This is the Sony Xperia Z4, but you're not allowed to call it that

The Sony Xperia Z4 is finally here. Sort of. Well, it's definitely out in Japan. The rest of us get the same handset, just with a different name - meet the Sony Xperia Z3+.

Sony can get away with touting a handset with incremental upgrades as a brand new model in its fanatical homeland, but apparently the rest of us are a little more cynical, so to pander to our not-so-sunny disposition the Xperia Z3+ tells us exactly what we're getting.

The six month old Sony Xperia Z3, with a few added extras.

Don't hope for anything too scintillating - there's no sign of a QHD display, fingerprint scanner or even a measly heart rate monitor here.

Sony has concentrated on a few choice areas, one of which is design. The Xperia Z3+ is the firm's slimmest Xperia Z handset ever at just 6.9mm, making this metallic model wonderfully svelte.

It's also managed to shave off some of the weight, with the Z3+ tipping the scales at 144g - down from 152g of its predecessor.

And finally Sony has removed the incredibly annoying flap which covered the USB port, while maintaining the handset's water and dust proof status. Nice.

More power, better selfies

The same 5.2-inch full HD display, 20.7MP rear camera and 3GB all make the switch to the Xperia Z3+, but a new processor - the Snapdragon 810 - means things should be quicker and smoother on screen.

Another area Sony has improved is the front facing camera, which has increased from 2.2MP to 5MP, while also getting some new tricks behind the scenes with Sony's Superior Auto mode. In short, it should be easier to take even better selfies.

The Sony Xperia Z3+ will go on sale in June 2015, but we're still waiting on a price.

James Bond isn’t a fan of the Sony Xperia Z4

Sony is looking to make a smash-it out of the Xperia Z4, but the upcoming handset has already been bad-mouthed before its global release, by none other than secret agent James Bond.

Well, when we say James Bond we mean actor Daniel Craig. It was revealed from corporate emails leaked during the Sony Pictures hack last year that the Xperia Z4 was going to feature in the latest 007 film, Spectre. However, that product placement deal might now be on the ropes.

Wikileaks republished the leaked files last week, and a new email has been dug up sent by Columbia Pictures’ Andrew Gumpert, revealing that Craig and the film’s director Sam Mendes aren’t fans of the Sony Xperia Z4.

“BEYOND the $$ factor, there is, as you may know, a CREATIVE factor whereby Sam and Daniel don’t like the Sony phone for the film (the thinking, subjectively/objectively is that James Bond only uses the 'best,' and in their minds, the Sony phone is not the 'best'),” reads themessage.

In a bid to win Craig over, a separate email sent by George Leon says that Sony was willing to pay the star $5 million (£3.3m) to use the handset in the movie. A further $18 million (£12m) will be used on advertising and $5 million earmarked for production.

But Sony is also facing competition from Samsung, which has also reportedly offered a fixed placement fee of $5 million and a total advertising spend of $50 million (£33m).

These emails were sent a while back before production on Spectre kicked off, so the studio has probably decided now which tech it will go with. Will it be the Sony Xperia Z4 or Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge? We’ll have to wait until Spectre comes out on November 6 to find out.

There’s still no word on the Xperia Z4’s release outside of Japan. However, the email refers to May and November as release dates for Sony handsets.

The Xperia Z4 appears in new renders from the Sony Pictures hack

The Sony Pictures hacking saga was a corporate nightmare, leaking emails about the studio’s future movie productions as well as early Xperia Z4 designs. Although new concept renders of the upcoming flagship suggest that a complete design overhaul is en route.

Sony Pictures made headlines at the end of last year when it was the victim of a calculated cyber-attack, with a North Korean hacktivist group thought to be behind it.

A lot of embarrassing stuff leaked out, including hundreds of emails revealing future productions like a Super Mario movie, the fact that Sony saved important passwords in a folder titled ‘Password’, and not to mention images of the Sony Xperia Z4.

Well, that’s what we thought it was anyway, however recently another source called @ViziLeaks claimed this handset wasn’t the Xperia Z4 at all, but a different phone called the Xperia Z3 Neo.

Now a fresh batch of Xperia Z4 renders have been unearthed in Sony’s emails, after the hacked files were republished on WikiLeaks the other day. Featuring a completely redesigned look with a metal unibody and references to a 2.5D glass display panel, this is thought to be the real Xperia Z4.

We really hope so anyway. This is unlike anything we’ve seen before from Sony, although this could be a very early mock-up of the Xperia Z4 so a lot could change before it’s released.

And when is that? Well, one leaked email says the release date is set for April/May/June 2015, around the same time the Sony Xperia Z4 tablet will arrive. But considering we’ve not yet seen anything official from Sony, the upcoming flagship could debut later in September.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 and HTC One M9 rival is tipped to pack a 5.2-inch, 2560 x 1440 pixel QHD display, Qualcomm’s latest 64-bit Snapdragon 810 processor with 3GB of RAM and an improved 20-megapixel primary camera.

When the Xperia Z4 does arrive, rumours suggest it will launch as part of a trio; including a smaller version as well as a larger phablet version.

Sony Xperia Z4 sneaks out in Japan and fails to thrill

The names' Z4, Xperia Z4. Licence to... be very similar to the Xperia Z3 in almost every way. That's right, Sony has a new flagship smartphone, but only in Japan.

There's been a lot of talk about the Sony Xperia Z4 and we've now seen the handset launch relatively quietly in Japan.

Arriving a little over six months after the launch of the Xperia Z3 - Sony's current incumbent at the top of its mobile range - the Xperia Z4 makes just a few minor changes to its predecessor.

The main talking points are the new octa-core Snapdragon 810 processor which should give you more power - but there are concerns about it overheating - a slimmer profile (down from 7.3mm to 6.9mm) and a new wide angle front facing 5.1MP selfie camera.

The 5.2-inch full HD display remains the same, as does the 3GB of RAM, 20.7MP rear camera, 128GB microSD slot and IP68 water and dust proofing.

Battery woe?

There's a slight concern regarding battery life, as the slimmed down aluminium body means Sony has had to ditch the 3100mAh power pack from the Z3 in favour of a 2930mAh offering in the Xperia Z4. Hm.

Available in white, black, copper and aqua green there's currently no word on its price or potential release outside of Japan - so you're stuck with the Z3 for now.

Sony Xperia Z4 release date teased

All the biggest names in tech flew out to Mobile World Congress this week to launch their latest gadgets, with the HTC One M9, Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge grabbing headlines.

But one device that failed to make an appearance was Sony’s Xperia Z4. The Japanese company outed its Xperia Z4 tablet, but the new flagship handset was nowhere to be seen.

While it was previously thought that Sony had changed its release cycle from 6-month to a more conventional 12-month, the company’s recent comments suggest otherwise.

Speaking to the press, Sony’s PR chief Tim Harrison confirmed that the Xperia Z4 is on the way and won’t launch a full 12 months after its predecessor. The Sony Xperia Z3 arrived last September, so our guess is it could drop this summer.

Supporting that prediction are comments from Sony’s director of Xperia Marketing Calum MacDougall. Speaking to TrustedReviews, he said “The replacement ratio [on our flagship phones] is about six months.”

This would suggest the Z4 is heading for a March or April unveiling, so we expect to see more of the new flagship real soon.

If so, why didn’t Sony take the Z4 to the Barcelona tradeshow? Well, according to Sony the Z3 is still doing really well, despite reports that its mobile arm is struggling and set to layoff as many as 1000 employees.

When the Z4 does arrive, rumours suggest it will launch as part of a trio; including a smaller version as well as a larger phablet version.