Sony Xperia 'Sirius' leaked screenshots tip new Xperia KitKat UI, 4K recording

The yet-to-be-announced successor of the Xperia Z1, expected to be called Xperia Z2, is thought to be a device codenamed Sony D6503 'Sirius'. After multiple leaks showing off the alleged successor in live images, and detailing the specifications, a new report points the numerous Xperia UI changes expected to be skinned on top of Android 4.4 KitKat when the device ships.

The screenshots were first spotted by Xperia Blog, which also detailed the new features. Some of the features said to be included are 4K recording, Timeshift video, smart backlight control, the presence of two home launchers, USB DAC audio support, and more.

4K video recording features, which were rumoured since the leak of Sony 'Honami' handset, are now said to be confirmed along with the 'Timeshift video' feature, which enables users to record at a high frame rate, so that slow motion effects can be also applied. The feature is said to resemble that seen on the Apple iPhone 5s.

The Sony D6503 will reportedly also come with a "Glove mode", which is seen in previous models like Sony Xperia Sola. The Smart backlight control will keep the screen awake as long as the user is looking at it. The screen will turn off as soon as the user looks away. This is a feature we've previously seen on a few of Samsung's Galaxy handsets, called the Smart Stay feature.

A 'smart call handling' feature is also said to be included on the Sony D6503 Sirius, with which the user can answer or reject incoming calls via motion gestures. It will supposedly let users answer calls by bringing the handset close to their face, and can reject them if the user shakes the handset. The incoming calls will go into silent mode if the handset is kept facing down.

One of the expected features, seen previously in Xperia Tablet Z, is the ability to wake up the screen by double tapping on it (also similar to LG Knock). The Sony D6503 is said to get the same feature.

An answering machine feature is also said to come with D6503's dialler. The Xperia Blog also states that users will be able to choose the type of greeting. Two "Home" launchers are also said be available on the Sony D6503 Sirius. The "Simple Home" is said to focus on those who have difficulty in reading screens. There is no information on the "Xperia Home" as of now, but seems to a version of the UI aimed at regular users.

Along with the supposed inclusion of USB DAC support into the Xperia Z2 Sirius handset, the alleged images of the device indicate it will feature dual speakers, one of which incorporates an LED light inside. According to the report, the Xperia 'Sirius' handset will also come with 16GB of inbuilt storage plus a slot for a microSD card.

Other features mentioned are relatively minor, and include new personalisation options for notifications and status bar icons; several tweaks in default SMS app; power management tweaks, and inclusion of printing option. Native KitKat features including transparent status bar; switching between notifications and Quick Settings from the drop down menu, and the latest calendar app. For more details visit about these last features and their accompanying purported images, check out the Xperia Blog.