Sony Xperia C5 Ultra, Xperia M5 Selfie-Focused Smartphones Launched

Sony, as expected, has launched the Xperia C5 Ultra and Xperia M5 camera-focused smartphones on Monday. The Japanese company revealed that both the new handsets will be available in single and dual-SIM variants.

Both the Sony Xperia C5 Ultra and Sony Xperia M5 (alongside Xperia C5 Ultra Dual and Xperia M5 Dual) will be available in select countries across emerging markets starting mid-August. Sony is likely to reveal the pricing of both the handsets at launch locally. The single-SIM and dual-SIM variants are identical in terms of specifications, with the exception of the latter sporting two SIM card slots.

Much like Sony's Xperia C3 selfie-focused smartphone, the newly announced Xperia C5 Ultra is also targeted at selfie lovers and sports 13-megapixel front and rear cameras. Both the front and rear cameras are accompanied by LED flash modules and include Sony's Exmor RS sensor. Some of the camera tools on the Xperia C5 Ultra include video stabiliser, auto scene recognition, 25mm wide-angle lens (rear) with an 80-degree field of view, 4x digital zoom, full-HD video recording, image stabiliser, geotagging, and red-eye reduction among others.

The smartphone features a 6-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) IPS display powered by Sony's Mobile Bravia Engine 2. The company touts that the handset sports a "near borderless" display.

The Android 5.0 Lollipop-based Xperia C5 Ultra is powered by a 64-bit octa-core MediaTek (MT6752) processor clocked at 1.7GHz coupled with ARM Mali760 GPU and 2GB of RAM. The handset packs 16GB of inbuilt storage which can be expanded further via microSD card (up to 200GB). Unlike Sony's other mid-range and premium smartphones, the Xperia C5 Ultra doesn't sport water and dust protection. Connectivity options on the handset include GPRS/ EDGE, GPS/ A-GPS, NFC, Glonass, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Micro-USB, 3G, and 4G LTE (not available in all markets). It packs a 2930mAh battery; measures 164.2x79.6x8.2mm and weighs 187 grams.

The Sony Xperia M5, on the other hand, is touted to be a mid-range "waterproof Android smartphone." It features IP65 and IP68 certification making the handset water and dust proof. Much like Sony's flagship smartphones, the Xperia M5 also features a cap-less USB port.

Much like the Xperia C5 Ultra, the Xperia M5 also features a 13-megapixel front-facing camera with Sony's Exmor RS sensor. The smartphone sports a 21.5-megapixel rear camera with what Sony calls "Hybrid autofocus" and a f/2.2 lens. The rear camera offers 5x image zoom, 4K video recording, auto scene recognition, image stabiliser, and geotagging among other features. It features a 5-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) display.

The Sony Xperia M5 is powered by a 64-bit octa-core MediaTek Helio X10 (MT6795) processor clocked at 2GHz with 3GB of RAM. It features 16GB internal storage which can be expanded via microSD card (up to 200GB).

The Android 5.0 Lollipop-based Xperia M5 supports GPRS/ EDGE, 3G, and 4G (not available in all markets) connectivity options. The smartphone packs a 2600mAh battery.

Commenting on the launch, Tony McNulty, Vice-President, Value Category Business Management at Sony Mobile Communications said, "We are pleased to present two new products that highlight Sony's advances in camera technology. We understand that camera capabilities are important to smartphone users, so we ensured that Sony's existing camera brilliance was once again surpassed in the new Xperia C5 Ultra and Xperia M5 without compromising on other features across design and performance."

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Download and Install CM12.1 Android 5.1 Lollipop for Samsung Galaxy S5

Samsung is now drawing closer to the final phase of the Android 5.0.2 Lollipop rollout for the Galaxy S5. The South Korean manufacturer started the Android 5.0 Lollipop rollout for the Galaxy S5 in December last year and has managed to extend the Android 5.0 Lollipop update to users in most regions around the world by now. Unfortunately, Android 5.0.2 Lollipop isn’t the latest Android version anymore as Google recently revealed the Android 5.1 version. Since Samsung isn’t done rolling out the Android 5.0 Lollipop update to most of its smartphone lineup, it will definitely take a few months before the Android 5.1 Lollipop update is pushed out to users. However, thanks to the extensive developer support that the Galaxy S5 enjoys on XDA developers forum, the smartphone has received an Unofficial CM12.1 port, based on the latest Android 5.1 Lollipop version.

How to Install Unofficial CM12.1 Android 5.1 Lollipop custom ROM on Samsung Galaxy S5 :

 1.  The first thing that you will need to do in order to install the Unofficial CM12.1 Android 5.1 Lollipop ROM on your Samsung Galaxy S5 is to download the ROM ZIP file from this link. If you have the US Cellular Galaxy S5 variant, you will need to download the ROM from this link. Since CM12 doesn’t include any Google apps or services by default, you will also need to download the GAPPS package ZIP from this link. Download and save both the files on your computer.

 2.  Once both the above files have been downloaded to your computer, connect your Samsung Galaxy S5 to the computer using the USB cable. Now transfer the above two files to the internal storage on your Galaxy S5. Make sure that you transfer the files to the internal storage and not the external SD card as you will not be able to flash these files if you transfer the two files accidentally to the SD card. It is also recommended that you transfer these files to the root directory of the internal storage so it becomes easy for you to find these files later on when you need to flash them via recovery.

 3.  After you are done transferring the files to the internal storage of your Galaxy S5, unplug it from your computer. Now turn off your Samsung Galaxy S5 and boot into recovery mode.

 4.  Once you have entered recovery mode, tap on the ‘wipe data factory reset’ option to perform a factory reset. When the factory reset is complete, tap on advanced options to individually wipe the cache, dalvik cache, data and system partitions as well. This is a very important step and should be followed each time you install a new Custom ROM on your Android smartphone or tablet. In future if you are simply upgrading to a newer version of the same ROM, you will only need to wipe the cache and dalvik cache.

 5.  After you are done wiping everything, return to the main recovery menu and tap on the ‘Install zip from SD card’ option and choose the Unofficial CM12.1 ROM ZIP file that you had transferred to the device’s internal storage earlier. Flash the file and wait for the installation to complete.

 6.  Once the ROM ZIP file is flashed successfully, flash the GAPPS package in the same way.

 7.  Now tap on ‘reboot system now’ to reboot your device.

That’s it. You should now have the Android 5.1 Lollipop Unofficial CM12.1 custom ROM running on your Samsung Galaxy S5.

In case you find a bug you wish to report or there is anything else related to this ROM that you wish to discuss, you can follow the official ROM thread on XDA at this link.

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Google Nexus 5 | Running Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie | Google X Device

Google Nexus 5 is still a mystery but there are no secrets if the device leaks itself via server logs. And a Google X device was caught from AnTuTu servers and speculated to be the Nexus 5 running Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie.

AnTuTu benchmark results can be faked out but it is really difficult to determine if any test results popping out is real or not. However, a Google X phone stood out from the AnTuTu benchmark result which runs Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie indicates a new storyline.

Google X or Nexus 5?

According to the image caught by Autoomobile.com, the device came from the United States named Google X and apparently runs the operating system, Android 5.0.1. Some rumours indicate that the Nexus 5 will be called Google X instead and making its way out this year.

Another possible angle is it maybe a Motorola device, close enough with Moto X Phone. Although the name are close to both Nexus 5 and Moto X Phone, the scores boasted by the allegedly device is not even going to match Samsung Galaxy S3 benchmarking result, how much more with the Galaxy S4?

Regardless, whether it's a Nexus or Moto, the test score showed that the mysterious device runs Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie which means some manufacturers or Google itself is testing the upcoming OS to be released this October. It also signs off that more Android phones having mid-range technology are being developed to run Android 5.0

Mid-Range Android 5.0 Devices

Based on the AnTuTu leaked result, the device may be a mid-range smartphone with average prowess such as Galaxy Ace, Xperia S or HTC One X. According to Kim Wicks, Google is focusing their attention to handsets of proper size with water-resistant & shock-resistant feature and good battery packs.

Since Nexus 5 and Moto X Phone would likely to be used as debut mediums of Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie, Android fans that cannot purchase any of the two can still get Android 5.0 with the variety of upcoming devices under the Moto and Nexus line up.

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Upcoming Android OS 5.0 Key Lime Pie | Google's Next Android OS Launch in year 2013

In Year 2013 Google inc. will launch next Android Operating System with new graphics and look. Google has launched Eight Android OS in different versions but in Alphabetical order. So far there has been Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean. And the next OS version name is 5.0 Key Lime Pie.

Manu Cornet, A Google Software Employee, confirmed the new Android version's name and showed the image of Android evolution since its first very stable release. The image demonstrates the ever changing progress of the OS platform from a slow Android holding a gingerbread then honeycomb as it continues to feel livelier with an ice cream sandwich, jellybean and, of course, the key lime pie.

Hopefully, the Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie would makes a better integrating apps and add up more features which are not yet seen in any of its previous versions which will improve the basic phone functions and will be useful in everyday life.

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