According to @Ricciolo1, a well-known leakster, Sony plans to update its Xperia Z5 lineup to Android 6.90 Marshmallow in January with older models to receive the same treatment shortly after.

Marshmallow offers a bunch of improvements, optimizations and features that’d be welcome on any smartphone. Battery life improvements and performance boosts are the most noticeable changes to the software.

Sony has been pretty good about keeping older devices in the update loop. It updated the Xperia Z (not the Z1) all the way to Lollipop 5.1.1, despite having an older Snapdragon S4 Pro processor.

As i said, an update has come yesterday, #marshmallow READY next month for #sony #z5 family..older #xperia models to follow shortly.. ;)— Ricciolo (@Ricciolo1) December 2, 2015

Whether or not Sony will decide to update the Xperia Z this time around is unknown but it sure would be awesome to see Marshmallow running on a phone from early 2013.

Source |…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1NvfWnJ
via IFTTT

HTC has a thousand and one Ones, others have S’s and Pluses, well Sony will have the Xperia Z6, and a total of 5 of them, apparently. If the latest post on Antutu’s Weibo page is to be believed, we’ll be seeing a further diversification of Sony’s flagship lineup, with diagonals ranging from 4 to 6.4 inches.

The namesake model, the Xperia Z6, will keep the 5.2-inch display. Sony settled at that number for the Xperia Z2 (effectively the third-gen flagship after the Xperia Z and Z1) and appears to be considering that as the sweet spot.

Sony is more or less exclusively occupying the mini flagship category with its Compacts, and the Z6 generation will have a 4.6-inch Xperia Z6 Compact as well. Not stopping there, for next year’s lineup Sony may be gracing us with an even smaller 4-inch Z6 Mini. This one, however, is reported to be powered by a Snapdragon 620, unlike the rest of the bunch, which will all come with the Snapdragon 820 powerhouse inside.

This year Sony debuted the Xperia Z5 Premium, but it would seem that the 5.5-inch diagonal will remain a one-off effort in the Z-series. Upwards of the 5.2 inches of the Z6, we’re in for a 5.8-inch Xperia Z6 Plus and a 6.4-inch Xperia Z6 Ultra – joining the Plus trend and bringing back to life the Ultra moniker introduced with the original Xperia Z Ultra in the summer of 2013.

But Antutu doesn’t stop there. It’s also revealed that the Xperia Z6 and Z6 Plus will feature a form of pressure sensitive displays, like Apple’s 3D touch on the latest-gen iPhone 6s/6s Plus.

Now, we know better not to expect any of this to become official at CES next month, more likely MWC in Barcelona. At least such extensive plans might serve as confirmation that Sony hasn’t given up on its mobile business just yet.

Source (in Chinese) |…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1LSCV6t
via IFTTT

Sony and Toshiba officially announced the deal that has been in the works for months now – Toshiba’s chip 48,800 sq m manufacturing plant in Oita City and some 1,100 employees will transfer to Sony. The deal will be carried out to the tune of JPY 19 billion ($155 million/€€142).

The factory will primarily manufacture image sensors on its 300mm wafer production facility (Toshiba used the factory for other chips as well).

The deal is at the “memorandum of understanding” and is expected to complete by March 31, 2016, subject to regulatory approvals.

While Sony’s own phone division isn’t doing too hot, its image sensors are very sought after. Sony image sensors are used by the majority of the mobile industry manufacturers – from Apple and Samsung to small-scale makers.

Interestingly, Toshiba may be looking to merge its PC production business with Fujitsu and Vaio (Sony’s former PC…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1IIyOdn
via IFTTT

Back in June this year, it was announced that the Cyanogen OS 12.1 update for YU Yureka and Yuphoria smartphones will be rolled out soon. After months of waiting, the update landed on the Yureka and Yureka Plus in November, but Yuphoria users were still left hanging.

The good news is that the wait is now over, as YU has announced that the Cyanogen OS 12.1 update for the Yuphoria is ready for its roll-out. The announcement was made by CEO Rahul Sharma on Twitter. He says that the company has just received the CTS approval for the update, and will begin the roll out tonight.

Just received the CTS approval for Cyanogen OS 12.1 for #YUPHORIA. Roll out begins tonight. Your device. Your OS.@YUplaygod— Rahul Sharma (@rahulsharma) December 4, 2015

As for the update, it brings along several new features including a new launcher that is claimed to be redesigned for one-handed use, expanded support of codecs for video and audio playback, as well as a LiveDisplay feature that the company claims intelligently adjusts your screen based on environmental…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1leoNQ1
via IFTTT

Samsung has slipped out of the top five wearable vendors in the world, according to the Q3, 2015 numbers released by market research firm IDC. The South Korean company – which was at the number five spot in the firm’s Q2 rankings – lost to Chinese vendor XTC (a subsidiary of BBK) by 100,000 units.

Fitbit retained the number one position with 22.2% market share, down from 32.8% in the same quarter last year. The company’s shipments, however, were up from 2.3 million to 4.7 million in the same period. Apple’s shipment volumes were up slightly (compared to the previous quarter), something which was “mostly the result of additional markets and channels coming on line,” IDC noted.

With most of its volumes shipping into China, Xiaomi managed to substantially increase both its market share as well as shipment numbers in Q3 2015 as compared to the same time last year, claiming the third spot. Garmin came in at the fourth position with 4.1% market share, down from 7% last year.

Overall wearable shipments saw a jump of 197.6% on year-on-year…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1lB2x2y
via IFTTT

Telltale Games has revealed that it is working on a Batman game with Warner Bros. and DC Comics.

The game will be released on consoles, PC, Mac, and mobile devices. It will be in the same episodic format that Telltale games are known for. The name is yet to be announced and the game will release some time in 2016. A teaser trailer will be released next week.

“At Telltale, we’ve been honored to bring our unique approach to interactive storytelling to some of the biggest entertainment franchises in the world, and we’re excited to announce that we’ll soon be exploring what it means to be Batman in an all-new series starting next year,” said Kevin Bruner, Co-Founder and CEO of Telltale Games. “This iteration of Batman will give fans a first-hand opportunity to dive deeper into the complex life and mind of Bruce Wayne, the duality of his own identity, and the struggle of responsibility in saving a city overcome with corruption and villainy.”

“Telltale has an established track record of creating award-winning content for some of the best properties in the world,” said David Haddad, President, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “We look forward to working with the team as they deliver a new interactive way for fans and gamers to experience the rich narrative world of Batman.”

With Warner Bros. being involved, it’s clear this is not purely just a Batman game but will likely tie in with the movie set to release early next year. We can probably expect the game to release some time…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1Nuvtj8
via IFTTT

The Android 6.0 update for the Mi 4 and Mi Note smartphones will be rolled out soon, according to Xiaomi’s MIUI operations manager, who made the revelation in a Weibo post today.

This would make both these handsets the first Xiaomi devices to get Marshmallow. It was also revealed that the update won’t bring a new iteration of the Chinese company’s MIUI interface, which means its version would stay at 7.

This comes just a day after Microsoft released the Windows 10 ROM for the LTE variant of the Mi 4 smartphone.

Source (Chinese) |…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1NL6U7W
via IFTTT

Market research firm IDC is forecasting a single-digit growth for worldwide smartphone market this year, something which would happen for the firm time. The firm is predicting a growth of 9.8% in 2015 to a total of 1.43 billion units.

As for the reason, IDC mentions slowdown in shipments in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan), Latin America, and Western Europe. It also notes that the economic slowdown in China – the largest smartphone market by shipments – has affected the overall market growth.

Image credit: Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images

“With the smartphone market finally slowing to single-digit growth, maintaining momentum will depend on several factors,” said Ryan Reith , Program Director with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. “The main driver has been and will continue to be the success of low-cost smartphones in emerging markets.”

“This, in turn, will depend on capturing value-oriented first-time smartphone buyers as well as replacement buyers. We believe that, in a number of high-growth markets, replacement cycles will be less than the typical two-year rate, mainly because the components that comprise a sub-$100 smartphone simply do not have the ability to survive two years. Offering products that appeal to both types of buyers at a suitable price point will be crucial to maintaining growth and vendor success.”

As for areas of growth, IDC says the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region will surpass “hot markets” like India and Indonesia this year with an year-on-year shipment growth of 50%.

The research firm is predicting the worldwide smartphone market growth to come down to just 4.7% by the year 2019. Here’s the detailed forecast data IDC shared for the 2015-2019…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1PD2osz
via IFTTT

Google’s Chromebooks now constitute over 50% of all devices in US classrooms, up from under 1% just three years ago, according to a new CNBC report which cited latest data from Futuresource Consulting. Of the 8.9 million devices bought by the country’s schools and school districts K-12 so far this year, around 4.4 million have been Chromebooks.

Image credit: Michele Molnar

Looks like even Google didn’t anticipate such rapid progress. “It’s been amazing to us to see that growth happen just in that short amount of time,” said Rajen Sheth, director of product management for Android and Chrome in business and education. “If you look at the overall market for devices in education, it’s actually expanded a lot and Chromebooks have actually taken a lot of the expansion.”

Rivals including Apple and Microsoft have seen their share of the market plummeting from 52% to 24% and 43% to 24%, respectively, during this three-year…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1lAwO1n
via IFTTT

Amazon has announced that its latest Fire tablet is now available for purchase in China, where it carries a price tag of RMB 499 ($78), and includes access to “hundreds of thousands” of Kindle books as well as English language learning features like Word Wise.

In addition, the e-commerce giant has also inked a deal with Chinese firm Baidu as part of which the latter will provide search, apps, and online video experience on Amazon tablets in the Asian country.

“With millions of readers already using Kindle e-readers in China, we’re excited to now offer another incredibly affordable option, particularly for customers learning to read English,” said Neil Lindsay, Vice President, Amazon Devices. “With tools and features like Word Wise and Blue Shade, plus a large selection of Chinese and English content, we think readers will love the new Fire tablet.”

Lindsay also said that the company has already sold “millions” of Fire tablets since…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1LRKCd7
via IFTTT