The Sony Xperia Z touched down in style at CES 2013 in Las Vegas with a fabulous 5-inch full HD display, powerful quad-core processor and stand out 13MP camera.
With so much on offer we've rounded up the best features of the Sony Xperia Z for you to digest as your leisure.
The ultimate viewing experience
The Xperia Z pulls in expertise from Sony's TV, camera and computing divisions to deliver a phone with a beautiful, full HD 5-inch display.
Sony's heritage in the TV industry comes into play with the Mobile Bravia Engine 2 which is created by specialist engineers to really make you feel like you're part of the action.
With a wealth of power under the hood, highly functional Android Jelly Bean operating system and dazzling CyberShot camera with an EXMOR RS sensor, the Sony Xperia Z is well equipped to bring you the best mobile viewing experience.
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A wealth of content
Whatever your vice may be, from movies to music, downloads and steaming the Xperia Z has you covered from head to toe.
With a vivid 5-inch full HD display, powerful 1.5GHz quad-core processor, slick Android Jelly Bean operating system and optimised 2,400mAh battery the Xperia Z is ready, are you?
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Super connectivity
On top of offering the ultimate viewing experience, fantastic performance and stunning design the Sony Xperia Z also features a wealth of great connectivity options.
The Xperia Z provides you with one-touch connectivity, giving you the easiest and fastest way to wirelessly share music, photos and videos from your phone.
With the NFC technology built into the Sony Xperia Z, you can easily pair the handset to other compatible devices such as your NFC-enabled BRAVIA TV or wireless headphones.
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Always working, come rain or shine
The Sony Xperia Z manages to marry a dust- and waterproof design with a stunning 5-inch full HD display and powerful 1.5GHz quad-core processor for a truly super-phone experience.
Carrying IP55 and IP57 certificates, you can take the Xperia Z for a dip in fresh water up to 1 metre for 30 minutes, meaning a trip into the bath or a slip into the toilet shouldn't end your phone's existence.
You can also rest easy when you next head to dustier climates as these are no problem for the tough Sony Xperia Z, which laughs in the face of such danger.
Two separate leaks on Monday reportedly gave smartphone fanciers another look at what's expected to be HTC's next flagship phone.
The HTC M7, with Android Jelly Bean and the new Sense 5.0 UI, is tipped to arrive at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, in late February.
Firstly, Pocket Now has picked up a new render of the purported device, very different to the one that appeared last week, which, according to two HTC sources who've seen the device, is "spot on."
The new render appears to look a little like the HTC Windows Phone 8X handset, although the M7 is expected to be slightly smaller, with a 4.7-inch 1080p display.
The real deal?
Following the leaked render on Monday, the Android Police site joined the party, claiming to have laid its paws on snaps of the real thing.
Both leaks seem to show a very similar handset, although the 'real' hardware photo, doesn't appear to be as complete as the elaborate render.
It is possible, that the picture is of an earlier version of the handset, while the render shows what will be the finished article.
Other specs are said to include a 1.7GHz quad-core processor and a 13-megapixel camera. It looks like we'll find out for sure at MWC in a month's time.
It's hardly the surprise announcement of the week but the curtain has finally been lifted on the hotly anticipated Sony Xperia Tablet Z.
Following in the wake of the Xperia Z smartphone which broke cover at CES 2013, Sony is looking to once again tackle the tablet market with its latest water and dust-proof slate ready to take the reins from the Xperia Tablet S.
Packing a 10.1-inch 1,920 x 1,200 full HD display, 1.5GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, 8.1MP rear camera and Android Jelly Bean the Xperia Tablet Z certainly has the vital statistics of a top tab.
Wafer thin
Sony has managed to cram all that tech along with NFC technology, LTE connectivity and a mircoSD slot into a frame which is just 6.9mm thick.
That means the Xperia Tablet Z is considerably thinner than the likes of the Galaxy Note 10.1 and Nexus 10 and it even pips the svelte iPad mini which clocks in at 7.2mm.
As with its smartphone namesake Sony has stuffed a load of its own technology into the Xperia Tablet Z including its Mobile Bravia Engine 2 to improve the screen and its Exmore R sensor in the camera on the back.
On paper then the Sony Xperia Tablet Z looks like a winner, but it does feel just a little bit too good to be true and as well as word on the price we look forward to getting our hands on a unit to see if it can match its supposed class.
It's worth noting that the announcement has been made for Japan only for the time being, with no word on availability in other countries with Sony telling TechRadar: "This product is currently only for the Japanese market. We cannot comment further on availability in other markets at this stage."
RIM's yet-to-be-announced BlackBerry Z10 handset has come face-to-face with the iPhone 5 in a new comparison video.
The all-touchscreen BB10, which is all set for a grand unveiling at the end of January, has been leaked more times than we care to remember, but never in this much detail and never next to its chief nemesis.
German blog telekon-presse.ak has provided a hands-on with what is all-but-certain to be the Z10, comparing design, build, software and features with Apple's latest and greatest mobile handset.
According to the hands-on comparison, the BB10 voice control system does a better job than Siri during a request to send a message. It was more accurate and faster on the Z10 than the iPhone 5.
What's left to see?
The video also shows how the respective operating system deals with incoming text messages and offers a neat look at BB10's Peak View feature, which gives users a quick look at items in the BlackBerry Hub.
Other highlights include a look at the different ways multitasking is handled by the OS, and how app icons are presented, while it also shows how to kill active apps and offers a look at the respective Twitter apps.
You can check out the interesting video comparison below. At this rate RIM will have nothing left to reveal on January 30, when it holds launch events around the world.
What do you think? On that evidence can the Z10 challenge the iPhone 5 on a level playing field? Let us know in the comments section below.
Laptops are for serious work and tablets are for consuming media. That's the general consensus when it comes to modern computing. A consensus that's easily disproved, but one which, as a general rule of thumb, sums up our attitudes to these two separate ways of using the latest technology.
At least, that was the general idea before Windows 8 came along, which meant that Lenovo could release a machine just like the ThinkPad Twist.
The Lenovo ThinkPad Twist squeezes a lot out of its sturdy design. As the name suggests, unlike laptops that are restrained by a single clamshell action, the screen on the Twist can be easily rotated so that it ends up facing away from the keyboard.
This transforms it into a versatile tablet whenever you need it, like showing off a presentation. It also means you can use the machine easily when sat on the sofa, then twist it back round to turn it into a fully-fledged laptop.
This is a Lenovo machine, and one carrying the venerable ThinkPad name, which means that it's a workhorse PC first and foremost. It's designed to last and serve you well, and is exceptionally robust.
This build quality extends to the twisting mechanism itself, which is elegant, but holds the screen at your chosen angle well and clunks reassuringly into place when you flip the screen back to its laptop form.
The core specification of the ThinkPad Twist is a no-nonsense affair, boasting one of Intel's third-generation Core architecture processors, the Core i5-3317U. This is a dual-core processor that can handle up to four threads at the same time.
This makes it a powerhouse with the right software - particularly for media encoding. The default speed of 1.7GHz may not seem like much, but it ramps up to 2.6GHz when required, which means you'll rarely be waiting for it to respond.
The processor is also responsible for the system's graphics capabilities, its integrated HD 4000 GPU looks after media acceleration, 3D rendering and even the odd game. Admittedly you're not going to be playing the latest gaming blockbusters, but some older titles work well.
Benchmarks
Battery life performance Imtec Battery Mark: Minutes: Higher is better LENOVO THINKPAD TWIST: 298 SCAN 3XS GRAPHITE LG5: 192
CPU performance Cinebench R11.5 Index: Higher is better LENOVO THINKPAD TWIST: 2.37 SCAN 3XS GRAPHITE LG5: 2.48
Lenovo has packed in 4GB of RAM to keep things running smoothly, and for permanent storage this model has a 500GB hard drive. This isn't your standard laptop drive either, it's a desktop-speed drive running at 7,200rpm as opposed to the far more common 5,400rpm, which means it feels sprightly in use.
This is helped even further by a small 24GB cache drive, which helps keep the Pro version of Windows 8 fast and responsive. You can choose a faster SSD if you need the speed, but overall this is a good solution for the money.
The 12.5-inch Gorilla Glass screen is the main draw of the ThinkPad Twist and boasts a standard resolution of 1,366 x 768. This handles HD movies easily and still has plenty of room for more serious work.
Something the machine is more than capable of thanks to the roomy keyboard and versatile options for mouse control. Not only do you have a touchpad and TrackPoint inputs (the small red nub on the keyboard), but you can, of course, use the touchscreen as well.
The Lenovo ThinkPad Twist is well designed, sturdy and a strong performer. It'll also last you a good while, racking up over three and a half hours of battery use under moderate conditions. It's just as happy acting as a powerful tablet as it is a laptop, and while a little heavier than normal laptops, the versatility on offer makes it a machine worth considering if you're looking for a serious workhorse.
Microsoft has a lot of catching up to do. While there's no doubting the company's might, it seems increasingly ossified and unimaginative compared to its rivals.
Last November, it posted a 22 per cent fall in profit. Although that still left a not-inconsiderable profit of $4,47bn, the question remains: can Microsoft change its strategy before it's completely eclipsed by Google?
When Google launched its first own-brand mobile device, the HTC-made T-Mobile G1, there was a lot of scepticism about the search giant's ability to build a competitive smartphone.
However, as Android matured, improved devices such as the Nexus One began to present a serious challenge to the iPhone at a time when Apple offered one of the few viable smartphone options.
Up until recently, Google has only had limited success in selling hardware directly on the Play Store, as most of the vanilla Android-bearing Nexus phones had only really appealed to the Android army or app developers.
Nexus 7 has changed that. Delivered by Asus with an astoundingly low price-tag and excellent specs, it's really caught on with those seeking a more affordable alternative to the dominating iPad. More recently, Google's LG Nexus 4 has been almost permanantly sold out - as you'd expect for a very desirable phone at half the price of the iPhone 5.
Through all of these devices, there has been one constant principle: Nexus devices are fully approved by Google and sold directly as well as through network partners. By taking this route Google has shown itself equal to the only other major phone manufacturer to sell its devices directlto the consumer - Apple.
Microsoft plays it safe
So what has Microsoft been up to while Google has built a solid foothold in the smartphone market? Not as much as you'd think - tentatively allowing established partners to develop phones with their fledgling software on board, and then allowing networks and retailers to do as they like with them.
When it re-imagined Windows Mobile with Windows Phone, MS had the perfect chance to launch its own phones or tablets and go for broke. But for reason it has never disclosed, Microsoft failed to take control of its own product range.
Instead of putting the Microsoft name on the hardware, it looked to long-term partners HTC and Samsung to help deliver new Windows Phone-powered handsets to market.
Hands on: Microsoft Surface Pro review
Although many were excited by the new design direction of Windows Phone 7 (which has continued with Windows Phone 8), the initial hardware selection was truly uninspired. Microsoft languished behind the competition.
As far as tablets were concerned, Microsoft was still trying (and failing) to convince people that the traditional desktop experience was really usable on a smaller touch-screen.
Unfortunately, most of the equipment manufacturers were doing little to help Microsoft, with silly ridiculous price-tags attached to hot, heavy disappointments.
With the arrival of the Microsoft Surface RT tablet and Windows 8 however, Microsoft has taken a step in the same direction as Google and started selling the devices directly. But MS has not been able to match the success of the Nexus devices, and the Surface has had only modest sales in its first month on sale, with projections for a million units shipped in Q4 2012.
Contrast this with the Nexus 7, which is said to be topping a million sales per month. While it may not be as profitable as the Surface, at this stage Google is happy to do all it can to gain market share safe in the knowledge it has a well established store and advert model.
Where does Microsoft go from here?
So why is Microsoft still flagging? Firstly, because MS doesn't really offer anything exclusive on its Surface Tablet that couldn't be done by other manufacturers such as Dell or HP.
Sure, the keyboard options are innovative, but not really ground-breaking considering what Asus was doing with its Transformer tablets 18 months previously.
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There aren't any software exclusives to draw in the early adopters, and so it's left having to convince people that it has made a great piece of hardware as the main selling point.
And while many will agree that the Surface is indeed a great bit of hardware, it's not accompanied by a smartphone sibling that would give MS the unified range of devices it so sorely needs to compete directly with Google.
It must be said there are some excellent Nokia Lumia and HTC Windows Phone 8 handsets out there, such as the HTC Windows Phone 8X. But without MS branding on the devices, it is yet again relying on third-parties to deliver the results, and MS isn't directly benefiting from any of it.
All about the ecosystem
For the mainstream to jump ship and embrace the Surface as well as Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8, Microsoft needs to offer an ecosystem that's recognisable across multiple devices, much like Google's.
With Microsoft, it's hard to know where to start. Hotmail is still a hugely successful webmail service (although Gmail finally overtook it last year), but Microsoft has been trying to rebrand it as Outlook in order to tie it in more closely to Windows 8.
Cloud service SkyDrive is also a distinctly average affair - possibly deliberately so in order to protect Office. And as for media, it's hard to know exactly what is on offer.
The only exciting thing MS has up its sleeve at the moment is SmartGlass integration with Xbox. If implemented properly, this could be a really attractive feature for Windows Phone and Surface users, acting as a second screen and user interface extension for the hugely popular Xbox Live gaming platform.
Microsoft are still a long way from offering a consumer-friendly cloud service that unifies files, settings and other stuff across all Windows devices. Windows Phone 8 takes further strides towards this - and alongside Windows 8 certainly lays some of the groundwork for a brighter mobile future - but you can't help feeling that Microsoft is trailing in Google's wake.
Samsung's head of mobile has confirmed that the rumoured Galaxy Note 8 will make its first official appearance at MWC 2013.
JK Shin has reportedly told Korean news outlet iNews24 that this is the case; as Engadget points out, the same site got wind of the Galaxy S3 Mini from Shin before its launch too making it a lot more credible than, say, Digitimes and its upstream supply chain sources.
We heard tell that the Galaxy Note 8.0 would pop up at MWC just last week when a spec sheet made its way on to the big bad internet, promising an 8-inch Super Clear LCD screen, 2GB of RAM, a 5MP camera and a 4,600mAh battery.
Competition
With the iPad mini, Google Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD proving that the mid-size tablet is the latest tech battleground, Samsung clearly needs something a bit beefier than the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 to compete.
After a lacklustre CES 2013, all eyes are on the Barcelona trade show for the launch of some big-name mobile devices, including an LG Optimus G sequel, a new HTC Android line-up and some new lust-worthy toys from Asus.
As usual, we'll be hitting Barcelona in a military formation designed to eke every last tech tidbit from the show floor at MWC 2013 - so stay tuned for the news as it breaks.
The LG Optimus G Pro looks more and more likely to be the Korean firm's next flagship handset, but don't go thinking it will be full of groundbreaking tech.
According to a couple of Korean news agencies, LG has confirmed that the Optimus G Pro will arrive in Asia during the first quarter of this year.
It will sport a full HD 5.5-inch display, pitting itself against the Sony Xperia Z, Huawei Ascend D2 and ZTE Grand S, plus possibly the iPhone 5S and Samsung Galaxy S4.
Ain't nothing more than a G
Dazzling resolution and larger screen aside, the Optimus G Pro looks to offer little more over the original LG Optimus G, quashing rumours that it could be the much talked about Optimus G2.
The Optimus G Pro will apparently run the same quad-core processor found in the G, but user experience will be ramped up – whatever that means. Hopefully it means a bigger battery to keep that bigger, snazzier screen going but who knows.
We've contacted LG to see if we can garner any official comment regarding the Optimus G Pro and details on its availability and price.
The much-vaunted Motorola X Phone will pioneer the Android Key Lime Pie OS and arrive at Google I/O in May, if rumours this weekend are to be believed.
A post on the DroidForums website said the device will be the first handset to ship with the Android 5.0 update and will tout a virtually bezel-less, edge-to-edge, 5-inch display.
The post adds that, although an announcement may be made at the Google I/O conference, the Motorola X Phone will not be classed as a Nexus device, per se, but as an entirely new sub-brand.
Instead, according to the rumour, a Nexus-like UI will sit on top of the Android OS. The post said: "Supposedly, Motorola has been working hard to create a UI that both compliments & enhances the Android experience, and is intended to be Nexus-like."
Interesting, the rumour claimed that the new UI will integrate a host of new features to rival Samsung's S-Beam, S-Voice and the like.
Too soon?
Just last month, Google CEO Larry Page claimed it was too soon for a Motorola Nexus phone although the launch of the X Phone at Google I/O would be the fruit to be bourne of the big Motorola buyout of 2011.
The company has been relatively quiet since the takeover, with no new, top-level handsets of note, but first dibs on Key Lime Pie would certainly put Moto back on the map
The post does advise that the rumour be taken with "a grain of salt," but it's certainly an interesting tidbit and seems entirely plausible to us. Roll on, Google I/O.
