Sony has joined the phablet race, with a new smartphone sporting a whopping screen and ultra-slim dimensions.

The phone features a number of top-end features that will make this a real head-turner when it comes to choosing your next smartphone, not least the Snapdragon 800 CPU that's clocked at 2.2GHz in a quad-core arrangement.

It's also managed to pack in a 6.44-inch 1080p screen while maintaining a 6.5mm thickness - it's hard to explain just how thin this thing feels, but trust us on this one.

Not waterproof...

In true Sony style the Xperia Z Ultra is both water-resistant (a depth of 1.5m for 30 minutes, or being subjected to 'low pressure jets of water') and dust resistant too - both IP55 and IP58 certified. The headphone port is uncovered now too, in the same way Samsung has done on the Galaxy S4 Active.

Another interesting innovation is the ability to write on the device - which, in itself, isn't much to write home about. But you can sketch or note on the Sony Xperia Z Ultra with a normal pencil, or any 'selected stylus or pen', meaning you can get a decent level of detail when idly drawing pictures of rude things.

The phone will use an X Reality on a Triluminous display - if you're not up on the Sony vernacular, that means it's the same technology as used in the larger Sony TVs as well as an optimised engine that will help re-introduce lost pixels while improving colour reproduction too.

Colour palette

The phone will be available in purple, white and black, and will be running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean under the hood - rumours of it being the first handset to pack 4.3 seem to have been wide of the mark, which is a shame as it won't be here until later in the year.

There's 'only' an 8MP camera on the back, but given the slimmer frame we can understand the tradeoff. It does offer up all the Sony Exmor RS features we'd hope to see on a smartphone from the Japanese brand, so your snaps should be improved with the algorithms packed under the hood.

In true phablet style, it packs on the pounds slightly with a weight of 212g making it almost twice the weight of some modern smartphones, but with the extra screen the difference doesn't feel that marked.

We're still waiting for a Xperia Z Ultra price yet, but it looks like we'll be seeing this on our shop shelves in September or October globally.

What was foretold has come to pass: Sony has announced a new smartwatch today, packing water resistance and NFC into its Sony SmartWatch 2.

With the SmartWatch 2, Sony is attempting to sneak ahead of the Apple iWatch with what it describes as "a second screen for your Android phone" - a 1.6-inch high-ish resolution screen (220x176 pixels), that is.

This means that you'll get phone notifications, an app interface and the ability to control your phone from your wrist all in one neat little package.

Squint

You'll be able to handle calls, check maps, read emails (as long as you've previously downloaded them and have, let's face it, pretty solid eyesight) and control music playback through the SmartWatch 2.

You can even take photos through your phone with a dedicated smart camera app - next level selfies coming to an Instagram account near you soon.

Although it's a Sony product, you'll be able to use the SmartWatch 2 with "most" Android tablets and smartphones, not just the Xperia line-up. There'll be interchangeable 24mm wristbands to choose between and the whole shebang is dust- and water-resistant.

The Sony SmartWatch 2 release date is set for September 2013, although we've had no word yet on price.

Also announced today was Sony's insanely huge phablet, the 6.4-inch Sony Xperia Z Ultra.

Samsung has announced a new materials partnership, which could signal a desire to move away from its reliance on plastic for Galaxy smartphones and tablets.

Following widepsread criticism of the build quality of recent handsets, the company has alligned with the SGL Group, which specialises in the much tougher carbon fibre material.

The 50/50 partnership, which will be known as Samsung SGL Carbon Composite Materials, will provide tech for use in the company's consumer electronics products, according to a press release on Monday.

"The cooperation is expected to provide a stable long-term supply of carbon fiber materials for Samsung and promote its use in various Samsung products and applications such as consumer electronics, medical devices and engineering applications," the release read.

Leading player

Samsung said the partnership is aimed at making the company a leading player in creating carbon fibre products, a sure sign that it plans to leave the plastic devices behind.

"Lightweight materials have become an important factor not only in industrial applications but also the consumer end markets such as digital media," Yoosung Chung, President & CEO of Samsung Petrochemical said.

"This partnership will position Samsung as a leading player in the development and application of carbon fiber-based products," he added.

The company had previously defended the use of plastic in devices like the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy S4, saying it allowed the company to produce the handsets faster and more efficiently.

However, the aluminium HTC One smartphone, along with the existing iPhone 5 device, left Samsung trailing in the wake of its rivals in terms of premium build quality. Is that about to change?

Chinese manufacturer Huawei has today unleashed a new Android tablet device which, if you're unfazed by the prospect of funny looks and giggles, will also function perfectly well as a smartphone.

The MediaPad 7 Vogue tablet is, as the name suggests, a 7-inch rival to the Samsung Galaxy Note series and runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean beneath the version 1.5 of the company's own Emotion UI.

It packs a quad-core 1.2GHz processor, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage, which can be boosted through the microSD card slot.

However, thanks to the built-in mobile receiver, it "provides the perfect mix of functions from a tablet, smartphone and entertainment center in one stylish and portable device," the company said.

Middle of the road

The display is a relatively low-res 1024 x 600, while everything is supported by a 4100mAh battery pack, which Huawei claims is good for playback of four HD movies back-to-back.

In terms of cameras there's a VGA webcam for video calling and a 3-megapixel camera you probably won't want to rely on for capturing precious memories.

The device will launch on home soil later this month, with international releases promised thereafter.

There's no official news on price or release date on western territories just yet, but we would expect this to sit around, if not beneath, the price points of the Nexus 7s and Kindle Fires of the world.