Sony’s latest addition to the Xperia line of smartphones is the Android 4.1 running Xperia ZR, the main feature of which is that it has better water resistance when compared to the Xperia Z. You can keep the ZR in 1.5 meters of water for up to 30 minutes and while you are at it you can also take photos and full HD videos. But that’s about it.

The Xperia ZR is almost identical to the Xperia Z when it comes to the specs, with the ZR having a smaller screen and a 4.6-inch 720p HD Reality display (the Z also offers full 1080p HD). The ZR’s 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 13MP cam, 2GB RAM, pre-loaded Walkman, Album and Movies apps and NFC have all been there with the Xperia Z, which is also pretty rugged.

The ZR is also fatter measuring in at 10.4mm thick compared to Z’s 7.9mm, though you won’t feel that much of a difference. The ZR’s front cam is VGA (likely 0.3MP), but the Z offers a 2MP one. And 8GB of internal memory with the ZR, while the Xperia Z gives 16GB, but both support microSD.

So the Z seems to be better in a few areas than the ZR, although the latter is the one for you if you are fond of diving with your phone once in a while.

Meanwhile, the success of the Xperia Z seems to have affected the sales of other Xperia handsets. We will have to wait and see how the sales go after the ZR is rolled out sometime in Q2. The new device will be available in black, white, pink and mint.

What are your thoughts about the arrival of the Xperia ZR? Will the sales of the Xperia Z be affected by the ZR? Or will people just go for the Z? Or will they forget both the ZR and the Z and go for an upcoming powerhouse?

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If you are planning to test how tough the Samsung Galaxy S4 is after you purchase it, maybe you can give it the treatment which was given to the Xperia Z recently, provided you have saved enough cash for one more S4. The S4 most probably won’t survive such a test. But the Sony handset is not that great as the S4 specs-wise. So what to do? Why don’t you just wait for the new tougher S4 that will apparently arrive sometime in the future?

According to President of Samsung Gulf Young Soo Kim, Samsung has plans to unveil a water proof/dust proof Samsung Galaxy S4 in the coming weeks. No confirmation on the matter from the company though, but someone in the position of Kim won’t certainly announce things like that just for fun.

If indeed it’s coming it will most probably be a bit more expensive (maybe $50-$100 more) than the S4 currently out there. And could this device have anything to do with the Galaxy S4 Mini being talked about these days? We are digging in to find out more. So, are you interested in getting a ruggedized S4?

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A number of unlucky Sony Xperia Z phone owners have been struck with a problematic bug which apparently kills the new phone for no apparent reason. While some owners report that resetting their phone fixes the issue, others haven’t been so fortunate.

The issue has become such a problem that Sony have posted a statement saying that a fix is currently in the works and should roll out with the next Xperia Z update. Although it never looks good to have serious bugs like this surface, keep in mind it isn’t all that uncommon for flagship devices to have such problems. Think back to some of the iPhone 5 and Lumia 920′s problems, for example.

Have you suffered from this problem, if so did you resolve it and how? Is this a deal-breaker or do you still love your Xperia Z as long as Sony gets the bug fixed? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Android developer extraordinaire, Doomlord from the XDA-Developers forums has managed to successfully root the Sony Xperia Z before most customers have even bought theirs yet!

The fast turn around was a team effort by Doomlord modifying the code of a Nexus 4 root, while Teamviewer remotely tested the code on read-world devices. The effort managed to be a success, with other forum members offering that the root has worked for them also.

If you’re looking to pick up a Sony Xperia Z and hope to root it as soon as you get home, be sure you are fully confident with what you are doing, as their isn’t a recovery tool available just yet. You have been warned.

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You may remember us giving the down low on the new Sony Smartphone, the Android Sony Xperia Z.  Now Sony has given an official release date of the device in Germany.  Per Sony’s Facebook page, it will be set loose on February 21^st.  We can make a decent guess that the rest of Europe will also see the phone the same day as it was put up for pre-sale orders in the UK already.

The Sony Xperia Z is touted as being dust and water resistant, 5 inch HD display with 1920 x 1080 resolution, has a whopping 13 MP camera, and 4G LTE.  Under the hood it sports a 1.5GHz quad core Snapdragon S4 process with 2GB of RAM.

So when could it arrive in the United States?  While we can’t say for sure at the moment, odds are it won’t be too much longer after that. In the meantime, it sounds like it will be avaliable unlocked from places like Negri for around $720 right when it hits Europe.

Did you take part in the pre-order for the Xperia Z?  What do you like about this Sony phone?

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Recently, there have been many factors pointing to the idea that Sony is  planning to officially reveal a pair of brand new 1080p 5 inch smartphones at CES 2013 next week. Now it seems that some official press releases of the Xperia ZL and Xperia Z have hit the net, found directly on Sony’s website.

These phones have been mentioned in the past under the names Odin and Yuga, but this latest information seems to confirm the phone is in fact coming soon.  The Xperia Z is a standard Sony phone, however the Xperia ZL is a scaled down version of the Xperia ZL and has a different location for the front facing camera.

Past rumors have suggested the Z will have LTE connectivity, 2GB of RAM and the same quad core Qualcomm processor as the HTC Droid DNA and LG Nexus 4.  At this time, it is not clear if the Xperia ZL will sport the same specs.  It is also possible that one of these is only for the Japanese market, while the other is an international version.

I don’t know about all of you, but I’m getting stoked for CES 2013!

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