Sony confirms Xperia Z5 Premium only displays media in 4K
Sony became the first 4K smartphone manufacturer with the launch of its Xperia Z5 Premium, an impressive feat that sees a whopping 808 pixel per inch packed into the 5.5-inch display. However, such a high resolution has brought with it a fair share of concern about performance and battery life.
When it comes to gaming, smooth native 4K rendering is still well out of reach of mobile devices, but some have also speculated that Sony’s latest smartphone may not even make use of its 4K display to render your day to day Android UI. This makes sense, as the benefits of 4K for everyday tasks are probably not worth the extra strain on the processing components.
Sony has now confirmed that this is the case, stating that the phone’s ultra-high resolution mode is indeed reserved just for image and video content that can enjoy the benefits. All other content is rendered at a more standard 1080p resolution or lower, in order to preserve battery life and performance.
“Xperia Z5 Premium features a 4K display with a resolution of 3840×2160 pixels based on SID Standard and enables all video and image content to be enjoyed in 4K resolution. All other content is displayed at 1080P or lower resolution in order to optimise the performance and battery stamina for this device, ensuring you can enjoy the 4K resolution when you need it most.“
Instead of displaying regular content at 4K, Sony is upscaling most of the time. However, as a 1080×1920 resolution factors nicely into the display’s 2160×3840 pixels, image quality should be very well preserved. Considering that the Xperia Z5 Premium still offers the same two day battery life as its lower resolution brothers, perhaps this news isn’t so surprising. Although the 4K display still requires some extra juice, the larger battery makes up for those extra pixels.
Sony’s Xperia Z5 range:
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Although Sony has the world’s first 4K smartphone, it turns out that day to day experiences aren’t going to look any more detailed than most other flagship handsets out there. Do you think that this diminishes Sony’s achievement, or is this just sensible engineering?
‘Danganronpa 3’ brings the weirdness to both PS4 and PS Vita
If you’ve not played (or heard of) Danganronpa, they’re a visual novel series that lie somewhere between Battle Royale and a high school dating sim: it’s all about as murderous and plot-twisty as you might expect. Populated with anime characters and obeying the same stretched rules of logic as Phoenix Wright, the dark (sometimes very dark) series is getting now another sequel. Danganronpa v.3 made its first appearance at Sony’s TGS press event — two days before the thing officially starts — sans release date, but with the fact that it’ll land on both PS4 and Vita. Monochrome murderous bears for everyone.
Tags: DANGANRONPA, danganronpa3, kuma, playstation, ps4, psvita, sony, tgs2015, vita
PlayStation 4 is getting a price cut in Japan
If you were holding off on a price drop before buying a PlayStation 4, I hope you’re living in Japan. Sony just announced that its latest home console is getting a price cut to 35,000 yen (around $300) in the region, starting October 1st. You might be asking how this affects everyone else. Well, for starters this is a Sony sanctioned price cut and this is the first official one for the PS4. With the upcoming Paris Games Week (that Sony’s pledged to be at in a big way) this could very well signal a price drop in Europe. And then we have the upcoming PlayStation Experience show in the United States later this year, which could see the asking price drop domestically too.
We didn’t get any new info on how the system is selling worldwide, but this coupled with the official name for Project Morpheus PlayStation VR is at least something from the otherwise lackluster pre-Tokyo Game Show keynote.
Filed under:
Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Sony
Tags: gaming, hd, hdpostcross, japan, playstation, playstation4, pricecut, pricedrop, sony, tgs2015
Sony debuts new DualShock 4 hues, colorful hard drive covers
If you already own a PlayStation 4 but want to add a little bit more flair to your console, Sony’s Tokyo Game Show press conference has delivered some good news. First up are new hard drive panels, which let you add a touch of colour to your console with a variety of yellow, gold, pink, yellow, light blue, red and purple plates. Sony introduced us to the idea of swappable faces when it debuted its Project Skylight beta back in December 2014, but its latest accessories focus on solid colors more than game tie-ins.
If you’re happy with your console but could spring for a new controller, Sony’s delivered on that front too. It’s unveiled four new models, which come in Gold, Silver, Steel Black, and transparent Crystal. Both the controllers and the hard drive panels will launch in Japan ahead of the holiday season on November 6th. Sony says the plates will cost 2,500 yen each ($21/£14), and the new DualShock 4 pads will retail for 6,480 yen ($54/£35). The company has confirmed that the gold and silver controllers will make their way west first, but hasn’t said when we can expect them. It’s likely we won’t have to wait long until they all become available.
Source:
Sony
Tags: dualshock, dualshock4, hdpostcross, playstation 4, playstation4, ps4, sony
PS Vita gem ‘Gravity Rush’ is getting a PS4 port and sequel
Gravity Rush leapt onto the PlayStation Vita in 2012, when the console was in desperate need of some “triple-A” titles to compliment its blossoming indie library. It was a beautiful game with a few novel gameplay mechanics — to traverse the world and land on different objects, you were forced to jump in the air and pull gravity down in new, unusual directions. The handheld title was received favourably but, like Tearaway, never reached a large audience on the Vita — so Sony is giving it the Unfolded treatment with a port-remaster-remake-thing on the PlayStation 4. It’ll be coming out on December 10th in Japan — no word yet on an international release — followed by an all-new sequel called Gravity Daze 2 (the original was also called Gravity Daze in Japan) next year. For fans of Kat and her occasionally headache-inducing adventures, this is an unexpected treat from Sony.
Tags: gravitydaze, gravitydaze2, gravityrush, playstation4, playstationvita, ps4, psvita, sony, vita
Sony now rolling out Lollipop update for the Xperia Z1, Z1 Compact and Z Ultra
Sony is now rolling out the much-anticipated Lollipop update to all unlocked variants of the Xperia Z1, Z1 Compact and Z Ultra in the United States. With regards to added functionality, the upgrade brings the latest build of Android 5.1.1 to the handsets, in addition to a plethora of bug fixes, speed optimizations and, thankfully, a patch for the famous Stagefright vulnerability.
All the changes you’d expect to find in the Lollipop software are bundled into this upgrade, including support for multiple accounts, improved notifications, stronger 256-bit encryption, a smoother multitasking experience, personal unlocking, streamlined performance, increased battery life and Material Design.
As is the norm, the update is being rolled out in stages, but if you don’t feel like waiting for a notification confirming that it’s ready for your device to hit your unit, you could always search for the upgrade manually. To do so, open the Settings app, scroll to the bottom and tap on “About Device”, hit “System Updates”, then select “Check for updates”.
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Vodafone UK will be getting a special Bond Edition Sony Xperia Z5
The Sony Xperia Z5 was just announced not too long ago and already special editions are being made. This one is a James Bond special edition to celebrate the new movie SPECTRE, offered exclusively from Vodafone UK.
Anyone who buys the Bond Edition Z5 will have the chance to download some special edition SPECTRE themes and content. Not only that, but there are also prizes and special offers to make this deal even more exciting.
The 007 edition Xperia Z5 will still feature all the same features that make it just as great as the normal one such as: 23 MP camera, 2-day battery life, world’s fastest autofocus, and more. However, the exclusive content this Bond version will have are: official Bond themes, wallpapers, and a behind the scene blog from Miss Moneypenny herself which can all be downloaded from the Xperia Lounge. Nice so far, but that is not the best part.
Anyone who pre-orders will be entered into a draw to win one of 50 Aston Martin experience days, that allows you to drive a variety of Aston Martin cars. Plus, Vodafone UK say if you pre-order or buy the Bond phone you can get a huge savings on a Sony Action Cam Mini so you can film your trip.
But that’s not all! If you pre-order or order the Xperia Z5 Bond phone on one of our £49 Red 4GB Value 4G bundles, you’ll be able to buy a Sony AZ1VR Action Cam Mini for just £49, saving you a massive £200 on the RRP and letting you film your exploits in style.
The Bond Xperia Z5 will be available for pre-order September 16th, at Vodafone UK.
Source: Vodafone UK
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Watch PlayStation’s Tokyo Game Show keynote right here!
Sony was entirely absent from Europe’s annual Gamescom tradeshow last month, but the electronics juggernaut isn’t going to sit out the premiere event on its home soil, the Tokyo Game Show. In fact, the outfit wants everyone to watch it tonight during a livestream. The keynote’s scheduled for an English broadcast and we’ve embedded the live player right below. What can we expect come 2AM ET? Probably an update on how many PlayStation 4 consoles the company’s moved since it last announced that 20 million number, and maybe even a hard release date for the console’s big 3.0 system software patch.
Oh and probably a lot of info about third-party games because that’s what Sony tends to do at these types of things. Could a hard street date and price for Project Morpheus happen? There’s a possibility, but the company has to save something for Paris Games Week. However! It won’t be too long before we all find out together.
Filed under:
Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Sony
Source:
PlayStation (YouTube)
Tags: gaming, hd, hdpostcross, japan, playstation, playstation4, projectmorpheus, ps4, psvita, sony, tgs2015, tokyo, video
Vodafone UK announces availability of Xperia Z5 Bond phone from Sept 16th
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Yesterday, we saw Sony’s first “Made for Bond” ad which featured Ms Moneypenny and the Xperia Z5, and today, the Xperia Z5 Bond phone has been made official exclusively for Vodafone UK. It’s unclear whether the phone will be made available outside of the UK, but Vodafone says that the special edition device will star its pre-orders on September 16th. So what makes the Xperia Z5 Bond phone so Bond-like? Well, if we’re honest, not much – the phone is black but otherwise bears no physical markings to suggest it is themed (a 007 emblazoned on the back would have been killer).
Instead, owners who manage to get their hands on the Xperia Z5 Bond phone will get access to “official Bond themes, wallpapers and a behind the scene blog from Miss Moneypenny herself”. If you purchase the phone, you’ll also go in the running to win 1 of 50 Aston Martin experiences and get to drive an Aston Martin. No doubt this is a phone for the true Bond fan, so if you’re interested and are in the UK, you can hit the source link down below.
What do you think about the Xperia Z5 Bond phone? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Vodafone UK via Phandroid
The post Vodafone UK announces availability of Xperia Z5 Bond phone from Sept 16th appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Sony Xperia Z5 showcased in “Made for Bond” promo
Thanks to Sony Pictures, it is pretty much a given that Sony devices will always find their way into Bond movies and advertising. In the latest cross-promotional video, we see Miss Moneypenny sent to pick up James Bond’s new smartphone, the Sony Xperia Z5. Along the way, she is pursued by some bad guys and utilizes Sony tech to evade them. In addition to the Z5, the new Sony RX100 IV camera is also seen in the video, and the ad itself was shot with Sony’s F65 Pro 4K cinema camera.
In homage to the upcoming Bond Movie “Spectre”, the Xperia Z5 is shown with the time of 07:00 and with the date of Friday, November 6th — the movie’s launch date in the US.
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While the tie-in with Bond is a great way to advertise Sony’s latest flagship, it always feels like the company could take things a lot further than they do. After all, marketing and availability are probably the two biggest weaknesses for Sony phones in the US.
What do you think of the latest ad? And of the Sony Xperia Z5 in general? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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