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Daily Roundup: Xperia Z1 review, JetBlue's 12Mbps Fly-Fi, iMessage briefly appears on Android, and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Sony Xperia Z1 review: a high-spec cameraphone without the hump
It's time to set the record straight: the original Xperia Z, launched back in February, was a decent phone. A solid phone. It was as if Sony had suddenly paused its chaotic schedule of handset releases in order to take stock of what Android users actually want: things like 1080p, microSD and a premium look and feel. And yet, the Xperia Z failed to be compelling. It wasn't just its subpar battery life that held it back. It was also the lack of a standout feature, which caused the phone to be buried amidst all the news of the GS4 and the HTC One -- and also by the announcement of the Lumia 1020 Windows Phone, whose camera suddenly made Sony's pokey, 13-megapixel module look like old technology. That's why today, just seven months later, we're looking at a new flagship: the Xperia Z1 (codenamed Honami, and not to be confused with the Xperia ZL), with a far more boast-worthy camera and some other subtle-but-important enhancements. Buyers of the Xperia Z may understandably be displeased at being left behind so soon, but -- as much as we feel for them -- we'd hazard a guess that they don't constitute an especially large population anyway. In contrast, the Xperia Z1 should have much greater mainstream appeal. Read on to discover why.
Daily Roundup: hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy Gear and Galaxy Note 3, the Sony Xperia Z1, and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Sony Xperia Z1 smartphone announced: 20.7-megapixel camera in a unibody aluminum shell
Sony's Xperia Z1, the phone formerly known as Honami, has finally been revealed to the world here at IFA 2013. As expected, the phone is fully focused on imaging capabilities, with a G lens, 20.7-megapixel camera nestled in the back of a one piece aluminum frame and waterproof tempered glass on the front. That camera is more than just the sum of its megapixels, however, as it also has some software to improve picture-taking. First, there's an Info-Eye feature that gives users contextual information about what you're shooting using augmented reality. There's also a Time Shift Burst mode that can shoot up to 61 images in just two seconds. And, all that imaging output is automatically sorted, categorized and kept in the cloud through PlayMemories Online -- and storage is unlimited for folks in the US and most of Europe. Beneath that tempered glass is a 5-inch 1080p Triluminous display, and the whole phone is powered by a Snapdragon 800 SoC. Additionally, mobile photogs have the option of adding on the QX10 and QX100 external lenses to give the Z1 some serious optical zoom. The phone itself is set to launch this month, and those buying in Germany will get around 100 euros of content for free with the phone, and every device will come with a pass to see the movie Elysium, too. Of course, we still don't know how much the Z1 or its lens attachments will cost, but you can check out our hands-on to find out just how much you'd be willing to spend on one. Follow all of our IFA 2013 coverage by heading to our event hub!
Sony's Honami model exposed again, this time at China's FCC equivalent
Thought the leaks of Sony's Honami, aka the Xperia Z1, might slow down with yesterday's teaser of a September 4th launch? Not even close. This time, it was China's Telecommunication Equipment Certification Center (TENAA) betraying the newly-passed handset with a display of four perp-like shots. Though there's no specs listed, and we've already seen a lot of leaked blurrygrams, it's nice to see clear, finished photos of the device -- even with a bit of bench dust on it.
Sony teases likely Xperia Z1 Honami device on video, confirms September 4th arrival
It appears that Sony is about to finally put an end to the rampant Honami smartphone speculation on September 4th. It just released a teaser video showing various oblique angles of the camera-centric handset, rumored to be called the Xperia Z1. Previous reports pointed to a 21-megapixel sensor, 4K shooting capability, a Snapdragon 800 processor, and a 5-inch, 1080p display. The video after the break shows its apparent waterproof talents as well, so a September 4th launch would put an end to the all the leaking.
Sony Honami smartphone gets an official teaser, a few unofficial photos
The buzz surrounding Sony's Honami smartphone is reaching a fever pitch, and Sony itself is finally joining in with a new teaser image for the device. The official shot only confirms the presence of a G-branded camera lens and an LED flash. However, it coincides with a new batch of unofficial photos on Digi-Wo that show the Honami in white at a Sony event. While there's nothing new in the pictures beyond the color, it's clear that the Android flagship is nearing its debut. The company isn't mentioning any launch details itself. However, we won't be surprised if the new Xperia appears at IFA next week.
Mobile Miscellany: week of August 12th, 2013
If you didn't get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we've opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This week brought leaks of a smartphone that tips the scales with a 6-inch screen, an alternate ego to the oft-leaked Sony 'Honami' and the return of unlimited data to a certain AT&T MVNO. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore all that's happening in the mobile world for this week of August 12th, 2013.
Promo material suggests Sony Honami smartphone may shoot 4K video
Alright, we admittedly don't know a great deal about the provenance of the slide above. It was first picked up on Chinese social networking site Weibo, but the original post seems to have been deleted. What we do know, however, is that Sony's forthcoming flagship phone, codenamed Honami, has already been rumored to possess a 4K-ready processor (the Snapdragon 800), and that Sony is wildly enthusiastic about 4K as something that can unite its expanding hardware ecosystem. The slide's title therefore has a ring of truth to it, because it's accompanied by Bravia branding and sounds like realistic marketing babble from a TV-focused presentation: "How do you get 4K content? By shooting videos with a 4K cellphone." The slide also details a 20-megapixel Exmor R rear camera sensor for Honami, which tallies with earlier reports, as well as a meaty 2.2-megapixel front-facing camera. The only issue we have is with the quoted 4K video resolution of 4,000 x 2,000 -- it's unusual and doesn't match the Ultra HD resolution Sony has settled on for its 4K TVs (3,840 x 2,160). In any case, resolution is only half the story. This is all speculative, of course, but if other bottlenecks in this phone forced Sony to compress the heck out of captured 4K video, there's every chance it'd end up looking worse than 1080p.
Sony's flagship Honami smartphone sneaks into FCC's database
In the past, Sony hasn't been too strict about issuing confidentiality requests when slipping its Xperia smartphones into the FCC's database. The Honami, however, is no typical Xperia. For those unaware, manufacturers generally submit equipment to the FCC for testing shortly before the product is ready to launch on US shores -- once its radios are cleared for use on the airwaves that the FCC controls, precious little stands between said product and your hands. We've seen a stream of Honami leaks over the past few weeks, but none have indicated quite so clearly that it's nearly ready for a formal debut. The filing masks all internal and external photos, but a software version entitled "s_atp_honami_1_25_1" (seen after the break) makes obvious what device we're looking at. This, Motorola's X, and an impending iPhone refresh? Looks like we're in for a star-studded autumn in the handset universe.
Sony Honami reportedly poses for photos in near-complete form
There's been a lot of talk about Sony's reported Honami smartphone, but there haven't been photos of the beast in a nearly finished state. At least, until now: Gadget Helpline and Weibo user @latter21 claim to have multiple photos of the would-be flagship. The photos largely match up with previous rumors, which have Sony fitting a larger (possibly 20-megapixel) camera into the corner while otherwise preserving a very Xperia Z-like design. There are a couple of surprises -- the xenon flash of an earlier leak isn't visible, and a large speaker has surfaced at the bottom. Unfortunately, the photo suppliers can't verify many other details. The camera interface is purportedly unfinished, and there's no mention of the CPU and display quality upgrades inherited from the Xperia Z Ultra. If the images are accurate, though, we're looking at a subtle design evolution whose biggest upgrades are hidden inside.
Alleged Sony Xperia 'Honami' specs reveal beefy 20MP camera sensor
We're a little more than a month away from a flood of gadget news at IFA in Berlin, and we have a sneaking suspicion that an imaging centric flagship smartphone from Sony called "Honami" is going to be there. We've seen hints of what the phone's camera UI looks like, and now a leak from the Taiwanese site ePrice says the device has a 20.7-megapixel ExmorRS sensor that's the same size as the one in the Galaxy Camera and other point-and-shoots. It's also paired with a "Sony G-Lens," though hopefully not one as bulbous as some others we've seen. Other specs include a 5-inch 1080p display with the same Triluminos technology that's in the Xperia Z Ultra, Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 800, 16GB of internal storage that can be expanded with microSD and a fairly massive 3,000mAh battery. If the alleged spec sheet after the jump is to be believed, then the Lumia 1020 and GS4 Zoom might have to face some serious competition.
Sony camera UI leaks from 'Honami' system dump, gets ported to existing Xperia devices
We've been hearing stacks of rumors recently about a Sony flagship called Honami, which will supposedly come with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 and a 20-megapixel camera. A system dump, purportedly from a Honami phone, surfaced last week and now XDA developer "krabappel2548" has managed to dissect the camera app and get it working on some existing Xperia devices -- including the Xperia Z, ZL and Tablet Z, so long as they've been suitably prepped for hacking. From the resulting screenshots, it looks like Sony is set to introduce features such as augmented reality, "Time shift" (which sounds a lot like HTC's Zoe feature), live filters and an image search engine dubbed "Info-eye." All of this sounds reasonably in tune with the "One Sony" strategy of focusing on mobile and imaging. If Honami is real, and if it comes with the right hardware to support the updated camera module, it could be a big deal.
