by XB on 17th January 2019
in News
Sony Mobile has been retrenching from a number of smartphone markets over the last couple of years, in an effort to save costs, as it battles relevancy in a cutthroat industry, with fast-moving competitors. It is clear that the main focus of Sony’s smartphone endeavours are now Japan, Europe and China/Taiwan, at the expense of most other regions. Sony might still be selling their Xperia smartphones in places like the United States, but not with the same push as seen in the above regions. [read more…]
Sony Mobile is today rolling out a new firmware update for the Xperia XZ3 and the whole Xperia XZ2 family (XZ2, XZ2 Compact and XZ2 Premium) adding the 1 January 2019 Android security patches. The OTA update size is 151.5MB, and moves the build number from 52.0.A.3.126 to version 52.0.A.3.163. If you’ve downloaded the new update, let us know your impressions in the comments below. [read more…]
Sony Mobile is rolling out a small firmware update for the Xperia XZs, which moves the firmware number from 41.3.A.2.213 to build 41.3.A.2.220. Very little new is noticed in the new update, apart from the inclusion of 1 January 2019 Android security patches.
Again, much like the last update for this handset, there is no similar update for the Xperia XZ and X Performance, which had been running on the same software track. If you’ve updated, please let us know your impressions below. [read more…]
by XB on 15th January 2019
in News
Sony Mobile has started to release invites for the MWC press conference in Barcelona. Sony’s event will take place on Monday 25 February 2019 at 8.30am CET. Sony will be livestreaming the event, with details at the following link.
The image attached to the invite doesn’t give much away. Could we be looking at a side-profile of its upcoming flagship? Are we seeing hints about colour? We’d love to hear your thoughts on what Sony is teasing at MWC – let us know in the comments below. [read more…]
Sony Mobile has unusually released a very minor update for the Xperia XZ1 and XZ1 Compact handsets in some regions, moving the build number from 47.2.A.4.41 to version 47.2.A.4.45. The firmware remains with 1 December 2018 Android security patches, so it is likely that Sony added some other small bug fixes for the update. Strangely, the same update is not available for the Xperia XZ Premium, which normally follows the same build tree.If you have updated let us know your impressions in the comments below. [read more…]
Sony Mobile may be dropping its ‘Compact’ range of Xperia smartphones according to a report from Digital Trends. The bombshell comes from an interview with Don Mesa, Sony Mobile’s Vice President of Marketing, citing that consumers want bigger, rather than smaller displays. Here’s what he had to say:
“We stuck with Compact for a very long time, because of the ease of use. There’s always room for different sizes, but people want a lot more surface area for their content now,” said Mesa. [read more…]
by XB on 7th January 2019
in News
Sony will be holding its 2019 CES press conference at 5pm PST (8pm EST, 1am GMT, 2am CET) later today. Sony will reveal some of its latest products across its entire product range, and hopefully that will include some new Xperia smartphones. There is a possibility we will see updates to its mid-range devices, and we may hear more on the company’s 5G plans. The live stream is available to watch below – let us know what you will be looking forward to seeing. [read more…]
We’ve already seen speculation that Sony is looking to use a 21:9 display ratio for some of its 2019 smartphones. Sony may move from the 2:1 displays in its 2018 flagship devices, to an even taller, skinnier 21:9 display for the 2019 flagships.
Twitter leaker @Universeice says he has managed to get hold of a tempered screen of what he dubs as the Xperia XZ4. He says it will be around 15.2cm in length – so as tall as the Xperia XZ2 – but skinnier. He also produced a short video showing what watching video content on such a widescreen display will be like. You can check it out below. Are you interested in a phone with these kind of dimensions? Let us know in the comments below. [read more…]
Sony’s imaging division has developed new 3D camera sensors, and is currently in talks with a number of potential customers including Apple and Samsung. These new cameras use ToF (time of flight) technology which uses laser pulses and measures the time taken for these pulses to bounce back. This is more accurate compared to the current ‘structured light’ approach that have limitations on accuracy and distance.
Examples where this can be used include gesture control, or interacting with real-world environments within mobile games. Sony has been showing this off with a custom phone with 3D sensor on the back. In one example, the phone calculated the depth of the room and accurately displayed a virtual goldfish swimming in-front of and behind real-life objects. Sony has more details on its dedicated website. [read more…]
by XB on 1st January 2019
in News
So, another year begins, and that means we are getting ever closer to finding out more information on Sony’s plans for its mobile division in the year ahead. There is a good chance that we might get this first detail at Sony’s CES press conference, which is taking place on Monday 7 January 2019 at 5pm local time (Las Vegas, USA). Mark you diaries!
Sony Mobile normally keeps its big flagship announcements for the MWC tradeshow, which takes place in Barcelona at the end of February. However, at last year’s CES Sony revealed the Xperia XA2, XA2 Ultra and L2, so there is a good chance that Sony could announce some of its new entry-level and mid-range phones. Also, Sony has been making big noises about 5G for a while now, so we could start to hear some more concrete information on its 5G mobile plans. We’ll bring you any news as it happens. What are you hoping to hear about? Let us know in the comments below. [read more…]
We are at the end of 2018 and there’s no denying it’s been a challenging year for Sony Xperia fans. Sony Mobile finally changed its design that much of the media were after, but after initially being excited about the prospects of carrying its existing design language into narrower bezels, what we instead got was a design that, while comfortable in the hand, left a lot to be desired in looks.
In making their phones more ‘modern’, the phones lost much of what made them attractive to fans in the first place. The Xperia phone’s identity became lost in sea of ubiquitous looking smartphones. Thank goodness Sony didn’t adopt a notch, but they did get rid of the headphone jack, which for a company that prides itself on audio – and all of the heritage that comes with it – was a backwards move. [read more…]
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