In a blog post this morning, Sony announced that it has partnered with Twitch to let select Xperia smartphones broadcast live gameplay to the popular game broadcasting service. While Twitch has offered Android users the ability to watch live broadcasts for some time, this will be the first time you’ll be able to broadcast your mobile gameplay live to Twitch watchers.
Following news of intense mobile unit layoffs and more than underwhelming 2014 results, rumors began spreading that Sony Mobile had plans to essentially shutter its smartphone business. These were proven false for the time being when the company launched its Xperia Z4 handset (and the subsequent Xperia Z4v for Verizon stateside), but now Sony Mobile CEO Hiroki Totoki has come out (via Arabian Business) to further reiterate that it has no plans to leave the smartphone business…
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After first introducing new 4K TVs using Android TV back in April, Sony today announced its new X900C model is now available for pre-order.
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Google only ever makes its Android developer preview versions available on its own Nexus devices – these devices are designed partly with developer modification and testing in mind, after all. But Sony has gone ahead and done the necessary legwork to make the preview version of Android M work on those of its devices in its Open Device program, and even has a handy guide on how to install it.
Ensuring a device can run the M Developer preview without too many issues, device manufacturers have to include in the software support (drivers) for all the hardware – the chipset, connectivity radios, etc. Over on Sony’s Open Device page is a list of devices in the program along with two downloads to get M running, the AOSP (Android Open Source Project) – Android M itself – as well as software to get the hardware working properly on M. Only a couple of its smartphones and tablets are currently supported right now.
When the Sony Xperia Z4 was announced earlier this year, we weren’t sure when—if ever—it would be coming to the United States. Now, as has been announced this morning by Verizon, it looks like the Japanese company is bringing the device to North America by way of the Big Red. As we noted before, the device definitely isn’t a drastic departure from what we know of as the Xperia Z3. But the Z4v brings some improvements and features that the Z4 doesn’t have…
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Sony’s mid-range, IP68-certified dust and water resistant smartphone has started showing up on store shelves in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, but those of us in the US have been mostly in the dark – until today, however.
The phone is being sold on Amazon through a reseller, but fulfilled by Amazon, for $349 unlocked in black with 8GB of onboard storage (no microSD card included). The LTE bands this phone can connect to are supported on all the major US carriers, so bringing it to your favorite shouldn’t be a problem.
You might want to get a microSD card to go along with it, however, as the M4 Aqua out of the box only has 1.26GB of free storage. The phone is otherwise packing a solid punch for the price with a 5.0″ 720 x 1280 pixel-resolution screen, a 1GHz octa-core Snapdragon 610 processor, 13MP rear shooter, and 2GB of RAM.
Three new phones in Sony’s already large Xperia lineup are now shipping and hitting store shelves. XperiaBlog reports that its begun seeing both the water-resistant Xperia M4 Aqua and its dual-SIM variant the M4 Aqua dual showing up on store shelves in retailers across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East while Sony Mobile has confirmed the “The World’s Best Selfie Smartphone,” the C4, has begun shipping to the Asia-Pacific region.
The M4 Aqua, pictured below, is offered in white, black, and coral color options and has an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance. It’s a fairly mid-range phone featuring a 5.0″ 720 x 1280 pixel-resolution screen, a 1GHz octa-core Snapdragon 610 processor, and 2GB of RAM.
The Xperia C4, meanwhile, is a more powerful phone – Sony’s first with an octa-core processor – that is all about selfies, and even has its own PROselfie® registered trademark. What makes the C4 good for taking selfies is that the front-facing camera has a 28mm wide-angle lens, 5MP Sony Exmor R mobile sensor (Sony says the rear camera is good too, though), and front-facing LED flash. Sony says that in a test against the competition in 6 different picture-taking scenarios (low-light, outdoor, etc), the C4 came out on top, and has posted a full report on the results. There’s a dual-SIM variant of the C4 shipping as well, and the phone will be available in white, black, or mint color schemes. Sony says the rollout will reach other regions “within the coming weeks.”
While Sony has yet to officially announce a second generation SmartBand fitness tracker, it briefly released a companion Android app this evening for the device before quickly taking it down. The app, no longer available in the Play Store, was simply titled SmartBand 2 and gave a handful of features we can expect to find in Sony’s upcoming wearable (via Xperia Blog).
The Galaxy S6 is undeniably one of the most powerful handheld computers ever created (and many of the other Android flagships this year fall into the same category). Samsung’s device packs the best chipset the South Korean company has made yet, the octo-core Exynos 7420, along with 3 GB of RAM, bringing processing power that supersedes the capabilities of desktop computers from not many years ago.
But just how powerful is the Galaxy S6? As you can see, it would take the power of five PlayStation 2s to match it, but keep reading for a more detailed comparison, pitting the handset against smartwatches and supercomputers alike. This infographic makes many other interesting comparisons, my favorite being the almost identical processing power between the original Pebble smartwatch and the Nintendo 64…
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Sony has today announced a refresh of its Xperia C line with the introduction of the Xperia C4, featuring a Full HD display and a “best in class” 5-megapixel front camera. I’m not the target audience for a selfie phone, but there’s definitely some kind of target audience out there somewhere that buys these things…
Sony is rolling out a new firmware update for Xperia Z2 and Z3 devices, with a number of improvements and bug fixes for Android 5.0 Lollipop. The update covers the Xperia Z3, Xperia Z3 Compact, Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact, Xperia Z2 and Xperia Z2 Tablet.
Sony has brought back the ‘close all apps’ button in the activity menu, enabled lock-screen notifications that work on all devices, ensured the LED light remains available in all sound modes and made a number of other bug fixes.
Sony first rolled out Lollipop to the Z3 last month.
Sony today has taken the wraps off of a handful of new products that will play nicely with Android devices. First off, the company has announced that its 4k Ultra HD televisions with support for Android TV and Google Cast will begin shipping in May. The TVs feature Sony’s X1 processor which lends itself to improved color, brightness, and upscaling. The TVs also feature the X-Reality PRO Picture Engine, which also contributes to improving those factors.
The Xperia Z4 smartphone isn’t exactly a secret, but now Sony has come out to officially announce the device in Japan. It’s basically the smartphone version of the Xperia Z4 tablet that was announced in March, and like that device, it doesn’t seem to be much of a visual overhaul compared to its predecessor. It does pack some pretty hefty upgrades on the inside, though, including an upgraded SoC and front-facing camera…
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We first saw renders of the Xperia Z4 early last month, and now a new image has popped up on the Internet via @onleaks showing the same device in a different color. We previously saw an all-white phone with what appeared to be aluminum bezels, but now we have our eyes on the black variant of Sony’s upcoming flagship.
<a href="http://NewGeekGuide.com/2015/03/16/xperia-z4/">Xperia Z4 renders</a>
Two pieces of Android news for Sony fans today including believed specs on upcoming hardware and official word on software updates for current smartphones and tablets.
First up is what could be hardware specs for the upcoming Sony Xperia Z4 smartphone. We saw renders of what could be the Xperia Z4 earlier this month, and now bench results capture what we could expect to see inside Sony’s next flagship…
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Amazon accidentally revealed earlier this week that this would be happening today, but we now have proof that the slip was legit: the Nexus Player has now launched on the Google Store in the UK for £79. A couple of new Android Wear accessories have also landed in the store today though, including a Sony SmartWatch 3 watch band and a standalone charger for the Asus ZenWatch.
In case you didn’t catch it, Steve Hemmerstoffer of the well-known French site Nowhereelse.fr has started his own Twitter account specifically dedicated to leaks: @onleaks. He’s been really cranking them out lately, and recently showed us some purported press renders of the LG G4. He has a relatively decent track record, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see some of these things turn out to be legitimate…
Today, he has come out to show us a render of what he claims is Sony’s upcoming Xperia Z4 smartphone:
Looking at the visual appearance of the software, it lines up pretty well with what can be found on the Xperia Z4 tablet that Sony launched earlier this month. The design of the clock, as well as the icons below (Video, Album, etc.) are all identical to their tablet counterparts—and they’re arranged similarly as well. The design of the device itself is notably unexciting, however, and it’s not much of a departure from its predecessor. (But that seems to be a common thread this year.)
Update: Hemmerstoffer has posted some more renders…
We told you this morning that Sony is finally launching Android Lollipop on the company’s 2014 flagship, the Xperia Z3.
Sony has announced that it is now rolling out the Android 5.0 Lollipop update to its 2014 flagship Xperia Z3 smartphone and its Xperia Z3 Compact little brother:
We’re starting our Android 5.0, Lollipop upgrade from today for Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z3 Compact.
You’ll see the upgrade hit first devices in the Nordics and Baltics, continuing to further markets, for more Xperia Z Series products, starting in around two weeks time* – we’ll share the latest here, as it happens.
After blending Google’s first Lollipop release with our Sony software, some of the goodies include;
- Fresh, streamlined looks – based on Google’s material design, but retaining our minimalistic approach to interface and application design
- New look notifications and lock screen – with fully customizable settings, so you only get the information you really need
- Multi user profiles and guest mode – making it easy for family and friends to use your device, or the creation of dual environments for work and play…
- Android for Work – not only are business-ready Xperia smartphones and tablets unique devices for work – with waterproof form factors, great battery life and productivity features – they will now also be part of the Android for Work ecosystem
- Better storage control and customisation – with the option to easily move applications from internal memory to SD card – giving you more control over your content, particularly useful for devices with slightly less space
More than four months after the initial release of Android Lollipop to Nexus devices, some OEMs are still just now managing to push Lollipop to the masses. It’s no wonder why the Android Lollipop adoption rate is still barely above 3%.
Sony this morning announced their latest entry into the tablet market with a super-slim device called the Xperia Z4 Tablet, as well as an update to the mid-range Xperia M smartphone series, the Xperia M4. The former claims to be the world’s slimmest 10-inch tablet, packs a 2K-resolution display, and has the Snapdragon 810 (the chip in many of this year’s flagship smartphones) built inside. The Xperia M4 is a “no compromises” smartphone that packs waterproofing with some decent spec bumps.
Sony’s heads-up display competitor to Google Glass, SmartEyeglass, is now available for pre-order by developers and enterprise customers in the United Kingdom and Germany. The head-mounted wearable was first shown to the world in January of 2014, and now, just about a year later, Sony is finally ready to start shipping a “Developer Edition” of the device. A wider full sale of the device in many countries is slated to begin in March.
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The stainless steel version of Sony’s SmartWatch 3 will go on sale around the world “from this week,”says Sony in a blog post.
The new model has the same innards as the original silicon-cased version launched last September, with the same 1.6-inch 320×320 display, 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm processor and 512MB of RAM. The steel model will also retain the same IP68-standard waterproofing, making it safe even against complete immersion in water for up to 30 minutes …
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Sony has quietly introduced to the world this morning a new low-end smartphone dubbed the Xperia E4. Touting a “high-quality yet affordable design,” the phone sports a 5-inch IPS display, a humble 1 GB of RAM, a 1.3 GHz Quad-core processor, a 5-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front camera, and—what might make this cheaper phone attractive to some—two day battery life.
Sadly, this phone isn’t going to sport LTE connectivity. What it will have, though, is a dual-SIM version. According to the specs pages on Sony’s website, the phone will weigh 144 grams, packs a display with a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels, and the phone will be the first from the company to launch with Android 5.0. As for that two day battery life I mentioned—it’s going to be brought by a 2300 mAh battery.
While the company has launched an entire splash page for the new device(s), Sony has yet to mention any timeframe for release or pricing details.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phmu_Vra_bw
Sony, after announcing last month that it was cutting 1,000 jobs from its mobile unit, has today revealed that it is cutting yet another 1,100 employees from its Mobile Communications business. Sony says that these cuts will trim the mobile unit down to 5,000 employees by March 2016. That’s a 28 percent cut to the department (via FierceWireless).
Sony Hong Kong has today unveiled a purple variation of its flagship Xperia Z3 smartphone. It’s officially called the Xperia Z3 Purple Diamond Edition and it packs the standard black front with a purple backside. On top of the changes in its physical appearance, the new Z3 variant also ships with some content from Disney’s Frozen pre-loaded. The phone is going to launch at some point before the end of the month in Hong Kong at the price of HK$ 4,998 ($645). There’s no word yet on when or if the handset will be making it to other countries.
Here’s a gallery of shots from ePrice:
