Sony Mobile didn’t have much to announce at CES 2016. In fact, despite leaks prior to the show of a pink Xperia Z5, Sony revealed the new handset color a week after CES which was quite odd. Now, the company has dated their MWC 2016 keynote date and time where we’ll hopefully get to see some new products from Sony.
Details after the jump.
The Sony FES Watch is something we haven’t really seen from any other electronic company. Fully digital yet lacking any ‘smart’ functionality. Completely electronic with 24 different faces and band screens yet it lasts for two years. As I’d previously written, the Sony FES Watch targets
the fashion-conscious consumer who wants something simple and elegant with just a bit of flare. To that point, Sony is launching the e-paper watch next month in Japan at MoMA Design Store on Omotesando and Isetan in Shinjuku. The last one is most notable because that’s where the Apple Watch was also launched in Japan.
Here is our preview from CES 2016.
The Sony Xperia C4 was to go straight to Android 6.0 Marshmallow but it seems like somebody has had a change of heart.
The Sony Xperia C4 and C4 Dual were expected to move straight from Android 5.0 Lollipop to Android 6.0 Marshmallow, skipping Android 5.1 in the process. However, out of the blue, Sony has pushed the Android 5.1 Lollipop update to the handset in the form of build number 27.2.A.0.155 for the Xperia C4 and build number 27.2.B.0.155 for the C4 Dual.
More after the jump.
Arriving in the US on February 7th, the Xperia Z5 (and Z5 Compact) are just around the corner. However, there is currently no carrier support lined up for the phones. Does this affect your purchase decision? Let us know in our poll after the jump.
This is quite the baffling decision. Less than a day after revealing the advent of the Xperia Z5 and Xperia Z5 Compact to the US, it’s being reported that neither model will feature fingerprint sensors. Taking a line from Apple’s playbook, the entire Z5 family provides a fingerprint sensor that’s uniquely built on the phone’s power button. That is – if you live outside of the US.
More details after the jump.
Christmas is coming a bit late for those of us in the US but we’ll take it regardless. Sony Mobile has officially announced the arrival of the flagship Xperia Z5 and Xperia Z5 Compact for the United States. Though having debuted months ago in Europe and Asia, Sony until now has had no presence in the US with their latest and quite possibly best received phones.
Pricing, arrival, and Xperia Z5 Premium details after the jump.
Leaked, teased, and now officially announced, the pink Xperia Z5 is the latest color variant offered by Sony on their flagship line. Besides the color change, the pink Xperia Z5 is the same smartphone you’ve always known.
As of February 2016 the family of Xperia Z5 smartphones will be gaining a new member in the form of a warm, sophisticated pink variant of Xperia Z5 designed to round out the options for prospective Xperia owners and provide customers with new ways of expressing their style.
The new variant uses the same frosted glass finish as the existing phones and combines this with a light dusky pink colour palette designed to provide a natural complement to the existing green, white and black options.
A few more tidbits and a lot more pictures after the jump.
Just before heading to CES, pictures leaked of what appeared to be the Sony Xperia Z5 in pink. Seeing how Sony in the past has launched pink and purple phones around the January/February time frame and the Xperia Z6 isn’t expected for at least another 6 months, it appeared a safe bet that we’d see the new color at announced at CES 2016.
Unfortunately for pink enthusiasts everywhere, no new Xperia Z5 in that color scheme was shown at the mega tech event. However, Sony has now taken to their Instagram feed to tease a series of pink photos that likely hint at the phone’s arrival. Best yet, whatever is set to be announced will take place tomorrow, meaning that a pink Xperia Z5 is likely right around the corner.
More pink photos for you, after the jump.
There might not have been a SmartWatch 4 announcement from Sony at CES 2016 but that doesn’t mean there weren’t any new watches on display. Arising from Sony’s crowdfunded projects, the Sony Wena Wrist watch is designed to fill the gap between smart and mechanical watches. Not fully mechanical – in the sense that there are health sensors and payment chips built in – but also not smart in that there is no LCD display with interactive content. Here’s a brief look.
By now, you’re all likely quite familiar with Sony’s Xperia Z5 family which consists of the Xperia Z5, Z5 Compact, and Z5 Premium. However depending on where you live, like those of us in the US, you might not be getting the Z5 series for some time, if ever.
Having had a chance to finally see Sony’s flagship family in person, I decided to film a quick overview.
Your prayers have been answered. Have you been clamoring for the Sony Xperia Z5 but couldn’t find it in your favorite color, pink? Well you’re in luck as the flagship smartphone is set to debut in pink sometime next month.
The new Pink Xperia Z5 is said to be an exclusive to Chunghwa Telecom in Taiwan, but there’s a good chance we could see this appear in other regions too. The new Pink Xperia Z5 will arrive just in time for Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day.
More talk and a few more pictures after the jump.
I usually prefer to talk about successor products even before the current iteration is released (please read with sarcasm). So seeing how the Sony Xperia Z5 family (pictured above) has been out for a few months now seems like an especially great time to see what the future can hold for the flagship series. We’ve already seen, thanks to a leak from T-Mobile, that Sony is looking to reduce their lineup in 2016 but if current rumors hold true, Sony will actually be adding one new model in the mix – the Xperia Z6 Lite which will
feature a 5-inch display and will fall between the Xperia Z6 Compact and the Xperia Z6
Besides the new display size, the phone is believed to be made out of new material with a metal rear panel.
The smartphone is also said to house the hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 SoC, formerly known as Snapdragon 618. The device is also expected to cost $385 (roughly Rs. 25,500) and hit the shelves in May next year.
This is where things fall apart for me a little when price point and release talk starts to pop up way in advance of a product’s arrival. Guessing the next processor is a much easier safer affair in Android world where most devices share similar components. So are the rumors true? Hard to say, but there are more details after the jump.
The holiday season is the most important part of the year for many companies and likely their busiest. Christmas alone tends to be the biggest day of the year for new smart devices as millions wake up to new gadgets under their trees. We’ve already seen Sony Mobile sales hit a 4-year low with the company accounting for less than 1% of mobile devices activated in 2014. Unfortunately for them, 2015 isn’t looking much better as Sony Mobile failed to rank in the top 5 device activations by manufacturers.
Microsoft’s Nokia lost share from 2014, dropping from 5.8% to 2%. Sony fell out of the top five manufacturers all together, while Xiaomi made the cut for the first time with 1.5% of all new activations during Christmas week. This is especially striking since Christmas is not the biggest gifting day of the year in China
For comparison, Sony came in fourth place in 2014 with 1.6% of activations and LG finished things off with 1.4%. After the jump, the popularity of different devices of size.
Though unconfirmed, all signs point to Android 6.0 Marshmallow gearing up for release on Xperia Z4 (aka Xperia Z3+) and Xperia Z5 series. Certified recently by the Wi-Fi Alliance in Japan, the update allows for Android 6.0 to make its way to the
Sony Xperia Z5 on NTT docomo (SO-01H), SoftBank (501SO) and au (SOV32) as well as the NTT docomo Xperia Z5 Premium (SO-03H). The latest Android version was also certified for the Xperia Z4 on NTT docomo (SO-03G), SoftBank (402SO) and au (SOV31).
So does this mean Android 6.0 is around the corner?
Compared to a few years ago, our phones have come a long way. Not only are they nearly as powerful as some computers, but they’re able to last a considerably longer time despite brighter and larger displays. Still, getting a phone to last more than a day with normal usage is nearly unheard of. Sony, who developed the first commercial Li-ion battery, is believed to be tackling this problem by
working on new types of batteries that could carry 40 percent more energy than lithium-ion counterparts.
Key to Sony’s next-gen batteries are sulfur-based electrodes. Lithium-sulfur cells are well known to have better capacities, but the sulfur degrades so rapidly in this environment that commercial, rechargeable batteries of this kind have been out of the question. Presumably, Sony’s solved or is close to solving this issue. More interesting, though, is that the company is also developing magnesium-sulfur batteries, removing lithium from the equation altogether. Magnesium is the significantly more abundant element, making for cheaper batteries that also last longer. They should be safer, too, since lithium-based batteries degenerate over time to the point of becoming a fire risk.
But I wouldn’t hold my breath on it.
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