Xperia ion for AT&T gets official: 1.5GHz dual-core , 4.6-inch 720p display, 12MP camera

by XB on January 9, 2012

in Featured Content,News,Xperia ion

Sony has officially taken the wraps off the Xperia ion, which will be an exclusive in the United States with AT&T. This phone is jam-packed with features. It will come with a 4.6-inch high-resolution (720 x 1280) display powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core S3 Snapdragon processor. It has a 12MP Exmor R camera capable of 1080p video recording and a 720p front camera. The Xperia ion will have 1GB RAM, 16GB of internal storage, HDMI and NFC. It is also LTE enabled, crucial for the US market and will be also be PlayStation Certified.

The camera features will be a big marketing point, especially with that 12MP sensor. Sony claims it can go from standby to first picture shot in less than two seconds (1.5 seconds to be exact!) Sony claims that the phone will be unmatched against any other Android phone. The phone will be branded ‘Sony’, the Xperia arc S was the last Sony Ericsson handset you’ll ever see. The phone is set to release in the United States in Q2 2012. It’s not clear whether we will see this phone elsewhere globally, although we wouldn’t bet against it. See some larger pics of the Xperia ion below.

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. 

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.

Sony Ericsson Xperia duo leaks again, launch rumored to be scheduled for September

Okay, it may be only a press shot and not a photo of the real deal in action, but this is clearly the best image of the Sony Ericsson Xperia duo that we have to date. The smartphone looks pretty much identical to the unit seen in the last Xperia duo photos that we came across with the location of the sensors and the front-facing camera being the only visual difference.

According to the source, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Duo possibly uses the NovaThor A9500 chipset (The Nova A9500, built in 45 nm, uses a dual-core Cortex-A9 running at clock speeds of up to 1.2GHz, with Mali™ 400 improving graphics performance up to 20 percent, supporting full HD camcorder capabilities and up to 20 megapixel cameras. It is sampling and in design with ST-Ericsson customers today), which combines a couple of Cortex A9 cores with the Mali-400 GPU. It's basically the same deal that you get with the Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II, except that this time the CPU clock is even higher. The other rumored scenario will see the Xperia Duo packing the Qualcomm MSM8260 Snapdragon chipset, which is the one that powers the HTC Sensation.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia duo is expected to become the company's flagship device when it launches, and judging by its rumored tech specs, the smartphone is going to be quite a beast. First of all, it is said that this will be the first Sony Ericsson handset to have a dual-core chipset under its hood with the ST-Ericsson NovaThor A9500 , U8500 chips and the Quallcomm MSM8260 silicon being the most probable candidates. What is also rumored about the Sony Ericsson Xperia duo is that its chipset will tick at 1.4GHz and will be backed up by a whopping 1.5 gigabytes of RAM.

A 4.5-inch qHD display is very likely to shine on the smartphone's front side flavored with the Mobile BRAVIA Engine for better looking colors and enhanced contrast. Besides that, the Xperia duo is said to be getting a 12-megapixel camera with a second generation Exmor R CMOS sensor for taking great photos in low light conditions. Top everything off with Android 2.3 Gingerbread and a beefy 2500 mAh battery, and you get a smartphone that might very well land straight on top of the Android food chain.

Speculated specs

Specs suggested by Digi.tech include a 4.5-inch touch screen, 12MP camera, 1.4GHz dual-core processor, LED flash, 1080p video recording, 1.5GB of RAM and 8GB of memory, with a 2500 mAh battery to complete the picture.

These specs sound a bit outlandish – more like a wishlist than an actual handset, particularly the 2500 mAh battery which is way bigger than anything else on the market at the moment.

So, should we put our faith in this lot of rumour fodder? The likelihood of there being a handset called the Xperia Duo is high. The likelihood that the leaked image of the handset is legit is low. A September release does sound reasonable, but are any of those specifications really accurate? We're not sure.

To sum up, it's all possible but it wouldn't be prudent to stake your life on it coming true.

It is said that the Sony Ericsson Xperia duo will launch as early as September of this year, but we suggest that you take this with a grain of salt for now. As you could imagine, it's way too early to talk about release dates or pricing yet. We are hoping, though that an official announcement will come in the next few weeks.