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Sony accidentally outs Xperia Z4 Tablet ahead of its official release

by Mark Tyson on 25 February 2015, 11:50

Tags: Sony (NYSE:SNE), PC

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Sony, which recently revealed that it is considering an exit of the smartphone market, has accidentally outed its upcoming Xperia Z4 Tablet ahead of any official fanfare. The Japanese tech company let slip the tablet details via its own Xperia Lounge app, confirming that the tablet will debut on 3rd March at the MWC in Barcelona.

Aesthetically, the Xperia Z4 Tablet looks very similar to its predecessor, the Z3 Tablet, with rounded metal edges and a slim profile. However the listing, which has now been removed, didn't provide any technical specifications besides that it will feature a 2K display alongside the "latest ultra fast processor". Sony also remembered to tout its "industry leading battery performance", which has been seen, in its Z3 range of products, to be an attractive feature when compared to flagships from rivals.

Since the leak came directly from Sony, the source of the information looks to be pretty reliable. It appears that the device may be a 10-inch tablet, and is likely to be accompanied by smartphones of the same family name. We are unsure whether the smartphones will be announced during MWC or at a later time, but are expecting the new Z4 range to come loaded with Android Lollipop straight out of the box.

The slim-looking tablet looks to be just as thin as the Xperia Z3 Compact Tablet, an 8-inch slate which measures only 6.5mm thick. Going by Sony's tradition, it is almost certain that the device will carry IP ratings for water and dust resistance. Of course, we will keep you up to date with other information regarding official specs, hardware features and pricing once the tablet and any associated smartphones are launched.



HEXUS Forums :: 4 Comments

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I would like to see Sony offer Surface Pro rivalling Windows tablet but at a cheaper price point.
Myss_tree
I would like to see Sony offer Surface Pro rivalling Windows tablet but at a cheaper price point.
I really can't see Sony doing a Windows tablet after getting out of the PC business. And Sony doing a “cheaper price point” than Microsoft? This is Sony we're talking about, so “no”.

Surely there's plenty of Surface Pro competition from the likes of Asus, HP, Lenovo, Dell, etc?
crossy
Myss_tree
I would like to see Sony offer Surface Pro rivalling Windows tablet but at a cheaper price point.
I really can't see Sony doing a Windows tablet after getting out of the PC business. And Sony doing a “cheaper price point” than Microsoft? This is Sony we're talking about, so “no”.

Surely there's plenty of Surface Pro competition from the likes of Asus, HP, Lenovo, Dell, etc?

The rush (by manufacturers) seems to be the opposite of quality high end as they head for the bottom where Windows with Bing is license free cost wise.
Sony do have a track record for the occasional product thats out of the leftfield and of course for expensive quality products.
The Surface Pro is well over priced particularly factoring in a keyboard. If Sony could price match plus throw in the keyboard in that price they would be on to a winner.
Microsoft do need competition around the Surface Pro size form factor.
Myss_tree
The rush (by manufacturers) seems to be the opposite of quality high end as they head for the bottom where Windows with Bing is license free cost wise.
Sony do have a track record for the occasional product thats out of the leftfield and of course for expensive quality products.
The Surface Pro is well over priced particularly factoring in a keyboard. If Sony could price match plus throw in the keyboard in that price they would be on to a winner.
Microsoft do need competition around the Surface Pro size form factor.
Hmm, I'm not sure I agree necessarily. Yes, there's a splurge of Wing products, but most of those seem to be by “non-mainstream” companies, with the big players just dipping a toe in, if they're playing the game at all.

Sony were pretty innovative, but with the current financial strictures I'm very sure that R&D will be getting hit, and hit hard. So there'll definitely be a strong resistance to doing anything risky. That said, I was looking at this years crop of Sony Walkman player and was quite impressed - good on features and actually priced pretty competitively. I got one of the old OLED-screened Sony players and to be honest it makes the contemporary Apple devices sound pretty awful. Plus it has active noise cancellation and a pretty good set of earphones.

Surface Pro is (arguably) at the top end of the acceptable market. Then again, it was positioned (according to the paperwork I've seen) originally as a “premium” device up against Apple's laptop products. And in that company it's actually competitive. Problem is that the other big players, (and I'm thinking particularly the of the equivalent HP Envy x2), price around the same point. But maybe that's because the SP3 is using the full i3/i5 processor. If you scale down your requirements then there's other players out there. I'm thinking particularly of the Asus VivoTab Smart, (which Scan have for less than Ā£240). Downside being that this is an Atom-powered beastie.

And I wouldn't necessarily discount the Windows-with-Bing stuff, depends what you actually want. If you're looking for a more stylish/portable full-fat laptop then you're going to have to expect to pay for the privilege.