If the Xperia Z1 name isn’t familiar, you may know it better as the Sony i1, or the Honami, two names under which it has previously been leaked. The new smartphone is expected to arrive just before the beginning of the IFA tech show next month, and Sony has been busy teasing us with cryptic images over the past week. The latest to show up on various official social networking accounts is a close-up of the phone’s camera lens, which features “G” branding.
If you’re not a camera person, Sony’s G Lens camera technology may be new to you, as it’s mainly associated with Sony DSLR and NEX cameras. It’s used on the firm’s best-of-the-best lenses, which have been crafted to produce the, “Ultimate in optical quality for true photographers.” Slapping the name on a smartphone, then, shows the Xperia Z1 is Sony’s latest play for a slice of the burgeoning camera phone market.
Recently, images supposedly showing a high-tech camera lens add-on for the Xperia Z1 also appeared online, one of which carried the G Lens branding. This official image shows the G Lens technology will presumably extend to the lens used on the phone itself too.
This is by no means the first time Sony has taken one of its camera brand names and added it to a camera phone, as its Cyber-Shot name was used on many Sony Ericsson phones before the two companies went their separate ways. In between then and now, there have been rumors Sony would re-introduce a range of Cyber-Shot phones. Perhaps, with the emergence of competing camera phones aimed at the serious photographer, it has decided to go with the name more associated with high-end equipment instead.
Rumors surrounding the Xperia Z1’s camera suggest it’ll have 20-megapixels, image stabilization, an F2.0 aperture, 4K video capture, and complete manual control. The company has set an event for September 4, where it’s likely to be officially revealed.
