Estate of Michael Jackson Partners With Sony Mobile

The Estate of Michael Jackson and Epic Records are very excited about the partnership with Sony Mobile announced this morning at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. We are thrilled with the use of the new solo Michael Jackson recording, “Slave To The Rhythm,” which is featured in the 90 second online spot for the new Xperia Z2 phone. For those of you not lucky enough to be in the room for the premiere of the spot, look for it online!

The song was worked on during Jackson’s Dangerous sessions and completed in 1998, before leaking onto the internet in 2010. A version featuring vocals from Justin Bieber emerged online in August 2013.
Buyers of the smartphone are reportedly being treated to ‘something special’ around Jackson’s music.

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What exactly it is remains to be seen, but given Sony Music’s ties with Jackson’s current music library, it is possible users will see tracks bundled with the device.

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The smartphone is unique in that it features a digital noise canceling processor in the handset, providing improved sound quality in noisy environments with its included headphones.
Sony has promised more information on the Michael Jackson news over the coming weeks.

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Sony‘s Xperia Z1 came very close to being up there with the very best of smartphones in 2013, but was let down by a select few features that stopped it being truly great.
Now we have the Xperia Z2 and with it, Sony appears to have addressed every major problem we had with the first generation Z1.

The Xperia Z2 will ship in three different colors

The first thing you notice is the improved screen. It’s still 1080p but uses IPS technology to get rid of all the viewing angle issues we had with the last device.

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It’s also bigger, at 5.2-inches, but features a smaller bezel that gives the device a more compact footprint compared to what it had before. We have to say, first impressions leave us thinking the smaller bezel is definitely an improvement, but still doesn’t come close to what LG or Samsung manage.

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Picture quality is still very good though. Triluminos display technology alongside ‘Live Color’ LED, imported from Sony’s TV division, has upped the stakes in terms of the color a mobile screen can produce. It’s balanced but vivid, without any of the blown out color you get in a AMOLED screen.

The IPS screen has much improved viewing angles

As you would expect, the device is waterproof, just like Sony’s previous Xperia offerings. It also matches very closely with the Z1 in terms of design, using a tempered glass front and back wrapped around an aluminium band. Sony’s aluminium lock key also makes a return.

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Processor speed is up at 2.3 GHz thanks to a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core chip. The phone is also LTE capable, while Battery life gets a boost to 3200 mAh.

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Color choice for the Z2 comes in either white, black or purple. At a glance, it’s hard to spot the difference between the Z1 and this new device, but up close the screen really separates the two.

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Other new features include technology taken from other divisions within Sony. Steady shot video has now been implemented, taken directly from Sony’s Handicam business. Rather than using optical stabilisation, it uses an algorithm to smooth out any motion that might be present in video.

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Sony had a demo of this in action and while it definitely looked impressive, we can’t be sure until we compare it against the likes of the Lumia 1020′s optical stabilisation.

Camera app improvements have been added

Also added to video is the ability to record in 4K. Given the route Sony’s TVs are taking, this isn’t really a huge surprise. Play the ultra-high resolution video on a 1080p TV and you get the added bonus of being able to zoom into the video without a huge loss of detail, all while it’s playing.

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The sensor itself appears to be the same 20.3-megapixel unit you find in the Z1, but with the added benefit of new functions in-app. Whether or not the picture quality is improved will only be possible to establish when we get one to review.

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A lot of what the Z2 does is putting polish on the work Sony did with the Z1. Adding Qualcomm’s 801 processor appears to have unlocked an extra bit of power in the handset, which means a lot of things can be rendered or done live, rather than requiring you to wait.

Read More: http://www.digitalspy.com/tech/news/a553268/sony-xperia-z2-hands-on-preview-the-best-phone-from-sony-yet.html

Source: Sony / MichaelJackson.com / digitalspy / MJ-Upbeat.com

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