Sony Ericsson LT26i ‘Nozomi’ benchmarked and sized up against Xperia arc S

by XB on January 6, 2012

in News,Rumours

We have already seen some high-resolution leaked pictures of the Sony Ericsson LT26i codenamed ‘Nozomi’ in the past, but we’ve now got another round of shots that are worth looking at. These hands-on pictures are from ITProPortal and include some angles not seen previously.


The top of the handset had not been pictured before, it holds the power button and 3.5mm headphone jack. We’re glad to see the headphone jack back at the top of the phone, like on the Xperia X10, versus the side of the phone like the 2011 flagships (Xperia arc and Xperia PLAY). One side of the handset has HDMI, volume control and a dedicated camera shutter button, whilst the other side has the micro USB port. The pictures aren’t the clearest, but it looks like all ports will be covered by a flap.

The picture of the back of the handset confirms the use of a micro-SIM, sealed battery and no microSD support. There are more pictures that show Nozomi side-by-side with the Xperia arc S. Nozomi is boxier, taller and marginally wider too. It will be interesting to see how that extra handset length feels in the hand ergonomically.

This particular version was running Android 2.3.7 (which all 2011 Xperia handsets are likely to be updated to) running the 2.6.35 kernel. The phone scored 2219 on the Quadrant benchmark. Strangely the Quadrant benchmark shows the handset as running only one core at 1.5GHz. The benchmark does list the chipset as MSM8660, which we know is a 1.5GHz dual-core chip.

Other confirmed details include 1GB of RAM and a 720 x 1280 resolution display. We also expect the handset to feature a 12MP camera and at least 8GB of internal storage. There are rumours that Nozomi will officially be called Xperia HD on release. We expect it to be announced at CES 2012 next week. Stay tuned.

Via ITProPortal.

Sony Ericsson LT26i Nozomi high-res images leak

by XB on December 12, 2011

in Featured Content,News,Rumours

 It was only last week that we were speculating that it won’t be too long before high-resolution images of the Sony Ericsson LT26i ‘Nozomi’ leak and here they are courtesy of GSM Arena. 

We have seen the front of the phone plenty of times, but now we get to glance the sides too. The left side has a micro USB slot (with cover) and the right side has HDMI slot (with cover), a volume switch in the middle of the phone and a reasonably sized camera button. The phone eschews the curves of the Xperia arc and has a very boxy design.

Strangely the glowing strip at the bottom looks like it is made out of see through plastic as the icons can also be seen on the back of the phone. GSM Arena’s tipster has verified a lot of the details we brought to you exclusively over three months ago.

This includes a dual-core 1.5GHz processor, 4.3-inch (720 x 1280) display, micro-SIM, no microSD slot, 1GB RAM, 16/32GB of internal storage, 12MP camera and sealed battery. The tipster also confirms what our sources have told us i.e. that the phone will launch with Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread and then receive Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich at a later date. We’ll bring you more details as we have it, but in the meantime check out the lovely pictures below.

Via GSM Arena. 

Black Sony Ericsson LT26i Nozomi spotted in the wild

by XB on December 7, 2011

in News,Rumours

The previous live pictures if the Sony Ericsson LT26i ‘Nozomi’ were of the white version, however as we revealed over the weekend a black version is also being planned. Now it appears that live pictures of the black Nozomi have been snapped in the wilds of Hong Kong.


The overall appearance looks similar to what we’ve already seen with the Sony Ericsson logo sitting above the ear-piece and a front facing camera to the right. We then have what looks to be a >4-inch display, with a slightly wider bezel than seen in the recent render.



The most revealing part of this new photo is the capacitive buttons which sit behind three small white illuminated dots, quite a nice touch in our view. Previously we had only seen the actual tiny icons (menu, home and back) that sit above the thin glowing strip at the bottom. We’re not sure what the small triangle towards that third capacitive button is (this could be a sticker and nothing related to the phone). We’re also not sure what the line of text is above the Xperia logo on the bottom. Although this could be a reference to this particular prototype, hence why it seems it has been blurred out.

Another photo has appeared from Concept Phones, but instead of being a render this seems to be a live model. It shows a silver trim on the side edge not seen in the other photos. Most of the features do seem very similar to the above photo, although there are small discrepancies when comparing both photos. However, the photo below may have been of an earlier prototype, or as the author points out, the guy that sent it in could have created this mould himself (must be a huge Sony Ericsson fan if true!) Either way, with leaks intensifying it shouldn’t be too long before we have some higher-res live shots of this beauty soon.

Via Techorz.

Sony Ericsson Nozomi press shot leaks; two new Xperia handsets unmasked? [Update]

by XB on December 4, 2011

in News,Rumours

We have heard (and seen) much of the Sony Ericsson LT26i (Nozomi), the company’s 2012 flagship, and now we have come across what looks like the first press shot for the device. The image matches what we have already seen, but this new high-res shot really shows what an attractive device it really is. The phone is still branded Sony Ericsson and you can see the front-facing camera on the top-right. You can also make out the small back, home, menu capacitive buttons on the bottom, highlighting that it will most likely be running Android 4.0 ICS out of the box.

As many of you know, this model is believed to sport a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 12MP camera, a 4.3-inch display with 720 x 1280 pixel resolution, 1GB RAM, 32GB ROM (no micro-SD slot) and a sealed 1750mAh battery. It looks like a handset to look forward to in this gorgeous white colour, but it will also come in black according to @Ricciolo1. Unfortunately this shot isn’t high-res, but you get the idea of what it will look like. Our money’s still on the white model.

As well as this, two new pictures have also emerged of what are believed to be new Xperia devices, but we question their authenticity. Both new models are branded ‘Sony’ rather than ‘Sony Ericsson’, but they look a bit like fan renders or concepts to us. The phones look very much like SE’s mid-range offerings if true, with one of them having an unusual teardrop profile in terms of its thickness. It reminds us of the wedge-shaped Sony S Android tablet, with a thicker bottom compared to the top.

Interestingly, the second Xperia render has the date of 12 January 2012 on its ICS lock screen. This could be in reference to the CES trade show in Las Vegas running from 10-13 January 2012. It is believed that Sony Ericsson will announce at least some of its new Xperia portfolio at that time. If you remember, Sony Ericsson announced the Xperia arc in January 2011 at CES, so we would almost expect at least one new phone announcement at CES 2012.

UPDATE: Looks like all three of these renders are concept photos only unfortunately. We managed to trace the original photos we were sent, which were originally posted by Concept Phones.