New Sony software features revealed

As Mobile World Congress approaches, we're getting to see even more of Sony's next high-end Android phone, the D6503 "Sirius," a device which might come to market as the Xperia Z2. Today yet another hands-on video with prototype Z2 hardware has emerged online, showing the new phone's hardware and Android 4.4-based software. YouTube user Rimas Flyil — the source of another recent leak — has published a twelve-minute hands-on video showing the phone's hardware and software in detailed (if slightly dark) footage.

The video is rather long, so here's a quick breakdown of some of the main features —

We're dealing with an Xperia Z1-like design, but with a few changes. The left-side ports are now covered by a single plastic door, and the security latch is on the bottom left corner, not bottom right. Like the Z1 and Z1 Compact, there's a magnatic charging port on the left edge. The camera button also appears slightly larger.

Display viewing angles appear much improved from the Xperia Z1.

There's a new boot animation and live wallpaper featuring animated light patterns similar to those found on the PlayStation 4, as well as a new screen unlock animation.

The new UI uses transparent gradients at the top and bottom of the home screen, and new KitKat-style notification bar icons.

"Smart call handling" lets you answer calls by placing the phone to your ear, dismiss them by shaking the device, or silence the ringer by placing it face-down.

A new notification manager in the Settings app lets you enable or disable notifications for selected apps.

"Simple home" gives you a simplified launcher with larger icons and fonts.

There's an app stub for Sony's "Lifelog" application, though this isn't working in the prototype software.

Tap-to-wake lets you double-tap the screen to wake the phone up, similar to LG's "Knock On" (though Sony actually had this feature on its Xperia Tablet Z last year.)

Smart backlight control lets you "keep the screen on while you're looking at it" — similar to Samsung's Smart Stay feature.

Glove mode is included, allowing a high-sensitivity screen mode for use with gloves — a feature present on the Z1 Compact but missing from the Z1.

There are new options for connecting stereo mics and high-res audio equipment over USB.

New ringtones

There's a built-in answering machine for taking messages directly on the phone.

The background defocus camera app from the T-Mobile Xperia Z1s is included.

Timeshift Video lets you "record high frame-rate video and apply slow motion effects"

4K video recording is supported, with a message warning to use internal storage or a high-speed SD card for 4K footage.

There's a new "CamScanner" mode for capturing documents with the camera and coverting to PDF

The max resolution for still photos is still 20.7MP in 4:3, though there's now an option for shooting at 15.5MP in 16:9. The default resolution remains 8MP in 16:9.

Source: YouTube