Sony has given Xperia owners a taste of what they can expect from Android KitKat 4.4 and 4.4.2 when these Oss get to the Xperia Z, as well as the SP, T, TX and V later this year. These new features are rumoured to be based on the Xperia Sirius and Z1 and include two UIs, new camera modes and new battery managers.
The Sony Sirius UI was leaked with the Xperia IU and the Simple homescreen. The icons have been updated to include a settings menu and battery icon. The new Sirius UI has more personalisation choices for status bars and notifications.
Jelly Bean 4.3 meant that Sony could introduce Smart Social apps, along with the new UI and camera modes. The Experia Z1 and the Z Ultra Z, as well as other Z handsets are set to gain some exclusive camera features from Sirius, like Timeshift video and background de-focus.
Smart apps has now had an update and a new look. The Close All button is part of Recent Apps and there’s also the new Smart Backlight feature, which works in the same way as Samsung’s Smart Stay. You get white balance, smart call handling, a double-tap-to-wake feature and an answering machine.
The Xperia Sirius has new sound options, like audio accessory support and high-res audio through the USB cable. It’ll also have the S Force audio engine as well as Clear Audio and xLoud engines that most of the Xperia phones have.
There’s loads of personalisation choices, with owners able to combine personalisation for notifications and status, themes and wallpapers. Jelly Bean 4.3 offers just Xperia themes with no more customisation just yet.
With the new KitKat based on the Xperia Sirius, Sony has updated the power management and owners now have STAMINA mode, low battery mode and location-based Wi-Fi. Queuing background data will save battery life, as there’ll be no constant updating.
The Xperia Z series will get updated at some point in 2014, while the Xperia SP, T, TX and V should be getting Android 4.3 around now.
