A French press invite from Sony Mobile touts a "big surprise" at an upcoming July 4 event in Paris, but a slew of leaked images and specs may have spoiled the secret of Sony's first phablet before its big reveal.
The invitation features a mysterious image of a tall and slim device with a profile that resembles the Xperia Z smartphone and tablet. The new device -- expected to be named the Xperia Z Ultra -- is rumored to have a 6.4-inch screen and a 1080p HD resolution (That's a pixel density of 342 ppi for you pixel hounds).
What's really exciting about this tablet-smartphone hybrid is the massive 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor rumored to be under the hood. The CPU, which would be acceptable on a tablet, is a big deal on a phone.
The high-end Snapdragon 800 -- faster than the Snapdragon 600 that the zippy Samsung Galaxy S4 houses -- would make the Xperia Z Ultra a promising, stylish device with fast gaming graphics and performance.
Rounding out the leaked feature set is 16GB of internal storage, NFC, and an 8-megapixel camera and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera.
The phablet is expected to be compatible with a stylus as well as stylus-esque objects, like pencils. It is also anticipated to be dust and water resistant with the ability to take a dunking up to one meter for 30 minutes, which is the industry standard.
Nothing is official beyond the July 4 event date so check back with CNET for updates.