Hasta La Gadget!

Are they selling? Are they not selling? Well a couple of days ago we heard the rumors that Sony might be looking to sell off their VAIO PC division to Lenovo. This rumor has since been denied by Sony, but at the same time did not deny that they could still be on the lookout for potential buyers, although in this case not necessarily Lenovo. Well according to a recent report from Nikkei, it was suggested that Sony could be selling off their VAIO division to a Japanese investment fund instead, Japan Industrial Partners.

The sale, estimated to be between $391 million to $489 million, will allow Sony to keep a small stake in the VAIO brand and continue to operate it in select markets where the VAIO brand is well-known. However as for Japan, it is said that the VAIO brand will turn its focus towards business users, rather than your average consumer. The deal is far from done and it is expected to become official by the end of March. Naturally Sony has not confirmed this deal yet so do take it with a grain of salt for now, but what do you guys think? Will you be sad to see the Sony VAIO brand disappear?

Sony VAIO Brand Rumored To Be Sold To Japanese Investment Firm original content from Ubergizmo.

Sony is apparently looking to shed the dead weight that is its PC business. According to Reuters, relaying a report by Nikkei, Sony is in talks to sell its personal computer business to investment fund Japan Industrial Partners for up to 50 billion yen ($490 million).

A new company would be formed to sell the computers, with Sony retaining a small stake in venture, the report states.

Just last week, another report surfaced stating that Sony was talking to Lenovo over a joint venture. Sony flat-out denied this report. Still, when there’s smoke, there’s often fire. And Sony’s VAIO brand is burning a hole in Sony’s ledger.

This move shouldn’t come as a surprise. Sony’s PC division has long been a weak link in Sony’s chain. Besides, when Kazuo Hirai took over Sony in 2012, he didn’t list personal computers as one of Sony’s cornerstones. Instead, Kaz pointed to digital imaging, gaming, and mobile on which rebuild Sony, a strategy clearly present as of late.

Sony has released innovative and, frankly, killer products in the three aforementioned categories. Still, despite making amazing products, Sony is trailing others in those spaces. By ridding itself of a forgotten appendage, perhaps Sony can better compete with the likes of Samsung and Apple.

For those sports fans out there, you know that this year’s FIFA World Cup will be staged in Brazil, and Sony is the sole FIFA 2014 World Cup official partner who actually churns out handsets. In fact, it is their collaboration with FIFA that enabled the Japanese firm to place a 2014 World Cup logo on the retail box of the brand new Xperia Z1 Compact. Apart from that, Sony also has other kinds of consumer electronics devices up their sleeves, including smartwatches, which is one of the reasons they will be rolling out a SmartWatch 2 FIFA edition in due time.

(more…)

Sony SmartWatch 2 FIFA And Silver Metal Editions Are In The Pipeline original content from Ubergizmo.

With the competition getting stiffer with each release, we don’t expect Sony to be resting on their laurels this year. According to the rumors, Sony is expected to announce a new handset at MWC 2014 in the form of the Xperia Z2. Now based on what we can see, the Xperia Z2’s design isn’t much to shout about, but thanks to a couple of newly leaked photos, what we have in the photo above is apparently a Sony Xperia handset with extremely thin bezels. Like we said, photos of the Xperia Z2 have been leaked in the past and the bezels in those leaked photos are definitely not as thin as the one pictured above, leading us to believe that this could be an unannounced Sony device that could be announced later in the year.

However given the photo quality and the fact that the entire photo itself is rather blur, it’s hard to tell if the photo is even genuine in the first place, although the icons and the background are distinctively Sony. In any case make what you will of it, but a device with such thin bezels is definitely something we wouldn’t mind checking out. Thinner bezels tend to lend itself to the illusion that the phone’s display is bigger than it really is, which is great for those who would prefer if their devices were not of the phablet variety. In the meantime what do you guys think? How would you feel about a handset with extremely thin bezels?

Sony Xperia Device With Thin Bezels Leaked original content from Ubergizmo.

Considering that the Sony NEX-7 was launched back in 2011, safe to say that it is about time that Sony come forward with a new camera that would be the successor of the NEX-7. Now we have heard the rumors that a successor could be in the works which might actually be shipped later this year in April, and now according to a new rumor from Sony Alpha Rumors, perhaps the April shipping date might not be too far-fetched after all. According to their “multiple trusted sources”, they claim that Sony will be holding a press event next week on the 12th of February, Wednesday.

It is unclear as to what the event will entail, but Sony Alpha Rumors believes that the event will be focused on the launch of new mirrorless products, and presumably the NEX-7’s successor will be one of them. For those looking forward to A-mount related cameras, such as the A77, apparently that event will take place in Spring in a separate announcement. In any case do take it with a grain of salt for now as Sony has yet to send out the invites to such an event, but either way for those interested in devices like the NEX-7, be sure to check back with us next Wednesday to see if the rumors pan out!

New Sony E-mount Cameras Rumored For Announcement Next Week original content from Ubergizmo.