Sony Xperia Z

The Sony Xperia Z is a touchscreen enabled full HD Android flagship high-end smartphone designed, developed, and marketed by Sony Mobile.

The phone was announced by Sony at CES 2013 and was released in February 2013. The Xperia Z runs the Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) software. The smartphone has Ingress Protection Ratings of IP55 and IP57, making it dust protected, water-jet protected, and waterproof in up to one meter of water for up to thirty minutes, and features a 13.1MP Exmor RS camera sensor as well as a full HD (1080p) display, encompassed in Sony's Industrial 'Omni-Balance' Design. A cheaper variant called the Sony Xperia ZL uses the same hardware as the Xperia Z, but sacrifices water resistance for a smaller frame. Another cheaper variant the "Sony Xperia ZR" was announced on 13th May 2013 and is slated to release in "Q2 2013".

Specifications

This is a listing of Xperia Z’s main features and functions.

Camera and video

•           13.1 megapixel Exmor RS camera with Auto focus and Burst Mode

•           16x digital zoom

•           HDR for both picture/film

•           Face detection

•           Flash/Pulsed LED and Photo light

•           Front-facing camera (2 MP 1080p Exmor R)

•           Geotagging

•           HD video recording (1080p)

•           Image stabiliser

•           Picture Effect

•           Quick Launch

•           Red-eye reduction

•           Scene recognition

•           Self-timer

•           Send to web

•           Smile detection

•           Sony Exmor RS for mobile image sensor

•           Superior Auto

•           Sweep Panorama

•           Touch focus

Display and design

•           5", 1920x1080 pixels (441 pixels per square inch), 16.7 color TFT Opticontrast Display

•           Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2

•           Scratch-resistant, shatter proof sheet on mineral glass

•           Capacitive touchscreen with on-screen QWERTY keyboard

•           Screenshot capturing

Pre-loaded applications

•           Google Chrome*

•           Google Play*

•           Google search*

•           Google Voice Search*

•           Google Maps for Mobile with Street view and Latitude*

•           Web browser (WebKit)

•           Google Talk application*

•           Google+*

•           Messenger+*

Memory

•           RAM: 2GB

•           Flash memory: Up to 16 GB

•           User available up to 11 GB

•           Expansion slot: microSD card, up to 64 GB

Networks

•           UMTS HSPA+ (Bands 1, 3, 5, 8 or bands 1, 2, 4, 5, 8)*

•           GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz

•           LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20 or bands 4, 17)

Entertainment

•           3D Surround Sound (VPT)

•           Album art

•           Bluetooth stereo (A2DP)

•           Clear Audio+

•           Dynamic normalizer

•           Music tones (MP3/AAC)

•           PlayNow service*

•           TrackID music recognition*

•           “WALKMAN” application

•           xLoud™ ExperiencE

•           3D games

•           Motions gaming

•           Video streaming

•           Facebook application*

•           Twitter*

•           YouTube*

Connectivity and communication

•           3.5 mm audio jack (CTIA)

•           GPS

•           Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology

•           DLNA Certified

•           GLONASS*

•           HDMI via MHL support

•           Media Go

•           Media Transfer Protocol support

•           Micro USB support

•           Native USB tethering

•           NFC

•           PC Companion

•           Screen mirroring

•           Synchronisation via Exchange ActiveSync, Facebook, Google and SyncML

•           USB charging

•           USB High speed 2.0 support

•           Xperia Link

•           Wi-Fi and WiFi Hotspot functionality

•           Wi-Fi Miracast

•           Infrared Blaster (Japanese only)

Design

 Xperia Z's distinctive power button,Sony Xperia Z is a rectangular slab that marks a departure from Sony's 2012 design. The design is "OmniBalance", according to Sony, which is focused on creating balance and symmetry in all directions.Xperia Z has subtly rounded edges and smooth, reflective surfaces on all sides, which are held together by a skeleton frame made from glass fibre polyamide. The phone features tempered glass covered by shatterproof film on front and back. The distinctive hall mark of Sony's mobile devices in the form of the aluminium power button is placed on the right side of the device. The location enhances the one-hand operation for the device with 5 inch display. The metallic look and positioning of the power button is inspired by luxury watch crown design.[9] The phone is available in three colors; black, white and purple.

Hardware

The phone dimensions are stated to be 139 x 71 x 7.9 mm and weight is 146 grams (including battery). It comes with a Lithium-ion battery of 2,330mAh capacity. The Xperia Z will ship with a 1.5Ghz quad-core Snapdragon S4 processor and have 2048 MB of RAM (1.5 GHz Qualcomm APQ8064+MDM9215M Quad Core) . The phone is 4G capable, supporting LTE. The Sony Xperia Z has a 5.0" 1080p TFT display (1920x1080) with a pixel density (PPI) of approximately 440.6. The screen uses a Reality Display with Mobile Bravia Engine 2, which enhances the picture. The phone has a 13 MP primary rear-facing camera with Sony's Exmor RS sensor with high dynamic range imaging (HDRI) full HD video[10] and a front facing camera with 2.2 MP. The phone is covered on the front and back by durable tempered glass, where the front is Dragontrail Glass from Asahi Glass Company resin-bonded to the LCD (Opticontrast), and the back is Corning Gorilla Glass.

Features 

The Xperia Z runs Android 4.1.2, with Sony's custom skin laid on top. Other notable additions to the software include, Sony's Media applications - Walkman, Album and Videos. NFC is also a core feature of the device, allowing 'one touch' to mirror what is on the smartphone to compatible TVs or play music on a NFC wireless speaker. Additionally, Xperia Z includes HDR video recording capability, battery stamina mode which increases its standby time up to 4 times.

The body is made from a glass-fibre polyamide.[14] It is certified to IP55 and IP57 standards and is dust and water proof, allowing immersion under 1 metre of fresh water for up to 30 minutes.

Reception and sales

Xperia Z has received mostly positive reviews from critics. Damien McFerren of CNET gave the phone 4 and a half stars out of five and said "The Sony Xperia Z combines looks, power and connectivity to supply one of the most impressive Android experiences we've seen in quite some time. The lack of Android 4.2 at launch is unfortunate and that 5-inch screen isn't going to suit everyone, but there's little room for complaint elsewhere. This is easily Sony's best phone yet, and one of the best Android phones ever released". Android Central also gave the phone a positive review saying "For Android fans, the Sony Xperia Z was one of the highlights of a fairly quiet CES. A 5-inch, 1080p phone with a bold new design language and fancy new camera technology, the Xperia Z was probably the most compelling phone of the show. And just a couple of months later, it's now available to buy in the UK. Without a doubt Sony Mobile's new baby is one of the largest, specciest Android phones around". Like the critics the audience reactions to the phone has been very positive. At CES 2013, the Xperia Z won the ‘Best Smartphone' and ‘Best of Show' awards..According to a Sony executive, Mcdougall, early Xperia Z sales have been strong. He states, "It (the Xperia smartphone) sold over 150,000 units in its first week in Japan, taking a 24 percent market share straight away." "It may be a bit too early to say but the first signs are very positive."

Samsung Galaxy S4

 The Samsung Galaxy S4 is a smartphone manufactured by Samsung Electronics. It was announced in New York City on March 14, 2013 as the successor to the Samsung Galaxy S III.

 The phone has many distinguishing software features such as Air Gesture, Smart Stay, and Smart Scroll; a 13-megapixel back camera, and a 5-inch (130 mm) 1080p display.

 The S4 has two major variants, one featuring a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 and the other featuring an Samsung Exynos 5 Octa. The Exynos 5 Octa version features the first big.LITTLE architecture central processing unit (CPU) but does not have LTE connectivity.

 The CPU has eight cores, four of which can be active at one time emulating a quad-core. The S4 was made available in late April 2013 on 327 networks worldwide and in 155 countries.Upon its release, it became the fastest selling smartphone in Samsung's history, with 10 million devices sold as of May 22, 2013, according to Samsung.

It is the first TCO certified smartphone.

Google is releasing a version of the U.S. Galaxy S4 running stock Android 4.2.2 with Google-provided updates, similar to the Google Nexus smartphones. This device will go on sale on June 26, 2013 for $649

Software

Further information: Android (operating system), TouchWiz, and S Voice

The Galaxy S4 ships with Android 4.2.2 and Samsung's TouchWiz Nature user experience. Eye tracking features have been extended on the S4; the new "Smart Scroll" feature can be used to scroll while looking at the screen by slightly tilting the phone, and "Smart Pause" allows the video player to pause videos if the user is not looking at the screen. "Air View" implements gestures and other functionality (such as previewing images or messages) by holding or swiping a hand or finger slightly above the screen. The "Group Play" feature allows ad hoc sharing of files between Galaxy phones, along with multiplayer games and music streaming between Galaxy S4 phones. The "Adapt Sound" and "Adapt Display" functions can automatically adjust settings for the screen and sound system for optimal quality.

The camera app implements numerous new features (some of which were first seen on the Galaxy Camera), including an updated interface, and new modes such as "Drama" (which composes a moving element from multiple shots into a single photo), "Eraser" (which takes multiple shots and allows the user to remove unnecessary elements from a picture), "Dual Shot" (which uses the front-facing camera for a picture-in-picture effect), "Sound and Shot" (which allows the user to record a voice clip alongside a photo), "Animated Photo", and "Story Album" among others. Other new pre-loaded apps include WatchOn (an electronic program guide that can utilize an infrared transmitter on the top of the phone as a TV remote), S Translator, the workout tracker S Health, S Voice Drive, S Travel, and an optical character recognition app. A new enterprise-oriented feature known as Samsung KNOX allows the phone to be separated into modes for personal use and business use, and gives the business mode high security. It supports the aptX codec which improves Bluetooth-headset connectivity.

Back of the Black Mist S4

Hardware and design

The screen features a 5-inch (130 mm) (sometimes stated as 4.99-inch) PenTile RGBG Full HD Super AMOLED screen with 441 pixels per inch; it is made of Gorilla Glass 3.

The S4 comes with either 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of internal storage, which can be supplemented with up to an additional 64GB with the microSD card slot.

The S4 GT-I9505 includes a multiband LTE transceiver and both models feature an infrared LED that can serve as a universal remote control.

Built into the 2600mAh battery is near field communication (NFC) connectivity, which allows users to perform non-touch payments at shops that employ specially equipped NFC cash registers. The SC-04E model has a FeliCa secure element, unlike other models which contain an NFC-A secure element. The NFC-A secure element on the SC-04E is provided on the SIM card. The battery can be wirelessly chargedusing a Qi standard special charging pad (sold separately) that utilizes magnetic resonance to produce a magnetic field through which power can be transferred.

The Galaxy S4 supports the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) video format.

In addition to the touchscreen, the S4 has several physical user inputs including a home button located near the bottom of the screen, at the bottom of the S4 is the primary microphone and the microUSB port for both data connections and charging; it also supports USB host and MHL 2.0. There are volume keys on the left side and a power/lock key on the right. At the top there is a 0.14-inch (3.6 mm) headphone jack, the secondary microphone, and infrared blaster. The backside of the S4 has the 13 megapixel camera lens and LED flash, and at the bottom left edge has the loudspeaker.

The S4 comes in two variants that differ primarily in the internal hardware:

Quad-core variant

This S4 version for North America, most of Europe, parts of Asia, and other countries has Qualcomm's Snapdragon 600 SoC containing a quad-core 1.9 GHz Krait 300 CPU and an Adreno 320 GPU.

Octa-core variant

Further information: Exynos and big.LITTLE

This S4 version has Samsung's Exynos 5 Octa (octa-core) system on a chip (SoC) chip containing the first ARM big.LITTLE heterogeneous architecture central processing unit (CPU). The eight core CPU comprises a 1.6 GHz quad-coreCortex-A15 cluster and 1.2 GHz quad-core Cortex-A7 cluster. The cluster of four faster "big" A15 cores is paired with the cluster of four slower, more power-efficient "LITTLE" A7 cores. At any given time, either the big cluster is active (for maximum performance) or the LITTLE cluster (for maximum power efficiency).[dubious – discuss] The switching of the active cluster is performed on demand by the chip firmware, with the migration of the running software from outgoing to incoming cores taking 20 µsec. The CPU emulates a single quad-core processor to the operating system and applications. The SoC also contains an IT tri-core PowerVR SGX 544 graphics processing unit (GPU). The GT-I9500 version of the S4 does not support LTE. The E300K/L/S versions support LTE, with the Cortex-A15 also clocked at 1.6 GHz.

Samsung Galaxy S3 vs HTC One X (Quad core war)

                            SAMSUNG GALAXY S3                            HTC ONE X

                                                

                                              (May 3rd)                                                 (Feb)

 CPU ~                    Exynos 4 Quad Core 1.5 ghz        -      Nvidia Tegra 3 Quad-core 1.5 GHz


 Camera ~               12MP  auto-focus and LED flash   -      8 MP, autofocus, LED flash


 Display ~                 4.8" Super AMOLED MIPI         -      4.7" Super IPS LCD2
                                    capacitive touchscreen                       capacitivetouchscreen                       
                               
 Ram ~                  1.5 GB RAM                              -        1 GB RAM


 Storage ~                 16 GB & 32 GB                          -        32 GB Internal memory
                                 Internal memory (expandable)                    (no memory slot)
 

SAMSUNG GALAXY S3:Leaked image has hit the web, claiming to be taken from the instructional manual for Samsung's Galaxy S3 handset and showing off the handsets technical specifications. Take a look at the picture above to see what's rumoured to be launching come Samsung's big reveal on May 3rd.Though Samsung have already revealed that Exynos 4 Quad processor 1.5GHz,so far we've been told to expect a 12MP sensor, not the 8 megapixel snapper with auto-focus and LED flash listed here.The 4.8-inch Super AMOLED MIPI (C-Type) would fit the bill nicely.

HTC ONE X:The HTC One X is a superb Android smartphone that packs in just about every key feature you can think off.The HD screen is the best we've ever seen, its quad core processor is mighty fast, its camera impressive and its design is reasonably smart. However, a few ergonomics and design issues just take the edge off enough to leave us a tiny bit disappointed. Nonetheless, it's currently one of if not the best smartphones on the market.