Tag: sony

Reviewing the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact

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Let’s put aside the point that a 4.3 inch screen is not a ‘small’ smartphone in the history of the smartphone, because Sony have actually done something I’ve been looking for in the last few years – a ‘small’ smartphone that has the same specs as the larger handsets. With a 2.2 GHz Quad core Snapdragon 800, 2GB of RAM, 16 GB of storage, microSD, and a 4.3 inch TFT IPS screen, the Xperia Z1 Compact is a little bit of a pocket rocket. Sony has supplied me with a review handset ahead of its general availability. Sony’s research shows

Small smartphones can be powerful, says Sony at CES

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Sony’s research with consumers around their smartphones uncovers an amazing fact: …the consumer who’d prefer to have a smaller device doesn’t want fewer features. The Xperia Z1 Compact is being touted as a Sony high end smartphone in a small package. I’m not sure I’d class a 4.3 inch screen as small, but for Android manufacturers this is a step in the right direction. Looking forward to reviewing this handset in the near future.

Sony’s “We’ll tell you later” fitness tracker sums up the problem with CES

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One of the issues that is building up around CES is the need for companies to present ‘something big and world changing’ every twelve months. Sony’s announcement of their new fitness and emotions tracker (Gizmodo) feels like a company that has had to find something to present to get the headlines – presumably because another waterproof smartphone and a return to the American smartphone market isn’t enough for the ravenous hordes prowling the show floor for something shiny and ‘new’. The device and associated smartphone app (to be released when? We’ll tell you later) will have other partners involved (we’ll tell

Sony’s SmartWatch knows its limits, but needs a bit more work in software

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As wearables continue to be the big tech trend going into 2014, I’ve taken a look at Sony’s third version of a smartwatch, the snappily titled Sony SmartWatch 2: I actually found it really useful when writing, Because the email is flashed up on the screen I could simply tilt the wrist and decide if that email needed to be dealt with immediately, or if I could mentally defer it and keep writing, with almost no break in my typing. It’s also a discreet option when in meetings or in situations where you wouldn’t feel right going to your smartphone. The

Sony’s maturing Android smartphone range

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From my review of the Xperia Z, on Forbes: Sony has put out a phone that knows exactly what it wants to be. Sony wants to be a player, it wants to be established, and for that it needs to be seen as a stable and worthy manufacturer. The Xperia S proved that Sony could build a good phone, the Xperia T showed an iterative approach and a new found confidence in styling and advertising, and the Xperia Z is a handset that delivers everything you expect, has the style, and gives you the confidence it will not be out

Sony halts production on final MiniDisc units

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Farewell Minidisc (and Sony really mean it this time) as the desk-bound units join the portable units in being taken off the manufacturing line. “Sound engineers and media professionals loved to use it to record samples, jingles and interviews – it’s very easy to use MiniDisc equipment to edit audio on the fly – and they continue to stockpile the players and disks,” [says Chris Green]. Sony ended shipments of its MiniDisc portable Walkman players in 2011. The decision to halt production of MD-based hi-fi systems effectively marks its exits from the sector, although it will continue to make the cartridges. For