A prototype of the upcoming Sony Xperia C5 Ultra just surfaced online for the whole world to see, leaked by Sao Paolo police.
It's not every day that you see a prototype of an upcoming device leaked by authorities, but in this case, that's exactly what happened. Here's the deal.
Someone stole a prototype of what seems to be the yet-to-be-announced Sony Xperia C5 Ultra from a certification company in Campinas, and the device appeared on sale online afterward. The prototype is worth a hefty $12 billion in development costs, and it looks just like the Xperia C5 Ultra that had its user manual leak recently.
Nearly two weeks after the prototype appeared for sale online, local police sent an undercover agent to meet with the seller for dinner. The agent arrested the seller in the middle of the transaction, local publication Globo reveals (translated).
The image above shows the prototype that Brazilian police recovered after the undercover operation. The upcoming smartphone will apparently cost $3,000 R when it goes on sale in Brazil, according to the certification body. That would translate to roughly $893 USD.
Despite the prototype's tough journey, however, no specifications or detailed information has surfaced regarding the upcoming Sony Xperia C5 Ultra. Nevertheless, the image of the prototype does offer a glimpse of the smartphone's design, hinting at an intriguing design change when it comes to side bezels.
Based on the image, the handset seems to sport a 5.5-inch display, likely with a full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The front camera also appears to have LED flash, suggesting that the device will launch as a selfie phone. On the other hand, it's still unconfirmed whether this device really is the Xperia C5 Ultra.
The smartphone is further expected to pack a 64-bit octa-core MediaTek processor with 2 GB of RAM as well as 13 megapixel cameras on both its front and rear.
Sony could unveil this purported Xperia C5 Ultra smartphone, along with other rumored devices, at the upcoming IFA 2015 conference that takes place in September in Berlin.
In the meantime, police are reportedly trying to catch the thief who infiltrated the Campinas certification company, as the person who stole the device is not the same as the one who tried to sell it. The man they caught red-handed, i.e. the seller, apparently claims to have purchased the device from someone else.
