Samsung Details Its Galaxy Gear VR and Gear S Accessories in New Infographic

Samsung Details Its Galaxy Gear VR and Gear S Accessories in New Infographic

Samsung has released new infographic on its new accessories unveiled at IFA this year – the Galaxy Gear S smartwatch and the Galaxy Gear VR virtual reality headset telling us more about these new products. Both of these complement the Galaxy Note 4 well and the Gear VR in fact, works only with the Galaxy Note 4 and no other device.

The Galaxy Gear VR allows you to enjoy optimized contents in 3D. You can not only watch movies, but also games, 360 degree videos, and educational or experiential content. The accessory works by using your Galaxy Note 4’s Quad-HD display as the screen and can convert 2D content into 3D and let you enjoy everything in a surreal large screen theater environment. The virtual reality accessory has a field of view 96-degree wide which offers a 360 degree immersive viewing experience. The product also comes with ventilation holes and a proximity sensor to detect when you take it off your head so that playback can be paused. There is also a focal adjustment wheel allowing you to alter the focal length, volume keys, back button and a touchpad as well.

Samsung has also explained the features and highlights of its Galaxy Gear S smartwatch. The Gear S isn’t running on Android Wear but comes with Samsung’s own Tizen operating system. The display is a curved 2-inch Super AMOLED panel and is running on a dual-core 1GHz processor, 512MB RAM, 4GB flash memory, and 300mAh battery. One of the major advantages of the device is its cellular connectivity. It offers a wide range of connectivity features like most smartphones. You get Bluetooth 4.0, 3G, and Wi-Fi 802.11n connectivity. With the 3G connectivity, you can even make calls like on a phone. It also comes with a decent app collection which lets you leave your smartphone at home and get a lot of things done on the Gear S. For easy text input, you also have S Voice running on the smartwatch, like you find on Galaxy smartphones. If you’re not too fond of S Voice, you can type using the onscreen keyboard as well. It comes in a variety of colors for the strap, you have the option of Blue Black, White, Blue, Red, and Mocha Grey. While Google is planning to bring standalone GPS features to Android Wear products, the Gear S already comes with turn-by-turn pedestrian navigation provided by HERE maps from Nokia. It also comes with the Nike Plus running app which lets you track your runs without having to carry your smartphone along.

Both the devices will be launching alongside the Galaxy Note 4 next month. And while Samsung has not announced anything regarding the pricing of these products, some retailers have revealed the prices for Europe. The Galaxy Gear VR will cost about 249 Euros and the Gear S smartwatch will be available for about 299 Euros. These prices do seem quite steep and the US prices should be about $200 and $250 respectively for the Gear VR and Gear S.

IFA 2014: Sony announces its New Xperia Z3 Flagship Smartphone With 2 Day Battery Stamina and Improved Camera

IFA 2014: Sony announces its New Xperia Z3 Flagship Smartphone With 2 Day Battery Stamina and Improved Camera

The wait is finally over! Sony has finally launched their new flagship smartphone – Xperia Z3. The rumors over the past few months suggested it to be quite a boring device but it is actually a pretty interesting smartphone.

Let’s talk about the hardware specifications first. It comes with the same 5.2 inch 1920 x 1080 resolution IPS display with Sony’s Triluminos Display for mobile and X-Reality image enhancement technology. Powering the smartphone is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801, clocked at 2.5GHz. There is 3GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage, expandable by a microSD, 20.7MP Exmor RS rear camera, 2.2MP front camera, 3100mAh battery, IP65/68 certified dust and water-resistant, LTE Cat.4 support for up to 150 Mbps download speeds, and Android 4.4.4 KitKat out of the box. The dimensions of the device are 146 x 72 x 7.3mm.

These specs might not sound very different from the Xperia Z2 but actually there are a lot more differences than these specs suggest. The most promising change has to do with the battery life. Sony claims that they have been able to tune all the components of the smartphone to be as efficient as possible to extract the maximum possible battery life. The result of that is said to be a 2 day battery life. That’s right! Sony claims that you can use the Xperia Z3 for two continuous days without having to look for your charger. Even though battery capacity is down by 100mAh over the Xperia Z2, the battery life is said to be quite a lot better. There is also an ultra-stamina mode on board that limits your phone to core functions only like calls and messaging to extract the most out of your battery.

Another area where Sony seems to have concentrated is the camera. You might remember that even though the Xperia Z2 came with a 20.7MP camera, it underperformed as far as the image quality went. Its rivals like the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the LG G3 delivered better results even though they have lower resolution cameras. The Xperia Z3 camera sees some major improvements. The maximum ISO has seen a big jump to ISO12800 now, the highest sensitivity in any smartphone to date. The G Lens has also been upgraded and is now 25mm wide lens (27mm on Z2) that allows you to capture wider shots than before. The camcorder also features a new Intelligent Active Mode which analyzes your movements when shooting a video and minimizes blur and shake from videos. The list of camera apps has also been extended, with more to follow soon.

Even though the display packs the same enhancement technologies and resolution as the Z2, the panel itself is said to be brand new and offers the highest brightness of any Xperia yet according to Sony, A contrast enhancement technology has also been adopted to improve sunlight legibility.

Playstation Remote Play is also a big feature on the Xperia Z3. Sony claims the Xperia Z3 (along with other Z3 products) is the only smartphone in the market that allows you to access your PlayStation 4 games from anywhere in your home using a Wi-Fi network. A separate attachment accessory will help connect the PS4 controller to your Xperia Z3 so you can continue playing your game on it and move around the house.

Audio is another area where Sony has achieved some significant improvements. The noise cancellation feature from the Xperia Z2 is retained but you now get DSEE HX (Digital Sound Enhancement Engine) from Sony Walkman devices that allows you to enjoy all your music in the highest possible quality. It also comes with Hi-Res Audio supports, letting you enjoy listening to lossless audio files on the go.

Sony has always been the master of good-looking industrial designs, and the Z series line has been testament to that. The Xperia Z3 looks like an evolution of the Xperia Z2 design with much of the same philosophy but with clever new touches being added to make it a more ergonomic smartphone. The bezels have been trimmed and the side bezels are now said to be just 0.2 mm thin. This has allowed the Xperia Z3 to be slightly less wide than its predecessor and at the same time the thickness has reduced from 8.2mm to 7.2mm. Weight has also reduced to 152 grams from 163 grams on the Z2. The materials used are the same though, with double tempered glass and an aluminum frame. The dust and water resistance capabilities have also seen an improvement with the Z3 being IP65/68 certified, it is now water proof up to a depth of 1.5 meters in fresh water.

All Xperia Z3 models appear to be 4G LTE compatible and the handset supports Nano SIM cards. The Xperia Z3 will be available globally this Autumn with pricing details to be revealed at a later stage. Four color options will be offered depending on the market – Black, White, Copper, and Silver Green.

IFA 2014: Sony Launches Xperia Z3 Compact, The Most Powerful Mini Flagship Yet

IFA 2014: Sony Launches Xperia Z3 Compact, The Most Powerful Mini Flagship Yet

Along with the Xperia Z3, Sony also announced the Xperia Z3 Compact today. It is the Mini version of the Xperia Z3 and unlike the Minis from other manufacturers, it retains almost all the features of its bigger brother.

The Xperia Z3 compact comes with a 4.6 inch 1280 x 720 HD resolution IPS display with TRILUMINOS and Live Color LED, Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 2.5GHz CPU with Adreno 330 GPU, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage (expandable up to 128GB by microSD cards), 20.7MP f2.0 aperture rear camera with 4K video recording, 2600mAh battery, IP65/68 certified dust and water-resistant, LTE Cat.4 connectivity, and runs Android 4.4.4 KitKat.

Sony really seems to have concentrated on the “compact” bit with the Xperia Z3 Compact. Despite packing a bigger display than its predecessor the Xperia Z1 Compact, it has nearly the same dimensions at 127 x 64.9 x 8.6mm. This has been possible mainly by reducing the bezels all around the display. Sony has also been able to fit a larger 2600mAh in a body that is thinner by 0.9mm. Truly impressive.

As we mentioned earlier in the post, Sony has retained most of the big features from the Xperia Z3 on the Z3 compact. The same 2 day battery life is available on the Z3 compact despite the smaller sized battery. It also features the ultra-stamina mode that lets you maximize battery life when you wish to squeeze the maximum out of what little battery life you have remaining by allowing only the core functionalities like making calls and sending text messages. The screen makes use of the same intuitive contrast enhancement technology for sharp viewing in bright sunlight along with an ultra-bright panel.

The camera improvements are all there too. The Z3 Compact also makes use of the new 25mm wide-angle Sony G Lens. The low light sensitivity has been boosted to ISO12800 and there’s a new Intelligent Active Mode to improve stabilization during video recording by analyzing your movements and reducing shake and blur accordingly. Sony’s legendary Walkman prowess has also made its way into the Xperia Z3 Compact with Hi-Res Audio support and DSEE HX (Digital Sound Enhancement Engine) to deliver great audio quality. There is also noise cancellation tech built-in that works with compatible Sony noise cancelling earphones. PlayStation 4 Remote Play function lets you play PS4 games on the Z3 Compact’s screen by connecting the PS4 DualShock controller to the phone using an attachment accessory. This is an exclusive feature that is currently available only for the Xperia Z3, Xperia Z3 Compact and the Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact.

The Xperia Z3 will launch in autumn this year in four color options – Black, White, Orange and Green. Like the Z3, Z3 Compact will also come in LTE variants only. There won’t be any HSDPA models this time from what we are seeing on the device’s official whitepaper. There is no information on the pricing yet, but we do expect it to be on the higher side initially. But the fact remains that the Z3 Compact is the only sub 5 inch smartphone that can boast of flagship level specifications and a compact size that fits perfectly in the hand.