Sony shows off NXT-generation smartphone
Iconic identity inbound
CES 2012
Sony has unveiled another member of its sans-Ericsson collection of smartphones, the Xperia S, marking the start of a next-generation in Sony blowers.
Joining the Xperia Ion: the Xperia S, the first in Sony's NXT series of handsets.
The Xperia S moseys into town with a 1.5GHz dual-core processor running Android 2.3 Gingerbread. The company promises it will be upgraded to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich by Q2.
The handset features a 4.3in, 1280 x 720 display and redesigned user interface to "match the minimalistic design of the hardware", an approach the company refers to as "Iconic Identity". This design will apparently be replicated across Sony's entire Xperia NXT series in an attempt to build something instantly recognisable.
As with the Ion, the Arc S boasts a 12Mp snapper that can take photos in 1.5 seconds from standby mode, as well as a 1.3Mp front-facing camera, 32GB of storage, an HDMI port and NFC capabilities.
It also boasts PlayStation certification with access to the PS Store for games.
The Sony Xperia S will be available globally later this quarter. Phones4U has confirmed it will offer the phone in white exclusively from March, but Three and O2 have also announced plans to stock the regular version. Prices have yet to be set. ®
COMMENTS
Don't know
I'll admit it looks pretty cool, but those sharp corners/edges might get a bit annoying.
Still, nice to see some good, original handsets coming out
VERY nice indeed.
Stick me down for one when my contract is up in March.
As if Apple didn't have enough problems with Samsung making better devices for less money... Now Sony join the fold (or are already in the fold if you consider the current Xperias great).
Nice!
If this thing is as good as it looks nice (i.e. Sony didn't fsck'ed it up), we have a winner.
snapdragon processor
So the hardware as well as battery life is as good as it gets. If sony get the firmware/software right, this baby's the phone to have. The screen resolution and size look just about spot on for reading technical papers on.
Now if only this had a slide out keyboard, i'd have something to replace my milestone. For some weird reason, seeing no expandable memory, gives me the feeling that a bastard-ised windows version is waiting around the corner.
Sony's NXT series, eh?
Don't tell Lego.
Of course, there couldn't possibly be any confusion in consumers' minds between a smartphone and a toy...
