Sony to hold its “Demand Great” media event in US on October 9

Soon after launching its Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z3 Compact phones in India, Sony is now holding a media event on October 9 in New York City, US. The invite has been sent to select media members and has the words “DEMAND GREAT” written on it in bold. However Sony has not declared what it plans to announce at the event.

Sony had unveiled its new flagship Xperia Z3 along with Xperia Z3 Compact and Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact at the IFA 2014 in Berlin. Since then, the company has been promoting these devices on Twitter with hashtag #DemandGreat. It is therefore a possibility that the Japanese tech giant will be announcing one or more members of its new Sony Xperia Z3 family in the US.

T-Mobile of the US has already confirmed that it will be carrying Sony’s new Xperia Z3 flagship smartphone. Sonymobile’s official US website lists the Xperia Z3 as “coming Soon”, the Xperia Z3 Compact as “New” and the Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact as also “coming soon”. Customers can pre-register for all the three devices on the Sonymobile’s website.

Sony’s October 9 “Demand Great” event will be held between 1.30 – 3.00 PM eastern time. We will have to wait and see what Sony announces then. It is interesting to note that HTC is holding its press event just a day before, i.e. on October 8 to unveil its new Action Camera in New York City itself.

Source: SlashGear

Sony to hold its “Demand Great” media event in US on October 9

Sony discloses additional features of the Xperia Z3 Series

Sony had unveiled its Xperia Z3 series devices namely the Xperia Z3, the Xperia Z3 Compact and the Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact at the recently concluded IFA 2014. Sony says that it had not revealed “everything” about the devices during the launch and is now sharing their additional features with us in an article published in its blog.

The title of the article says “3+3+3 things you didn’t know the Xperia Z3 Series could do…” and tells us about 9 features of the Xperia Z3 devices that most of us might not be aware of.

1. 
   NFC for Contactless Payments: Sony has the NFC technology in its smartphones since 2012 right from Xperia S onward for making payment “with a simple touch”. Sony proudly says “We were NFC before it was cool” (probably as a taunt to Apple).


2. 
   Select the Sony headphone you are using in the Xperia Z3 device to optimize the sound quality: To choose the Sony headphone that you are using, click the Settings > Sound > Audio Settings > Headphones and get the “best possible quality” of sound.


3. 
   Pause while recording a video: The Xperia Z3 Series devices have a new pause button that enables you to pause the recording when you want to and then un-pause when you want to record the next clip. All the clips will be recorded back-to-back in the same file. You won’t have to hit stop and record every time and end up getting several clips of one event.


4. 
   Record your on-screen activity: In the Xperia Z3 Series, there is a feature that allows you to record your on-screen activity. Long-press the power button and select “Record Sreen”. Your handset will begin to record what you do on your screen.


5. 
   Personalized settings for quick access: You can drag and drop the settings you want into the tray at the bottom and then long-press each one to load it into the settings app. This will make the settings easy and quicker to use.


6. 
   Ultra Stamina Mode available: We know that Sony’s STAMINA mode makes the battery last longer by turning off some of the functions during standby. The Xperia X3 has an “Ultra STAMINA Mode” which gives even more usage although limiting several phone functions and allowing only the basic ones. According to Sony, the Xperia Z3 lasts for over a week in the Ultra STAMINA Mode on a full charge.


7. 
   Smart screen rotation: This feature automatically detects how the device is being held and rotates the screen accordingly. This prevents unwanted screen rotations for example when one is using the phone while lying on a sofa or bed.


8. 
   Use of gestures: Wake up the phone with double tap. To silence the ring of an incoming call, turnover your Xperia Z3 or Z3 Compact phone face down or take it to your ear to answer the call. The screen stays lit when you are holding it in your hand due to the smart backlight control so that when you are reading something or looking at a photo on the screen, it will stay lit. But when you keep down the phone, the display will turn off according to your sleep setting.


9. 
   Unlock with Sony Smartwear or Sony Bluetooth accessory: You can set up your Sony Smartwear such as SmartWatch, SmartBand, or Bluetooth accessories and headphones to unlock the Xperia Z3 Series devices. Click the Settings > Security > Screen lock > Bluetooth unlock , then select the device and click ‘continue and press the power key. The device will be unlocked when the accessory is close by.

Take a look at the promo video below:

Sony discloses additional features of the Xperia Z3 Series

Sony Unveils Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact at IFA 2014

Now its Sony’s turn to showcase its devices at IFA 2014 and one of them is Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact. This is a small size tablet by Sony under its flagship Z3 series. This would be the company’s first compact tablet device. This device is just 6.8mm making it the slimmest tablet available in market. The tagline of the device “” is thus justified

But slim size supposedly has no effect on tablet’s performance. Powered by the most powerful Qualcomm processor i.e.2.5 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 accompanied by 3GB RAM. It has 16GB on board storage with microSD card expansion of 128GB. Xperia Z3 Compact Tablet has 8 inch Triluminos display having resolution 1920×1200 pixels and a high brightness mode making it easy to use it in direct sunlight too. An additional feature of is tablet is X-Reality engine which makes colours and contrast pop while watching videos.

The device works underwater too as it has got IP58/68 certification making the device water and dust proof. Sony has installed DSEE HX technology stereo speakers that have an ability to improve audio quality by upscaling regular tunes to high resolution. But how they work in practice is still unseen. Xperia Z3 compact tablet has a 15 hour HD video streaming battery back-up due to its 4500 mAh battery.

As shown in image above gamers the device can be connected to a PS4 through Wi-Fi, and game with the DUALSHOCK4 controller and the tablet is resting in front of mounted on a GCM10 Game Control Mount accessory. Also it can be connected to your TV and be used as a remote screen with the help of PS4 Remote Play2.

Sony is mum on the price of this compact tablet and regions it plans to launch the device. But surely Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact is hard one to beat. The tagline “the world’s lightest and most powerful compact tablet” is aptly justified. Take a look at its video.

Sony Unveils Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact at IFA 2014