T-Mobile says it will offer the Sony Xperia Z in the ‘coming weeks’

Chance Miller

SonyXperiaZ

After a few months of speculation and rumors, T-Mobile has finally announced that it will carry Sony’s Xperia Z flagship. While no specific pricing or availability was announced, the carrier said it will launch in the “coming weeks.” It will be available in black, as well as purple for a limited time.

Specs are the same as the international version, which include a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor, a 5-inch 1080p display with Sony’s Mobile Bravia engine, a 13MP rear-facing camera, and a water and dust resistant design. It will also carry support for T-Mobile up and coming LTE network.  Read more

Google adds Redbox Instant by Verizon app to Google TV

Jordan Kahn

We haven’t been getting a lot of updates on the Google TV front lately, but today Google made an announcement on its blog that the Redbox Instant by Verizon movie streaming subscription service is coming to Google TV.

The app delivers the full Redbox Instant by Verizon experience right to your living room. This includes access to your subscription disc and streaming package, and ability to purchase and rent the latest new releases from the Redbox Instant store.

On top of streaming, purchases and rentals, the Redbox app for Google TV will also allow users to reserve a disc for local pickup.

The service will initially be rolling out to select devices including: the 47G2 and 55G2 Google TV-enabled Smart TVs from LG, NETGEAR’s NeoTV Prime with Google TV, the Sony Internet Player NSZ-GS7, and the Vizio Co-Star.

The Redbox Instant by Verizon app for Google TV is available on Google Play now. Google TV users can sign up for the service now through the app on their device or on the web here.  Read more

Android now powers almost 60% of smart mobile devices

Jordan Kahn

Screen Shot 2013-05-09 at 12.33.19 PM

Research firm Canalys is out today with its latest report tracking worldwide smart mobile device shipments for Q1 with Android accounting for almost 60% of smart mobile devices shipped by OS. That’s compared to a 19.3% share for Apple and approximately 18.1% for Microsoft. Keep in mind Canalys’s report also includes notebooks, in addition to tablets and smartphones, which account for the majority of Microsoft’s share. When looking at tablets alone, Apple continued its lead with 46.4% share in the quarter, although Canalys warned Apple “lost share to its Android-based rivals for the third consecutive quarter.”

‘Spearheaded by Google and Amazon, the commoditization of the tablet market has happened far quicker than that of the wider PC market,’ said Canalys Senior Analyst, Tim Coulling. ‘Profit margins are being squeezed and vendors without a low cost structure will find it hard to compete. A solid range of must-have accessories and a software and services strategy are vital as vendors will increasingly need to make revenue around their devices.’

When it comes to smartphones, the report has Android at roughly 75.6% of shipments with around 32% of those shipments coming from Samsung. We know Apple sold around 37 million iPhones in the quarter but, as always, we warn that the stats from Canalys don’t include shipped vs sold data.  Read more

Google looking to make strategic $50M investment in Vevo to keep its high-quality music content on YouTube

9to5 Staff

Two weeks ago, we heard Google planned to invest in Vevo. Today, those rumors heat up with some specifics…

Bloomberg has the story:

Google Inc.’s YouTube is negotiating a $50 million equity investment in music video service Vevo LLC, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.
Google would own less than 10 percent of the company, giving Vevo a valuation of at least $500 million, said the people, who asked for anonymity because negotiations are still early and an agreement may not be reached.
The investment would be part of a broader contract to keep Vevo’s music videos on YouTube, the people said. Vevo, formed in 2009 by Vivendi SA’s Universal Music and Sony Corp.’s Sony Music Entertainment, and Google last year extended their existing contract until April.

Some of the most valuable (and clicked) content on YouTube is from Vevo-associated Artists. Vevo previously threatened to leave YouTube, so the investment would be to secure long-term access to the content advertised on and monetized by affiliate links to buy music.

It is also important to Google’s ecosystem to have easy and cheap access to all of Vevo’s content.

Read more

Sony announces a 6.9mm thin 10.1-inch 1080P Tablet Z with 8-megapixel camera

Seth Weintraub

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From Sony Japan comes news of Sony’s latest and most impressive Android tablets. Apparently, the Tablet Z wasn’t quite ready for CES earlier this month, but it is, at 6.9mm thin, svelter than Apple’s iPad mini while using a “Bravia”, “Retina” 1080P display. Also a high point for a tablet, Sony will incorporate an 8-megapixel CMOS sensor.

The Z is no slouch in the CPU department, with a quad-core 1.5GHz processor and 2GB of RAM, and it will somehow support NFC and LTE within its 6.9mm thick constraints.

It will also come with Android 4.1, but hopefully Sony gets more serious about updating its Android devices here. Prices and shipping times are still not determined.

Update: Look already a spy video:

Read more

Images & specs for Sony’s 5-inch, full HD Yuga smartphone surface

Jordan Kahn

We have been hearing a lot of rumors about Sony’s unannounced “Yuga C6603″ smartphone, and today Russian site Mobile-review.com posted images of the 5-inch, Android 4.1.2 powered device. According to the report, which also includes a number of benchmark tests, the Sony Yuga’s packs in a full HD (1,920 x 1,080) 5-inch display with 440 ppi and Sony’s Mobile Bravia Engine. The display also features on-screen buttons running along the bottom. Other specs include 2GBs of RAM, LTE, a quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU, Adreno 320 graphics, USB Host support, and micro HDMI and microSD for support up to 128GB. This could definitely be an interesting flagship device for Sony in 2013. It’s also sporting a 12 megapixel camera according to the site.

Head over to Mobile-review for more images and benchmarks. We’ll be keeping our eyes out for the device early next month at CES.  Read more