Sony hopes to break through in US with smartphone that isn’t months late

NEW YORK, N.Y. – A new version of Sony’s Xperia Z3 smartphone will soon be available through Verizon, the nation’s largest wireless carrier. It joins a model coming to T-Mobile. The phones are hitting U.S. stores on the heels of their unveiling last month at a trade show in Berlin, as Sony ramps up efforts to expand its tiny market share by getting to the American market faster.

Its Xperia Z1 phone took months to arrive, by which time it felt old. Sony never found a U.S. wireless carrier for the Z2 this spring.

Both Z3 versions have screens measuring 5.2 inches diagonally and allow people to play Sony PlayStation 4 games through the phone while on the porch or in another room from the TV.

The Verizon phone comes out Oct. 23, just a month after Apple’s larger-screen iPhones and a week after the Oct. 17 release of Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 4 phone.