Sony

Oppo’s latest flagship smartphones are packing some serious specifications. Internally, the Find 7/Find 7a are not much different than Samsung’s Galaxy S5 or the HTC One (M8), but Oppo has made an effort to beat the pricing of both devices. YouTube creator Danny Winget has put together a camera test demonstrating the exceptional UHD video recording capabilities of the Find 7/Find 7a’s camera. The results look incredible and it’s actually hard to believe that this footage came straight from a smartphone.

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Chipworks managed to get its hands on a Galaxy S5 ahead of Samsung’s new flagship handset officially going on sale on 11th April, and has been taking a look inside. The model it obtained was a Korean one, thanks to several carriers releasing it early. We’ve also noted third-party suppliers on Amazon advertising it as available in 1-2 days.

While Chipworks has only just begun its analysis, it does provide a sneak peek of the innards, together with a steer on three of the elements it plans to examine in detail: the fingerprint sensor, heart-rate chip and camera sensor.

The company says that the fingerprint sensor is split into two parts, a touch sensor embedded in the home button, and a second part connected to the touchscreen. It isn’t yet clear whether the screen simply detects a touch and switches on the sensor, or whether data from the touchscreen forms part of the identification process.

 
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Sony announced today on its mobile blog that the rollout of Android 4.4 KitKat for a few of its new devices has officially kicked off. That means that Xperia Z Ultra, Xperia Z1, and Xperia Z1 Compact owners can expect the upgrade soon, although we’ve yet to get reports that the update is available. As always, the timeframe for the update hitting your device will vary by market and carrier. 
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The Sony Xperia Z2 waterproof phone with 4K video recording

Sony announced four new products at Mobile World Congress: two new Xperia phones, a matching tablet and a fitness band.

The Xperia Z2, the replacement for its Z1 waterproof phone, adds 4K video recording, SteadyShot image-stabilisation, digital noise-cancelling stereo mics and what the company describes as its ‘brightest and most vivid’ LED display. We first got wind of the 4K video capabilities last month via a screengrab of the camera app … 
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y42eQJmGbxk]

A lot of clues in the above ad, but obviously nothing is guaranteed. The waterproof angle would be a major blow to Sony’s Z line which is the only major phone than can get dunked. Samsung’s S4 Active is water resistant, but not very rugged. I’ll be waiting for the Google Play edition, personally.

It wasn’t so long ago that buying a camera capable of 4K video recording would set you back well into five figures; today, you can do it on a smartphone. Acer got there first with the Liquid S2, followed by Samsung with the Galaxy Note III. If leaked software obtained by ExperiaBlog is indeed intended for the Xperia D6503 Sirius – codename for Sony’s successor to the Xperia Z1 – Sony will soon be joining the list.

A screengrab of the camera app shows a 4K video button whose description reads ‘Record video in 4K ultra high definition.’ Other camera features shown are slow-motion video (rather strangely labelled ‘Timeshift video’), background defocus (emulating the shallow depth of field of a large-sensor DSLR) and various add-on effects … 
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Samsung’s entry into the world of wearable tech may not have been terribly successful, with dreadful reviews and reportedly poor sales, but the company seems undeterred, promising more wearables this year, reports re/code.

“2014 is actually going to be a really big year,” said Dennis Miloseski, head of studio for Samsung Design America. “We are planning some products around the launch of our flagship devices.”

Samsung’s US design team does appear aware that the company needs to work a lot harder on the aesthetics as well as the functionality … 
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Earlier tonight during its CES 2014 press conference, Sony took the wraps off of two new Xperia smartphones for the United States market. First off, the company introduced the Xperia Z1 Compact. Sony pointed out that this is no the “mini” version of its Xperia Z flagship, as it thinks that mini phones are just “watered down.” According to the company, this device has “no compromises.”

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As Samsung beats back rumors of poor Galaxy Gear sales, it made me wonder what buyers really want to see in their ideal smartwatch? The world may be waiting to see what Apple unveils in the wearables category, but that hasn’t stopped companies like Sony, Qualcomm, and Pebble from trying to capture just a small sliver of this up and coming market.

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Google, Samsung, and several other Android handset manufacturers are being sued by Rockstar, a consortium backed by Android competitors Microsoft and Apple, over alleged infringement of several search patents acquired by Rockstar from Nortel in 2011. Last year HTC reached a ten-year agreement with Apple as part of a patent infringement settlement. That deal would result in both companies licensing existing and future patents from one another, but it seems that agreement does not apply in this case.

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Photo: digitaltrends.com

Strong smartphone sales were about the only good news for Sony investors in today’s earnings release, mobile sales in the last quarter up 39.3 percent year-on-year, led by its flagship Xperia Z.

Cameras, TVs, gaming and movie divisions all lost money, leading the company to slash its annual profit forecast by 40 percent to $300M … 
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The Sony TV device spotted in an FCC filing last month was briefly unveiled by Sony in a blog post that has since been deleted. Engadget spotted the post for the Sony Bravia Smart Stick before it was pulled.

It’s an MHL dongle that runs both Google TV and Sony’s own BRAVIA apps. The features are just like Google TV boxes Sony has released before, with a remote (that the FCC filings showed is at least similar to the previous ones) that has QWERTY and voice search support. Additionally, its “picture-and-picture” feature lets users see a browser in one window and TV in another … 
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blUhgOJXetM

Jordan’s got the details on the liveblog, but here’s the video of the new Sony Xperia Z1. It’ll be launching globally this month, but no pricing was announced during today’s keynote. The phone is listed as “Coming Soon” on Sony’s website.

Official press release and photos from Sony:

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A leaked image earlier this month hinted that Sony had plans to introduce its rumored Xperia i1, codenamed “Honami,” at an event scheduled for September 4th during IFA in Berlin. Today, Xperiablog points us to another set of photos posted on Digi-Wo showing what is reportedly the Honami handset in white. You get a sense of its size in some comparison shots next to the iPhone 5. The device is rumored to include a 5-inch 1080p display, 20-megapixel rear camera, and Snapdragon 800 processor as one of Sony’s new flagship devices.

Nothing is official at this point, but we’ll likely be finding out more early next month at Sony’s event. Perhaps we’ll even get a look at the rumored Carl Zeiss lens camera attachment. 
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Last month a report from often reliable sources claimed that Sony was readying a new Carl Zeiss camera lens with a 20.2 MP sensor that would attach onto a smartphone and connect over WiFi or NFC. Today, SonyAlphaRumors is back with more details on the new products and this time has high-quality images of the upcoming “Lens-camera” accessory with what appear to be leaked press shots.

What you see on these images are the DSC-QX10 and DSC-QX100 lenses. Actually these are not normal lenses! They have built-in sensor, Bionz processor, Wifi/NFC wireless connection and SD card slot. These lenses have no LCD screen and no usual camera controls. You will be able to control them through your smart phone or tablet.

The report claims that Sony will be launching two models “soon”, one with a RX100MII sensor and Zeiss lens, and another that features a “10xzoom lens with 1/2,3 inch 18 megapixel CMOS sensor” (pictured in the image with the f/3,3-5.9 lens). It also says the camera lens will be available for both Android and iOS devices. 

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New images that have made their way to Chinese-language forum Digi-Wo (via XperiaBlog) show what could be an upcoming Sony smartphone to be unveiled during IFA next month in Berlin. All of the big smartphone makers will be showing off their latest devices during the IFA trade show next month– including Samsung— so it’s not much of a surprise that Sony too will be hosting a press event on September 4th during the press days leading up to the show. Some are speculating that this could very well be our first official glimpse at the Xperia i1, codenamed “Honami”, that’s expected to arrive with a 5-inch display, 20-megapixel rear camera, and Snapdragon 800 processor as one of Sony’s new flagship devices. There’s not much to go on yet, but we’ll be in Berlin next month to bring you all the official details live from the Sony event.