Fully Charged: Sony’s Xperia T3 announced, the plastic HTC One (E8) launches soon, and Batman: Arkham Knight slips into 2015

Sony’s Xperia T3 seems slick for a mid-range device

We’ve got two of Sony’s Xperia headsets in our current Top 10 Smartphones list, so news of another model is well worth hearing. In this case, the upcoming Xperia T3 isn’t fighting for a top-of-the-line position against the HTC One (M8) or Samsung Galaxy S5, but it looks quite nice for a mid-range option.

Sony says the Xperia T3 is the “world’s slimmest 5.3in smartphone,” and it features a 720p display, a quad-core 1.4 Ghz Snapdragon processor, and a 2500 mAh battery, along with Android 4.4 KitKat. It also has 1GB RAM and 8GB of internal storage, although it also takes microSD cards up to 32GB.

Available in white, black, and an eye-popping purple, the Xperia T3 is slated to be available worldwide from the end of July, but there’s no word on pricing just yet. In this case, aiming to lead the middle of the pack could result in another very appealing handset from Sony.

[Source: Sony via Engadget]

READ MORE: Sony Xperia Z2 review

Plastic-backed HTC One (E8) expanding beyond China soon

We’ve heard a fair bit about the so-called HTC One (M8) Ace in recent weeks, but it’s got a new official name—the HTC One (E8)—and it’s on the move. HTC’s blog post on the device says that it’ll be launching early this month in select markets, but declines to share specifics.

As previously revealed, the HTC One (E8) keeps the internals and great display of the (M8) while swapping in a polycarbonate exterior and shedding a couple of premium features: namely the Duo Camera and the infrared TV remote functionality.

We’re most curious to hear how much HTC expects for this streamlined option, as well as how wide an international net the company plans to cast with this release. We should have details on both very soon.

[Source: HTC via CNET]

READ MORE: HTC One (M8) review

Batman: Arkham Knight slips into 2015

Play

Big game launches often slip out of the holiday season, and Batman: Arkham Knight is the latest such casualty, as a new trailer released today—which offers a slick look at the Batmobile added this time around—mentions a new 2015 worldwide launch target. It had previously been dated for an autumn 2014 debut.

Arkham Knight is Rocksteady’s first entry for new-gen consoles and PC after creating Arkham Asylum and Arkham City (last year’s Arkham Origins came from a different studio). No doubt, adapting to new technology played a role here, and it’s always better to wait a little longer for a great game than to start playing a compromised one on time. Keep telling yourself that.

[Source: YouTube]

READ MORE: Batman: Arkham Knight preview

Kickstarter eases regulations for launching campaigns

Prior to yesterday, every proposed crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter had to undergo a review by the service, during which a community manager would check out the details and offer feedback. That may not necessarily be the case for all campaigns going forward, as the site unveiled tweaks to its submission process.

Users will still have the option of having a campaign reviewed before posting it live to the world, but many will simply be able to launch right away—an algorithm will decide whether your campaign can begin, based on factors like description, goal, and whether you’ve run a campaign before.

Considering some of the junk that appears on the site, we hope this doesn’t open up the floodgates and make it difficult to find interesting endeavors in the future.

[Source: Kickstarter]

READ MORE: This is the best Kickstarter we’ve seen today, and it’s a fake