The limited availability of the Xperia ZR (C550X) won’t only be seen in Europe, but will also extend to South East Asia and Australia. From our understanding, there is currently no plans to launch the Xperia ZR in Singapore or Australia.

However, a number of South East Asian countries will be getting the device including Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. We expect pricing to be similar to the €479 price point in the Netherlands.

Thanks Junzter95!

Whilst we wait for the Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean update for the Xperia S to come out of hiding, we thought we’d bring you what official word we have from another region. The official Sony Mobile Brazil blog has just confirmed that the Xperia S will receive the Jelly Bean update in the first half of June in that region.

Hopefully, we’ll see the Jelly Bean update appear well before then, especially as Sony Mobile France claim it is already rolling out. If for whatever reason, their information was misplaced, then it means start looking for the update in the next few weeks.

Thanks Rafael!

The Sony Xperia L (C210X) is now in stock in a number of new territories including the UK, US and India. In the UK, the handset can be picked up from the official Sony Store for £259 with both black and white variants in stock (no red unfortunately). In the US, the Sony Store has the handset in stock for $349.99 with all three colours available.

The handset has proved popular in India with it selling out at Infibeam who have it for INR 18,990, whilst Flipkart has it for a slightly cheaper INR 18,799 and availability in 7-9 days. If you’re wondering what might come in the box, then check out the unboxing video from Recombu and pictures from FoneArena below.

Via FoneArena and Recombu.

Thanks @billbond4, Rishi and Saif!

Sony Xperia J (ST26i) owners can look forward to what looks like a bug-fixing update. Firmware version 11.2.A.0.31 was certified by the PTCRB website a week ago and is likely to bring some small improvements from the current Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean release (11.2.A.0.21). Judging by previous timelines, the firmware should go live within the next few weeks.

Thanks Ricardo!

The Sony Xperia Tablet Z was due to go on sale tomorrow in the United States, but it appears that the launch has been delayed a few days to 29 May. This is the launch date on the official Sony Store website and Newegg. Amazon lists it as “Temporarily out of stock”, whilst B&H has expected availability pegged at 4 June. Hopefully not too long to wait now.

The time has come. Sony has stuck to its word and the Xperia S Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean update is now rolling out. The Sony Mobile France team just tweeted out the following: “Xperia S: The deployment for 4.1.2 build has just begun for the first builds.” [translated] We don’t know exactly what build this rollout relates to, so please comment below and provide screenshots when you receive the update.

Update: As at 17.00 (BST) there appears to be no sign of the update so far, plus the official Xperia S support page has now reverted back to the last ICS firmware (6.1.A.2.55). Sony Mobile France is adamant that the “deployment is ongoing” and that “many more builds will arrive next week“. We’ll keep everyone posted on further developments.

Thanks Aaron and Francois!

Sony recently held its Corporate Strategy Meeting for FY13 (12 months to March 2014), where management including CEO Kazuo Hirai discussed achievements over the last twelve months and outlined plans for the year ahead. The big themes discussed included “accelerating initiatives” to grow its electronic business, strengthening profitability in the Entertainment and Financial Services businesses and enhancing the financial foundations of the company.

Sony also talked about a on a unified “One Sony” approach encompassing all parts of its business and produce products that “inspires and fulfils curiosity, and delivers exciting experiences to customers around the world.”

Talking specifically about the mobile business, management said that it “intends to accelerate the speed with which it develops and rapidly delivers compelling products to customers that incorporate the best of Sony’s technologies.” It also talked about executing the “timely launch of new and highly competitive products that build on the success of Xperia Z.” Financial targets within the mobile business (smartphones and tablets) stand at 1.5 trillion yen and operating income margin of 4% by FY14 (year to March 2015).

There were a number of questions around the company’s mobile strategy from analysts and investors. Once again, some common themes struck through including releasing products faster and leveraging the power of One Sony.

The company also cited the success of the Xperia Z in Asia and Europe (with particularly strong sales in Germany and the UK). However, to grow market share, Hirai conceded that steady growth in the US market was needed.

Harai talked about a change in perception of Sony products, with the Xperia Z and Xperia Tablet Z being key catalysts. He said he had received positive comments from employees and dealers worldwide about finally producing “good products true to the Sony brand”. He went on to say that “for the true rebirth and reintegration of the Sony brand, we of course need to improve existing products but at the same time we need to give birth to new ways to enjoy content through the products we offer”.

Readers may be glad to hear that Sony will not be giving up on its eye for design, in fact it will remain an integral part in new products. Harai said that if a product has the SONY label on it needs to have a “thoroughly attractive design”.

Lastly, Harai is not immune to the challenges he faces in the mobile division. He said that there are “issues to overcome in Xperia”. He has spoken to the Sony Mobile management team to “fix certain things”. Harai said that “I personally asked that since it is SONY DNA and my DNA, I will personally be involved.” Strong words indeed, we look forward to some great things from the future Xperia line-up.

Via Sony.

Okay we know that the Sony Xperia Tablet Z is water resistant, just like the Xperia Z, but it’s always nice to see someone submerging it just to give you that extra confidence. The video below shows the Xperia Tablet Z being placed inside a fish tank and the tablet behaves without any issues. Whilst inside the tank, the tablet records video and we get to see some close up video footage of the fishes too. Check out the video below.

Thanks Kamil!

If you own the Sony Xperia Z (C6603) and are based in Canada, then you’ll be glad to hear that there is a way to get LTE to work. The method involves downloading the FTF firmware file for the Xperia ZL (C6506) which is the North American variant. Users then flash this firmware’s baseband onto their Xperia Z using Flashtool (see what settings you need below). Users are reporting success with carriers including Rogers, Fido and Bell. If you want to give this a try, there are some detailed instructions here.

Flashtool FTF settings

Via xda-developers.

Thanks Ed1!

The official Sony Mobile support page for the Xperia S has just listed the latest available software as version number 6.2.A.0.200. We understand that the 6.2.X.X.XXX release relates to the Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean update.

The release date for this firmware is listed as 24 April, which must be a mistake but could be inferring to a 24 May release? Interestingly, the firmware build is different to the one that hit the PTCRB recently (6.2.B.0.200). Hopefully, we hope to hear soon which one is right.

Thanks Aaron and Sekhargreen!