Sony Xperia Z vs Samsung Galaxy S III + Vidéo de test prise avec le Sony Xperia Z

Sony Xperia Z vs Samsung Galaxy S III

Sony was quick to release its flagship smartphone for the first half of 2013 – theXperia Z. The company did its job ahead of everyone else and is now enjoying a comfortable specs lead against the current Android flagships on the market. But as we all know, specs ain't everything! Could it be that the Galaxy S III, one of the best smartphones of 2012, can still prove to be a worthy opponent to the Xperia Z, even though technological evolution is on the side of Sony's handset? Let us take a closer look and find out!


Design

There are some evident differences regarding the design language for both devices. On one hand, we have the Sony Xperia Z, which has this rectangular shape and all-glass body, while on the other there's the Galaxy S III with its rounded corners and plastic build. Generally, we'd say that the Xperia Z has the more striking appearance of the two, definitely the more stylish one, though the GS III is easily the winner when it comes to comfort, as its rounded edges make the device feel substantially smaller in the hand.

	Android buttons	Front cameras
The Sony Xperia Z (left) and the Samsung Galaxy S III (right)

In terms of build quality, the Galaxy S III is really no match for the Xperia Z, as its thin, plastic body may be pleasant to the touch, but leaves a lot to be desired as far as sturdiness and materials go.

One thing we really appreciate about the Xperia Z is the fact that it's water- and dust-resistant, which is a feature that you cannot find in any other flagship smartphone, including the Galaxy S III.

Right sides	Left	Top
Bottom	Backs	Rear cameras
The sides of the Sony Xperia Z (bottom, left) and the Samsung Galaxy S III (top, right)

Display

Both the Xperia Z and Galaxy S III have a lot going for their displays, though both take very different approaches in that area. This is also one area where technological evolution has played its part, as the Xperia Z is armed with what seems to be the standard for high-end Android phones in 2013 – a 5” screen with 1080x1920-pixel resolution. This kind of size and res make for an amazing pixel density of 441 ppi, which means that pretty much anything that comes out on this screen is exceptionally sharp and clear. The GS III with its 4.8”, 720x1280-pixel resolution (306 ppi) screen is also very detailed and sharp, but of course the Z has the advantage here.

Being an advanced LCD screen, the one of the Xperia Z features much more realistic-looking colors, especially when compared to the Galaxy S III's colder tones. Overall though, the GS III is much more saturated and vibrant, so you may find it a bit more suitable for multimedia stuff, whereas the Xperia Z features the Mobile BRAVIA 2 engine, which also adds a certain degree of vibrancy to the image, but that feature only works in the gallery and video player, so overall you tend to end up looking at a slightly more lifeless image.

That said, the GS III has the dimmer screen, so keep this mind if you plan a lot of outdoor usage. Both handsets fail to impress with their viewing angles.

Vidéo de test prise avec le Sony Xperia Z 

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Sony's credit rating downgraded to speculative

No one is safe from the pinch at the moment. Sony is the latest tech giant to be hit by general populous tightening their belts, having their credit rating downgraded from BB- to BBB-.

If this is alien to you, Fitch Ratings are applied to both companies and countries, using grades from AAA to D (with +/- intermediates for each grade). While BBB- isn’t the end of the world, their grading is now classed as speculative with the outlook negative. Panasonic also had their rating dropped to the BBB- grade.

Sony has been bleeding money for the past four years. The PS3 initially launched in 2006 to a lukewarm response, mainly due to its high price at the time. It took Sony until 2010 before they started to make money on the console.

In-between then and now, Sony has unsuccessfully attempted to crack the portable gaming market with the PSP Go and PSP Vita. With both devices overpriced and spec’d incorrectly for the market, they failed to sell as many units as Nintendo’s DS handheld device. The consumer was not convinced.

Fitch’s Steve Durose said in a statement:

We think there is little headroom for Sony. Without a radical change to the structure of their businesses it is difficult to see profitability improving enough for [Sony and Panasonic] to regain investment-grade ratings.

Sony has always been known as a company that provides products at premium pricing. While Sony isn’t dead in the water yet, the company will need to make serious changes to its business practises if it wants to become profitable once again.

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Sony Promises Galaxy S III, iPhone 5 Competitor Soon

Sony, the electronics giant from Japan recently acquired its erstwhile partner Ericsson’s stake in the mobile phones business. This led to the dissolution of the “Sony Ericsson” brand. Sony continues to make mobile phones under the “Sony” brand albeit it hasn’t had much success of late with most of its handsets. That however might change soon if we are to believe the company’s sales chief Dennis van Schie. In an interview with an  European newspaper, the senior official made a candid acceptance when he frankly said that Sony currently doesn’t have a direct competitor to products like the Apple iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy S III.

That however won’t be the case for long. If all goes according to plan, Sony would debut its new flagship handset during MWC 2013 in February next year. Details regarding this handset remain sketchy at this point but having seen what Sony can do, we are sure it would surely be one hell of a device.

That reminds me. Have you ever wondered what ails Sony Mobile? Without doubt, they make some of the most gorgeous looking handsets – this side of Mercury. Specs wise too, they are not much far behind. Still, people flock towards the likes of the Galaxy S III and the iPhone? Why?

The issue seems to be multi pronged. Sony does an awesome job of designing and producing handsets. Then they ruin it all by providing virtually nonexistent updates to the once awesome phone. The result? People move towards manufacturers that provide updates and new features to their devices as it helps their handsets to stay “relevant”. If that wasn’t all, Sony seems to have a completely disjointed marketing team which has not done much to promote their flagship devices. As Matt Burns of MobileCrunch aptly puts it – Sony’s current flagship handset, the Xperia TL is virtually an unknown device which even some of the most seasoned tech bloggers are not aware of. This, in spite of the fact that it has a very decent spec sheet and an entry level price of just $99 on AT&T.

Anyway, it seems Sony has been thorough enough lackluster quarters and it is finally gearing up to get its act together. We can only hope that Sony delivers something really awesome this time round.

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Sony VAIO Tab 20

Sony went big at IFA 2012 yesterday by unveiling 

table -top pc, which (when laid on a flat surface) looks something like a battle overview screen from Star Wars. The device is set to sport an Intel i7, i5 or i3 processor, accompanied by a maximum of 8GB RAM, 750GB or 1TB HDD, USB 3.0, SD card slot, HD webcam and Intel HD 4000 graphics. Powering windows 8, the Sony 

VAIO Tab 20 will definitely turn heads.

Our team on the floor at IFA in Berlin managed to take a minute to look more closely at the Sony VAIO Tab 20, which can be seen in the video. Be sure to take a gander and see just how large this portable device is - remember it features a built-in, rechargeable battery but does weigh in at 11 pounds. The stand is visible in the short clip to reveal just how the table-top PC can be used as both a tablet or as a desktop.

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Sony Xperia J

Présenté lors de l'IFA 2012, le Sony Xperia J bénéficie d'un design fin et élégant (9,2 mm d'épaisseur). L'écran tactile est un 4 pouces FWVGA (854 x 480 pixels) ultra lumineux. Ce smartphone est animé par un processeur cadencé à 1 GHz accompagné de 4 Go de mémoire de stockage et flanqué de 512 Mo de mémoire interne (RAM).

Côté photographie, vous pourrez compter sur un appareil photo 5 mégapixels avec autofocus. Regardez vos photos et vidéos préférées dans les moindres détails dans l’appli Album et conservez vos clichés et vidéos sur PlayMemories Online, le moyen le plus simple pour accéder immédiatement à votre contenu depuis n’importe quel appareil.

Côté connectivité, tout est là. Compatible 3G+ et Wi-Fi, le Sony Xperia J est aussi compatible Wi-Fi, DLNA, Bluetooth 2.1, port MicroUSB 2.0, prise Jack 3,5 mm ... sans oublier A-GPS.

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Sony Xperia go

Certifié norme IP67, le Sony Xperia go vous propose la plus haute résistance à l’eau et la poussière possible pour un smartphone. Son processeur double cœur cadencé à 1 GHz vous permettra d’utiliser toutes les fonctionnalités de votre Xperia go en toute fluidité, sans oublier son écran 3,5" Reality Display doté du moteur Mobile BRAVIA en verre minéral résistant aux rayures, et utilisable les doigts mouillés.

Animé par Android 2.3 Gingerbread, le Xperia go embarque les applications Music Unlimited et Vidéo Unlimited de Sony Entertainment Network, pour un accès aux derniers blockbusters hollywoodiens, séries TV et à des millions de morceaux de musique. Vous pourrez partager tout vos contenus sur une multitude d’écran (téléviseurs, tablettes ou PC sans fil) grâce aux connectivités DNLA, Bluetooth et Wifi.

Le Xperia go est doté d'un capteur photo 5 mégapixels avec flash à LED et autofocus. Il permet la prise de vue rapide et la détection de visages et de sourires, mais également l'enregistrement vidéo HD (720 p). Les mélomanes peuvent profiter de la reconnaissance musicale TrackID, de la technologie de filtrage audio de Sony xLOUD Experience ou encore de la radio FM avec RDS.

Côté connectivité, tout est là. Compatible 3G+ et Wi-Fi, le Sony Xperia go est aussi compatible Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Bluetooth 2.1, port MicroUSB 2.0, prise Jack 3,5 mm ou encore A-GPS.

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