SONY EXPERIA XMAS GIFT

From now until 4th January 2015, Sony is giving extra freebies for hits Xperia smart phone and tablets injunction with the holiday season. For those getting the Xperia Z3, Xperia Z2 and Xperia Z1 as well as Xperia Z Ultra series, they are giving extra 8GB microSD and SBH20 stereo Bluetooth headset. Other models do come with free gifts as well including KFC Vouchers, 8GB microSD card and a gadget stand.
In terms of pricing, the flagship Xperia Z3 is priced at RM2,399 while its Xperia Z3 Compact is priced at RM1,899. Meanwhile its Xperia Z3 Tablet compact is priced at RM1,699 for either the 16GB 4G LTE version or 32GB WiFi only version. All 3 devices are water and dust resistant with the currently highest rating for a mobile device at IP68. For more details, check out the full promo brochure after the break

Sony’s Latest Video Highlights Some Great Features of the Xperia Z Ultra

It’s easily the best looking phablet, the 6.4-inch display is gorgeous and the 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 makes multitasking a breeze.
But the Z Ultra is not without its quirks. The lack of an LED flash and a dedicated camera button are two big sore points that many will find difficult to ignore, the dated UX UI skin is far behind what HTC and Samsung are putting in their phones, and the camera app lacks many of the smart features you take for granted in a Galaxy S4 or HTC One.

In its latest promo video, Sony highlights some of the unique features of the Xperia Z Ultra and we have to admit, all of them are great. The question is, is great good enough? What do you think?
Head on over to after the jump to watch the video.

 http://youtu.be/hI_biTUxoQg

Sony Xperia Tablet Z – 10.1″ Full HD Tablet at 6.9mm slim

Following its new Xperia Z flagship, Sony has wasted no time in revealing its next tablet dubbed the Xperia Tablet Z. Just like the Xperia Z, it features the same sharp and sleek rectangular look and the screen size has increased from its usual 9.4″ on the Xperia Tablet S to a bigger 10.1″. With its new design language, Sony has finally do away with its curled edge look on its earlier Xperia Tablets. As you would expect with a new high-end device, it comes with a Quad-Core 1.5GHz processor mated with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. On board it runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
At the front, the 10.1″ display pushes a WUXGA resolution of 1920×1200 which gives a pixel density of 224ppi which is similar to the ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity but lower than the iPad Retina Display’s 264ppi. Just like its Xperia Tablet S, the Xperia Tablet Z also boast water and dust resistant as well with Grade IPX5/7 rating. For photo and video recording, the Xperia Tablet Z has a back illuminated 8.1MP camera with Exmor R and a front facing 2MP camera.
Bundled with a 6,000mAh battery, the Xperia Tablet Z weighs only 495 grams and has a thickness of just 6.9mm. As comparison, an iPad mini is 7.2mm thick and most 9.7-10.1″ tablets in the market weigh more than 550 grams. This is probably the lightest and thinnest 10″ tablet right now.
So far the Xperia Tablet Z is only announced for Japan with no mention of international availability at the moment. It also comes with 3G and LTE connectivity that’s catered for Japanese market.
For more information and if you can read Japanese, head over to Xperia Tablet Z product page.
More product images and video after the break.

Sony XPERIA Tablet S Review

It might be time for you to take another look at one of the oddest tablets released in the year 2012, that being the quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor-packing Sony XPERIA Tablet S. This machine is not the most high-resolution nor the most undeniably powerful tablet machine on the market, but given its connectivity options and its existence in the Sony ecosystem, might it be the perfect tablet for your Sony-loving self? If the connections don’t convince you, the folded-over magazine shape just might.

Hardware

This machine thrives on the unique nature of its shape – there’s really no other device like it when it comes to it’s back, it having the look of a book folded over. Because of this shape you’ve got a couple of pocket-like crevices where a microphone hole, notification light, power, and volume can sit on one side while a headphone jack and full-sized SD card slot can sit on the other. The folded-over portion of the tablet is a hard plastic with a slight dotted 3D pattern on it while the rest of the back of the device is cold metal.

As a reminder – this isn’t the first time we’ve seen this device. It was released all the way back in 2011 for hands-on action and was released to the public just a few months ago. The determination you’ve got to make – with the assistance of this review – is whether or not Sony has done a good enough job keeping up with the times as it stretched the reveal-to-release schedule for this tablet past a year. Have a peek at our Sony Tablet S Review from back in August of 2011.

On the bottom of the back of the device you’ve got a Sony proprietary port for power that’s massive enough to work with a Sony-made dock that’ll hold this machine aloft. There’s also a couple of back-facing speakers that are rather healthy in their ability to blast sound, but like all back-facing speakers are not up to the task of facing down into your lap – imagine that!

The back also has a relatively lovely-seeming 8 megapixel camera that’s OK when you’ve got perfect lighting conditions. The camera software inside this machine bring the device’s cameras on front and back up to “fun” levels but do not generate photos that you’ll be wanting to print – social networking grade they are!

This machine also has an IR blaster so you can connect to your television for basic channel changing and volume adjustment with the Remote control app that also comes with the device. Sony is making a big push for this device to be the center of your living room and makes it so with not just remote control connectivity, but Sony-branded music and videos available for purchase as well.

Software

You’ve got Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich here on the Tablet S complete with a user interface that adds on a set of buttons and shortcuts on to the basic Google homescreen. On the bottom of the display you’ve got a quick shortcut to the Remote Control which opens as a window that can float above whichever app you’re in at the pressing. The same is true of the shortcuts bar directly to the left of the remote control that’ll lead you to miniature versions of your Web Browser, Calculator, Memo, Sound Recorder, Remote Control (again), and Timer – there’s also a “Clip” shortcut that lets you take screenshots on the fly.

Sony adds a collection of their own apps to this machine that include a Sony vision for the photo album, movies, ereading (with connectivity to the “Reader” collection of books), Walkman (showing your music on the device and Sony-purchased music), Sony Select (shortcut to the website), and Socialife (for social networking). You can also connect to Music Unlimited from Sony, Video Unlimited, and PlayMemories (collecting your photos into digital albums for sharing with the web).

You’ve got connectivity to PlayStation Mobile and Xperia link, as well. The promise that you’ll be becoming part of the Sony universe here, including the PlayStation ecosystem, is met about half-way because of the relative lack of big-name game support that Android has seen centralized in the PlayStation brand. This means that while there have been some big releases from developers that’ve made their name on PlayStation in the past on Android today, they’ve done these releases in a wide way – not just limited to the Sony universe. You can get Grand Theft Auto’s two first biggest open-world hits on the Google Play app store right now no matter what device you’ve got, Sony or no.

If you’re part of the Sony universe already – that is if you’re paying for Music Unlimited and Movies Unlimited and also have a PlayStation and want to make the most of it all with a tablet form-factor, by all means, purchase the Sony Tablet S. There are some Sony televisions that even connect with this tablet to bring you detailed information on media you’re watching on the big screen – if you’ve got that hardware, this may very well be the device you need to bring your experience up to the next level.

Above you’ll see some standard benchmark results as well as an astounding battery readout. As with all of the devices on the market with the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor inside, this device has fantastic standby-time as it utilizes NVIDIA’s 4-PLUS-1 technology – in this case that means that the “ninja” core (there’s 5 cores inside the processor in this device, not just 4) works for low-power tasks and makes the time the display is off a time that the device isn’t hounding power – as it should be!

Wrap-up

If you’re looking for a great stand-alone Android tablet, this isn’t it – it wasn’t made to be the one perfect stand-alone tablet and it doesn’t pretend to be that piece of equipment. Instead you’ve got the best Sony has to offer in a tablet form-factor, and with a quad-core processor from NVIDIA to back it up, it’s perfectly capable as a Sony companion for the rest of your Sony devices.

Story Timeline

Sony Xperia ion Review

Sony has started 2012 with a bang with its line up of Sony NXT series. The Sony Xperia S which was first announced in January broke new grounds with its 4.3” display that pushes a high 1280×720 resolution. That’s a massive 342 ppi (pixels per inch) which was the highest pixel density at that time. It also marks Sony’s foray into dual-core processors and its refreshed mobile brand that dropped the “Ericsson” name.
When the Xperia S was launched, its other cousin the Xperia ion which is Sony’s first LTE device was only available at selected markets. Fast forward 8 months later, the Xperia ion is finally available for Malaysia that now comes in international HSPA+ variant. Read on to find out more of this Xperia S’s bigger brother.

Hardware

To recap on the specs, the Xperia ion shares a lot of similarities with its Xperia S. It is powered with the same dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm MSM8260 S3 processor, 1GB of RAM and a 12MP camera. What sets it apart is its larger 4.6” display (4.55” to be exact) that also does a 1280×720 pixels resolution. Obviously the pixel density is lower than the Xperia S at 323 ppi but in reality, it is rather hard to tell the difference as text and images appear just as sharp.
Internally, it comes with 16GB of storage but thankfully it comes with an expandable slot which accepts up to 32GB of microSD. Battery is slightly generous too at 1,900mAh, which is 150mAh more than the Xperia S. When we got our review unit, the Xperia ion is already running on Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich.
Design

On first glance, the Xperia ion looks more like a serious business phone compared to the trendy looking Xperia S. There’s no fancy transparent belt and it features an all black front where the display panel is unnoticeable when the screen is off. Over at the top, there’s a prominent Sony logo with the front facing 1.3MP camera on the right and at the bottom you get the 4 capacitive buttons along with the Xperia branding. If we have to pick a similar model, the Xperia ion looks very much like a grown up version of the Xperia ray due to its clean square-ish looks.

We are happy to report that the Xperia ion side button placement is a big improvement over the Xperia S. With a larger device in the hand, the power button is now moved towards the right side while the volume rocker is now placed at a higher position which is more natural to reach. Towards the bottom, there’s also a dedicated camera button with Fast Capture that lets you take a picture from sleep to snap under 2 seconds. For better clarity, you can check out our comparison of Fast Capture and other various burst modes.

Looking at the left side, there’s a HDMI and micro USB port which is covered by a single flush cover flap. On the Xperia S, many would find the flush covers to be annoying and unfortunately on the Xperia ion, this is a bigger annoyance. While the cover keeps the design clean, it tends to get in the way while charging. The rubber that holds the cover doesn’t offer much room for flexibility which in the long run you might risk breaking and losing it. At least on the Xperia S, the micro USB cover is rotatable.

The back is where the Xperia ion sets itself apart from the Xperia S. While the Xperia S comes with a nice matte finish, the removable cover is quite a dust trap. On the Xperia ion it comes with a nice metal finish that gives it a touch of elegance. The 12MP camera, assisted LED flash and loud speaker is placed right smacked in the middle like the Xperia S. The top cover is removable and it houses the micro-SIM and micro SD slot, which is a better design. Both top and bottom are made with rubberised texture plastic which is a nice touch. The headphone jack is placed at the top, right in the middle with a slight protrusion.
Usability

Being an early 2012 model, the hardware specs looks dated compared to its latest quad core rivals. Having said that, it is still a decent device and the large 4.55” screen offers great visuals thanks to its high pixel density. Sony does a great job with the new Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich enhancements and the new photo gallery is a nice improvement over the previous Android 2.3.7.

Just like other Sony Xperia devices, the skinned UI is rather nice and aesthetically pleasing with a variety of sleek looking widgets. For average casual use, it is still smooth and does its job rather snappy. One thing we’ve noticed is that Sony has removed the live “Cosmic Flow” wallpaper from its default themes. When switching themes, it uses a static image instead which could be done in the name of performance and power conservation. If you do want that Cosmic Flow, you could still enable it under Live Wallpapers manually.
When being pushed to the limit juggling between several apps extensively, the Xperia ion starts to show its performance shortfalls. There are some occasions when returning to the home screen; it took some time for the icons and widgets to appear. When that happens, even the apps listing arrangement tends to get reset from alphabetical order to custom.

In terms of one handed usage, the Xperia ion is really pushing it. It is usable in one hand albeit some stretching needed. We find 4.3” is the comfortable size where one handed use is concern but despite its larger 4.55” dimensions, it is only slightly wider at 4mm than the Xperia S. It is also interesting to point out that the Xperia ion also weighs the same 144grams as the Xperia S despite having a bigger screen and battery capacity.

Now let’s talk more on the usability downsides of the Xperia ion. The biggest gripe that we had is the 4 capacitive buttons on the front which doesn’t light up when pressed. Yes, you read that right. In total darkness, the only guiding light is the ultra-thin lines that illuminate about 5mm below each icon. We simply can’t comprehend why Sony doesn’t stick to the tried and tested illuminated icon approach. The previous Xperia ray too doesn’t come with back-lit icons but it wasn’t an issue since there’s only 3 buttons and the home button is nicely designed with a notification light surrounding it.

To make matters worse, the Xperia ion too suffers the hit and miss capacitive button sensor like the Xperia S. Initially, we have a hard time getting our presses detected as the sweet spot is actually between the icon and the screen. Combine that with a dimly lit guiding light placed way below, you would be fumbling in the dark with frustration especially for first time users. Naturally one would expect the icons and even the lighted lines as the button sweet spot. In the long run, it should be fine after getting used to it. Since the ion is introduced at the same time as the Xperia S, it is no wonder it inherited the same capacitive sensor issue but we would have expected Sony to rework this for its HSPA+ version.
Sample Photos & Video

Just like the Xperia S, the Xperia ion works rather well with excellent pictures even in low light visibility. There’s no fancy fast burst mode feature but the Xperia ion is able to take a picture from sleep instantly by press and holding the dedicated camera button in 1.5 seconds. For those enjoying taking self shots, there’s the usual smile detection mode which automatically snaps a picture according to the intensity of your smile.
Sample photos (click for original photo)




Performance & Battery Life

In terms of benchmark numbers, the Xperia ion scores a moderate 3183 on Quadrant Standard benchmark and 6819 points on AnTuTu. As expected, it is a notch lower than the HTC One S which runs on a similar Qualcomm S3 processor that’s clocked at a higher 1.7GHz. In our daily average usage, the 1,900mAh managed to deliver about 13-14 hours of usage which is somewhat similar to the Xperia S.
Conclusion

The Xperia ion is a nice addition for those wanting a larger screen phone without a mammoth screen dimensions. At 4.55”, it is just a notch lower than the HTC One X and Galaxy S III in terms of screen size but in return delivers a much higher pixel density.
For power users, the Xperia ion is starting to show its age but for the average user on the street, it should be sufficient for those that crave a bigger screen with decent looks and performance. While it offers improvement over the Xperia S in terms of design, button placements and materials, the only show stopper is the iffy front capacitive buttons.
The Xperia ion still offers something that many other don’t. It’s 12MP camera is still one of best cameras out there and the dedicated camera button is a deal breaker for those want quicker access to take photo instead of taking multiple photos fast. Initially priced at RM1,788, the Xperia ion is available in both black and red colours. Currently, it can be found selling at RM1400-RM1600 range.

Sony Xperia J now available at RM799

The Sony Xperia J which was announced during IFA 2012 is now available in Malaysia with the price tag of RM799.
To recap on the specs, the Xperia J is an entry level device which comes with rather large 4.0″ TFT display that pushes 854×480 pixels resolution and it is powered by a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM7227A processor coupled with 512MB of RAM. On board it has 4GB of storage which is expandable with microSD up to 32GB. It has a 5MP camera at the back and a front facing VGA camera.
Juicing up the Xperia J is a rather generous 1,750mAh battery but it still maintains a rather slim 9.2mm profile and 124 grams in weight. There’s a choice of 4 colours available – Black, Gold, White and Pink. The Xperia J also comes with the iconic arc appearance which was first introduced on the Xperia arc. So far, there’s no news of its bigger brother – Xperia TX.
For a limited time, the Xperia J comes bundled with a MH410c stereo headset and screen protector worth RM799.
Full product info over at Xperia J product page. Promo videos after the break.

Sony Xperia Tablet S with Improved Design and Features

Sony is back once again for re-claiming the positions in the world of Android Tablets—Xperia Tablet launched an year ago gets a new shape and features in the all-new 9.4-inch screen size Sony Xperia Tablet S.

Sony Xperia Tablet S is a rather lighter tablet compared to the previous tablet and similar designed tablets already in the market. Moreover it is replaced with plastic and aluminum, instead of just plastic body, which gives Sony Xperia S tablet a slight edge over other tablets and not to mention splash-proof. In order to stand side-by-side with other tablets, it has improved a lot – it is very comfortable while in hand and looks elegant on the desk.
Sony Xperia Tablet S is loaded with new NVIDIA Tegra 3 Quad-Core CPU that sparks an outstanding speed and graphics performance. So rest sure, you’ll enjoy the gaming experience with this tablet. It runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, would be updated to 4.1 by the end of this year. Other features include Remote Control app that can hovers over other open apps to let you easily access the apps. 8 MP camera on the back and 1 MP front-facing camera. Enhance sound quality with dual stereo speakers.
The prices are rather high compared to the other Android tablets but I am sure you won’t get disappointed with what it offers in that price. Xperia Tablet S is priced at $399 (16 GB) and $499 (32 GB).

Sony Xperia miro and Xperia tipo dual coming to Malaysia soon

Sony Mobile has announced that its latest entry level Xperia miro and Xperia tipo dual will be coming to Malaysia soon. The Xperia miro is priced at RM699 while the Xperia tipo dual is priced at RM559. So far no availability dates for the Xperia miro but the dual-SIM Xperia tipo dual will be hitting the stores beginning 7th October. The single SIM version of the Xperia tipo will be available later in November with retail price unknown currently.
To recap on the specs, both Xperia miro and tipo runs on a modest 800MHz single core Qualcomm processor and 512MB of RAM. Both comes with a 480×320 resolution display with the miro having a 3.5″ screen while the tipo has a smaller 3.2″ screen. The Xperia miro is a notch higher with 4GB of on board storage, 5MP camera and it also comes with a front facing VGA camera as well. The Xperia tipo dual has a smaller 2.9GB storage and a 3.2MP camera.
Both devices packs a 1,500mAh battery which is generous for an entry level category and both are running on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. If the on board storage is not enough, both devices come with micro SD slot for expansion.
Head after the break for our brief hands-on of the two devices.

Sony Xperia neo L with Android 4.0 ICS unveiled

Sony has revealed the new Xperia neo L, its first ever Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich handset. While some might be expecting something impressive like a dual-core processor, you might be in for a disappointment.
The Xperia neo L looks like a entry level device running one a single core 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 processor, 512MB RAM with 1GB of storage that’s expandable via microSD. Over at the front, it comes with a 4.0″ TFT screen that pushes 854×480 pixels. There’s a a 5MP camera that shoots 720p HD videos and a front facing VGA camera. Design wise, it certainly looks like a Sony Xperia PLAY without the game pad slider. The full white paper can be download here.
The Xperia neo L was launched in China along with the rest of the new Xperia devices such as the Xperia U, Xperia P and Xperia sola. Availability internationally and pricing is yet to be known.
With the Xperia neo L running on the latest Android 4.0.3, we can expect the existing Xperia NXT Series line up being upgraded soon. At the same time, Sony has also proven that Ice Cream Sandwich does work on a single core 1GHz device. Let’s hope they will keep their word on upgrading all 2011 Xperias.
Head after the break for more pics.