Sony planning to launch Z1 aka Hanomi on September 18th in INDIA

By Vijay @ 09:58pm

Sony Xperia Z1 aka Honami, is going to launch in India on September 18th at an event in New Delhi. Just like the Xperia Z, which was the Japanese giant’s flagship smartphone for the first half of the year, Sony will rope in Bollywood star Katrina Kaif as the brand ambassador for the device. The fact that Sony will launch the Xperia Z1 within two weeks of its global announcement suggests India will be in the first wave of countries where it will be launched.

Notably, the phone will carry a price tag of close to Rs 50,000/- if not more, which might fluctuate depending on the prevailing forex rate. The Xperia Z1 is expected to be powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 CPU clocked at 2.2GHz, which will work in tandem with 2GB of RAM and will have a 5-inch 1080p display that will boast Sony’s Triluminus display technology.

The Xperia Z1 is an imaging monolith as it will combine a Cyber-shot branded 20-megapixel sensor that will have Carl Zeiss optics and a Sony G lens that the company reserves for its point and shoot cameras.

Additionally, is also expected to combine Sony’s BIONZ image processing engine and it is expected to be the first phone to be able to shoot video at 4K resolutions. Design wise as the above press image shows, that it could have a metal frame much like the Nokia Lumia 925 and internally it will also have 16GB of memory, a microSD card slot and a 3,000 mAh battery. It will run on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. We have also heard that the phone will feature an augmented reality app called Info-eye which could work similar to Nokia’s CityLens app on its Lumia devices.

You can view the device in the teaser released

 

Sony Xperia Z1 teaser released [video]

By Vijay @ 02:50pm

Sony is leaving no stones unturned to tease its upcoming Xperia Z1 aka Honami ahead of its September 4 launch in Berlin. Sony today released a video showing off the G lens, the metallic frame as well as its waterproof capabilities.

The Xperia Z1 is expected to sport a 20.1-megapixel camera along with a BIONZ image processing engine and will be capable of shooting videos at 4K resolutions. It will run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 chipset with 2GB RAM, which we have seen on the Xperia Ultra and feature a 5-inch 1080p display. The teaser video follows the break.

HTC offers Rs 2,500/- off on the Desire X and Desire U under buyback scheme in INDIA

By Vijay @ 02:16pm

Apple’s buyback schemes for its phones and tablets have been a huge hit in the Indian market and nearly all the other companies like LG, Nokia,, Sony, Samsung and BlackBerry have followed the same with their own schemes. Now, the latest to enter this arena is HTC.

HTC is offering a buyback scheme on its Desire series of phones, especially the Desire X and the Desire U. Under the scheme, when you exchange your old phone you will get Rs 2,500/- off on either one of the aforementioned devices. Needless to say, the cashback is subject to certain conditions. The scheme effectively brings down the price of the Desire X from Rs 16,790/- to Rs 14,280/- and in the case of the Desire U from Rs 14,390/- to Rs 11,890/-.

Unlike the schemes offered by Sony and Samsung, where they offer cashback after having raised the prices of the devices, HTC hasn’t raised the price of the Desire X or the Desire U. Without the scheme, the Desire X is available on e-commerce sites at prices ranging from Rs 16,000/- to Rs 17,490/-. The Desire U, on the other hand, is available in the range of Rs 13,000/- to Rs 14,000/- on e-commerce sites.

 

Nokia starts buyback offer on Lumia 520 and Lumia 620 in INDIA

By Vijay @ 05:31pm

In our previous article I mentioned buyback offer by Sony, now Nokia has launched a buyback scheme on two of its most affordable Windows Phone 8 smartphones – the Lumia 520 and the Lumia 620 in India. The Finnish company is offering great discount deals on both the phones under this new exchange offer.

Those interested in buying these handsets can avail a minimum discount of Rs 4,000 on a brand new Lumia 520 which is currently priced for Rs 11,200 and a minimum Rs 6,000 off on the purchase of a new Lumia 620 handset which costs Rs 16,000 under the offer. This is a good strategy from Nokia as its most affordable Windows Phone smartphones will now be available for Rs 8,200 and Rs 10,000 respectively.

Prior to this, brands like Apple, Samsung and BlackBerry had also launched similar offers on their handsets, and received a great response for the same.

 

Sony launches buyback offers for Xperia Z and ZL

By Vijay @ 03:00pm

After Apple, Samsung, and BlackBerry, now Sony that has launched a buyback scheme for its Xperia Z and Xperia ZL smartphones. The brand and products might be new, but the scheme remains the usual – exchange your old smartphone for a rebate on a brand new Xperia Z or ZL phone. Sony is offering a minimum discount of Rs 5,000 along with a 12 month EMI-based payment mode on both the phones. The discount will be applicable on the current market price for the Xperia Z and Xperia ZL, which cost Rs 33,790 and Rs 30,690 respectively.

Additionally, Sony is also giving away a case, which it claims is worth Rs 1,990 with the Xperia Z and a snap-on cover claimed to be worth Rs 1,490 with the Xperia ZL for free.

Besides this, the company is also offering 6/12 month EMI scheme on various Xperia series smartphones, which include the recently launched Xperia Z Ultra and Xperia Z tablet as well. Other phones in the scheme include the Xperia L, Xperia J, Xperia U, Xperia E, Xperia ZR, and Xperia SP.

Source: BGR

 

 

Sony Xperia ZR battery life test done by GSMARENA

By Vijay @ 01:35pm

As usual GSMARENA’s greatest asset of doing Battery Test, of latest mobile devices. Today its turn for Sony Xperia ZR.

The Sony Xperia ZR is the little brother of the Xperia Z and Xperia ZL, which can almost say as a mini version of Xperia Z series. Xperia ZR consists of 4.55″ 720p display, which should be kinder to the equally large 2300 mAh battery inside the phone.

Identical chipsets and batteries plus a smaller screen of lower resolution give the Xperia ZR every chance of beating its premium rivals.

The Sony Xperia ZR did 17 hours and 48 minutes of 3G calls before its 2300mAh battery went dead. That’s nearly 5 hours more than Sony officially says the phone is capable of, which is quite impressive on its own, but even more so considering that its better than the Xperia Z achievement by a bit over an hour and a half.

Web browsing time is equally good as Sony Xperia ZR tops everything we’ve ever tested by scoring 11 hours and 20 minutes. The combination of Chrome as a default browser and the smaller screen are probably to thank for this great result.

And in Video playback the Xperia ZR did alright, but nothing breathtaking. Thanks to its 720p screen it beat the 1080p display rocking Xperia Z (5:39) and Xperia ZL (5:28) by scoring two hours more – 7 hours and 30 minutes. That’s not a particularly impressive score, but it’s not half bad either.

Gsmarena ran the test with Mobile BRAVIA 2 turned on as how most users will be using their Xperia. Nevertheless, even with it switched off, the battery life wasn’t affected in a noticable way.

In the end, thanks to its efficient talk times and optimized web browsing, the Xperia ZR managed to pull off an endurance rating of 62 hours.

You can read more about how GSMARENA done the battery tests here.

Courtesy: GSMARENA

Sony providing insurance for their Smartphones in India

By Vijay @ 05:27pm

Sony is one of the few brands that are offering water resistant smartphones in India. However, water damage is not covered under warranty. Essentially what it means is even if you are using a phone that is claimed to be water resistant and somehow manage to damage the phone by water, the device is out of warranty and the user will have to bear the cost of repair.

“Currently water damage is not covered under warranty as most of the times it is accidental. Our devices have the top industry rating. But it requires the ports to be closed,” said Tadato Kimura, Head, Marketing, Sony India.

However, Sony is looking at alternatives to tackle the situation. “It is a very sensitive issue and we are currently working out the details. We could provide customers with an option to take insurance for their phones that covers water damage,” Kimura informed.

Sony is currently working on it and it might take them a couple of months to offer insurance. Nokia already provides the option for customers to get insurance for their phones when they buy it from a Nokia exclusive store. The insurance covers water damage, accidental damage if the phone is dropped and even theft.

Source: Sony India

 

Sony Xperia Z Ultra Phablet Now Offical in India for Rs. 46,990/-

By Vijay @ 01:17pm

Although I previously mentioned that Ultra Phablet launched in India. Now Sony had officially annouced the availability.

The 6.4-inch phablet will be available on e-commerce sites and retail stores across the country from August 2 onwards.

The Xperia Z Ultra is Sony’s first phablet with 6.4-inch full HD 1080p TRILUMINUS display, something which the company uses in its high-end HDTVs. With 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor paired with 2GB RAM and included 3,000mAh battery with STAMINA mode, Sony claims this phablet can survive up to 16 hours of talk time and up to 820 hours on standby mode.

On the photography front, the phablet features an 8-megapixel camera with 16x digital zoom and an Exmor RS sensor. This is complemented with a 2-megapixel camera at the front. To store your photos, videos and other multimedia files, Sony offers 16GB of internal memory that is expandable up to 64GB using a microSD card.

On the software front, the phablet runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, but as Sony’s recent software update roadmap revealed, the device will soon get the 4.3 Jelly Bean update. Additionally, like the Xperia Z, this phablet too is IP55/IP58 certified, which makes it waterproof and dust resistant.

Sony is pitching this product to rival Samsung’s Galaxy Note phablets. Though it doesn’t have a stylus bundled, according to Sony, one can write and sketch on its screen with a pencil, pen or a capacitive stylus that has a tip of over 1mm in diameter.

As an introductory offer, Sony has tied up with Vodafone to offer buyers with 8GB of free 3G data each month for a period of two months.

For more about this Phablet, pls wait for our mini review…By the time you can view the commercial links below…