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Consumer electronics giant Sony announced its Xperia ZL smartphone is now available online for pre-sale at Sony Store and will soon be available through other select online retailers, starting at $720 for the HSPA network and $760 for the 4G network model.
The ZL, one of several smartphones the company has launched since January, offers a 5-inch full HD (1920x1080p) Reality Display powered by Mobile Bravia Engine 2, and also shares capabilities with Sony digital cameras and features Exmor RS for mobile, the world’s first image sensor with High Dynamic Range (HDR) video for smartphones, which enhances clear images against strong backlight.
The Xperia ZL also includes Battery Stamina Mode, which is designed to improve the battery standby time by automatically shutting down battery-draining apps whenever the screen is off and starting them up again when the screen is back on.
One-touch connections through near-field communication (NFC) technology allow the Xperia ZL to communicate with a wide range of NFC-enabled devices—such as the latest NFC-capable Bravia TV. Users simply touch the Xperia ZL to the TV remote control to instantly see photos or view the content of the phone’s screen on a large TV screen. With an NFC-enabled headset or speaker, users can listen to the songs on their Xperia ZL with just a tap.
The handset is available in red, black or white color schemes and is powered by a 1.5GHz asynchronous quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor with 2GB of RAM. On the software side, Sony media applications offer the user a consistent entertainment experience across a range of Sony devices. The “Walkman,” Album and Movies apps enable discovery of online and offline content through a single access point.
Each application also offers users a variety of ways to discover and share that content. The Walkman application provides access to downloaded music, a library of 18 million songs to explore from Music Unlimited, and Facebook social integration. The Movies application gives consumers access to more than 100,000 movies and TV series from Video Unlimited, while the Album application enables access to Facebook friends’ photos, and users can also browse photos by location.
Among the other models Sony offers in its Xperia line is the flagship Z smartphone, a water-resistant, dust-proof Android device that features a Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor, a 13-megapixel fast-capture camera and 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) capabilities. On the design side, the Xperia Z features rounded edges and smooth reflective surfaces on all sides, tempered glass, and anti-shatter film on the front and back.
The Xperia SP smartphone with its 4.6-inch HD Reality Display and the Xperia L smartphone, a midmarket handset that offers a dual-core processor and Stamina mode for enhanced battery life, are also part of the Xperia family. The Xperia SP boasts a precision-crafted aluminum frame and employs the company’s latest Mobile Bravia Engine 2, which analyzes the user’s content type and adjusts the image automatically, while the Xperia L offers a slightly smaller, non-HD 4.3-inch display and a sophisticated 8-megapixel camera with Exmor RS mobile sensor technology for improved colors and picture clarity.