Gizmodo Australia have finally gotten their hands on the Sony Xperia Z Ultra and have had the chance to put it through its paces. To find out how it fares in the land downunder, continue reading their review after the break...

The Sony Xperia Z Ultra features IP55 and IP58 ratings meaning it is both dust-proof and waterproof. So what does this really mean?
Well provided that all of the ports are correctly covered by the port covers, the Sony Xperia Z Ultra will continue to function underwater up to a depth of 1.5 meters for up to 30 minutes. Of course you need to take care that the water your phone comes into contact with isn't salt water or contains other chemicals such as chlorine found in pools, but practically it means that if it happens to come in contact with a liquid, your phone should be relatively safe and can be washed off under a tap. Liquids other than freshwater may contain chemicals or dirt which may play havoc on the rubber seals or speakers and can cause potential damage especially if left on the phone for an extended period of time.
Read and see more official test result photos after the break...

Did you know that your Sony Xperia Z Ultra has built-in support for Playstation 3 DualShock controllers? Yes that's right, you can use your PS3's controller with your Xperia Z Ultra to play console-quality games just like having a mini Playstation in your pocket! So just how is this done? Click through to read more after the break...

The Sony CP12 Power Cover is finally available to order online from Mobile Fun. For those who haven't heard about the CP12 battery cover, here's what it is:

• Official Sony case for the Sony Xperia Z Ultra
• Features a building in battery which doubles your phones capacity by adding another 3000mAh
• Protects the screen with a flip case and also the back
• Flip case doubles as a stand to allow you to prop your phone up to watch videos

We've included some photos after the break

Sony Blog goes behind the scenes and interviews the developers responsible for designing and developing the Sony Xperia Z Ultra.
In this interview Sony Blog interviews the Product Planner Toshiyuki Ichino, Designer Naoe Kaneta, Color, Material and Finish Designer Saki Kanada and X-Reality for Mobile Developer Junichi Kosaka. 
Continued after the break...

The Xperia Z Ultra continues to show off its impressive capabilities in this video from Sony

Sony have begun rolling out a minor software update for the Sony Xperia Z Ultra. 
The update for the Sony Xperia Z ultra includes:

• optimized touchscreen sensitivity, for both finger gestures and writing / sketching with pencils, metal pens and selected styluses
  
• re-calibrated display to ensure viewing experiences remain bright & bold
  
• economised power consumption for longer battery life
  
• streamlined Exchange connection for faster email sync, display and download
  

Let us know if you've received the update and noticed any differences.
Source: Sony Mobile

Nokia has not yet officially unveiled their new Nokia Lumia 1520 Windows Phone phablet but the upcoming device is already being thrown in features and specs battle against the Sony Xperia Z Ultra. Can the new Nokia device defeat the rival Sony phablet that has been making rounds since July with its sophisticated design, features and specs?
Read more after the break...

Internal Features and Specs
The Sony Xperia Z Ultra has the power of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and the Nokia Lumia 1520 is expected to have the same. Other feature and specs of the Sony phablet includes the quad-core 2.2 GHz Krait 400 CPU, Adreno 330 Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) and 2GB of RAM.
The Nokia phablet will be having an internal storage capacity of 32GB compared to the available 16GB in the Sony device. However, the devices have a microSD card slot that can expand storage capacity if the memory is not enough for the device owner.Screen Display
The Nokia Lumia 1520 will be equipped with the 6-inch capacitive touch screen display with 1920x1080p resolution while the Sony Xperia Z Ultra boasts with a bigger 6.4-inch capacitive touch screen with the same display resolution found in the upcoming Nokia phablet. The Sony Triluminos display technology present the device owner a wider color palette together with the X-Reality engine, the shatter-proof and scratch-resistant glass.Read the rest of this article at its source International Business Times
International Business Times

Over at the Sony Mobile developer's site Sony have released a video showing their new soon-to-be-released Sony Smart Imaging Stand accessory for Android smartphones. The release date is pegged for early November and we'll be sure to let you know as soon as it's released.
Check out Sony's video below!