I never quite realized this but we hadn’t heard about the fate of the Xperia XZ in Japan till now. We had all correctly assumed that it would arrive at some point but when and to which carriers has been a bit of a mystery. In fact ironically, despite the US being one of the lowest selling countries for Sony, the Xperia XZ has already been released here. But as they say, good things come to those who wait and that’s certainly true for Xperia fans in Japan.
It’s been teased, unofficially delayed and teased again but Android 6.0 Marshmallow is finally here for the Sony Xperia Z5 family. Specifically, the Sony Xperia Z5, Xperia Z5 Compact, and Z5 Premium running on NTT DoCoMo in Japan are receiving Android 6.0 Marshmallow (firmware 32.1.F.0.43).
More details after the jump, including screenshots.
As of now, the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact is available in Japan. According to Sony, NTT docomo will be the exclusive carrier of the Xperia Z5 Compact and the Xperia Z5 Premium. The latter of the two phones, however, won’t be launching till later this year. The Z5 Compact however is now available for purchase.
Info pertaining to Pricing and color options can be found after the jump.
The launch of any device, especially a flagship unit like the Sony Xperia Z4, is the culmination of months of planning, if not years. Building up to its release and for some time to follow, you can expect a certain kind of fanfare like television spots, promotional billboards, celebrity endorsements, and of course a full social media push. None of this is cheap as it tends to cost a company in the millions but the hope is always that with an extravagant launch comes some extravagant sales.
The Sony Xperia Z4 is no different where it launched in Japan last week to the exact scenario as I just described and just as expected, if not hoped for, the unit landed on top of the charts as the number 1 and number 2 smartphones in Japan under carriers NTT DoCoMo and au (KDDI). What followed, however, is likely the exact opposite of what Sony had planned or hoped for.
Alongside carrying the flagship Xperia Z4, NT DoCoMo will also carry the Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet. While definitely designed with entertainment in mind, seeing how you’ll be getting a 10.1-inch IPS (2560 x 1600) 2k display that offers 17-hours of video playback, with an 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chip (with four Cortex-A57 cores clocked at 2.0GHz and four Cortex-A53 cores working at 1.5GHz), the Xperia Z4 Tablet strangely might also be a great device for those with a lot of work in mind.
That’s because, beyond the power and fantastic battery life the tablet offers, Sony is also debuting a docking Bluetooth keyboard (BKB50) that has a hinge mechanism which allows the Xperia Z4 Tablet to easily dock. Once connected, the screen can tilt up to 130 degrees, simulating the same functionality you’d get from a laptop.
Sony has been quite busy in their home country, where they’ve revealed the arrival of the Xperia Z4 and the newly announced Xperia A4 for carrier NTT DoCoMo. Much like the Xperia Z4, the Xperia A4 will also arrive in June but with some fun color options which include blue, pink, white, and black, which can be seen above.
As for the phone itself, it should give you a bit of deja vu as it’s basically a retooled Xperia Z3 Compact. More details on the Sony Xperia A4 after the jump.
Since its Japan-only debut, we’ve been waiting to hear on exactly which carrier(s) will support the flagship Sony Xperia Z4. Now NTT DoCoMo, the Japanese giant, has revealed a summer release for the new phone. As a recap, the Xperia Z4 features
All of this is wrapped in a 6.9-mm-thick, 144g metal-and-glass body structure with an all new 5-megapixel front-facing camera.
With the Xperia Z3 safely headed to US carrier T-Mobile and Verizon, Sony is now focusing on its home turf of Japan. Matching the US with two carriers, the Sony Xperia Z3 today launches on KDDI and NTT DoCoMo, the countries two largest carriers. Come November, Softbank, the nations other mega carrier will also begin to offer the new flagship smartphone. Unlike international models, the Xperia Z3’s offered in Japan will offer 32GB internal storage versus 16GB.
Many regular readers of this site and those generally interested in Sony can tell you that, while the company has faced many problems in the last decade, they’ve continued to churn out a steady flow of quality products. Extremely apparent with their PlayStation brand, Sony tends to release fine products and follow them through with some of the worst marketing campaigns in the world or, generally, none.
While it’s hard to tell if the following is due to a good marketing effort by Sony or general interest from consumers, the Sony Xperia Z has managed to sell 140,000 units in its first week in Japan. The Xperia Z had high praise during CES 2013 and has generally been treated well by journalists. NTT DoCoMo is the current provider of the Android smartphone who has called the launch:
fairly encouraging start
Maybe this is why Sony Mobile’s Chief Marketing Officer has finally stepped down.
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