Vaio’s first ever smartphone seems almost assured to be real now, after two new reports from Japan out retail certification and images of the handset’s packaging.
Just last month we reported that the Vaio smartphone was set to launch in just two weeks time – that put the release on March 12.
Now we’re just one week away from that date, and the evidence that previously Sony-owned Vaio really is launching a smartphone seems to be stacking up.
For starters, Blogofmobile reports that Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications certified the Vaio handset – model number VA-10J – back in December.
Then a separate report, courtesy of PC Watch, revealed images of retail packaging for the device.
That same report also says the Vaio smartphone was originally scheduled for a December 4, 2014 release, but supply chain issues saw that date pushed back to March.
The boxing seems fairly nondescript. If anything, it seems to riff off Apple’s iPhone packaging, albeit opting for a black colour scheme with the Vaio branding stamped front and centre.
Unfortunately, the box didn’t actually contain the handset, so we’ve still got no idea what the Vaio smartphone will look like.
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However, our previous report detailed the rumoured spec sheet, which signalled the device as being far from flagship material.
The Vaio is expected to carry at 64-bit Snapdragon 410 chip clocked at 1.2GHz, with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in storage also on board.
There’s also likely to be a 5-inch 720p display handling visuals, with a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, and a 5-megapixel front-facing snapper handling photography.
The device is also purported to run Google’s latest Android 5.0 Lollipop OS.
We’ll just have to wait until March 12 to see if these rumours are true.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
