Meet Sony’s new phablet: an unwieldy slab with a beautiful screen June 25, 2013 11:03 am by Financial Times 29 By Dan Thomas, telecoms correspondent Sony will bolster its mobile range with a large screen “phablet” phone that is sized neatly between the high end smartphone and tablet launched last year to revive the Japanese group’s ailing devices business. At 6.4 inches, Xperia Z Ultra acts perfectly as a small video screen, with a remarkably clear luminous display that carries HD videos with great clarity using Sony Bravia TV technology. But although a slim 6.5mm, the large screen feels uncomfortable as a regular handheld device and will put people off from using it as an out-and-out phone. Sony has designed a clever blue tooth-linked hand held lozenge that can be used to talk – in tacit acknowledgement that the unwieldy slab could reside mostly in someone’s bag. Messages can be written on device using any pen or pencil tip using handwriting recognition software, a neat move to rival Samsung’s popular Note range of devices that need a special stylus to work. Like Sony’s Experia Z smartphone, the phablet is waterproof – and perhaps as importantly ink proof given a quick test does not seem to result in any ugly stains across the screen. Sony says that it can even be used as an underwater camera. The company sees the device as having a distinct market from its existing smartphone and tablet, with a spokesman saying that it was aimed at people wanting to watch videos on the move but without the weight of a tablet. This market is seen as particularly big in Asia, he said, where the phone will be first launched. The device, which was unveiled at Mobile Asia Expo in Shanghai this morning, uses the latest version of Android and is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon quad-core processor. Sony has not given pricing details for the phone yet, although the spokesman admitted that it would be positioned at the “premium” end of the market. Tags: phablet, Sony
Posted on: Wed, 26 Jun 2013 07:20:00 +0000
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