Sony Showcases 4K screen, Cameras, and Waterproofing on Family of Xperia Z5 Smartphones

Announced today. Sony took the wraps off their newest flagship phones. The Z5, Z5 Premium, and Z5 Compact.

04. Z5_white_groupSony is first to market with a 4K display on a phone. The Z5 Premium will sport the Qualcomm 810 with 3GB of RAM, 32GB of built in storage, and the ability to add more via Micro SD card. Quite a feat shrinking that resolution down to a 5.5″ screen.

The bread and butter Z5 shrinks down to a 5.2″ display and reduces the resolution to 1080p, but retains largely the same overall experience.

The 4.6″ screened Compact also returns, continuing Sony’s track record of producing a smaller form factor phone which matches most of the specs found in their larger flagships. Always happy to see a smaller premium phone rather than gimped “mini” budget phones.

12. Z5_Z50c_WhiteWhite_Group 2For all three, Sony’s hard edge rectangular design retains the Xperia feel we all understand. Water resistance seems to be improves ala Samsung, where ports no longer require awkward flaps.

Sony produces most of the top tier camera sensors found in competing phones, so it makes sense they would save “the good stuff” for themselves. Their newest sensor is a half inch 23MP beast with an f2 lens aperture, and they’re touting the world’s fastest smartphone auto focus. Combined with OIS, it should make for a solid competitor to the current crop of flagship phones.

Lastly, the side mounted power button gets upgraded to include a fingerprint sensor, a fairly ingenious design, providing one action for turning the phone on and unlocking, without resorting to a hardware Home button or rear mounted scanner.

The family of Xperia Z5 phones should be shipping in October, with country and pricing info to follow. You can catch Sony’s full press release below.

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Cortana BETA for Android Available to All on Google Play – No Google+ Required

cortana vs google now on android somegadgetguyWe’ve been seeing leaked versions of Microsoft’s digital assistant popping up on Android forums, but Cortana for Android is now available as a public BETA for everyone, no special login or credentials required.

One of the more popular features found on Windows Phones, Cortana can replace Google Now as the search and assistant on Android devices. Known for having more personality, she often does a better job of responding to casually delivered commands. We showcased some of her capabilities here in this older review of Windows Phone.

You can grab the BETA for yourself by going to this preview page, and happily you wont need to sign up for any Google Plus community or developer access. Enjoy!

The Next Version of Android Will be Called Marshmallow!

android marshmallowWe’ve been playing with the preview builds of Android M, but of course one of the most important points of speculation is what dessert name that “M” will stand for.

Google HQ took the wraps off a new lawn statue, and now we have our answer. Android M will be Marshmallow.

Hopefully the update will be more solid than the treat it’s named after 😉

Courtesy Dave Burke Twitter Account

Samsung Unveils the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+

Samsung-Galaxy-Note-5-and-S6-edge+Here we go folks! Samsung is pushing up the timetable on their large screen phones, and we’re getting our phablet fix a little earlier than last year.

We now have proper confirmation on specs for these two handsets, and it looks like the rumor train was pretty spot on.

The Galaxy Note 5 is following in the footsteps of the Galaxy S6. We’ll be continuing the more iPhone inspired lines wrapping around the edges of the phone. This means no removable back plate, no swappable battery, and to support Samsung’s internal storage file system, there will not be any MicroSD card expansion. Focusing on “THIN” means we do have a subtle bulge coming from the camera module on the back of the phone.

The battery will also shrink down to 3,000mAh from the Note 4’s 3,220 cell. Samsung is betting on fast charging, and wireless “fast” charging, over including a larger battery capacity. Full charge over USB cable in 90 minutes. Full charge wirelessly over two hours.

We stay with a 5.7″ Quad HD AMOLED screen (resolution of 2560×1440) and these phones will be powered by an Exynos Octa-Core processor and 4GB of RAM. Built in storage options are limited to 32GB and 64GB, which might be a bit lean for a phone with such a monster camera on board. The 16MP, half inch sensor, shooter with OIS returns. Now including an f/1.9 aperture for better low light performance and depth of field. We imagine it will perform very similarly to the camera on the Galaxy S6 (full camera review, KumbaCam samples). Continue reading “Samsung Unveils the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+”

See What Your Phone is REALLY Capable of with Google’s Android Experiments

ink space android experimentGoogle is celebrating some of the more experimental apps found in the Android ecosystem with their new Android Experiments site. Taking some of these projects, making them open source, and encouraging developers to continue pushing the boundaries on smartphone apps and services.

None of these seem to be fully featured programs, but pieces of design which could lead to some interesting apps. I’m already really impressed with InkSpace, which bends drawings around your phone’s orientation and then creates a gif based on your art. Check out Google’s teaser video below.

NVIDIA Recalls 88,000 Shield Tablets, Battery Overheating Concerns

NVIDIA SHIELD_Tablet_Cover_Front_Wide_Angle_LeftNVIDIA is calling back almost 90,000 of their 8″ Shield Tablets over concerns that the battery can overheat.

The Shield was a niche favorite, focusing on a nearly stock Android UI combined with gaming prowess and the ability to stream games from a PC.

This affects tablets sold from July 2014 to the present, and should not affect any other NVIDIA products. You can read NVIDIA’s press release below.

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Motorola Announces Trio of Phones: Moto X Style, Moto X Play, New Moto G

motorola moto x style pure play moto gIt’s NEW Motorola time!

Rumors have been swirling about what the company will reveal now that they’re owned by Lenovo, and it’s not a single phone, but a trio of new gadgets.

The New Moto G

Gaining a water resistant build, Gorilla Glass, more color options in Moto Maker, this is the phone that bolstered Moto’s market share. It was an inexpensive, entry-level handset which brought a higher quality of performance to the budget crowd, one of the first Android’s to fight Nokia at “cheap” price points.

This Moto G will come in two flavors, 1GB RAM and 8GB of storage for $179, or 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage for $219. Both come with a 13MP camera, a 5″ 720p Screen, and an “all day” battery powered by a Qualcomm 410 series processor. Recently we’ve seen more companies like Asus and Alcatel’s Idol 3 delivering inexpensive options near this price, and Moto’s offering looks to be pushing the boundaries even further.

Moto X Style

This is our new flagship! Taking some of the lessons learned from building the Nexus 6, you can now get a similar phablet build with some of Motorola’s fun customizations.

Moto X Style has a 5.7″ QHD display. Happily they opted for the Qualcomm 808, the same processor powering the LG G4, instead of the more powerful, but hotter and slower Qualcomm 810. X Style will have 3GB of RAM, and if its build of Android 5.1 is anything like last year’s Moto X, it should smoke the Galaxy S6 in multi-tasking performance.  Plus we’ll see the addition of a Micro SD card slot for storage expansion. The whole affair will be powered by a 3000mAh battery, which based on these specs, should be good for all day run time.

Continue reading “Motorola Announces Trio of Phones: Moto X Style, Moto X Play, New Moto G”

Alcatel One Touch Idol 3 Smartphone Review – Budget Price, Killer Specs

The quality of phone you can buy at the sub $300 price point is improving rapidly. Alcatel offers up a compelling option for folks wanting to shop an inexpensive Android handset. Let’s take a look!

Shop the Idol 3 on Amazon.
Idol 3 Speaker Test.
Idol 3 Camera Review.