Microsoft releases new Outlook for Mac

Washington: Microsoft has released a new Outlook for Mac before its designated time.

Mashable reports that Microsoft rolled out an updated version of Outlook for Mac for Office 365 users Friday and revealed new details about when the rest of its Office software will be available.

The company wrote in a blog post that this release offers a more familiar and consistent experience between Outlook on the PC, Outlook on the web and Outlook Web App (OWA) for iPad, iPhone and Android devices

The latest and redesigned version of Outlook offers improved scrolling and faster loading along with an improvised Exchange functionality. 

Saturday, November 01, 2014 - By Unknown 0

Apple chief Tim Cook: 'I'm proud to be gay'

Mr Cook said he made his announcement to try to help people struggling with their identity

Continue reading the main story

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Apple chief executive Tim Cook has publicly acknowledged his sexuality, saying that he is "proud to be gay".

Mr Cook made his announcement to try to help people struggling with their identity, he wrote in a Bloomberg Businessweek article.

He has been open about his sexuality, but has also tried to maintain a basic level of privacy until now, he said.

This week Mr Cook challenged his home state of Alabama to ensure the rights of gay and transgender people.

"I don't consider myself an activist, but I realize how much I've benefited from the sacrifice of others," he wrote.

"So if hearing that the CEO [chief executive] of Apple is gay can help someone struggling to come to terms with who he or she is, or bring comfort to anyone who feels alone, or inspire people to insist on their equality, then it's worth the trade-off with my own privacy," he added.

Mr Cook said that he had been open about his sexuality with many people, including colleagues at Apple, but that it still "wasn't an easy choice" to publicly announce his sexual orientation.

He quoted civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King, saying: "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?' "

Analysis

Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC News technology correspondent

Tim Cook's announcement may come as no surprise in Silicon Valley or across corporate America.

But that does not mean that we should underestimate the significance of the leader of the world's most valuable company talking openly about his sexuality.

Back in May, a piece in the New York Times asked "where are the gay chief executives?" and struggled to name any openly gay CEOs at America's 1,000 biggest companies.

Apple under Steve Jobs was not a company that took a stand on any issues which were not seen as relevant to its business.

Tim Cook has been more forthcoming on all sorts of issues, including equal rights for gay workers, and while he says he does not see himself as an activist, that is how many will now see him.

That could embroil him in controversy in the United States, let alone in other parts of the world with less liberal views of sexuality.

Mr Cook admitted that going public as a gay man was not an easy choice - but it certainly looks a courageous one.

This week Mr Cook referred to Martin Luther King in a speech in Alabama in which he called for equal rights for people based on sexual orientation and identity.

He said that Alabama had been too slow to ensure the rights of ethnic minorities in the civil rights era, and was now being too slow to guarantee gay rights.

"Under the law, citizens of Alabama can still be fired based on their sexual orientation," Mr Cook said.

"We can't change the past, but we can learn from it and we can create a different future."

Mr Cook has championed equality at Apple, but in August said he was "not satisfied" with workforce diversity at the company.

Outstanding, a not-for-profit professional network for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) executives, said on Thursday that many LGBT people in the UK felt it was "safer to stay in the closet" when at work.

In May a US study by LGBT organisation Human Rights Campaign suggested that 53% of US LGBT employees had not come out at work.

Thursday, October 30, 2014 - By Unknown 0

Sony Xperia Z3 Sony Xperia Z3 review: A great package, but overpriced at Rs 51,990

• PRODUCT REVIEW
• SPECIFICATIONS

By Nimish Sawant /  27 Sep 2014 , 15:22:37

Sony had already announced its flagship smartphone – the Xperia Z2 – at this years Mobile World Congress and the units started appearing on the market May onwards. It has been just four months since, and Sony has already announced another flagship device – theXperia Z3. This is nothing new for Sony, as it had done the same with the Xperia Z2, which was launched five months after the Sony Xperia Z1 launch. But is it really a drastic improvement or just a minor iteration? We will have a look, but first lets look at the build quality.

Build and Design

Sony Xperia Z3 has made some minor modifications to the build. Instead of having the half-curvature, half-flat design on the edges, Sony has gone with a completely curved design on the edges. While it certainly feels good in the hand, we wished Sony had used a more grippy material instead of the smooth metallic finish. Sure there is the dock connector on the left hand side and the power/standby, volume rocker and dedicated camera shutter buttons on the right edge to break the continuity, but at times the smooth edges paired with the glass back can get slippery.

Sony Xperia Z3 comes in an aluminum casing with a glass back, in four colours

The microSD card slot, the nano SIM slot and the microUSB charging ports are neatly hidden under flaps. Bottom edge is clean and there is a 3.5mm audio jack on the top left hand corner. The aluminum and glass construction exudes elegance. Even the speaker sections which used to peep out from the top and bottom edges on the Z2, have a smaller opening on the Z3 and are located a few millimeters from the edges which is a better implementation than the Z2.

Sony Xperia Z3 comes with IP68 certification making it fully dust-proof and water-proof upto a distance of 1 metre for 30 mins

It comes with an IP68 certification which as opposed to the IP58 seen on the Z2. IP stands for Ingress Protection and the two numbers indicate dust-resistance and water-resistance. The range for dust resistance is 0 to 6 and that for water resistance is 0 to 9. So the IP68 rating indicates that the phone is fully dust resistant whereas the water-resistance is the same as was seen with the Xperia Z2 which is water resistant over 1 meter and for 30 mins.

Just like the Xperia Z2, the Z3 has a flap covering the nano SIM and microSD card slots

The bezel on the top and bottom makes one-handed operation a bit painful, but then if you are investing in a 5.2-inch screen size phone, that is a given. But now that we are seeing a lot more push towards having thinner bezels on flagship phones, it would have been better to see Sony shave off a few millimeters from the top and bottom to give us a phone which isn’t as tall. Thankfully Sony has managed to make the Z3 slimmer and lighter than the Z2. The Xperia Z3 measures 7.3mm thick as opposed to 8.2mm on the Z2 and the Z3 weights 152gm as compared to 163gm on the Z2.

Features

Sony Xperia Z3 sports the same Snapdragon 801 SoC but the quad-core processor is not clocked at 2.5GHz instead of 2.3GHz as was the case with Xperia Z2. Apart from this the Z3 comes with Android 4.4.4 out of the box as opposed to the Z2 which has Android 4.4.2. Barring these two features, most other specifications are pretty much identical on both the Z2 and Z3. While the Sony Xperia Z2 came in just the 16GB variant, the Z3 comes in 16GB as well as 32GB variants. We tested the 16GB variant which offers usable memory of 11.5GB

Some of the similar features include: 3GB RAM, Adreno 330 GPU, 5.2-inch full HD IPS screen, Triluminous display with the X-Reality engine and so on. On the camera front, the Z3 sports the same 20.7MP 1 / 2.3-inch sensor camera with a 2.2MP front facing camera. The rear camera allows you to shoot 4K@30fps, 1080p@60fps and 720p@120fps. The battery capacity on the Z3 is 3100mAh, which is a 100mAh less than that on the Z2.

The Sony Xperia Z3 sports the same 20.7MP 1/2.3-inch sensor camera on the rear side with an LED flash unit

Another brand new feature is the PS4 Remote Play. This lets you connect your Xperia Z3 to the same wireless network as your PlayStation 4 console, and you can pause the game on your big screen TV and continue from there on your Xperia Z3 using a PS4 controller.

Performance

Display

Sony Xperia Z3 sports a 5.2-inch full HD screen and thanks to the IPS panel, you get brilliant viewing angles. The brightness levels are quite good. In fact Sony claims that this is the only phone with a brightness level of 600 candelas. Despite the high brightness levels, the black levels aren’t that disappointing. Of course, it does not come close to the blacks on AMOLED displays. Colours appear vivid and legibility in sunlight is quite good with  brightness levels around 50 per cent as well. The glossy surface of the screen can be a bit annoying if you’re watching dark scenes in movies as it tends to reflect a lot.

Connectivity and Call quality

Sony Xperia Z3 supports quad-band 2G and 3G. Unlike the Xperia Z2, the Z3 will support LTE (4G) in the Indian market. You also get all the connectivity goodies such as Wi-fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, DLNA, GLONASS, assisted GPS, NFC and wireless tethering feature among others. There were no issues with the call quality. The speaker is loud enough and conversations were clearly audible even at high volume levels, with no noticeable distortions. We did not experience any dropped calls while testing, although that depends a lot on the network.

Media

Sony multi-media features are similar to the ones seen on the Z2, but Sony has added the Hi-Res audio feature which tends to improve the audio quality. Songs with the Hi-Res feature will come with a small HR logo on the bottom corner of the album art. Audio quality is great for the most part. Thanks to the brilliant screen, the video output is also quite good. You can easily watch a movie in your room with audio provided just by the speakers (without using a headset).

3D Mark scores show an impressive performance

Gaming

We played a lot of games such as RipTide, FIFA 14, Temple Run 2 and so on and did not face any lag issues. The phone is quite responsive to graphics heavy games, just that it tends to heat up. But things didn’t get so bad that the app would crash altogether.

Camera

The camera user interface has lots of interesting features such as AR Fun, Multi-cameras, Time-shift video and so on

One of the best features on the Xperia Z3 is the camera. Although it is the same 1 / 2.3-inch sensor 20.7MP G sensor seen on its predecessor, Sony has added on a few features on the Z3 to enhance photography. Some of the interesting features include Face in, Multi-camera, AR Fun, Time-shift video, background defocus and so on. Face in allows you to capture yourself (the size of your selfie is adjustable as well) as you are shooting with the rear camera. Multi-camera lets you connect two more smartphones to your Z3 and you can then use the cameras of these two smartphones, along with your own Z3 to shoot from three different angles at the same time. At the launch event, we were told that as of now this feature is available only on the Z3 and Z3 Compact – which means you will need to own the latest smartphones to use this. Sony may have the intention to sell more Z3 handsets with this, but it would be much more practical if the feature is extended to other Sony / non-Sony phones as the communication protocol uses Wi-fi Direct. We hope it is extended to other Xperia branded phones at least.

You can play around with perspectives by just shifting the cameras viewing angle while the annotation remains steady in the AR Fun mode

AR Fun is another addition which lets you tinker around with your images with animations or drawings. The app behaves a bit strangely at times and we found it to be a hit and miss affair. But when it works, it gives you a lot of creative possibilities. We hopes the annotation option gave more responsive brushes.

All these extra features tend to heat up the smartphone quickly which is a bit annoying. For instance, while shooting in the Time-shift mode, we kept getting the ‘Overheat Control’ notifications telling us that the phone was overheating, and would automatically shut down the app if temperatures reached critical levels. If you are shooting outdoors in hot conditions, the rear side of the phone can get hot when using the special camera features.

PS: Please click on the images to see the go to the Flickr page having the full resolution images.

At 100 percent crop, the leaves and grass in the image tend to lose their detail

Purple fringing is well controlled

Shoots images with a decent dynamic range

The 25mm wide-angle lens lets you capture a lot of details. Works well while shooting on the streets

Shot in the Macro mode. Colour details are good

Normal mode (top) and Background defocus mode activated (below)

Image quality is excellent as is expected from Sony, but we just felt that the AF speed could have been faster. The Superior Auto mode makes shooting a breeze, and although shooting at 20MP, you will get a downscaled output of 8MP. To get the full 20.7MP resolution, you will need to shoot in the Manual mode. The centre sharpness is good, but details become softer around the edges. But we were impressed with the handling of artifacts such as purple fringing around fine edges. While Sony Xperia Z3 boasts of sensitivity level going up to ISO 12800, you will start noticing patchy details from ISO 3200 onwards. For sharing online, using higher ISO levels is fine, but if you are planning to print photographs, ensure you stay under ISO 3200.

Video shooting is also impressive with good colours and details. Modes like Time-shift video let you play around with the speed of the videos. It also offers 4K video recording mode. Indoor videos tend to be a bit more noisier for the same ISO levels vis-a-vis outdoor videos.

Battery life

Power management allows you to put your phone in Stamina, Ultra Stamina and Low power modes to help you get more juice out of your battery

The Sony Xperia Z3 comes with a 3100 mAh battery and on after our rigourous 8-hour battery drain test (2 hours calling, 2 hours HD video playback, 2 hours audio playback and 2 hours video streaming and web surfing) the camera still showed around 41 per cent battery remaining. This is without the power-saving modes activated. That is an impressive number and you can easily use the phone regularly for more than a day and a half. But the drain is noticeable when you’re shooting videos or using AR and other special camera features. Under Settings > Power Management, you have the Stamina mode, Ultra stamina mode and low battery mode which when activated tend to ensure you get more juice out of your phones battery. Overall a phone that will easily last over a day and a half on regular usage.

Verdict and Price in India

Sony Xperia Z3 impresses on most counts. Apart from the heating issue, there was barely anything major to criticise. The camera performance and battery life performance in particular are quite good. The refinements in the design are a welcome change, although we would have liked the use of a grippier material on the edges. So overall a good product, but for one thing – Price!

The Sony Xperia Z3 is priced at Rs 51,990. When we had reviewed the Xperia Z2, we had mentioned that its price of Rs 49,990 was a bloated – and that was despite the fact that it came with a free Sony SmartBand. With a 50k plus price point Sony makes it difficult for us to recommend the Z3 outright, as the price points of Samsung Galaxy S5, LG G3 and HTC One M8 – all wonderful devices in their own league – are all under Rs 40,000. Build quality, features and performance wise, we are impressed with the Z3 and it certainly is worth the flagship title – but definitely not at the Rs 51,990 price point. Somewhere closer to Rs 45,000 would still make sense. The Sony Xperia Z2 comes for around Rs 40,000 as well, so if you really want a Sony phone, the Z2 isn’t bad either.

Tags: Sony Xperia Z3 India launch, Sony Xperia Z3 price India, Sony Xperia Z3 review, Xperia Z3 India price

Saturday, September 27, 2014 - By Unknown 0

iPhone 6 bending

Apple's new iPhone 6 Plus model, which went on sale Friday, has faced criticism from some customers who say the phone has bent in their pocket. Getty Images

Apple Inc. AAPL +2.16% on Thursday defended against reports that its largest iPhone bends easily in people's pockets, saying warping is "extremely rare" through normal use.

Since going on sale Friday, Apple said only nine customers have contacted the company about a bent iPhone 6 Plus—the larger and more expensive of its two new iPhones. Apple said both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus passed a series of tests meant to check the products' strength and durability through everyday use.

The company said the new iPhones are made from a custom grade of anodized aluminum, which is tempered for extra strength. Apple said the phones also feature stainless steel and titanium inserts to reinforce high-stress locations.

Apple is addressing reports that the new iPhone 6 Plus was bending when people sat with the phone in their pockets. Videos of people bending the jumbo-sized iPhone with their hands quickly made the rounds on social media.

Read More

• Apple Releases iOS 8.0.2 Update Promising Fix
• #Bendgate: Five Durability Tests Apple Used
• Apple Stock Gets Bent
• Can iPhone 6 Plus Users Bend It? (Sept. 24)
• Apple Pulls iOS Software Update (Sept. 24)
• Apple Sells Over 10 Million New iPhones in First Weekend (Sept. 22)
• iPhone 6 Is the Most Durable iPhone Yet, Says Insurer (Sept. 22)

The company's response differs from the apology it provided on Wednesday afteryanking a software update on Wednesday, because of complaints from users that the new version of its operating system was disrupting cellular connectivity and disabling the TouchID fingerprint reader for unlocking the device.

Apple apologized for causing a "great inconvenience" to users. On Thursday, Apple released a new update of its iOS 8 software designed to fix those issues and a variety of other problems. The company said its latest update also corrects a bug that affected apps working with Apple's HealthKit repository for health and fitness data, a much-anticipated new feature of its operating system. Apple noted that less than 40,000 iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus devices were affected by the faulty software during the one hour that Apple had released the update.

In the past, Apple has sometimes remained defiant against customer complaints about a new product. Most famously in 2010 when it introduced the iPhone 4, then-CEOSteve Jobs struck back at complaints that the phone had a flawed antenna design, causing connection problems. He said the complaints were blown out of proportion and mocked the media frenzy as "antennagate." For the past two days, "#bendgate" has been a trending topic on Twitter.

Apple pointed to five different tests that new iPhones go through in the development process, including what is known as "pressure point cycling test" when it applies substantial force on the display and enclosure hundreds of times while the phone is held by the sides. Apple said this process bends the enclosure repeatedly to ensure that the iPhone can be bent and pressed at reasonable force throughout its life.

Another test, according to Apple, is called the "sit test." This test simulates sitting on a hard surface with the phone in the back pocket of a pair of tight jeans. Apple said it runs the phones through thousands of cycles testing the phone in different positions.

The iPhone 6 Plus with a 5.5-inch display measured diagonally is the largest iPhone that Apple has ever produced. Despite the larger surface area, the iPhone 6 Plus is 7.1 millimeters thin, compared with 7.6 millimeters for the iPhone 5S and 8.97 millimeters for the plastic-encased iPhone 5C.

The company said earlier this week that it sold more than 10 million of its latest iPhones in its first weekend of availability amid significant supply shortages and demand for scalped iPhones in Asia.

Apple said the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus set a record for first weekend iPhone sales, eclipsing last year's mark of nine million units when the iPhone 5S and 5C went on sale.

The frenzy around new iPhones is nothing new for Apple, but the company prepared for more than usual this year after it increased iPhone screen sizes to satisfy consumers who have sought bigger-screen iPhones for years.

Friday, September 26, 2014 - By Unknown 0

Sony Xperia Z3 Review: The Pursuit of Refinement

Should we be surprised that Sony is already refreshing its flagship smartphone? Only six months after the launch of the Xperia Z2 comes its successor, the Xperia Z3. Sony hopes this will help it gain traction in the notoriously fickle Android superphone market, and knows that there are customers who will only buy the latest and greatest model at any given point of time, for whom money is no object.

As Sony sees it, the Xperia Z3 is not so different from its predecessor that anyone who bought an Xperia Z2 (Review | Pictures) will have regrets. However, those who are in the market for a new high-end phone right now will see a brand new Sony up against the now-common Samsung Galaxy S5 (Review | Pictures) and HTC One (M8) (Review |Pictures). Plus, if the company can do something new in this time, why should it wait for an artificial cycle?

The differences between each successive new model in Sony's Xperia Z series have been pretty minor, but you can see a clear improvement over time. Owners of the Z2 might not have any reason to upgrade, but those who bought the Xperia Z or Z1 will be tempted. The strategy is a gamble, but it has worked for the past two years.

Look and feel
The Sony Xperia Z3 is the biggest change for Sony since the first Xperia Z was launched a year and a half ago. The harsh rectangular shape has morphed into a more organic one, with curved sides and corners replacing chiselled edges for the first time. Sony's distinctive purple option has also thankfully reached the end of the line - the new Xperia Z3 is still available in white and black, but the signature colour is now Copper Gold. One of our gripes with the Z2 was that it looked exactly like its predecessors, and Sony has taken the message to heart.

The Z3 is a hair slimmer than the Z2, but more noticeable are the sleek new buttons and inset flaps on either side that hide (and protect) the various slots and ports. The metal trim around the edges is broken up at the corners, and Sony says this design is intended to make the Z3 resistant to damage when dropped - the corners can absorb some impact, reducing the likelihood that the glass front or rear will shatter.

The dust and liquid resistance rating has been upgraded to IP68 which means this phone should be able to survive for up to 30 minutes in fresh water up to 1.5m deep. However, as before, this means you have to deal with a fiddly flap and recessed Micro-USB port each time you need to charge the Z3. The battery is of course sealed in, and all ports and controls are around the edges.

Sony's signature round power button is on the right edge, but it's neither centred nor at thumb height. The volume rocker is right below it, and both are incredibly awkward to reach. Sony is one of the few companies still equipping their phones with dedicated camera buttons, and we found the Z3 easy to hold and use as a camera. The Nano-SIM and microSD card slots are under a flap on the upper right, and the Micro-USB port is under a flap on the left, next to the same magnetic dock connector that we've seen on previous Z-series devices. It still looks as though a patch has been gouged out on one side for the dock connector, but even this is less jarring than it was on the Z2.

As pointed out in a snarky social media post, Sony has managed to make the Z3 thin and improve its camera without resorting to a protruding lens. The rear glass surface is in fact so smooth that we found the Z3 slid around on tables when we tried to use it.

The Xperia Z3 is tall and narrow like its predecessor, making it one of the more comfortable large phones on the market. It's definitely easier to hold than the Z2 was, thanks to the new curves. If this is still too much for you though, there's the very interesting Xperia Z3 Compact to consider, which has most of the same specifications but has a smaller screen and body.

Specifications
There haven't been any great game-changing strides in core smartphone hardware in the past six months, and so the Z3's guts are much the same as those of its predecessor. The quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 SoC is slightly faster at 2.5GHz as opposed to 2.3GHz, but its Adreno 330 graphics processor is the same.

Sony could have chosen to go with a bigger and higher resolution screen, but it claims it consciously chose not to so that battery life would not suffer. 1080x1920 is already pretty crazy for a smartphone, so we don't have any problem with this. If you're the type for whom bragging rights are more important than utility, you might want to look at LG and Samsung's most recent launches.

You get 16GB of storage space and 3GB of RAM. The microSD slot will work with cards up to 128GB in capacity. Sony throws in Wi-Fi b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and GPS. Sony has stated that LTE is supported on Indian bands.

Sony has concentrated on refinements that aren't really spelled out by the sheet of specifications. The screen, camera, battery and audio processing systems have all been tweaked and improved. The company claims it has applied technology from its TV, gaming and audio divisions, and so the screen boasts of features named "X-reality" and "Live Colour LED" which enhance sharpness and colour reproduction. Sony claims that the Z3 has the "world's brightest display of leading premium smartphones" and it definitely is bright.

The Xperia Z3 has another unique feature to boast of - not only does the device claim to "upsample" MP3 and AAC audio tracks, it can also natively handle High-Resolution Audio files in a variety of formats, which can be purchased online. Digital noise cancelling is built in, but it requires a specific Sony headset to work.

Finally, there's a twist that ties in with Sony's PlayStation 4 console - the Xperia Z3 is the first smartphone to support PS4 Remote Play, which means you can wirelessly stream game video from your PS4 console to the phone using your home Wi-Fi connection. You'll still have to use a PS4 Dualshock controller but you can buy an adapter that lets you snap the Z3 on to it so you can hold it up and play like you're using a handheld console.

Software
You'll either love Sony's Android skin or hate it. We like how easy it is to move around and arrange things as we like them, but it really is a bit too heavy and overdone. We always find ourselves trying to disable all the little animations, such as the colour-changing swirl of the default "live" wallpaper. It might not feel like bloat thanks to the super-fast hardware, but it's still unnecessary and distracting.

Nothing much has changed in software between the Xperia Z2 and Z3. There's still a massive number of non-removable preloaded apps, many of them related to Sony-branded properties and most of them quite useless. The first homescreen has a giant spammy "What's New" widget that not only advertises Sony media you might not be interested in, but also consumes quite a bit of data to keep its thumbnails fresh. The icon dock on the homescreens is filled with Google and Sony app shortcuts rather than the more obvious messaging, email or browser, which we think is ridiculous.

Sony hasn't jammed in quite as many features as Samsung and LG tend to do - there's no split-screen functionality (though you can launch tiny "floating" apps from the app switcher view) and there are very few shortcuts and tweaks that make the big device more manageable. For example, we really missed the ability to wake the Z3 by double-tapping its screen, especially since the power button is so tiny.

Two apps stand out - Sony's Lifelog, and Sketch. Lifelog lets you track health and fitness data such as the amount of exercise you've had in a day, but stands out from other smartphone makers' health apps by also including timestamps for other phone-related activities such as listening to music, taking photos and playing games. Logging happens continuously in the background and works better if you use one (or more) of Sony's wearable products, but we don't really see the appeal of the concept.

Sketch on the other hand is a fun little app that lets you draw with various brushes and put silly stickers or text captions on photos. Some users might find Sony's other apps useful, but they're easy to forget about. PartyShare lets you broadcast photos live and create a music playlist that friends (with compatible Xperia phones) can contribute to. News from Socialife shows assorted third-party feeds including ones from popular news, sports, entertainment and tech websites. You can add your own RSS URLs or browse through the presets by category. Smart Connect, despite its name, lets you create profiles to automate actions when you plug in a charger or headset, or when you just don't want to be disturbed at night.

There's also Line, Kobo, AVG Antivirus, Facebook, Evernote, Kingsoft Office, Bigflix, Google Drive, LinkedIn, and Wisepilot Navigation. Sony's branded apps include Sony Select, What's New, TrackID, Xperia Care Support, Sony Music, Liv Sports, Sony Liv, Xperia Lounge and Xperia Update Center.

Camera
Both hardware and software have been given a refresh. Sony makes the bold claim that the Z3 has "the world's best camera and camcorder in a smartphone", which is apparently based on actual subjective market research. The camera can go up to ISO 12800 for low-light captures, and there's a 1/2.3-inch sensor with Sony's proprietary processing tech. The lens is a wide-angle 25mm one, for shots that include more subject matter. Video recording goes up to 4K, though 1080p is the default. Even photos are taken at 8-megapixel resolution by default, though you can step up to the full 20.7-megapixels whenever you like.

(Click to see full size)

Sony's suite of "camera apps" has grown. In addition to the basic Superior Auto and Manual modes, you now have Sound Photo which lets you take stills annotated with ambient sound; Face In, which lets you superimpose your own face and those others in a scene; Multi Camera, which lets you synchronise and merge streams with split-screen effects using multiple Xperia phones; and AR Fun, which lets you squiggle notes and put stickers into a scene, and then change your position so that the AR bits appear to be floating in the air in 3D.

(Click to see full size)

We couldn't try Multi Camera, but we did find that AR Fun wasn't half as good as it seemed in Sony's demo videos. The app was very finicky about letting us create annotations, often told us we were moving too fast even when we were perfectly still, and crashed once or twice during testing. When it worked, though, the effect was tremendously fun. The app seemed to be calculating surfaces and distances in real-time, so for example we could throw virtual paint and it would know whether to land on the floor or spatter on a wall. There were even shadows of things we drew floating in the air.

(Click to see full size)

When it comes to actual image quality, the Xperia Z3 is astonishingly good. It's a little shaky sometimes, especially in Auto mode and at night. For the most part, photos came out with incredible detail and impressive colour reproduction. Textures were generally detailed and clear, though there was a bit of noise in shots with clear subjects against distant backgrounds. We managed to take some decent shots in tricky conditions such as a dimly lit room with small, bright lights.

The front camera also performed well, and photos were usable in most conditions. There was considerably more noise and fuzziness than in photos taken with the rear camera, but we were still quite satisfied.

(Click to see full size)

Video recorded at 4K was very impressive, but then again so was regular old HD video. We found recordings to be just a bit dark. Be prepared for massive file sizes though - approximately 120MB for 15 seconds.

The main problem we had with the camera was that we kept seeing popup warnings that the device was getting too hot and that the app might shut down. We started seeing the message within a few seconds of opening the camera app outdoors on two different (but very sunny) days - which does not say much for the Z3's ability to be useful in India.

(Click to see full size)

Performance
With specifications like these, it would have been impossible for the phone to lag or slouch anywhere, and thankfully it didn't. We really had no problem with anything we tried doing. HD videos played perfectly well and so did 3D games. The twin front-firing speakers were quite powerful and rich - distortion was minimal at high volumes and subtle details actually did come through.

Benchmark test scores were at par with those of the Xperia Z2 - the two traded blows between tests, but the difference was always minor and the Z3 was on top more often. The Z3 and Z2 scored 29.9fps and 29.4fps respectively in GFXbench, and the Quadrant scores were 19,210 and 18,392. Interestingly, both phones were bested by the smallerSony Xperia Z1 Compact (Review | Pictures), which scored 34.9fps in GFXbench (thanks to its lower resolution screen) and 21,100 overall in Quadrant. We can't wait to see what the new Xperia Z3 Compact has in store for us.

Sony hasn't been silent about battery improvements in the Z3, and we were rewarded with a very impressive 13 hours, 27 minutes in our video loop test - and that's without any of the company's battery-saving features turned on. This easily translates to two full days of reasonably heavy usage on a single charge.

Verdict
The Z3 might be newer than its contemporaries, but the downside of that is that its price hasn't had time to settle. At Rs. 51,990, the Z3 is significantly more expensive than the Samsung Galaxy S5, HTC One (M8) and LG G3. You'll really have to consider whether it's worth the premium over the Z2 which now costs around as much as those phones. In terms of price alone, it will probably be more of a competitor to theiPhone 6, as and when it launches in India.

The Sony Xperia Z3 has many merits, but owners of the Z2 and even Z1 shouldn't be in any hurry to upgrade. These phones are still very competitive. However, if you're in the market for a new premium smartphone right now and only the latest and greatest will do, you'll be very happy with the Z3. There's also the Z3 Compact to consider, which should deliver much the same experience in a smaller package, and at a lower price.

Sony really has managed to improve a phone that was already pretty impressive. We enjoyed using the Z3, but we have a feeling that Sony's pricing and pace will make it easier and more sensible for a lot of people to keep themselves one step behind the curve. 

Friday, September 26, 2014 - By Unknown 0