Sony has been in the news for the past few months thanks to its fabled Sony Yuga smartphone, touted to be the company's flagship device for 2013. Rumor has it that the Sony Yuga aka the Xperia Z, as recent leaks revealed, is set to release in January.

Per reports, the 5-inch Xperia Z with its 1080p display will finally be unveiled at the CES 2013, and will release after a week. The CES is slated to take place between 8 to 11 January in Las Vega, which means that if the rumor bears fruition, the Xperia Z will release between 15 to 17 January.

 This news is courtesy ePrice, a Chinese Web site, who claims that the Android-powered phablet will be launched on Jan. 15, making the Xperia Z the first flagship handset from any company to be unveiled in 2013.

Recently, reports clamored that the "Sony C660X" or the Sony Yuga would be released under the moniker Sony Xperia Z. Per rumors, the Xperia Z will sport a 5-inch 1080p display with  a pixel density of 443 pixels per inch (ppi).

The device is speculated to measure 139 x 71 x 7.9mm and will be powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro that is clocked at 1.5GHz. The smartphone will likely feature a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, 2GB of RAM, and a microSD card slot.

If the Xperia Z launches in January as speculated, then Sony would have an edge over rivals Samsung, LG, and Apple who also have new devices in the pipeline. Both Samsung and LG are rumored to be working on 5-inch 1080p smartphones as well, which would rival the Sony offering.

The Galaxy S4 from Samsung, the follow-up to its best-selling Galaxy S3, is rumored for a April 2013 launch, whereas Apple is expected to unleash its seventh generation iPhone, dubbed the iPhone 5S or iPhone 6, in March 2013.

If the rumors bear fruition, then Sony's Xperia Z could have ample time to establish itself in the consumer market before rivals come to the party. Would you rather wait for the Galaxy S4, iPhone 5S, or other new smartphones to be unveiled or would rather pick up the Xperia Z as soon as it hits the shelves?