Sony, Smartphone | featured news

Sony unveils the Xperia Z, a flagship handset which is water resistant and feature HDR video.

As much as we're used to companies offering big teasers for their future devices, it's still rare that they put the revelation itself under our control. Sony's trying just that: its mobile division's Facebook page is promising a new Xperia phone whose unveiling date is contingent on how many people "fast forward" the unveiling date from its original June 22nd.

Sony is looking to buy out Ericsson's share of Sony Ericsson, a move to gain full control and beef up development of the struggling handset unit. Japanese-Swedish joint venture, a 50-50 partnership since 2001, is the sixth-largest handset maker, but has been losing profits in recent years as it held back on smartphone development.