Following the recent iF Design Awards a few days ago, Sony is proud to announce that 18 of their products have been honoured with 3 prestigious gold awards, which are the PS-HX500 turntable, Future Lab Program T Interactive Projector and PlayStation VR (PS VR) virtual reality system for PlayStation 4, from Sony Interactive Entertainment  (SIE). Below are some of the comments from the judges on the products and a full list of the products recognised with awards.

Today, Sony Mobile Communications (Sony Mobile) has announced their Chinese New Year promotion for the upcoming festive season, sharing exciting and rewarding their customers starting today until 5 February 2017 with selected Xperia smartphones bundled with free gifts.

Today, Sony Mobile Communications has announced their own ‘Sony Xmas Wishes’ promotion that will be ongoing until 2 January 2017. For every purchase of selected Xperia smartphones, which are Xperia XZ, Xperia X Compact, Xperia X, Xperia XA, and the Xperia XA Ultra, consumers will be able to walk away with exciting gifts – just in time for Christmas and the New Year.

Sorry TechNavers, last week due to weekend events and issues we could not foresee, I couldn't get the Weekly TechNave out. The good news is that now we have 2 weeks of tech news and events for this week's Weekly TechNave.

Internationally, the Xiaomi Mi 5S and Mi 5S Plus got launched along with the TCL 950 and Blackberry will not be designing smartphones anymore. Samsung also officially announced their Galaxy A8 (2016). The Malaysian prices for the Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus got "officially" leaked, so check out our compilation page to register your interest for the telco of your choice.

Today, Sony Mobile Malaysia has announced two new addition to the X series family - the Sony Xperia XZ and Xperia X Compact for RM2699 and RM1999 respectively. Both devices will be available nationwide on 7 October 2016 in all Sony Mobile Stores, Sony Centres and authorized dealers, exclusive pre-order can also be made at 11street.com starting today until 4 October 2016.

Sony Malaysia has made it official by sending out the invites for the Sony Xperia XZ and Sony Xperia X Compact set for this Friday on 30 September 2016. Our earlier coverage showed that the Xperia XZ features about the same tech specs as the Xperia X Performance but has a new design. This includes the Snapdragon 820 and 3GB of RAM, a 5.2-inch Full HD display, and a 2800 mAh battery and USB Type-C connector.

Looks like the biggest news of the week came in at the last moment as Samsung officially recalled the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 over a faulty sometimes exploding battery. It wasn't the only one suspended as Google also stopped work on their Project Ara modular smartphone.

At IFA 2016 in Berlin, Sony has unveiled their new flagship smartphone, as well as a return of an old favourite. The new Xperia XZ is the new headliner of the Xperia lineup, while the Xperia X Compact brings back the small form factor smartphone to the fore again. The Xperia XZ and X Compact promise a whole set of stunning features, plus a much needed design refresh.