Xperia Z Ultra, Z1, and Z1 Compact owners get KitKat updates

Sony announced that Android 4.4 KitKatupdates are out for its Xperia Z Ultra, Z1, and Z1 Compactsmartphones. Also, KitKat will grace owners of the Xperia Z, ZL,Tablet Z, and ZR in mid-May, while those owning the older Xperia T2Ultra, E1, and M2 are promised chocolatey goodness as well.

The current Android 4.4 updates offer aserving of KitKat's performance and UI tweaks along with Sony's ownworks on the platform. For example, the Status Bar and Quick Settingsmenus have been reworked to become clearer and more intuitive. Also,the new launch animation and live wallpaper have been borrowed fromthe Sony PlayStation 4 and will up the game for the home andlock-screens. 

Furthermore, Sony's native Android apps, such asMessaging, MyXperia, Smart Connect, Small apps, TrackID, TrackID TV,Sony Select, Smart Social Camera have received updates as well, whilethe Media apps (Walkman, Album, and Movies) are now integrated withSony Entertainment Network and PlayMemories. The update should bringa better UI and faster download speeds.

Finally, Sony's Xperia Themes withdownloadable UI packs from Sony Select will let you customize up to280 items from the Xperia Android interface in a variety of styles.

If you have received the update, feelfree to share your experience with it.

source: XperiaBlog via AndroidCentral

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Survey of smartphone owners shows the power of brand loyalty

Back in 2013, the Wall Street Journal commissioned a survey of U.S., U.K. and Australian smartphone owners to see which manufacturers had the most loyal customers. It was a simple test, really. The Businessman's Bible merely wanted to know how many smartphone owners replaced their handset in 2013 with a model made by the same manufacturer who built their previous model. 3000 smartphone owners took part in the survey.

On top was Apple. 76% of those who started last year with an Apple iPhone, ended the year with a newer iPhone model. Samsung was next with a 58% retention rate. And in third place was LG. 37% of those with an LG smartphone stuck with the brand for their next phone. Nokia and HTC were close to LG with retention rates of 33% and 30% respectively. Sony (24%), Motorola (22%) and BlackBerry (21%) round out the list.

So what can we take away from this information? Perhaps nothing. A study we told you about last month found that 60% of 2000 polled iPhone owners in the  U.K. have a "blind loyalty" to Apple, meaning that when it comes time to purchase a new handset, they buy the next iPhone just because it has an Apple on the back, never taking the time to look at new models from the competition.



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Fitbit has received nearly 10,000 reports of skin irritation from Force owners

Fitbit kicked off a refund program last month after learning its Force activity tracker caused skin irritation in a "small percentage" of users, and now we're finally getting a better sense of the situation. According to the official recall notice from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, the company received around 9,900 reports of skin irritation and around 250 reports of blistering. The notice also points out that the recall affects about 1 million of the wearables in the United States and about 28,000 more in Canada. So what happens next? Well, the CPSC's stance is clear: contact the company and take the money.

"Whether you hear about this recall from the CPSC or Fitbit directly, take advantage of the refund right away," CPSC communications director Scott Wolfson told Engadget. "It's actually somewhat rare for firms that we deal with to provide a refund, especially a full refund."

The Commission also wants the company to inform as many of its customers of the recall as possible, and it doesn't seem thrilled with what Fitbit has accomplished so far. At time of writing, Fitbit's popular Twitter (77,700 followers) and Facebook (250,000 likes) accounts make no mention of the recall. That's not to say Fitbit is just sitting around though: a representative confirmed to us that it'll email all Force owners "over the next few weeks" to make sure they're aware of the situation.

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Source: CPSC

More Coverage: Consumerist

Tags: cpsc, fitbit, fitbitforce, force, recall, refund, skin Next: New HTC One sold on eBay in Verizon packaging for $500
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