Sony Xperia Z In Stores Soon

The Sony Xperia Z smartphone will be available to South African consumers by early April, Sony Mobile has announced.
The Xperia, which is aimed at premium devices like the HTC One, Nokia 920, Samsung Galaxy S4, and iPhone 5, has a recommended retail price of R7 999.
Mobile operators MTN and Vodacom will receive the handsets in the next two weeks and they should be on the shelves after that, Sony said. Cell C will have devices in stores by the end of April.
The company is determined to market itself as a premium device retailer, and the Xperia Z is kitted with several features that make it an appealing device.
Sony said that beyond the features like water resistance, Bravia engine and 13 megapixel camera, the user experience was important.

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"Of course, everybody wants to be in that spot, and we want to be a player too with the Xperia Z, but I still think it's a portfolio you brings to South Africa, and make sure that everybody, in some way can enjoy what Sony has, in terms of entertainment capabilities," Mark Fenzel, sales director Middle East and Africa for Sony Mobile SA told News24.

Sony fans in SA won't have access to the Sony Entertainment Network, but the device supports drag and drop content as well as a micro-SD card slot to expand memory.

Fenzel conceded that the company had a long way to go to match Android leader Samsung, but argued that the brand was well-recognised in SA.

"We even hear from our customers that people come into the store and ask for a Sony device. That shows to us that the Sony brand is still strong. Of course, we need to work on it."

Also known as Sony Xperia C6603, Sony Xperia C6602, Sony Xperia Z LTE, Sony Xperia Z HSPA+.

GENERAL	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - C6602, C6603
	3G Network	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 2100 - C6603
		HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 - C6602
	4G Network	LTE 800 / 850 / 900 / 1800 / 2100 / 2600 - C6603
	SIM	Micro-SIM
	Announced	2013, January
	Status	Available. Released 2013, February

BODY	Dimensions	139 x 71 x 7.9 mm (5.47 x 2.80 x 0.31 in)
	Weight	146 g (5.15 oz)
		- IP57 certified - dust and water resistant - Water resistant up to 1 meter and 30 minutes

DISPLAY	Type	TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.0 inches (~441 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes, up to 10 fingers
	Protection	Shatter proof and scratch-resistant glass
		- Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2

SOUND	Alert types	Vibration; MP3 ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes

MEMORY	Card slot	microSD, up to 64 GB
	Internal	16 GB, 2 GB RAM

DATA	GPRS	Up to 107 kbps
	EDGE	Up to 296 kbps
	Speed	HSDPA, 42 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.8 Mbps; LTE, Cat3, 50 Mbps UL, 100 Mbps DL
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
	Bluetooth	Yes, v4.0 with A2DP
	NFC	Yes
	USB	Yes, microUSB v2.0 (MHL)

CAMERA	Primary	13.1 MP, 4128x3096 pixels, autofocus, LED flash, check quality
	Features	Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, image stabilization, HDR, sweep panorama
	Video	Yes, 1080p@30fps, video stabilization, HDR, check quality
	Secondary	Yes, 2.2 MP, 1080p@30fps

FEATURES	OS	Android OS, v4.1.2 (Jelly Bean), planned upgrade to v4.2 (Jelly Bean)
	Chipset	Qualcomm MDM9215M / APQ8064
	CPU	Quad-core 1.5 GHz Krait
	GPU	Adreno 320
	Sensors	Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
	Messaging	SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, IM, Push Email
	Browser	HTML5
	Radio	Stereo FM radio with RDS
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS support and GLONASS
	Java	Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
	Colors	Black, White, Purple
		- SNS integration - TV-out (via MHL A/V link) - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - MP4/H.263/H.264/WMV player - MP3/eAAC+/WMA/WAV/Flac player - Document viewer - Photo viewer/editor - Voice memo/dial - Predictive text input

BATTERY		Non-removable Li-Ion 2330 mAh battery
	Stand-by	Up to 550 h (2G) / Up to 530 h (3G)
	Talk time	Up to 11 h (2G) / Up to 14 h (3G)
	Music play	Up to 40 h

MISC	SAR US	1.05 W/kg (head)     0.56 W/kg (body)
	SAR EU	0.48 W/kg (head)
	Price group

TESTS	Display	Contrast ratio: 705:1 (nominal) / 2.462:1 (sunlight)
	Loudspeaker	Voice 60dB / Noise 58dB / Ring 61dB
	Audio quality	Noise -81.9dB / Crosstalk -81.3dB
	Camera	Photo / Video

March 27, 2013