Sony Xperia XA2
Sony President and CEO Kazuo Hirai to Step Aside
Sony today said it plans to make changes to its corporate leadership later this year. Current President and CEO Kazuo Hirai, largely seen as responsible for turning around the company's fortunes, will stand down from his leadership role on April 1. He will transition to the Chairman of Sony's board of directors. "I have stated that my mission is to ensure Sony continues to be a company that provides customers with kando — to move them emotionally — and inspires and fulfills their curiosity," said Hirai. "To this end, I have dedicated myself to transforming the company and enhancing its profitability, and am very proud that now." Kenichiro Yoshida, Sony's current CFO, will assume Hirai's responsibilities as President and CEO on April 1. The bulk of Sony's fortunes come from its PlayStation business. Sony continues to make mobile devices, most recently the Xperia XA2 and XA2 Ultra. Sony may announce more phones at the forthcoming Mobile Word Congress trade show alter this month. Sony reported profits of $3.2 billion for its fiscal third quarter, its highest earnings ever during that period.
Hands On with the Sony Xperia XA2 and XA2 Ultra
Sony debuted several new smartphones at CES this week in Las Vegas, including the Xperia XA2, XA2 Ultra, and L2. The XA2 and XA2 Ultra share nearly every feature other than screen size and battery capacity. Here is an early look at the latest from Sony.
Sony Updates Xperia XA2 Series with Faster Processors, Bigger Batteries, and Better Cameras
Sony Mobile today unveiled the Xperia XA2 and Xperia XA2 Ultra handsets, dramatically improved sequels to last year's phones. The XA2 and XA2 Ultra (pictured) have metal frames, new aluminum back panels, and 2.5D curved glass on front that Sony says is more refined than the previous generation. The full HD panels measure 5.2 inches on the XA2 and 6 inches on the XA2 Ultra. Fingerprint readers adorn the rear panel of the handsets. Both phones move from the Snapdragon 400 series to the Snapdragon 630 processor with 3 GB of memory and 32 GB of storage. The devices share the same 23-megapixel Sony Exmor RS image sensor with hybrid autofocus, SteadyShot stabilization, and ISO speeds up to 12,800 for low-light photography. They have an all-new 8-megapixel camera on front that includes a 120-degree field of view and SteadyShot for cleaner self videos. The larger XA2 Ultra packs a second user-facing camera with a 16-megapxiel sensor, optical image stabilization, and display-based flash. Both phones gain bigger batteries when compared to last year's handsets. The XA2 has a 3,300mAh power cell and the XA2 Ultra improves even more to 3,580mAh. The batteries include Stamina Mode and Qnovo for adaptive charging. Other features include Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX, GPS, WiFi, NFC, USB-C, and memory card slot (up to 256 GB). The phones run Android 8 Oreo. Sony says the Xperia XA2 and XA2 Ultra will go on sale in late January. Pricing wasn't disclosed.
