yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Xperia Z General] Riyal:
Hmm.... Seems like we can expect a different mobile to be launched this july 4.

Xperia Z Ultra is already available for preorder on handtec & clove which only means Sony UK already gave a go signal for retailers.

That's a good sign that we won't be expecting another variant of Z Ultra or another relaunch this July 4. So... Hopefully honami it is this coming July 4.

http://www.handtec.co.uk/sony-xperia-z-ultra-black.html

http://www.clove.co.uk/sony-xperia-z-ultra

http://www.expansys-usa.com/sony-xperia-z-ultra-c6806-lte-android-tablet-phone-unlocked-251167/

---------- Post added at 09:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:53 AM ----------

Hmmm I'm not sure of that but on what I see it is cheaper here.

For example the Xperia Z.

The selling price of that phone unlocked now here in our country is about $510 USD including tax. And HSPA+ version is alot cheaper also.

And we can get it on a 12 months plan for only about $25 to $30USD/month.

This is based on our current currency's conversion to USD.
[Xperia Z General] anirudhks:
In Singapore as far as I have seen its always around s$ 398 for 2 year contract with s$58 plan a month .. all thought RP is always around 1000$ for first 2 months and then drops drastically

for example the xperia Z was 890$ when released around feb end and now 3 months later its about 700$ similarly Galaxy s4 was 1050$ and now its just 800$ so huge dip occurs.. especially the value drops for SONY phones in singapore as most of the people here prefer the Sammy or the apple. which is one way good for us SONY lovers as the price drops for our SONY handsets quite quick in course of time..

---------- Post added at 09:55 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:48 AM ----------

Just got some info from one of my friend and the Z ultra in singapore is going to be around the 850$ mark
[Xperia Z General] Riyal:
I truely agree on this one... Maybe it's because of the market demand which causes the price drops...

Here in our country it's either Samsung, Apple or our local phone markets get the demands whilst sony being the 4th, LG for 5th, HTC 6th & Motorola 7th.

Only downside of this is that we are usually the last to get the highend devices from the likes of HTC & Sony so our only choice is to order it outside which in result end up taking me the same money still due to import taxes and shipping charges.
[Xperia Z General] TracerBullitt:
Thanks. I was at work, thinking how silly it was to go on and on about buying a Z through tmobile just to try and get a ZL. I COULD just save up and get the ZL, then save money on my cheaper, contract-less plan. Its just that I'd rather get a phone at contract price.

From my understanding, you technically get a phone w/ a down payment and make small payments with each bill until its paid off...
[Xperia Z General] ultrairon:
Yup pretty much
[Xperia Z General] Shan89:
Phones ranges in here are like this ( sim free unbranded ofc)

Z btw 400/440$ , s4 470/500 and htc one 520/600$
[Xperia Z General] tangosierra_:
$850 for the Z ultra... Doesn't seem too bad but ill have to pick it up without a contract if I don't want my data to get cut to 2GB from 12GB.

Yeah here in sg mobile phone prices drop pretty fast especially when there's a new phone on the market. I remember it happened with the moto milestone when a newer gen phone came out. I forgot the exact details because its so long ago and that's when I didn't know anything about android lol. Picked up my arc S in feb 2012 at $168 which was just $30 cheaper than the S2 though.

Remember the P sold quite well though. Have quite a few friends using the P. I might pick up the honami after their next flagship comes out because i know this causes the price to drop quite a lot over here.
[Xperia Z General] zaynal:
Another 5 minutes till Paris event?
[Xperia Z General] Riyal:
It's already 9:30 in paris... any live feeds?
[Xperia Z General] achilles9546:
+ 1
[Xperia Z General] Aimann:
+2
[Xperia Z General] anirudhks:
engadget is having nothing on their webpage
[Xperia Z General] Riyal:
Did engadget say that they will be covering the event?
[Xperia Z General] anirudhks:
some one above said they were,, few posts before
[Xperia Z General] xperiax10.awesome:
No News yet !!!
[Xperia Z General] Crazy CS:
Hour later no news..... Worst announcement ever.
[Xperia Z General] Riyal:
No news even on their facebook page...

https://www.facebook.com/sonymobilefr

could the invitation be a fake?
[Xperia Z General] msc3169:
With all the leaks online, perhaps sony felt there's nothing left to announce ;)
[Xperia Z General] Riyal:
lol! Then should have not announced the Z Ultra also because it was leaked massively than honami before it was announced :p At least there's too much unsure speculations on honami...

I say that

1. The invitation is a fake considering that sony france facebook doesn't even have any activity today.

2. The event is not a big event. Prolly just some room demo of Xperia Z Ultra.
[Xperia Z General] MafiaManV:
the phone on banner had camera button, ZU doesn't

Sent from my C6602
[Xperia Z General] jewelkobayashi:
been looking all over the web for some info as to what this paris event was...

I can find nothing.
[Xperia Z General] Crazy CS:
Think its safe to assume its fake?
[Xperia Z General] pradeepvizz:
not assume - conclude that it was all fake!
[Xperia Z General] Natakranta:
Dead silence everywhere
[Xperia Z General] TracerBullitt:
So ...the Honami itself is fake?? Say it ain't so!! ;)
[Xperia Z General] pradeepvizz:
i don't want that too! just the invite and launch stuff.
[Xperia Z General] jewelkobayashi:
just found out that the paris event is a cocktail party + product unveiling in the evening (france time)

been looking for an event which has not started yet...
[Xperia Z General] quaver84:
The wrong 930 then?! That's funny :D
[Xperia Z General] jonmorris:
I thought I said a while ago that Sony had been moaning about how different regions were planning events that didn't coincide with each other. There's also an event in Germany which I expect will be the same products announced, but for a local press and for operators.

It's amazing that someone suggested Honami would be in Paris (from some photos that didn't appear to be official, showing the Eiffel Tower on screen) and within minutes - as is usual for Twitter and tech sites hungry for news - everyone was saying it was going to be unveiled today.

This was despite the fact that if the biggest phone of the year (and I suspect that Honami is more mass market than the Z Ultra) then rather than people Tweeting 'Honami unveiled in Paris this week?' then you'd have seen members of the press, from the big sites like Engadget, Verge etc saying they were on their way. No media from the UK were invited for example, so why would we have been left out? Ditto in other parts of Europe, Asia and America.

But Honami is real; it's just almost certainly not going to be announced for a while longer. If I had to guess, I'd say that Sony would be looking to an announcement at IFA in Berlin in the first or second week of September. Let's not forget that a lot of work is still done by Sony in Sweden and pretty much everyone is on holiday from the end of July until August - so this is not a month for announcements.
[Xperia Z General] pradeepvizz:
thanks for the hopes, could you tell us the source?
[Xperia Z General] jewelkobayashi:
I was desperate for information, and was going through Sony (french) twiiter.

i paste the tweet below

Sony Xperia FR @ SonyXperiaFR 2nd July

Introducing our new products + private cocktail party Thursday night in Paris. I have 5 seats, which is left? -> Request via # SonyMediaDay

I guess cocktail party means evening....
[Xperia Z General] pradeepvizz:
wow great find! cocktail party -> evening yes that was what i was wondering how can it be a party in the morning lol!

keeping fingers crossed! wish i can tweet them and ask for the time of product announcement :)
[Xperia Z General] jewelkobayashi:
If I remember correctly, the Paris event's invitation was sent out before (or at least made public) the German event. Maybe I am wrong, but it seemed so. Which means that the German branch undercut the French ZU announcement plan?

If Sony really are THAT BADLY ORGANISED and inter-regional rivalry exits, I can totally understand that the French ZU announcement's (todays event) thunder has been stolen.

But somehow, gut feeling tells me that organisation cannot be that bad.... So something new will be announced. Not Honami though as credible sources have repeatedly claimed.

EDIT...

and then.....maybe not....

just found this

https://mobile.twitter.com/SonyXperiaFR/status/352074017898901505/photo/1
[Xperia Z General] pradeepvizz:
may be Xperia ZU again ? :)
[Xperia Z General] babylonbwoy:
It was scheduled for 9am on the invit' but now they says 18h30.

They'll present new product says twitter = ZU, SM2, etc...

---------- Post added at 01:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:05 PM ----------

Remember the false Xperia S update announcement made on twitter by french branch, there was something with russian twitter account too, they try to get a little shine... It's not a professional event as they offered invit on twitter this morning. Don't count on Honami today or you'll be disapointed, it's just ZU.
[Xperia Z General] jonmorris:
We all know that most of the problems with Sony over the years has been down to different divisions not talking to another, not working together or outright competing with each other. This is changing, slowly.

Same problem with Sony Ericsson. SE wanting to produce devices that incorporated the best features, like the best camera, media player and even gaming (SE having tried a few things over the years) and being shot down by Sony worried about the impact on its other divisions.. even if it was inevitable the way things were going.

A few years back, I was invited to a very small event in London which turned out to be the Xperia X10 - the first Android phone. Maybe 10 journos max, but this was organised by Sony Global (out of Sweden) and Sony Ericsson UK didn't even know a thing about it and got quite angry. It's not as if Sony Ericsson UK wouldn't have found out, given the fact that we all posted photos and videos soon after, which prompted other publications to go asking the UK office (and PR) for details of a product that they were denying existed still.

It happens all the time, and not just at Sony. You have global and regional teams of people, with different roadmaps to some degree. Then you have in-house PRs and various agencies.

The London event for the Z Ultra was quite small and didn't have all the international media in attendance, so given Sony must be aware that it isn't a flagship/mainstream device, it has probably decided to do smaller events in different countries where the local media can attend without the cost of flying them all around the world. Something they might do for Honami, although I think that IFA is the best place to launch that - where most people will be anyway. Wasn't the Xperia T launched last year at IFA, or was that the V? (or both?). I forget now, and I was there! (oops).

Some people have also said that the thing in Paris will also include some other Sony products, so isn't just mobile.

I guess we have to wait and see, but I thought I might share some of the many stories I could say about events and launches over the years. It's not as an exact science as we'd all like to think - and what the competition does can also influence things, prompting earlier than planned launches or holding things back.
[Xperia Z General] JPWOA:
It's too soon for Honami guys…

XZ is on all markets less than 4 month! Don't you think is a very short product life?

Even 6 month is too short in my opinion.

If Sony release Honami today I would be very pissed, and other Z costumers like me too...because we spent 600€ on a product that is outdated (in their own brand) in 4 month.

Doesn't make sense...
[Xperia Z General] pradeepvizz:
well agree that it might sound too early - however the problem is that Xperia Z might not sell anymore as you get other products which are better. this topic is debatable but you see that there are options now other than XZ - even with water proofing. Sony needs a refresh to stay ahead of the crowd now.
[Xperia Z General] jonmorris:
Correct, it wouldn't make sense - but it didn't stop the rumour spreading and for some respectable sites to post it as news.

Now, it will seem as if Sony has somehow backtracked or U-turned by not announcing it today because the sites that didn't apply basic common sense will want to make it look like they were right and Honami was going to be announced...
[Xperia Z General] pradeepvizz:
well but honami is not far away, may be 1 more month? we have had rumors for a long time now.
[Xperia Z General] jonmorris:
It depends when Sony intends to get it to market. Announce really early, or try and wait until it's nearer to release time? That and the fact the Xperia Z is still quite new, especially in some markets. (What's more, I'm so happy with my Xperia Z that even though I'm sure I'll get the new one, there's not actually anything wrong with what I have).

One more consideration; Sony doesn't get to decide this all by itself. The operators, including the many UK ones seeking to launch 4G at various times between now and Christmas - and others next year - are the main customers for Sony. They will be dictating what they want (many wanting very low cost Android devices to sell for under £100 on prepay, others wanting affordable 4G handsets) and will tell Sony when they want a phone to go on sale, based on their own marketing. It may well be that if Apple is likely ro launch the iPhone 5S, Honami could be put back or brought forward.

There's a lot more than just announcing because information has leaked, some of which might be deliberate to get people talking about Sony - but then buying one of the existing devices. Even when Honami is released, I doubt it will actually replace the Z but rather be a higher-tier product and operators will be able to sell the Z at a lower price.

This will be why some devices don't get released in all markets. I think the Xperia SP has been picked as the mid-range model being pushed by all the UK operators, hence us not getting the ZR (and likewise, we didn't get the ZL).

I speak as someone who worked as a phone dealer and worked for a trade newspaper for many years, and the basics haven't changed even if the technology has advanced considerably.
[Xperia Z General] anirudhks:
Well my. Perception. To this is.different. Each new phone is a flagship in its own area like zu is in phablet z is.in 5inch phone honami.in camera category.just like note 2 galazy cam n s series so its a flagship in a different categories so stop moaning saying sony ditched you..
[Xperia Z General] pradeepvizz:
nice thoughts on the industry, thanks i never knew some. i can somewhat relate why not all devices end up in all providers

I like the idea of announcing and making it available at the earliest.

i see Honami only as a flagship product for the second half of 2013 to jan/feb of 2014. After jan/feb 2014 or even before that we are probably seeing the next gen devices with unseen innovations and technologies coming up.

Even with the other considerations Sony mobile's focus is only on improving their products and on selling more - Sony can still sell retail, i don't know how much ppl buy retail.

`
[Xperia Z General] jonmorris:
I don't either. Sony stores never really went very big on Sony Ericsson phones and even now, the Xperia range is given a very small part of my local store. They'd prefer to sell home entertainment products or cameras it seems, and I have to also say that I find it hard to browse in many Sony stores as you get 'jumped on'. It's odd that Sony hasn't learned anything from the success of Apple retail.

Anyway...

The Tablet Z is clearly something that can be easily sold in store at full retail price. Perhaps the Z Ultra will too, as it's quite niche.

The Xperia Z was sold, but I doubt stores carry many units (certainly mine didn't - they got some, sold them and then said it would be weeks until they got more, ditto for the dock).

Personally, I've long advised people that they should consider buying SIM-free, unlocked, unbranded, phones and then get SIM-only contracts... thus allowing you to swap networks almost every month if you so wish... keeping your number and taking advantage of the best deals. It's also dead easy to swap phone, by selling what you have and buying new - and so on.

The savings in your contract should outweigh the cost of funding the phone in most cases, but in nearly all cases it's a lot less hassle.. and you can hunt out the best deals online.

Yet, a lot of people won't pay the full price for a phone however much sense it might make.

Ultimately, Sony is in a good position to get back into the game if it can get a series of things right - and how it retails is one part of the jigsaw. By rights, it should be able to compete very well against Samsung.
[Xperia Z General] babylonbwoy:
Of course it's organized, that's why we haven't seen the back of Honami til now (or with a case over it), sony buzzing on the net everywhere.

And able to unlock the bl to use custom kernel and rom's!
[Xperia Z General] androidlover20:
HONAMI is REAL
[Xperia Z General] ultrairon:
No sh*t

Of course its real it been leaked numbers of times and their event is later today
[Xperia Z General] Sniper-06:
From Twitter

Hello all,

Here is a tweet sent a few minutes ago by [MENTION=1346574]SonyXperia[/MENTION]FR :

[MENTION=648273]BERTRANDD[/MENTION]evil

Mr [MENTION=1346574]SonyXperia[/MENTION]FR , if you need a tester for the #Honami, I'm in !

Sony Xperia FR &#8207 [MENTION=1346574]SonyXperia[/MENTION]FR
[MENTION=648273]BERTRANDD[/MENTION]evil I don't know what you're talking about... ?

(Translated from french)

What should we understand :) ?
[Xperia Z General] katamari201:
Well the invitation should be legit since I've seen it on several websites before, and not as a leak. But I'm not sure who is getting the invitation and if none of the big sites seem to be aware of the date or time change or even posting about it, this is turning out to be a really small announcement. If it was something huge like Honami it would be less secretive and also be an English invitation sent out to everyone in the media who can attend. I hope it will be Honami but it seems more likely to just be a smaller ZU unveiling or a budget phone unveiling.
[Xperia Z General] PwnedXD:
Unless I'm mistaken, looks like it may have just been about the smartwatch? There was a picture of it posted on the SonyFR Twitter about 30 minutes ago.
[Xperia Z General] Sniper-06:
Twitter

Well, they made a presentation this morning for the Xperia Ultra and the smartwatch.

But apparently there is an other part of the event starting by 18:30 (France time).
[Xperia Z General] ssj_jaypee:
that's in 1 hour :)
[Xperia Z General] babylonbwoy:
Ok, I just had confirmation from [MENTION=1297677]xperia[/MENTION]France that the event is about ZU + SW2 :

Me asking about fresh news :

Their reply : traduction : products presented this morning are ZU and Smartwatch

Edit : oops, two event the same day ?!?
[Xperia Z General] Sniper-06:
They answered : Yes the products presented this morning was the ZU and the SW2.

They didin't say anything about what they are going to show this afternoon at 18:30.

Wait and see ...
[Xperia Z General] Purehazard:
18:30 Paris time is now.
[Xperia Z General] Sniper-06:
Indeed. But as there is no live for this event, we'll have to wait a bit for feedbacks ...
[Xperia Z General] ultrairon:
Come on comne on

18:54:21 Thursday July 4, 2013 in Europe/Paris

waiting patiently waiting!!!!!

---------- Post added at 06:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:55 PM ----------

Its 7:15 there already are they going to annouce it?
[Xperia Z General] Purehazard:
CNET France is just talking about the Xperia Z Ultra (posted 18:50).

http://www.cnetfrance.fr/news/sony-...e-de-sortie-ce-qu-il-faut-savoir-39792120.htm

And the Smartwatch 2 (posted 18:18).

http://www.cnetfrance.fr/news/sony-...sortie-et-video-de-prise-en-main-39792119.htm

Nothing to see. Move along...
[Xperia Z General] zymo:
u13x hinted that neither Hayabusa nor Mint will be the flagship, but a third device(not mentioned on the roadmap).

EDIT:

video showing album app on the GX. Looks really great!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b54VOWy12Go
[Xperia Z General] draugaz:
I will buy 2 bunnies. No - I will buy three. Sony, don't you dare to put anything smaller than 2000mAh OR ELSE...!!!!
[Xperia Z General] xperiax10.awesome:
Sony can do something like Arc S..

How about Xperia S in alumunium body (like XP) without those plasticy flip ports, dot buttons replaced by capacitive buttons on transparent bar itself (like XP) and specs of GX !!!

It

from xperia PLAY
[Xperia Z General] chrisp7:
There will always be another flagship device - most likely launched after Mint, eg 2013. Quadcore Sony = Mint, Xperia GX international version = Hayabusa. Think about the so called other flagship device, what would it bring to the party? What other hardware upgrades could it bring (basically - it cant - bar it say being xperia play II for 'the holidays' season). Just saying.
[Xperia Z General] xperiax10.awesome:
The fact is Xperia S n Xperia P both fails to impress Xperia users, the combination of both would be a deadly combination..

As of now from videos n watever details we have XPERIA GX looks like a perfect device, I hope it will available soon!!
[Xperia Z General] chrisp7:
Totally with you! I wouldnt touch SE phones, Sony have improved things with the S and P but the GX is pretty much there. Thank God there is an Android phone that looks decent, has a good camera and Micro SD - its been so long!
[Xperia Z General] zymo:
Of course there will be a flagship device after LT29 and LT30 that was what I said in an earlier post too, but that's not the point. What surprised me was the statement that neither Hayabusa nor Mint are flagship devices.
[Xperia Z General] batman_112:
A member over at the Arc forums posted this:

Not sure how true this is regarding the quad core phone. Maybe unknown13x can confirm/deny?
[Xperia Z General] Felimenta97:
Release in September 2012 -> Somewhere in may- June 2013 in Brazil. Price: US$ 1000, more or less.

Well, that's good to hear. Lets wait then
[Xperia Z General] unknown13x:
Somewhat/partially true, not in the quad-core sense, but other stuff :rolleyes: Sony doesn't see the benefit in 4-cores yet. Why increase cost when all we use it for is watch movies and angry birds? :P
[Xperia Z General] Lucasm93:
If the GX is coming with Adreno 320 it will be the international version with a updgraded S4 pro in relation to the Japanese version. Odd, but no impossible. That would be nice to see.

About the third device, I haven't seen a thing about it beyond one post in this topic asking if it said situation would be possible..

Let's not overhype these phones people, it has a high damaging potential to Sony.

Just because of the looking at the S3 in pics all the techy "experts' blogs called it ****.

We know it ain't ****. But the mega hype of a ceramic case, HD SAmoled plus, 2gb of RAM, quad core Exynos 5 (A15) + Mali 6xx, 12mp camera, 2500mah battery, that, even though ridiculous, had a great power to cause disapointments in a lot of people.

The phone took a while to grow on me, but I think it's fantastic now. My only wish is that it were smaller, but I haven't seen a perfect phone that fills all my needs yet..:p
[Xperia Z General] zymo:
I don't find it odd considering Sony has to compete with Samsung and HTC. Maybe Sony has no problems selling phones in Japan, but elsewhere Android phones made by the 2 competitors are selling better. And since Hayabusa "lacks" a quad core CPU, which nowadays seems essential for the high-end market, it needs some other unique selling features like a superb camera or a strong GPU.

If I had to guess, I would say that Sony uses the S4 Pro for the international version, but since u13x confirmed it won't, its highly unlikely now.