Hasta La Gadget!

Well, that was quick. It was just two days ago when the elusive PlayStation Phone popped up on a Hong Kong forum, and now it’s back again in full exposure thanks to Chinese website IT168. It’s now confirmed that said Xperia-branded device is powered by a Qualcomm Adreno 205 GPU, along with what’s likely to be a 1GHz Snapdragon QSD8255 as featured on the HTC Desire HD. Interestingly, Neocore is reporting an impressive 59.1fps benchmark, which is a huge improvement from our exclusive look back in early December. Quadrant also reports a high score of 1,733, but hey, there’s no saying that this is the final build, so the graphics performance may get even better.

Other tidbits found in the latest leak include the generous battery capacity of 1,500mAh, the 854 x 480 resolution on a 4-inch LCD, a 5 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash sans 720p video recording (although it’s probably just that the leaksters didn’t look in all the submenu in the camera app), 512MB RAM, 512MB ROM, a microSD slot, SIM slot, micro-USB, and a second mic on the back for active noise cancellation à la Nexus One. Interestingly, the still-empty game launcher app is now called “PlayStation Pocket.” We’re still unclear just what the app will run; will it be PSOne games (the company has written an emulator before), PSP games, or an entirely new lineup? (In contrast, the PSP Go has a 333MHz processor, 64MB RAM, and a 3.8-inch 480 x 272 display — albeit on different, not-quite-comparable architecture.) Hopefully we’ll know soon enough, eh Kaz? Anyhow, you can peruse some pictures and videos below, and definitely check out IT168 for the full skinny on this (somewhat tick) device.

[Thanks, Dave]

Continue reading Sony’s PlayStation Phone gets in-depth preview in China, PlayStation Pocket app in tow

Sony’s PlayStation Phone gets in-depth preview in China, PlayStation Pocket app in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 00:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LAS VEGAS — Sony Ericsson’s new Xperia Arc packs some startling photo and video-taking features into a rather slim – and arc-shaped – package.

The phone runs the latest version of Android 2.3, Gingerbread, and slides it into a thin body that measures just 8.7mm at its waist. And it is a “waist”: the case has a pronounced concave-curve at the rear which gives it a swooping elegance. Onto the front of this body is grafted a huge 4.2-inch multi-touch screen. It is, with its 1 GHz Qualcomm processor, a competent Android phone.

Then we get to the camera, an 8MP monster with a wide maximum aperture of ƒ2.4, coupled with the Exmor R sensor, a backlit CMOS sensor also seen in Sony’s proper cameras. If the promo videos are anything to go on (and obviously allowing for their inevitable exaggerations) then the camera is impressive, with image processing to take care of noise, tweak colors, enhance contrast and generally fix up cellphone photos into something worth keeping.

Android is great, but the handsets are starting to look more like giant slabs of chocolate than actual phones that can fit in a pocket. The Xperia Arc manages to not only buck this trend, but pack in some serious photography tools to boot.

Xperia Arc press release [Sony Ericsson]

Next Step – Xperia arc [Sony Ericsson product blog]

See Also:

• Xperia
• Gingerbread
• What You Need to Know About Android 2.3 Gingerbread
• IOne Chip is All-in-One Android Phone and Camera
• Samsung's Android-Powered Infuse 4G Makes Your Smartphone Look …

We’d heard — and seen — that the Xperia Arc was going to make its debut at CES this year and even saw some details and a vid earlier today. Sony’s press event is set to start in the next hour or so but we’ve managed to get a little video for you ahead of the official event. Feast your eyes on all the curvy magic, digest it, love it, and then pop right back for our liveblog and tons more info on this little Android 2.3 Gingerbread wonder.

Continue reading Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Arc hands-on video

Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Arc hands-on video originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 19:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Once again, here’s proof that China is the place to be for piping-hot gadget leaks. The latest delivery is yet another mysterious Sony Ericsson handset, which is allegedly the Android 2.3 successor to the much loved X10 Mini Pro slider but with an X8 screen size. Despite its modest dimensions, this little gem packs a 1GHz chip with an Adreno 205 GPU, scoring an impressive 1,553 on the Quadrant benchmark app — coming close to the Nexus S’ score — and 42.5fps on Neocore, as pictured on the 3-inch 320 x 480 multitouch LCD above. It sure sounds juicy, except for one thing: the buttons are in reverse order of the current Xperia layout. Very funny, Sony Ericsson, now just give us a date. One more shot after the break.

Continue reading Another Sony Ericsson Android leaked in China, successor to the X10 Mini Pro?

Another Sony Ericsson Android leaked in China, successor to the X10 Mini Pro? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Dec 2010 05:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve been hoodwinked by trademark filing and domain registrations before (cough, BlackPad and SurfBook) so we wouldn’t say this is anywhere near definite, but we just caught wind of a Sony Ericsson EU trademark registration for “Xperia Play,” and SE PR firm Jung Relations has registered a variety of Xperia Play domain names, including XperiaPlay.com, .net, and .org. Yes, that certainly sounds like a promising name for the PlayStation Phone (although not quite as promising as, you know, “PlayStation Phone,”) but honestly we wouldn’t bet on anything at this point. We’ve got a feeling we’ll either find out either at CES or at MWC in February — hold on tight.

Update: Turns out SE also registered Xperia Arc, Xperia Duo, and Xperia Neo, so now our interest is definitely piqued. And our hopes are totally shatter-able.

Sony Ericsson PlayStation Phone to be called ‘Xperia Play’? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Dec 2010 10:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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