The Sony Xperia Z, the latest flagship Android phone from the Japanese phone manufacturer will be launched in India today and is already up for pre-order from online retailers. Flipkart has the Xperia Z available for pre-order for a price of Rs. 38,990 while Saholic has the phone listed but hasn’t yet given it a price. The Xperia Z is coming to India about a week after it was launched in the UK.
However, the Xperia Z isn’t the only phone being launched by Sony today. The Xperia ZL, a slightly less expensive Android smartphone is also expected to be launched today since the phone is also available for pre-order on Flipkart for Rs. 35,990.
The Xperia Z is an Android Jelly Bean smartphone with a 5-inch 1080p HD display with a pixel density of 441ppi (pixels per inch). The Xperia Z is powered by a quad-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Krait processor, 2GB of RAM, an Adreno 320 GPU and a 2330mAh battery. Imaging is handled by a 13.1MP camera that’s also capable of shooting 1080p videos. The Xperia Z supports microSD cards up to 32GB and comes with 16GB of internal storage space. The Xperia Z is also IP57 certified as dust and water resistant.
The Xperia ZL is very similar to the Xperia Z in almost all aspects except a few. The Xperia ZL looks a little different from the Xperia Z and is slightly more compact but also a little thicker. The Xperia ZL also has a rubberized back whereas the Xperia Z has a glass back. The Xperia ZL isn’t IP57 certified either but it does cost about Rs. 3,000 less too.
Reliance Industries (RIL) has intensified its preparations to launch 4G services in the country and has reportedly finalised Samsung as the handset partner to launch entry-level 4G smartphones at a little over $100 (about Rs 5,500). Reports suggest the company is also planning to launch high-end smartphones bundled with RIL's 4G plans and will be offered to customers at minimum down-payments and EMIs at 0 percent interest rate.
The pricing of the 4G smartphones is likely to play a key role in the success as current 3G Samsung smartphones are available around the same price. The 4G entry-level smartphones are likely to be sold with data packages starting at as low as Rs. 100. According to an Economic Times report, RIL, which has pan-India 4G licence, may announce a soft launch in Delhi and Mumbai by mid-2013, and formally launch later this year.
"Samsung will not be just another vendor to RIL supplying handsets as it was when Reliance Infocomm was launched in 2002. They are seeking a much broader role. A possible joint venture could also be in the offering,” the report quotes a source as saying.
It is believed the partnership between Samsung and RIL will benefit both the parties. While Samsung will not only expand its growth in India, and use that to power its offerings in the US market, where it competes with Apple. With the partnership, Samsung will thump rivals Huawei and Alcatel-Lucent, among others.
"We went to the Korean giants before the Reliance Infocomm launch to manufacture handsets at $100, a price never heard of then in early 2000. They didn't entertain us then. We came back to our drawing boards, did an in-house research and went back to them showing how handsets can be manufactured within $100 and told them if they don't manufacture handsets for us at that price, we will do it on our own. In the process, they will miss out on a billion-dollar opportunity. That's when they gave in," says a Reliance insider on how companies like LG and Samsung had fallen in line to manufacture handsets for RIL during the Infocomm launch 2002.
The new midrange LG smartphone introduced at Mobile World Congress could soon find a home at Verizon Wireless.
Verizon Wireless may be the first U.S. carrier to offer one of LG's brand-spankin'-new Optimus F5 Android smarphones.
According to a set of alleged press photos obtained by UnwiredView, Verizon will carry the Optimus F5 as a followup to the LG Lucid. Introduced just last week at Mobile World Congress, the LG Optimus F5 features a 4.3-inch qHD display, a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, 1GB RAM, and 8GB internal storage.
The handset, powered by Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, will likely be priced low to attract new smartphone buyers.
Reportedly, Verizon will announce the Lucid 2 within the next few weeks.
Waiting is never easy. And in the fast-paced smartphone market, it feels like you can wait forever before buying a new phone, because there's always a better one around the corner.
For the smartphone consumer, it's a delicate balance in deciding when to pull the trigger on the next smartphone purchase. While the upgrade cycle of devices seems nearly constant, I've noticed that the spring and summer have become the sweet spot for the introduction of most of the year's hottest devices.
In this Ask Maggie, a reader is already content to wait for the Samsung Galaxy 4, which should be announced next week. And I offer some advice about waiting a little bit longer to see what other devices are likely to come to market in the next few months.
I also offer some insight to a reader, who has found a sweet deal on a new Samsung Galaxy Note 2 from Verizon's retail partners. He wants to know if there is a catch to Amazon's and Best Buy's aggressive pricing.
