Ever heard of electronic paper, also known as e-paper, the energy-efficient display technology that tries to emulate the reading properties of normal paper? You can find it on most e-book readers, smartphones,wearables, and if the rumors are to be believed, on a Sony smartwatch soon. According to insiders, the Japan-based giant is currently developing a wearable that will employ patented e-paper-enabled material not only for its display, but for the wristband as well. This will allow the users of the gizmo to customize both the watch face and the band as per their liking. Whether Sony will use color or monochrome e-paper, however, is veiled in mystery.
The wearable, however, shouldn’t be regarded as a successor to Sony’s existing SmartWatch wearables. Instead, the company will try to test out the waters and see how such a device will perform on the market. Moreover, it will demonstrate Sony’s newest technologies.
At the same time, the e-paper wearable will put serious emphasis on “style, rather than trying to outdo more technological offerings”. This apparently falls in line with a research which makes it clear that the design of a wearable gadget is among its most important assets.
As Sony is cutting down a substantial portion of its product portfolio in order to get back in the black and become profitable once again, it makes sense that it will try to re-establish its position as an innovator.
It’s not been that long since the Xperia Z3 (pictured) went on sale, but Sony is planning to unveil its successor flagship at CES at the start of next year, and there are strong rumors flying about as to what the Xperia Z4 will consist of tech spec-wise.
The Xperia Z4 is set to get bigger, upping the screen on the Z3 from 5.2in to a 5.4in affair which isn’t surprising given the current trend for more sizeable phablets (just look at the Nexus 6, the large screen of which doesn’t appear to have dampened pre-order enthusiasm).
A Quad HD resolution is promised, but disappointingly, this will be driven by a Snapdragon 805 (it’s disappointing for those who thought the new Snapdragon 810 might be on board, anyway). There will, however, be plentiful RAM in the form of 4GB (yes, 4GB) which should help things run nice and smoothly – if indeed this is correct (this is all speculation, of course).
While the camera will stay the same at 20.7 megapixels (which is plenty enough detail, let’s face it) a new sensor will perform better in low-light, which is good to hear. The front camera will also be a more impressive 4.8 megapixel affair, with a wide angle lens as is the trend these days to ensure selfie fans aren’t disappointed.
Phone Arena, which received the anonymous tip, also heard that the Z4 Ultra is coming with a 5.9in screen and the same CPU and RAM, along with a 16 megapixel camera. Apparently this Nexus 6 rival will also be incredibly svelte at 5.7mm.
Sony will be looking to these devices to help stoke sales, which have been flagging lately, with the company recently announcing a drop in the numbers of handsets expected to ship this year (down from 43 million to 41 million – and well down from the 50 million figure mentioned back in the spring).
Elie Chahine 