White paper
September 2014
TM
Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact
SGP621/SGP641
Note: Screen images are simulated.
White paper | Xperia™ Z3 Tablet Compact
sTable of contents
Device-to-device communications (local) .............................................................9
Bluetooth® wireless technology.......................................................................10
Wi-Fi®...............................................................................................................11
Positioning – location based services .................................................................14
Provisioning (OMA CP) ........................................................................................14
Web browser .......................................................................................................17
Memory in Android™ devices .............................................................................18
Trademarks and acknowledgements ..................................................................22
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White paper | Xperia™ Z3 Tablet Compact
Product overview
Xperia™ Z3 Tablet Compact
• Ultra slim, ultra light and waterproof IP65 and IP68*
• 8-inch Full HD display
• Fast leading processor
• Long-lasting battery
Greater than its size
Meet the tablet that re-defines lightness, and re-imagines power. Years of Sony engineering have gone
into creating a tablet where might isn’t held back by measurements.
The lightest waterproof tablet
The Xperia™ Z3 Tablet Compact is more than a design marvel. It’s a feat of engineering. The most
advanced Sony technologies were used to create a super-powerful tablet that’s 6.4 mm and weighs in at
just 270 grams. Crafted from the highest quality materials, with clean lines and a uniquely designed power
button, the Xperia™ Z3 Tablet Compact captures Sony’s exquisite attention to detail. Stainless steel
corners, an ultra slim frame and a tempered glass front give an elegant and durable finish. The result is an
ultra-portable tablet that weighs virtually nothing in your hand.
Sony’s passion for perfection takes the design of this compact tablet even further – adding market-leading
waterproofing to beauty. The IP 65/68 rating means preventing water or dust getting in the way of
performance. Take your Xperia™ Z3 Tablet Compact poolside, find your way in the rain, and keep
scrolling your recipe next to the kitchen sink. And other compact tablets are officially blown out of the
water.
Best-in-class speed and stamina
The Xperia™ Z3 Tablet Compact brings you the greatest Sony entertainment, backed up by the latest
advancements in performance and speed. Running on LTE, it features an ultra-fast Qualcomm®
Snapdragon™ 801 Quad-core processor. Every interaction is super fluid, browsing is lightning-quick, and
multi-tasking is so easy. And since the asynchronous processor makes sure that each core is powered
independently, you get the precise amount of power when you need it, without wasting power when you
don’t.
The Xperia™ Z3 Tablet Compact uses the latest Adreno 330 GPU, delivering fast graphics and the most
realistic mobile 3D gaming, so you’ll be more absorbed than ever in your games.
* In compliance with IP65 and IP68 standards, the Xperia™ Z3 Tablet Compact is protected against the
ingress of dust and water. Provided that all ports and covers are firmly closed, the phone is (i) protected
against low pressure jets of water from all practicable directions in compliance with IP65; and/or (ii) can be
kept under 1.50 metres of freshwater for up to 30 minutes in compliance with IP68. The phone is not
designed to float or work submerged underwater outside the IP65 or IP68 classification range, and such
use may lead to your warranty being void. To find out more, go to more www.sonymobile.com/testresults.
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Entertainment
Whether you’re playing a game or watching a movie, your entertainment is enhanced with the latest Sony
TV technologies. Combining with Sony’s TRILUMINOS™ Display for mobile technology with X-Reality for
mobile and intuitive contrast enhancement, the 8-inch display is sharp and vivid, even in bright sunlight.
Sony’s rich audio expertise also comes through in every beat heard through the Xperia™ Z3 Tablet
Compact. Discover the difference of Hi-Res audio, and hear every track like you’re right there in the
recording studio. The Xperia™ Z3 Tablet Compact’s DSEE HX™ technology upscales low-res songs to
near High-Resolution quality, and the front speakers play everything loud and crystal clear. With Sony’s
Digital Noise Cancelling (DNC) technology, exterior noise can be reduced when paired with a DNC
headset.
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Facts – dimensions, weight, performance and
networks
Operating system
Processor
GPU
Google™ Android™ 4.4 (KitKat)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 Quad-core with 2.5 GHz
Adreno 330
Size
213.4 x 123.6 x 6.4 mm
Weight
270 grams
Available colours
SGP621
Black, White
SGP641
Black, White
SIM card
nano SIM
Main screen
Colours
16,777,216 colour TFT
Resolution
WUXGA 1920x1200 pixels
8.0 inches
Size (diagonal)
Scratch-resistant
Input mechanisms
Text input
Chemical tempered glass + Anti-fingerprint coating
On-screen QWERTY keyboard
Capacitive
Touch screen
Touch gesture
Memory
Yes – multi-touch, up to 10 fingers supported
RAM
3 GB
Flash memory
Expansion slot
Camera
Up to 16 GB*
microSD™ card, up to 128 GB (SDXC supported)
Camera resolution
Digital zoom
Video recording
Front Camera
Sensors
8.1 MP
8x
Yes – HD 1080p
Yes – HD 1080p for video chat and 2.2 MP for camera capture
Accelerometer
Ambient light sensor
Yes
Yes
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Barometer
Magnetometer
Gyroscope
Networks
SGP621
Yes
Yes
Yes
UMTS HSPA+ 850 (Band V), 900 (Band VIII), 1700 (Band IV),
1900 (Band II), 2100 (Band I) MHz
GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
LTE Band I, Band II, Band III, Band IV, Band V, Band VII, Band
VIII, Band XIII, Band XVII Band XX
SGP641
UMTS HSPA+ 850 (Band V), 900 (Band VIII), 1900 (Band II),
2100 (Band I) MHz
GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
LTE Band I, Band III, Band V, Band VII, Band VIII, Band XXVIII
TD-LTE Band XL
Data transfer speeds
GSM GPRS
Up to 107 kbps
GSM EDGE
Up to 296 kbps
HSUPA (upload)
Cat 6, up to 5.8 Mbps
Cat 24, up to 42 Mbps
Cat 4, up to 50 Mbps
Cat 4, up to 150 Mbps
Up to 19 hours**
HSDPA (download)
LTE (upload)
LTE (download)
Talk time (GSM)
Standby time (GSM)
Talk time (UMTS)
Standby time (UMTS)
Standby time (LTE)
Music listening time
Video playback time
Battery (Embedded)
Up to 1100 hours**
Up to 23 hours**
Up to 1300 hours**
Up to 1100 hours**
Up to 170 hours**
Up to 15 hours**
4500 mAh minimum
* Memory comprises approximately 5 GB of firmware, plus 11 GB of “Internal storage” for music, pictures
and movies, and downloaded applications and their data. For more details about memory, see “Memory in
** Values are according to GSM Association Battery Life Measurement Technique as performed in con-
trolled laboratory conditions. Actual time may vary.
NOTE: Battery performance may vary depending on network conditions and configurations, and device
usage.
NOTE: Performance metrics measured under laboratory conditions.
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Categorised feature list
Internet
Music
Camera
Bookmarks
3D Surround Sound (VPT)
Album art
8.1 MP camera with Sony Exmor
RS™ for mobile image sensor
8x digital zoom
AR Effect
Google Chrome™*
Google Play™*
Google™ search*
Google Voice™ Search*
Google Maps™ for Mobile with
Street view*
Info-eye™*
Play Books
Play movies & TV
Play Games
Sony Select
Bluetooth® stereo (aptX®, A2DP)
ClearAudio+
Clear Bass™
Clear Phase™
DSEE HX™***
Dynamic normaliser
High-Res audio (LPCM, FLAC,
ALAC, DSD)
Low power audio playback***
Music tones (MP3/AAC)
PlayNow™ service*
S-Force Front Surround
SensMe™
AR Fun
Auto focus
Burst mode
Creative Effect
HDR for photos and movies
Face detection
Face in
Front-facing camera (2.2 MP
1080p) with Sony Exmor R™ for
mobile image sensor
Geotagging
HD video recording (1080p)
Image stabiliser
Live on YouTube™
Multi-camera
Xperia™ Home
Xperia™ Lounge
Web browser (WebKit™)*
What's New
Stereo speakers
TrackID™ music recognition*
Walkman® application
xLOUD™ Experience
Object tracking
Quick Launch
Red-eye reduction
Scene recognition
Self-timer
Send to web
Sequential video recording
Smile Shutter™
Social live*
Sound Photo
SteadyShot™
Superior Auto
Sweep Panorama
Timeshift burst
Touch capture
Touch focus
White balance
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Design/Other features
Auto rotation
Battery STAMINA mode
Communication
Answering machine*
Call list
Messaging
Email
Google Mail™*
Bluetooth® unlock
Direct touch
Face Unlock
Gesture input
IPX5 and IPX8 (waterproof)**
IP6X (Dust tight)
Facebook™ application*
Google+*
Hangouts™*
Noise suppression
Polyphonic ringtones
Speakerphone
Handwriting recognition
Multimedia messaging (MMS)
Predictive text input
Sound recorder
Text messaging (SMS)
On-screen QWERTY keyboard
Screenshot capturing
Screen video recording
Small Apps
Smart screen rotation
Smart backlight control
Super-vivid mode
Throw
Slow talk
Talk equaliser
Twitter™ application*
Voice enhancement
Xperia™ Socialife*
X-Reality™ for mobile picture
engine
Touch screen
TRILUMINOS™ Display for mobile
Voice input
Wallpaper
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Connectivity
3.5 mm audio jack Digital Noise-
Cancelling (DNC)
ANT+™ sport, fitness, health
support
aGPS*
BeiDou
Bluetooth® 4.0 wireless
technology
Cast screen
Organiser
Airplane mode
Alarm clock
Calculator
Calendar
Contacts
Document readers/editors
eCompass™
Setup guide
Sketch
Stopwatch
Timer
Entertainment
Google Wallet™*
Lifelog application
Media browser
Motion gaming
Movie creator
PlayMemories
Radio (FM radio with RDS*)
Reader mode*
SensMe™ slideshow
Sony Entertainment Network*
TV launcher
Video streaming
YouTube™*
Charging Dock Connector
DLNA Certified®
GLONASS
HDCP
MHL 3.0 support + 5-pin support
Media Go™
Media Transfer Protocol support
Micro USB support
Native USB tethering
NFC
PC Companion
Screen mirroring
Smart Connect
Synchronisation via Facebook™
Synchronisation via Google™*
Synchronisation via SyncML™
Synchronisation via Exchange
ActiveSync®
USB charging
USB High speed 2.0 support
USB Host
Wi-Fi®
Wi-Fi® Hotspot functionality
Xperia Link™
Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Miracast™
* This service is not available in all markets.
** In compliance with IP65 and IP68 standards, the Xperia™ Z3 Tablet Compact is protected against the
ingress of dust and water. Provided that all ports and covers are firmly closed, the phone is (i) protected
against low pressure jets of water from all practicable directions in compliance with IP65; and/or (ii) can be
kept under 1.50 metres of freshwater for up to 30 minutes in compliance with IP68. The phone is not
designed to float or work submerged underwater outside the IP65 or IP68 classification range, and such
*** This feature is only available when you play music using the Walkman® application.
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Technologies in detail
NOTE: The information outlined below is general and levels of compliance to standards and specifications
may vary between products and markets. For more information, contact Sony Mobile Developer World or
your Sony contact person where applicable.
Device-to-device communications (local)
ANT+™ wireless technology
Connectable devices
ANT+™ devices require the download of a supporting
application
Frequency band
Data transfer rate
Encryption
2.4 GHz
Up to 60 Kbps
AES-128
Topologies
One to Many, Many to One, Peer to Peer, Star, Practical
Mesh
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Bluetooth® wireless technology
Bluetooth® profiles supported
Advanced Audio Distribution Profile v1.2
Audio/Video Remote Control Profile v1.3
Device Identification Profile v1.3
Generic Attribute Profile Client/Server over LE
Handsfree Profile v1.6 (Wide band speech)
Headset Profile v1.2
Health Device Profile v1.1
HID over GATT Profile v1.0
Human Interface Device Profile, Host role v1.1
Messaging Access Profile v1.0
Object Push Profile v1.1
Personal Area Networking Users v1.0
Phonebook Access Profile v1.1
Serial Port Profile v1.1
Core version and supported
core features
Version 4.0
Bluetooth Low Energy
Other supported features
aptX® CD quality audio streaming over Bluetooth®
connection
Connectable devices
Products support at least one of the Bluetooth® profiles
listed above.
Bluetooth® 4.0 accessories generally require installation
of a supporting application.
More information:
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Wi-Fi®
Supported standards
IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac MIMO and Wi-Fi®
Wi-Fi Direct™, Wi-Fi Protected Setup (STA and AP
modes), Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Miracast™, Wi-Fi CERTIFIED
ac™, Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Passpoint™
Connectable devices
Wi-Fi® access points
Wi-Fi Direct compatible devices
Frequency band
Data transfer rate
Security
2.4 GHz / 5 GHz
Up to 433 Mbit/s
WEP Open Authentication
WEP Shared Authentication
WPA Personal and WPA2 Personal
WPA Enterprise and WPA2 Enterprise
EAP-SIM
EAP-AKA
EAP-TLS
EAP-TTLS/MSCHAPv2
PEAPv0/EAP-MSCHAPv2
PEAPv1/EAP-GTC
Encryption
Power save
QoS
WEP 64 bit, WEP 128 bit, TKIP and CCMP (AES)
WMM-PS
WMM
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DLNA Certified® (Digital Living Network Alliance)
Supported Device Classes
M-DMS – Mobile Digital Media Server
Media Types: images, music and video
Summary: The digital media server exposes the media
files in your device to a Wi-Fi® network. The files can
then be accessed from other DLNA Certified™ clients.
M-DMP – Mobile Digital Media Player
Media Types: image, video and music
Summary: Play content stored on another device, for
example, a server or a PC, directly on your device.
M-DMC – Mobile Digital Media Controller
Media Types: image, video and music
Summary: A remote controller that locates media files and
plays them on your device.
+PU+
Media Types: image, video and music
Summary: Play media in your device on another device,
such as a TV or a PC using 2 box push technology. +PU+
is integrated in the Album, Movies and Walkman® appli-
cations.
+DN+
Media Types: image, video and music
Summary: Download content stored on another device,
for example, a server or a PC, and play the downloaded
content directly on your device.
Supported Bearers
DRM Support
Wi-Fi®
Wi-Fi Direct™
The DLNA Certified® implementation does not support
DRM-protected content.
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Messaging
MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service)
According to OMA Multimedia Messaging Service v1.0 + SMIL
Email
Bearer type (IP)
Character sets
GPRS, EGPRS, UMTS, LTE, Wi-Fi®
BIG5 Traditional Chinese
GB18030
ISO-2022-JP Japanese
ISO-8859-1
ISO-8859-2 Eastern Europe
ISO-8859-5 Cyrillic
ISO-8859-7 Greek
ISO-8859-9 Turkish
ISO 8859-11
KOI8-R Cyrillic
Shift_JIS Japanese
USASCII
UTF-16
UTF-8
Windows® 874
Windows® 1251 Cyrillic
Windows® 1252
Windows® 1254 Turkish
Windows® 1258 Vietnamese
Protocols
POP3 and IMAP4
Push email
Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync® (EAS)
IMAP4 Idle
Secure email
HTML mail
SSL/TLS, both port methods (POPS/IMAPS) and START-
TLS
Yes (read only)
More information:
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Positioning – location based services
Supported standards:
• OMA Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) v1.0 & v2.0
• 3GPP™ Control Plane location
• Qualcomm® GPSOneXtra™
Supported satellite systems:
• GPS
• GLONASS
• BeiDou
NOTE: GPS, GLONASS and BeiDou are used together to calculate the position. Positioning is available at
more locations and more accurate if all three systems are used. The benefits of using GLONASS and
BeiDou are automatically available for all applications using the positioning APIs.
Provisioning (OMA CP)
OMA CP version 1.1
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Multimedia (audio, image and video)
Audio Playback
Decoder format
Supported in file format
AAC (AAC-LC, AAC+, eAAC+,
AAC-ELD)
3GPP (.3gp, 3gpp), MP4 (.mp4,
.m4a), ADTS (.aac)
ALAC
MP4 (.m4a)
AMR-NB, AMR-WB
3GPP (.3gp, .3gpp), MP4 (.mp4,
.m4a), AMR (.amr, .awb)
DSD
FLAC
MIDI
DSF (.dsf), DSDIFF (.dff)
FLAC (.flac), Matroska (.mka)
SMF (.mid), XMF (.xmf), Mobile
XMF (.mxmf), OTA (.ota), RTTTL
(.rtttl), RTX (.rtx), iMelody (imy)
MP3
MP3 (.mp3)
PCM
WAV (.wav)
Vorbis
OGG (.ogg), Matroska (.mkv)
ASF (.wma)
WMA
Audio Recording
Image Playback
Encoder format
AAC (AAC-LC, AAC+, AAC-ELD)
Supported in file format
3GPP (.3gp, .3gpp), MP4 (.mp4,
.m4a)
AMR (AMR-NB, AMR-WB)
3GPP (.3gp, .3gpp), MP4 (.mp4,
.m4a), AMR (.amr)
Decoder format
BMP
Supported in file format
BMP (.bmp)
GIF
GIF (.gif)
JPEG
JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg)
PNG (.png)
PNG
WebP
WebP (.webp)
Windows bitmap
Encoder format
JPEG
BMP (.bmp)
Image Capture
Supported in file format
JPEG (.jpg)
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Video Playback
Decoder format
Supported in file format
MPEG-4
3GPP (.3gp, .3gpp), MP4 (.mp4,
.m4v)
Matroska (.mkv), AVI (.avi), Xvid
(.xvid)
H.263
H.264
3GPP (.3gp, .3gpp), MP4 (.mp4,
.m4v)
3GPP (.3gp, .3gpp), MP4 (.mp4,
.m4v), Matroska (.mkv)
H.265*
MP4 (.mp4, .m4v)
VP8
WebM (.webm), Matroska (.mkv)
WebM (.webm)
VP9
Video Recording
Encoder format
MPEG-4
H.263
Supported in file format
3GPP (.3gp), MP4 (.mp4)
3GPP (.3gp), MP4 (.mp4)
3GPP (.3gp), MP4 (.mp4)
H.264
Audio/Video Streaming
DRM
Streaming transport
HLS
HTTP progressive streaming
MPEG-DASH
RTSP
DRM (Digital Rights Management) – OMA DRM v1.0
features the rights and copy
Marlin DRM
protection of downloaded content
Widevine Level 1
PlayReady DRM (available in
specific regions)
* H.265 is not available in all markets.
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Synchronisation (OMA DS, EAS, Google Sync™)
OMA Data Synchronisation protocol versions 1.1.2 and 1.2
OMA Data Formats: vCard 2.1, vCalendar 1.0
Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync® protocol version 2.5
Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync® protocol version 12
Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync® protocol version 12.1
Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync® protocol version 14
Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync® protocol version 14.1
Google Sync™
Related information:
Web browser
Google Chrome™ for Android™ is pre-installed in markets/regions where no restrictions apply.
Related information:
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Memory in Android™ devices
To use Android devices efficiently, users should be aware of the different types of device memory. This
knowledge is important in order to understand, for example, where music, photos and videos are saved;
how many apps can be downloaded from Google Play™; and how photos can be copied to a PC.
The below information is also of interest to developers who want to optimise their programs to make the
best possible use of the resources in the device.
Generally, all Android devices share the same basic memory setup. What differs is how much memory is
available to you via the different types of memory, and whether your device uses an external SD card or an
internal memory chip. Any information specific to the particular device model described in this White
Paper is noted as such.
Types of memory
The types of memory described and numbered below are consistent with the terminology used in Sony
mobile device menus and in other content relating to 2014 Xperia™ devices:
1. Dynamic Memory (also known as RAM) is used by applications that run when the device is turned on.
The amount of Dynamic Memory influences how many applications and operating system services can
run at the same time. The Android operating system automatically closes applications and services
that are not being used.
However, such automatic functionality has limits. For example, if a lower amount of free RAM is
available to applications after a new release of the operating system (due to increased capabilities in
the system), device speed will eventually be impacted. This is the main reason that a device cannot be
indefinitely upgraded to newer releases of Android™.
If you experience problems with RAM, for example, if the device runs slower than usual or if the Home
application restarts frequently when you leave an application, you should minimise the use of apps that
run all the time. Such apps could include, for example, applications that frequently download social
networking service updates. You could also consider using a static wallpaper instead of a live
wallpaper.
To see which apps and services are currently active, go to Settings > Apps > Running. You should
have at least 50 MB, and ideally 100 MB or more, of free RAM to avoid slowdowns and application
restarts.
You should also be aware that if you update the device to a later Android release, the load on the built-
in Dynamic Memory will increase due to the addition of more features, as mentioned above. As a
result, the device may run slower after an update.
The Xperia™ Z3 Tablet Compact has about 3 GB of RAM available to the Android OS and applications,
of which about 200 MB is already used out of the box.
2. System Memory (also known as “System partition” or “/system”) is used for the Android OS and for
most applications that are pre-loaded from the factory. This type of memory is normally locked, and
can only be changed through a firmware upgrade. There is usually some free space available in this
section of memory. However, since it is locked, you cannot save apps, photos or any other content to
this memory. System Memory is reserved for future firmware upgrades, which almost always need
more memory than the original firmware. You cannot see or influence the use of this memory.
3. Internal Storage is memory used as” working” memory. It can be compared to the C: drive on a PC
or to the startup disk on a Mac.
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This type of memory is used to store all application downloaded from the Google Play™ Store (and
other sources) as well as their settings and data (such as emails, messages and calendar events, for
example). All applications have an allocated area which no other applications can access and where
the application data can be stored.
Some game applications also store content such as game music and game level information outside
their own designated area. In most cases, an application can choose to save its data in a location of its
own choosing (outside the protected application settings area). Generally, such content is not deleted
when an application is uninstalled; it must be removed manually by connecting the device to a
computer with a USB cable, or by using a file manager application.
Internal Storage is also used for all user content added, for example, as a result of the user taking
photos with the camera, downloading media files, and performing file transfers. Typical user content
includes:
• photos
• movies
• music
• downloaded documents (as email attachments, for example)
Internal Storage will tend to fill up as a result of normal usage. Examples of such usage are the saving
of data by applications; the downloading and installation of new applications; the downloading of free
or paid content; and the shooting of pictures and movies. Therefore, the larger this memory is from the
start, the more applications you can download and use, and the more pictures and movies you can
shoot.
If the Internal Storage starts to get full, the device slows down, and in some cases it might no longer be
possible to install more apps. You should always ensure that you have at least 100 MB of free Internal
Storage. If not, you should consider removing some apps that you seldom use, or move content that
you do not frequently access to safe storage.
You can see approximately how much Internal Storage is free in Settings > Storage > DEVICE
MEMORY. You can also view more detail about how much memory is used by applications under
Settings > Apps. In the Xperia™ Z3 Tablet Compact, about 11 GB of Internal Storage is available out
of the
box.
Please note that in Sony Mobile 2014 products, “Internal Storage” is now the combination of what was
previously known as “Device Memory” or “Phone Memory” (for applications and their data – also
previously known as “/data”) and “Internal Storage” (for user’s content – also previously known as “/
sdcard”). The reason for this change is to make the use of available memory more flexible, and also to
enable the optional encryption of user’s content.
Memory card slot
In some products you may find both a large internal memory and a memory card reader slot. However, on
the current Android platform, the card reader slot does not work in the same manner in a device with a
large internal memory as it does in a device with ONLY a memory card slot.
Generally, since most applications expect only a single location for storage, such applications will not
generally allow you to SAVE anything to the memory card (i.e., they do not offer the option to choose a
storage location). However, some applications (for instance, the Sony Mobile “Camera” application) may
actually allow you to do so. Other applications, for example, backup applications such as the Sony Mobile
“Memory” application, will by definition be configured to copy content from the Internal Storage to the
external SD card.
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On the other hand, when it comes to reading from an external SD Card, you will be able to access content
(for example, videos, photos and music) on a memory card inserted in this slot without any special
consideration since the Android system searches all available memory for content. Therefore, such
products may be regarded as supporting a fourth type of memory, called “External Card” or “SD Card”.
4. SD Card (known as “/ext_card” from a programmer’s point of view, or by other names in other Android
products) is the name for the removable SD memory card in all 2014 Sony Mobile products. As
described above, this External Card memory is generally more limited in that any application can read
from it, but many applications cannot save to this card. Only a few applications, including backup
applications and file manger applications, have the capability to save to this card.
Backing up data to different memory types
Generally, you should not save photos, videos and other personal content solely on the internal memory
of a device. If something should happen with the hardware, or if the device is lost or stolen, the data
stored on the device’s internal memory is gone forever.
In a device where an SD card reader is the main memory, it is relatively easy to take the card out and copy
all content to a PC or Mac, or to an entertainment device with a memory card slot. In a product featuring
Internal Storage as the main memory, it is not possible to physically remove the memory. Instead, any
critical or high-value content must either be copied to an external SD card by a special backup
application, transferred to remote storage over a network (mobile or Wi-Fi), or to a computer via a USB
cable.
To facilitate the transfer of data via a cable, the Xperia™ Z3 Tablet Compact supports the Microsoft
standard, Media Transfer Protocol (MTP), which makes it possible to easily transfer content back and
forth between your device and a Windows PC. For Apple Mac computers, a special application called
Sony™ Bridge for Mac is available with built-in support for MTP. This application can be downloaded from
the relevant Xperia™ Z3 Tablet Compact Support page.
Note that you do not need to back up or make a copy of applications that you have downloaded from the
Google Play™ Store. They can normally be downloaded again after you have set up your Google account
to work in a new device (or in a device where the memory has been completely erased).
Note 1:
As noted above, some Android devices, including Sony Mobile devices from 2012 and Sony Ericsson
devices from 2011 and earlier, do not use a single “Internal Storage” for both applications (and their data)
and user content. Instead, these devices use either an external SD card for user content, or a
corresponding area of internal memory to reproduce the functionality of an SD card. In such devices, there
is a fixed limit between the application area (“/data”) and the user content area (“/sdcard”), with the result
that user content can build up and reach this limit. The consequence of such a limit being reached, for
example, for the camera application, would be that no new pictures could be taken even if there was still a
considerable amount of free space in the application area (or in the user content area). In such an
instance, the download and installation of new applications would also not be possible, even if there was
enough free memory in the content area.
Note 2:
Some devices with integrated storage have abandoned the distinction between the application area and
the content area when it comes to a Factory Data Reset. As a result, there is no option in such devices to
perform a Factory Data Reset and preserve content. In such devices, all content is mandatorily and
completely deleted from the device when a reset is performed.
In contrast, Sony Mobile’s memory integration solution makes it possible to preserve user content in this
situation. Therefore, when performing a Factory Data Reset, the default action will still be to only remove
applications and their data, and an option box must be checked if all content is to be removed as well (as
might be desirable when selling the device second-hand, for instance).
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Note 3:
For a developer, it is important to note that from a programming point of view the location names used to
refer to the different memory areas described in Note 1 are still valid, i.e., the area used for applications (“/
data”) is still present, as is the area used for content (“/sdcard”).
In reality, “sdcard” is a so-called “symbolic link” to “/data/media”. However, from inside an Android
application, “/sdcard” can still be used. For example, you can use “sdcard/DCIM/100Android” to find all
camera images. The continued use of “/sdcard” to access the content area ensures compatibility across
different products and Android releases in this regard.
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Trademarks and acknowledgements
All product and company names mentioned herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their
respective owners. Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved. All other trademarks are property
of their respective owners.
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