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Enlarge / Sony Xperia XZ. (credit: Sony)

On the heels of releasing the Xperia X Performance smartphone a few months ago, Sony is back with another couple of handsets. At IFA 2016, Sony announced the Xperia XZ, which is being called the true flagship of its new X series of smartphones. The company also announced a new smaller handset, the Xperia X compact. Combining preferred aspects of both the X and the Z smartphone lines, the XZ flagship banks on power and an advanced camera to woo customers. The Compact, on the other hand, hopes to speak to those who still prefer a tinier (and likely less expensive) device.

Let's take a look at the Xperia XZ first: at a glance, it's nearly identical to the Xperia X Performance, but it has a few small differences. The edges have what Sony calls a "loop surface:" the top and bottom edges resemble long, flat ovals, while the rounded sides bulge out just slightly. The water-resistant handset is made of a specially treated metal with an aluminum base, giving it a satin-like finish. Sony likes color, so the XZ will be available in a new "forest blue" as well as black and platinum.

Sony's big focus with the XZ (and the X Compact as well) is a refined camera. The company spent a lot of time updating the main camera, adding more sensors and updating existing features. While Sony's smartphone shooters already have image stabilization, the XZ's 23-megapixel camera has X and Y shift shake to create a five-axis image stabilization. A new RGB sensor helps accurately white balance photos so colors come out more true to life, leaving behind any overly warm or cool hues. Sony even improved its hybrid autofocus by giving the XZ a laser autofocus, which uses laser technology to glean how far away a photo's subject is in order to properly focus and reduce blur.

Video shot/edited by Jennifer Hahn. (video link)

No one gets into their car thinking they're going to get into an accident—that, is until they do. Luckily, we now have dash cams, in-car technology that can be helpful to drivers in the event something goes wrong while they're behind the wheel. If you don't have one in your car already, you've probably heard about dash cams on the news when footage from a tense police encounter or from a foreign country like Russia has been featured due to an unusual situation. However, you likely won't encounter meteorites and crashing airplanes as often as you will annoyingly aggressive drivers.

The Consumer Technology Association estimates dash cams will become more mainstream in US cars soon, and dash cam sales rose 9 percent this year (wholesale) and 7 percent in dollars. By 2017, dash cam sales could reach a total of $52 million, possibly even $90 million when combined with rear windshield or backup camera sales.