A couple of weeks ago, Xperia blog posted what appeared to be User-Agent Profile information revealing the existence of Sony's purported upcoming flagship, the C650X codenamed Odin.

The information seemed to point toward an Xperia device running Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean, with separate rumors suggesting a 5" display at 1080x1920 resolution (441ppi), a Qualcomm S4 Pro quad-core processor, and 2GB of RAM.

Today, a photo has surfaced that, according to Concept-Phones, depicts the yet-unseen Odin. As with any other photo-based rumor, we had to take a closer look.

Analysis

First, here's the photo:

Nothing about this photo jumped off the screen at me besides what may be a "dummy case" surrounding the phone's chassis, so the first thing I looked at was the image's EXIF data. From the information available, we can see that the photo was taken with a Nikon Coolpix P510. Looking at images of the P510, the reflection on the device's screen checks out. What about the exposure itself? The EXIF data tells us that the photo was taken with the following settings: Shutter 1/500, ISO 100, f/3. I snapped off a couple of test exposures with these settings in direct sunlight, and they more or less lined up with the appearance of the photo.

My exposure came out with less blown-out highlights than the photo in question, but is similar otherwise. This could be due to the P510's auto exposure compensation settings.

Something that may stand out is that my reflection is not as clear as in the purported Odin photo – this is because my image was shot at a significantly longer focal length, with the subject farther away. In the Odin photo, the subject was close to the camera, and the lens was at a mere 24mm focal length, meaning at f/3 the reflection could be a lot clearer than in my shot.

The only thing that could be considered suspicious about the Odin photo is that it appears to have been opened in Photoshop CS5 multiple times, and saved even more times between October 15th and 16th. Here's the metadata:

History When

2012:10:15 15:21:29+02:00, 2012:10:15 15:21:29+02:00, 2012:10:15 17:34:37+02:00, 2012:10:15 17:38:06+02:00, 2012:10:15 21:32:11+02:00, 2012:10:15 22:20:04+02:00, 2012:10:15 22:38:37+02:00, 2012:10:15 22:38:47+02:00, 2012:10:15 22:42:37+02:00, 2012:10:15 22:43:56+02:00, 2012:10:15 22:47:02+02:00, 2012:10:15 22:50:02+02:00, 2012:10:15 22:50:35+02:00, 2012:10:15 22:50:35+02:00, 2012:10:15 22:50:54+02:00, 2012:10:16 14:10:52+02:00, 2012:10:16 22:15:50+02:00, 2012:10:16 22:19:12+02:00

History Software Agent

Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows

History Changed

/, /, /, /, /, /, /, /, /, /, /, /, /, /, /, /, /, /

History Parameters

from image/jpeg to application/vnd.adobe.photoshop, converted from image/jpeg to application/vnd.adobe.photoshop, from application/vnd.adobe.photoshop to image/jpeg, converted from application/vnd.adobe.photoshop to image/jpeg

So what does this mean? The "History When" section tells us when the image was changed, from its original shoot time at around 2pm on the 15th to its final save at about 10:20pm on the 16th. "History Software Agent" tells us what software was in control of the image at a given time. "History Changed" shows us that the image was saved in the same location each time, and "History Parameters" shows us the way Photoshop saved the image, alternating between .psd and .jpg format several times throughout the process. What was done while the image was open in Photoshop is unclear, but the photo doesn't appear at first blush to have been heavily modified.

Is This The C650X?

The answer to this is a solid "maybe." The photo itself seems to be real. That is, it's a real photo of something. The only evidence available that it's Sony's unannounced C650X is the word of Concept-Phones' tipster. Other than that, there's no reason to believe that we're seeing Odin.

Further complicating things, we've seen compelling rumors of another unannounced Sony device called Yuga. This photo could represent that device. Alternately, it could be showing us a completely unrelated prototype.

In the end, I would take this photo with a grain of salt. While it's definitely a photo (and not a sophisticated Blender/Photoshop masterpiece), we can't say with any certainty what it's a photo of. That being said, all rumors point to a CES 2013 announcement for the Odin and/or Yuga, so we don't have too long to wait for official confirmation. Maybe.

Source: Concept-Phones