Sony's changing things up with the release of its next-generation Xperia Z4 smartphone, and despite straying from its usual release schedule, the company has hinted that the phone will launch before September 2015.

Many in the technosphere expected Sony to reveal the Xperia Z4 handset during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona this week. While the popular Japanese electronics manufacturer did show off the Xperia Z4 tablet, the smartphone was nowhere in sight, leading to speculation that Sony was changing up the way it releases products.

Sony has typically released smartphones twice a year, and the lack of the Xperia Z4's presence at MWC had many wondering if Sony was going to move towards a more typical 12-month production cycle much like Apple does. Sony's Vice President of Global Communications and PR Tim Harrison confirmed that while Sony was doing things differently this time around, there's no concrete production cycle in place.

"Z4 is the next-generation of product that we'll be announcing," Harrison told TrustedReviews.

"No, we haven't [moved to a more traditional 12 month product cycle," he said. "As a general rule you will see some adjustment to the way we phase our products, but we're certainly not going to offer any specific details as to when we are going to bring our next products, beyond these, at this stage."

Despite the vagueness of the statements offered by Sony, the company has also hinted that the Z4 will hit retail store shelves before September, when Apple typically launches its next-generation iPhone.

So what do we know about the Xperia Z4 so far? Not much to be honest, but a leaked potential chassis does offer some insight (and disappointment) about what the smartphone will entail.

For starters, it looks like the Xperia Z4 will be one thing phone. If the leaked chassis is accurate, then the Xperia Z4 would be around 1mm thinner than the Xperia Z4. This would also make the Xperia Z4 thinner than both the iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy S6.

It's not all good news, however. It looks like Sony might be compensating for the lack of space by moving the microSD slot to the bottom, where it isn't covered by a rubber waterproof and dustproof flap. That's right folks, the Xperia Z4 might not be waterproof, a quality that made previous Xperia Z smartphones stand out. Still, nothing's been confirmed, so let's keep our fingers crossed you'll still be able to take underwater selfies with the Xperia Z4.

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