Fully Charged: Sony Xperia Z1 Honami details spilled, pulse-monitoring bracelet to eliminate passwords, and Sony working on VR headset

Sony Xperia Z1: all the details leaked

Want to know what Sony has planned for its Xperia Z1 phone? The official launch is happening later today, but Xperiablog has already obtained a press release detailing specs and features.

Assuming the release is accurate, the Z1 – codenamed Honami – has a 5in full HD 1920 x 1080 LCD screen, a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 CPU, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of built-in storage, a microSD card slot and a 3000mAh battery. The camera looks to be pretty special: it marries a 20.7MP Exmor RS sensor with a high quality Sony G lens and BIONZ image processor. The handset will weigh 170g and is 8.5mm thick, and will be even more resistant to water than the Xperia Z. We’ll bring you the official details when Sony serves them up later. [Source: Xperiablog]

Nymi bracelet could banish passwords for good

We keep hearing that passwords and logins will be banished by retina scanners, facial recognition or fingerprint readers, but perhaps there’s another, more secure way: you electrocardiogram, or ECG.

Each person’s ECG is as individual as a fingerprint – and much harder to steal. Startup Bionym thinks that’s the key to the success of its upcoming Nymi bracelet, a FitBit-style band able to constantly authenticate your identity while it’s being worn. It’s also packed with sensors that can interact with other objects – your phone, your computer and in the near future Internet of Things-connected objects like your car or your front door – to let them know that it’s really you using them.

The Nymi will be out next year priced at US$99 (around £65). We’ll be looking to get one wrapped around our bony wrists as soon as possible. [Source: Nymi via The Verge]

Xbox One will support eight Wireless Controllers per console

If you can round up seven buddies for a gaming session, the Xbox One means there’s no need to play in shifts. According to Microsoft’s official Xbox One controller page, each console will support up to eight Wireless Controller pads. Now all we need are a few eight-player offline games; while none have been announced, we imagine a future FIFA or similar team sports game could possibly support that many. [Source: Xbox.com via Pocket-lint]

Sony plotting Oculus Rift-rivalling VR headset

Sony is beavering away on a virtual reality headset for the PlayStation 4, according to a report by Eurogamer. The site claims sources close to the situation say that Sony’s headset works in a similar way to Oculus Rift and has already been demonstrated internally with PS4 racer DriveClub, where it allows the player to look around the car’s cockpit.

Development is reportedly in such an advanced stage that Sony originally planned to unveil the headset at Gamescom a couple of weeks ago, but has now decided to delay the launch until next year. [Source: Eurogamer]