PSA: Sony Xperia Ion lands in US today, yours starting at $50 with two-years of commitment

Posted on 24/06/2012 by Joe Pollicino

You've likely read our review of Sony's Xperia Ion by now, so just consider this a reminder for those who've yet to peruse it. After nearly half a year from being christened at CES, the Ion can officially be purchased today in the US. Agreeing to a two-year commitment and laying out 100 smackers at AT&T -- or just 50 at Sony or Best Buy -- will net you this handset and its curious match-up of dated and up-to-date specs. On the one hand, this Xperia disappointingly runs Android Gingerbread (2.3.7) atop a dual-core 1.5Ghz Snapdragon S3 processor. However, it also packs a 4.6-inch HD Reality display (1280 x 720), 1,900mAh battery, 1GB of RAM, a 12MP (720p video) Exmor R sensor-loaded rear shooter, NFC and PlayStation certification. Hit up your local AT&T, Best Buy or Sony store to see if it feels better in your hand than it did in ours, or shop for it online at the source links below.

[Thanks, Jason & Oliver]

Continue reading PSA: Sony Xperia Ion lands in US today, yours starting at $50 with two-years of commitment

PSA: Sony Xperia Ion lands in US today, yours starting at $50 with two-years of commitment originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 24 Jun 2012 15:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Xperia Ion review: an Android handset with a split personality

Posted on 24/06/2012 by Joseph Volpe

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. But that adage, such a truism when applied to interpersonal relationships, doesn't quite carry the same weight when extended to the intimacy between expectant geek and promised hardware. So here we are, six months later: CES has long passed, the One X and Galaxy S III have been revealed, and the Android landscape is now decidedly governed by Ice Cream Sandwich. A veritable eternity has passed since Sony first introduced the AT&T-bound Xperia Ion, its LTE flagship for the US market, muting much of the initial buzz surrounding the handset. So, why choose now to bow a smartphone that's already been outshone by more recent and robust contenders? Perhaps it's simply a case of better late than never. But surely after all of that time, both parties could've managed to ship it with Android 4.0 and not the dated 2.3.7 build of Gingerbread that we get instead.

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The Ion's aging OS and 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S3 CPU may be a nod to mobile's past, but the rest of its internals paint a more forward-thinking picture. This 4.6-inch Sony-bred device boasts a 1280 x 720 HD Reality display, 720p webcam / 12-megapixel rear camera with Exmor R sensor, PlayStation Certification, 16GB of storage plus 1GB RAM, a 1,900mAh battery and NFC. For that spec mix, you'd expect the Ion's on contract cost to double up on the Benjamins, but instead it's been priced to sell at an attractive $99 -- much like the Lumia 900. Will that retail positioning hurt or help its prospects? Can the Ion effectively straddle two worlds, carving out an identity for itself and attracting a defined market segment? Or will this hodgepodge of internals prove too inconsistent for any demographic, save, perhaps, bargain hunters? Find the answers to those questions and more below.

Gallery: Sony Xperia Ion review

Continue reading Sony Xperia Ion review: an Android handset with a split personality

Sony Xperia Ion review: an Android handset with a split personality originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 24 Jun 2012 09:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Xperia Ion hits FCC with AT&T LTE intact

Posted on 29/05/2012 by Jon Fingas

The wait for the Sony Xperia Ion in the US has been a long one, but that summer release feels considerably closer now that the Android flagship has swung by the FCC. As we'd hope, the Ion is passing through in full AT&T regalia, carrying the 700MHz and 1,700MHz 4G LTE bands it needs to run on Big Blue -- albeit with a legacy Sony Ericsson label. Along with the expected 850MHz and 1,900MHz HSPA 3G frequencies, we're also seeing an odd instance of 1,700MHz 3G that would normally be reserved for T-Mobile. Given that there isn't matching 2,100MHz support, we're more inclined to see the 1,700MHz block as related to AT&T spectrum refarming or other, more practical purposes than as a ghost of attempted mergers past. An FCC approval still doesn't provide any direct clues as to the release date, although removing that one major hurdle gives AT&T the option of launching sooner in the summer rather than later.

Sony Xperia Ion hits FCC with AT&T LTE intact originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 May 2012 17:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gmail advert ruins AT&T’s big surprise, Sony’s Xperia Ion arrives stateside in June

Posted on 09/05/2012 by Daniel Cooper

Someone at Google's advertising department has probably received the hairdryer treatment this morning after a Gmail advert prematurely revealed that Sony's Xperia Ion would arrive in June. The banner ad popped up atop Droidmatters' inbox and revealed that the Stateside version of the Xperia S will turn up just in time for Summer.

Continue reading Gmail advert ruins AT&T's big surprise, Sony's Xperia Ion arrives stateside in June

Gmail advert ruins AT&T's big surprise, Sony's Xperia Ion arrives stateside in June originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 May 2012 10:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Xperia Acro HD for NTT DoCoMo hands-on (video)

Posted on 08/05/2012 by Zachary Lutz

We just happened upon the Sony Xperia Acro HD for NTT DoCoMo, which is sold as the SO-03HD and recently launched with the Japanese carrier. As many of you are aware, the handset is a variant of the Xperia Ion, but with a few features for the locals such as a built-in TV tuner, mobile payment and infrared support. The Acro HD offers a respectable list of specs, which include a Qualcomm MSM 8260 SoC with a dual-core 1.5GHz CPU, a 4.3-inch, 720p display and a 12.1 megapixel camera that includes Sony's Exmor R sensor and is capable of shooting 1080p video. It also includes 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage and an 1,840mAh battery. As a final notable aspect, the Xperia Acro HD is waterproof and can remain submerged in up to one meter of water for a half-hour.

The phone is available in a variety of colors, which include Blue, Pink, White and Black -- the last being the particular variant that we sighted today. While there are many aspects of the phone we liked, such as its high-quality display and refined aesthetics, a number of its design elements such as the extendable TV antenna and atrocious number of doors for ports struck us as quite flimsy. The phone runs Android 2.3.7 with a heavy amount of skinning from the carrier, which you can see in our hands-on video after the break.

Sean Cooper contributed to this report

Continue reading Sony Xperia Acro HD for NTT DoCoMo hands-on (video)

Sony Xperia Acro HD for NTT DoCoMo hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 May 2012 14:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.