Sony Xperia Z phablet with 6.4-inch screen.

Sony has officially announced the Xperia Z Ultra, a smartphone/ phablet that features a 6.4-inch display. The phone's design is based on Sony's OmniBalance philosophy in line with the design of the Xperia Z and Xperia Tablet Z. The phone sports a slim profile with a thickness of 6.5mm and weighs 212 grams. Sony says that the width of the phone is comparable to that of a Passport. It comes in Black, White and Purple colours. The Xperia Z Ultra is powered by a 2.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and has 2GB of RAM. It offers 16GB of internal storage expandable up to 64GB via microSD card. The phone sports an 8-megapixel Exmor RS rear camera and a 2-megapixel front facing camera. It has a 3000 mAh battery. The phone includes 4G LTE, NFC, and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity options.

The Xperia Z Ultra's screen has a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels and is the first smartphone display that integrates Sony's Triluminos technology, which the company introduced at CES with its Bravia televisions. Sony claims that through the technology the display reproduces a greater range of rich, natural colours to deliver true, natural shades. The technology also includes X-Reality for mobile, Sony's intelligent super resolution display technology which as per the company, analyses each image and reproduces lacking pixels to optimise quality for the sharpest videos.

An interesting feature of the Xperia Z Ultra is its handwriting recognition functionality. The phone's screen is compatible with any pencil and selected stylus or pen with tip diameter over 1mm. The Xperia Z Ultra comes with new and updated Sony Media Applications including new apps for Walkman, Movies and Album. Just like the Xperia Z, the Xperia Z ultra is also dust and water proof and comes with IP55 and IP58 certification. It even allows users to take photos underwater. The phone will launch globally from Q3 2013, but the exact timing of availability will vary depending on the market. Pricing has not been disclosed, yet.

Sony Xperia Z Ultra key specs.

• 6.4-inch TFT Triluminos display with a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels and Shatter proof sheet on scratch-resistant glass.
• 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor
• 4G LTE/ NFC/ Bluetooth 4.0/ Wi-Fi
• 8-megapixel rear camera with Exmor RS sensor
• 2-megapixel front facing camera
• Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
• 16GB internal storage expandable up to 64GB via microSD card
• 3000mAh battery

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PS4 The game is on.

The PlayStation 4 will go on sale later this year and it'll be cheaper than the Xbox One - $399 in the US, £349 in the UK and €399 - compared to $499 and £429.

Following the E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, Sony Computer Entertainment appears to have won the first major battle against the Microsoft Corporation in the war of new video game consoles between the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One.

The PS4 itself was shown off for the first time at E3 and it's black, just like the Xbox One.

"It is a design that is sleek and visually good wherever it is placed," said Andy House, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment said during the reveal. And that's probably true, or at least, it's fair to say that the PS4 isn't any more obtrusive than the PS3 was. But it still looks a bit bulky at first glance, like an onyx coffee table book that you keep propped up by your television.

There are over 140 games in development currently for the PS4, including 40 that include "experiences" that are exclusive to PlayStation. But just to remind you all, that "experiences" don't mean the full game.

If you're watching the live stream  don't worry. They're better than that, easily. In fact, the graphics are definitely more impressive in person than any picture or stream of them you've seen so far.

PlayStation 4 Specs:

Main processor: Single-chip custom processor

CPU:  low power x86-64 AMD "Jaguar", 8 cores

GPU:  1.84 TFLOPS, AMD next-generation Radeon™ based graphics engine

Memory:  GDDR5 8GB

Storage size:  500GB Hard disk drive.

BD/DVD Drive (Read Only):  BD x 6 CAV DVD x 8 CAV

Input/Output:  Super-Speed USBx (USB 3.0) port x 2 AUX port x 1

Networking:  Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) x 1 IEEE 802.11b/g/n Bluetooth® 2.1 (EDR)

AV Output:  HDMI out port DIGITAL OUTPUT (OPTICAL) port

DualShock 4 specs:

External Dimensions: Approx. 162mm x 52mm x 98mm

Weight: Approx. 210g (tentative)

Buttons: PS button, SHARE button, OPTIONS button, Directional buttons (Up/Down/Left/Right), Action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square), R1/L1/R2/L2/R3/L3, Right stick, Left stick, Touch Pad Button, Touch Pad 2 Point Touch Pad, Click Mechanism, Capacitive Type

Other Features: Light Bar, Vibration, Built-in Mono Speaker

Ports: USB (Micro B), Extention Port, Stereo Headset Jack

Wireless communication: Bluetooth® Ver2.1+EDR.

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Sony’s PlayStation 4-$100 Less Than Xbox One, Only For $399.

The PlayStation 4 will launch in the US for $399 “this holiday season”.

On the other-hand Microsoft’s Xbox One, will launch in the US in November for $499. This brings the PS4 in at a full one hundred bucks cheaper than the Xbox One, with the One already facing its fair share of criticism.

Sony specifically targeted many of the things that the Xbox One has been publicly criticized for, from its lack of support for independent developers, to its publisher-set restrictions on the selling and trading of used games, to its requirement that gamers periodically connect their consoles to the Internet to authenticate their games. Sony says that the PS4 will have “no restrictions” on used games, and that PS4 game will require no online authentication. Sony just won a lot of fans. And I think you also know that.

The biggest surprise is the design. The Xbox One is a rectangular cuboid and the PS4 is a parallelepiped. Both are jet black, with incredibly sharp angles from edge to edge, the PS4 is just a bit more laid back, with a slight lean to its corners when compared to the Xbox One’s VCR-esque boxiness.

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