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Nubia's 'bezel-less' Z11 smartphone launches worldwide
You probably still don't know a lot about the Nubia smartphone brand if you live outside of China, but the company is bent on changing that: it's launching its latest flagship, the Z11, worldwide. The phone touts a "bezel-less" design with a 81 percent screen-to-body ratio, which both gives it a seamless effect and makes its 5.5-inch, 1080p display easier to manage in your hand. Nubia is definitely playing up the looks -- it's offering a posh black gold version (above) on top of more pedestrian gray and silver variants.
Nubia brings flagship photography to a cheap phone
It was 10 months ago when we talked about how China's Nubia was bringing its camera-centric Z9 smartphone to the US market, but if you check now, the store link on its official English website is no longer available. Instead, Nubia will be focusing on the Latin American, European and Indian markets, starting with its brand new Z11 Mini mid-ranger. This is a 5-inch 1080p device in a rounded glass-metal-glass sandwich that's only 8mm thick, and its 16-megapixel f/2.0 main camera is powered by Sony's IMX298, which is the same sensor inside other flagships like the Huawei Mate 8, Xiaomi Mi 5, Oppo R9 Plus and Vivo Xplay5. You also get 3GB of LPDDR3 RAM, 64GB of internal storage, microSD expansion and a fingerprint reader on the back. Given its 1,499 yuan price point (about $230), you'll forgive Nubia for using the octa-core Snapdragon 617 chipset instead of an 820 here.
Sony VAIO Z21 Series mentioned on various European sites, isn't actually for sale yet
Here in the states, Sony's 13-inch VAIO Z series has been missing from the company's online store for months, but in Europe, at least, it lives on -- a quartet of Z21 series laptops have surfaced on various e-tailers as the possible successor to last year's Z11. So far, we're seeing a pair of configurations with a Core i5-2410M processor and 128GB of solid-state storage and two more with a Core i7-2620M CPU and 256GB in storage. Judging by this sample, at least, 1600 x 900 resolution is standard, as is a backlit keyboard, 3G SIM card slot, fingerprint reader, 3D output, and an HD webcam with Sony's Exmor imaging technology. Alas, the available specs suggest Thunderbolt's a no-show, though rumor has it Sony's implementation of Intel's Light Peak technology will use USB connectors, of which this has three. Here's to wishful thinking, right? The peculiar thing is, you can't actually buy it yet. F2F lists staggering prices ranging from €1,809 ($2,642) to €2,839 ($4,146), though it's not, in fact, available. Meanwhile, search results turn up mentions on staticICE UK and Belgium's Execute, but they've been scrubbed from the actual pages. So, it looks like it's up to Sony to announce this already -- and dish up some pictures while it's at it. [Thanks, Ihor]
NVIDIA's Optimus uncovered in Sony VAIO Z, along with TRIM support?
Sony's illustrious VAIO Z may have a so-called "Dynamic Hybrid Graphics System," but NVIDIA's Optimus it is not. Or is it. Notebook Review's own igorstef started digging deeper within the laptop's switchable GPU setup, and lo and behold, it sure looks as if Optimus is underneath. He went through the painstaking process of installing a slew of new drivers and tweaking some code within select .inf files, and in the end he seemingly found a way to get Optimus drivers working on the new rig. Of course, the debate has been raging on for five pages now, and it still seems inconclusive as to what's really going on behind the scenes. In related news, ZoinksS2k seems to have discovered a way to get Windows 7's TRIM feature working on his SSD-equipped VAIO Z, and if you're interested in doing some tinkering of your own in either case, you know where to dive in. [Thanks, Bill]
Casio's Exilim EX-Z11 point-and-shoot looks good in black
Regardless of what vivid color tries to replace it, black is still the new black when it's all said and done, and not too many gizmos look better on the dark side that Casio's Exilim EX-Z11. Sporting an ebony brushed-metal finish, this compact point-and-shoot screams sexy while packing a fairly respectable feature set to boot. Inside you'll find a 7.2-megapixel CCD sensor, 3x optical zoom, auto / "manual" focus options, 2.6-inch LCD monitor, SD flash card slot, anti-shake DSP to reduce blurring, up to ISO 800, and a rechargeable Li-ion battery. While there's no hard release date that we can scrounge up, the 3.76- x 2.39- x 0.77-inch Z11 should run users around £299 ($589) whenever it lands.[Thanks, David]
