tablet Z, Sony’s latest high end slate, Sony also had big news about the Xperia Z during their Mobile World Congress keynote. Taking to the stage, Sony CEO, Kaz Herai told journalists that the flagship Xperia Z will be released in 60 additional countries this week. This marks a significant expansion for Sony who has been criticized of slow expansions with prior model. To put things into perspective, the Xperia S and ion, revealed during CES 2012 didn’t ship to many countries till mid summer of that year. The fact that the Xperia Z has already been selling in some countries is impressive enough but to gain an additional 60 countries this week is near an Apple-like expansion rate. Just last week, we reported that Sony sold more than 140,000 Xperia Z units during its first week on sale in Japan.
Released last month in Japan, Sony has officially announced the Xperia Tablet Z for the rest of the globe at the Mobile World Congress. Set to live alongside of the Xperia Tablet S which comes in a 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB model, the Xperia Tablet Z will follow suit in your choice of 16GB or 32GB of internal storage. For those looking for more space, the new tablet also allows for up to 64GB of microSD for additional storage space.
That much storage space generally translates to media consumption and the Xperia Tablet Z has plenty to offer to media junkies. Sporting a 10.1-inch multi-touch screen with a 1,920 x 1,200 display, the Z also has four built in speakers, and is even PlayStation certified, making it fully compatible with PlayStation 4.
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