We're really not all that far into Mobile World Congress 2014, held in Barcelona, but the announcements are already coming thick and fast. The latest to catch everyone's attention is Sony, with the Japanese technology firm today announcing that it is launching a new flagship smartphone, hot on the heels of its not-long-since-announced Xperia Z1S. The new model? The Xperia Z2. They're nothing if not predictable!
Time and time again we witness companies putting together ad campaigns that highlight appealing aspects of their products, but how many are actually prepared to stand by those claims? It appears that Sony is on a mission to prove to the New Zealand population that its latest personal MP3 player is indeed waterproof, and have even brought a specialist advertising agency on board to try and get the message across. In conjunction with Auckland based DraftFCB, Sony has concocted the Bottled Walkman campaign that validates the waterproof claims by selling the latest Walkman MP3 player submerged in a bottle of water.
With effortless syncing and a wide range of cloud services, manual file transfer is not as popular as it once was, but this hasn't stopped companies from trying to innovate in creating new products in this field. Having already checked out PhotoFast’s i-FlashDrive just yesterday, which allows iOS and Android devices to exchange various different kinds of files, Sony has now come up with a stylish, Android smartphone/tablet-compatible USB flash drive.
At the IFA 2013 Press Conference today, Sony unveiled a bunch of new gadgets, such as the waterproof Xperia Z, including the much hyped DSC-QX10 and DSC-QX100 Cyber-shot smartphone lens cameras. Both the devices are scheduled for availability starting September 27, based on Amazon’s official listing, and are going to provide “DSLR-quality shooting from the convenience of a smartphone”. Let’s take a deeper look at both these models right after the break.
Sony may well be a long-established maker of premium tech products, but in the smartphone industry, it remains one of a number of companies playing catch-up with Samsung. Following on from the water-resistant Xperia Z, the so-called Sony Honami smartphone has been rumored for quite a while, and today, the Japanese company has delivered a couple of teaser snaps via Twitter in an attempt to build up some sort of hype. With a 5-inch display, the Honami is certainly edging towards phablet territory, and with the upcoming Galaxy Note 3 for company, it will be intriguing to see whether Sony's latest export will fare better than the last few.
Sony, being a camera maker as well as a smartphone manufacturer, should have the smartphone-camera market pretty much sewn up. But with Nokia continuing to shine in this particular department, it would appear as though the Japanese electronics giant is about to step up its game. A leaked presentation slide of the rumored "Honami" handset suggests the device could be capable of shooting 4K video, and with the company's PlayStation 4 console set to be a vital part of the Ultra HD revolution, we certainly wouldn't discount these claims with haste.
Sony PlayStation 4 was announced backed in February with a (super) lengthy three hour event that revealed tons of features and details, but missed on something big and important: the design of the console itself. And today during a press conference at E3, Sony has finally taken the wraps off and has revealed what PS4 actually looks like.
Everyone likes it when new smartphones are announced, even when they're just plain old, by the numbers Android phones. Thankfully, the latest handset to be announced by Sony isn't plain at old. In fact, it's actually rather cool. Check it out after the break.
Back in February, Sony announced its upcoming PlayStation 4 console, and although the Japanese outfit did offer some key info pertaining to the machine itself, it's fair to say it played its cards close to its chest. As well as stopping short of enlightening the on-looking gaming world of how much it will cost or indeed, what it will even look like, the electronics giant could also only muster a ballpark 'holiday season' release bracket, which suggested it could arrive at any point the last three months of the year.
It has been almost two months since Sony announced its next-gen PlayStation 4 games console, but despite being two months closer to its forecast Q4 launch, we still don't appear to be any closer to knowing what it will look like, or how much it's going to cost. An interesting interview run by Edge magazine by Sony Worldwide Studios Vice President Michael Denny reveals that Sony may at least have learned from the error of its pricing of the PlayStation 3, and wants to find a price point with the PS4 that appeals not only to hardcore gaming fanatics, but also gamers "in the broadest sense."
