Sony India Sends out Invites for 18 September Event, Xperia Z1 Launch Expected

Sony India has reportedly sent out press invites for the launch of the new Xperia Z1 in India next week.

Select media houses in the country have recieved Invitations signed by the Sony India, Managing Director, Kenichiro Hibi. The event is said to be the launch-pad of Sony's new Xperia Z1 smartphone and will take place in New Delhi on 18 September at 12:30 PM IST.

Online retailer Flipkart has listed Sony's new high-end camera phone on its website as 'Coming Soon'. However, the company is still keeping the price under the wraps. In the UK, Xperia Z1 is already up for pre-orders at the company's official website for £599 (approximately ₹60,400), including taxes. If the rupee value depreciates, the price may go up further in India.

Xperia Z1 was unveiled less than two weeks ago in Berlin at an IFA (Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin) 2013 pre-cursor event.

The smartphone sports a 5.0-inch full HD (1920x1080p) TFT TRILUMINOS display which boasts of innovative 'X-Reality for Mobiles' screen technology and runs on Android mobile OS v4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

Inside, it packs a 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 series quad-core processor paired with Adreno 330 graphics engine. It houses 2GB RAM for smooth operation of applications and heavy-duty games (3D and motion gaming) and 16GB inbuilt memory which can be expanded up to 64GB via microSD card slot.

The main USP of Xperia Z1 is its camera specifications. Its 20.7-megapixel camera boasts of the company's exclusive patented camera technology- G-Lens and BIONZ image processor. The camera also comes with ½.3-type CMOS Exmor RS image sensor.

To further enhance the photography experience, the smartphone features time-shift burst mode which enables users to snap 61 pictures in two seconds. Other options include Social Live, which lets user to broadcast live video on social platform like Facebook. The camera also comes with an intuitive visual search feature. The user just has to take a picture for the phone to automatically give information on landmarks, book or any object in that image. Other mentionable feature is the AR Effect, which allows users to edit image via 'Augmented Reality' and add custom-made animation to a picture.

Like its high-end Xperia siblings, Z1 too boasts of water-resistant and dust-proof IP55/IP58 certifications. Users can take picture under five-feet of water for close to 30 minutes.

Key specifications of Sony Xperia Z1: