Sony's Xperia Z3 has been snapped in
leaked photos alongside the Xperia Z3 Compact
The Sony Xperia Z2 has
only been on store shelves a matter of months and already we're looking at a
growing pool of leaked information which suggests an Xperia Z3 successor is
well into development and on the way to an announcement around September time.
That might sound quick, and it is, but it's all part of Sony's new
approach to development. The company has previously said that the conventional
12-month development cycle can't keep pace with technological innovations.
There's more than a grain of truth to that, but Sony's new six month development
cycle does run the risk of alienating consumers who feel they've only just
bought the new model, only to discover a newer one is rapidly approaching in a
matter of months.
One other potential pitfall is that phone development is already rather
immobile, by that we mean: two, three, or even four or more handsets are
usually planned in one go and a production process is set in motion over a long
period of time - it's not very flexible to change according to market trends.
The six month cycle means that level of planning has to go even further, and
could make it even less able to adapt to whatever happens in the
meantime.
All of this aside, the Sony Xperia Z3 is apparently real, it's
happening, so what do we know about the handset so far?
Sony Xperia Z3 Release Date
Sony previously revealed its intention to operate a six-month
development cycle for its flagship devices, which resulted in seeing the Xperia
Z2 released around that many months after the Xperia Z1 first broke cover. So
it seems, the company was serious about that claim. If it sticks to it, which
seems likely, we can expect to see the Xperia Z3 appearing, as the Xperia Z1
did, at the annual IFA conference in Berlin, Germany, this September. That's
also what the rumour mill is current saying, so it all fits.
September 3?
According to a TechnoBuffalo and a
“trusted source” the Xperia Z3 will be announced by Sony at a pre-IFA 2014
press conference. The source claimed it would take place on September 3, two
days before IFA officially begins. It would make sense as it’s the custom for
the larger manufacturers to announce their new flagships a little while before
the start of the event.
The source also shared news that the Xperia Z3 would be coming to the
largest network in the US. T-Mobile will be
stocking the handset and it will be available soon after the
announcement.
New information – via Vodafone Germany – suggests the Xperia Z3 and
Xperia Z3 Compact will get a release immediately after IFA 2014. The memo
– written in German –details a competition the network is running across its
stores in Germany and, interestingly, both the Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z3 Compact
are mentioned.
But the really interesting thing is that the competition is listed as
ending on September 30. If true – we 've no means of verifying the memo
– that means both handsets will be launched and in store by the close of
September.
Sony Xperia Z3 Design
The very latest leak comes courtesy of @evleaks with a set of images showing off
the slightly softer design in greater detail. The snaps once again reiterate
that Sony's "One" design language isn't going anywhere, but has been
refined with a closer-fitting metal surround and smoother edges.
A leak emerged via Xperia Blog, which
obtained a couple of images from Chinese social network Digi-Wo. It's the first
time we've seen what's alleged to be the Xperia Z3 as a full smartphonerather than simply parts, and better
yet it's pictured alongside the Xperia Z3 Compact.
We can see the front fascia of both devices and it's interesting to note
that as per earlier rumours the bezels appear to have narrowed and the
aluminium surround sits more snugly to the bodywork - similar to Huawei's
Ascend P7.
Yet more images of a handset claimed to be Sony’s next-generation Xperia
Z3 have popped up on China’s Weibo platform. As per previous rumours, the leaked
information points to a 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801 CPU and the same optics as seen
aboard the Xperia Z2.
The Xperia Z3 will also ship with Android 4.4.4 KitKat out of the box, based
on the leaked settings menu.
Twitter leakster @DooMLorD_XDA supplied some details about a new
design for the Xperia Z3. It looks like there are going to be some very slim
bezels and a slim handset profile overall coming in at 7mm thin. To put that in
perspective: the current Xperia Z2 is 8.2mm thin.
Sony Xperia Z3 Specs
@evleaks has once
again outed some more information about the Xperia Z3 with a set of specs for
the device. It claims to have heard the phone has a code designation D6653 and
will feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core chip clocked at 2.4GHz, an
Adreno 330 GPU, 3GB of RAM, a 5.1in 1080p display, 16GB of onboard storage,
Android 4.4.4 KitKat, and a 20.7MP camera sensor.
That same GForGames source mentioned above also gave us a little hint at
what is under the hood, which is a bit of an upgrade over the current Z2
specs. There will be a 1080p display as well as a powerful Snapdragon 805
CPU, which has been clocked at 2.7GHz. On top of that there's 3GB of RAM and
the return of that 20.7MP main camera.
Meanwhile, the Xperia Z3 Compact is said to feature the following specs,
according to Phandroid:
§ 4.5-inch display,
§ Qualcomm Snapdragon 801
processor / Adreno 330 GPU
§ 2GB RAM
§ 20.7MP rear / 2.1MP front
facing cameras
XDA
developer DooMLoRD tweeted out a screen shot
allegedly taken from the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact, adding further fuel to the
speculation that development and testing of Sony's next flagship handsets is
already well underway. Taken at face value and considering HTC, Samsung and LG
are tipped to be working on reboots of their respective 2014 flagships, the
move begins to make sense. Sure this kind of sucks if you only just bought the
Xperia Z2 but look on the bright side: there's no word on a release date, so it
could be a good long while before these handsets' are released
commercially.
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