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Sony recently teamed up with U.S network AT&T to announce a new flagship Xperia phone, the Xperia Ion. It betters the current Xperia S and features 4G technology, but it’s unfortunately only available in the U.S.
But why should our American cousins have all the fun? Sony still has us in mind and today it quietly added to its website that a non-4G version would be coming to Europe in the future, complete with HSPA radios to ensure the top speeds of connectivity here.
Asides from the change in the radios, the European Xperia Ion will be identical to the U.S version. That means it will pack the same dual-core 1.5GHz processor, 4.3-inch 720p HD ‘Reality Display’ screen, and twin HD cameras.
Those twin cameras comprise of a 12-megapixel rear camera with Exmor R sensor, Full HD 1080p video recording and LED flash, and a 1.3-megapixel front facing camera capable of recording 720p HD video.
As with all other Xperia NXT phones before it, the Xperia Ion will unfortunately ship running an older flavour of Android; version 2.3 aka Gingerbread. However, as with the Xperia S, U and P, Sony has promised to make an Android 4.0 ICS update available over summer.
Internally you get 16GB of storage and 1GB of RAM to back up that dual-core processor, and there’s also a micro SD card slot to allow you to bump up the storage by a further 32GB max. The usual connectivity is on board, with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and a HDMI out port.
Finally, the Xperia Ion is PlayStation Certified, which means you’ll be able to hit the PlayStation Store and download some classic PSone and PlayStation titles to play on your mobile.
Sony says the 4G version will launch in the States during Q2, which ends at the end of this month. We’re hoping the European version will launch within the next month or so, but Sony hasn’t yet confirmed a date or price.
Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.
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