Sony Xperia Z1

Sony has finally released the next in line to the Android throne and its called the Xperia Z1. Equipped with the Qualcomm’s 800 Quad Core processor, this phone comes fully armed with performance perks and utilizes a camera that is designed to take on the Lumia 1020 and PureView. The main selling point of this phone is the camera that it comes equipped with a camera that is designed to wow the masses with amazing clarity and exemplary low-light shots. Nokia has long held the crown when it comes to camera shots with Samsung and Apple pushing the boat out with mobile phone technology as well. Sony has upcoming competition with the iPhone 5S, Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and the BlackBerry Z30 which are being released in the coming days.

The Sony Xperia Z1 shares the same dust-proof and waterproof technology as it’s predecessors and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean which should be upgraded to Android 4.3 in due time.  The Z1 also boasts a five inch 1080p display with the Full HD Triluminos Display technology to improve on the washed out images which were experienced on the Xperia Z, it’s clear that Sony is using it’s display technology that it has developed and acquired from their TV sector. Sony and online retailers such as Clove have begun offering the device SIM free for a price of £599.00, a hefty amount for a smartphone but not unusual since the device has just been released.

iOS 7 beta 3

Apple has  released the third beta of iOS7 to developers and early adopters of the new mobile operating system from Apple. I’ve been out the smartphone game for a while but it’s not to hard to catch with what’s been happening so far. Jonathan Ive has decided to go for a new art direction for iOS7 which has been universally panned and acclaimed at the same time, it closely resembles a you-either-hate-it-you-love-it situation right about now. As an Android fan, I pretty much dislike iOS7 in its entirety even more so because of its new design; it is far to flat for my tastes.

Apple inevitably borrows many features from Android, because of this iOS7 provides more functionality to the device; an example of this is the dynamic wallpaper that Apple has added to iOS7 although it should be quite a common feature among smartphones mainly because of how easy it is implemented. Apple makes use of a neon colour pallet in the first iteration of the beta but I’m not entirely sure what they have changed it to since Beta 3 since I do not own a iOS device. Every aspect of iOS 7 has been redesigned to the lowest detail such as the animations used and the methods of unlocking the screen, it’s safe to say that Apple takes its mobile OS very seriously.

New gestures and functions make an appearance in iOS7 such as swiping across the screen to move across menus or to go back to a previous page. iOS 7 has taken the notification game a step forward with a drop down menu which is translucent depending on your background in addition to the control centre. Apple has cleverly packed in more features with the dropdown menu and the Control Menu then Android has so far managed to keep up with. Apple also includes the same mechanism for closing applications that Android uses with its own touch added to it as well. You have a full screen for each application that you are currently using.

iOS 7 should be available in September for all iPhone, iPad and iPod users (well the most recent ones anyway) and be fully baked with minimal bugs and issues, hopefully we will have also seen the iPhone 5S by then as well.