Sony Xperia Ion bets big on HD cameras, AT T 4G LTE

I bet when you think of AT&T,

chances are the words bleeding-edge

smartphone don't immediately spring to mind.

Sony plans to reboot customer perceptions with its new

Xperia Ion handset, the company's first 4G LTE device and

phone to bear the Sony moniker.

Besides breaking new ground as one of the few handsets to

access AT& T's burgeoning LTE infrastructure, the Xperia Ion

is the first launched under the Sony brand name, not Sony

Ericsson. Also impressive is the phone's massive 4.6 inch

(1,280 by 720) HD resolution screen, 1.5GHz dual-core CPU,

and roomy 16GB of internal memory.

Designed with multimedia to play center stage, the Xperia

Ion features another mobile milestone, a pair of HD

cameras. The main, rear capture device is equipped with an

ultra-sharp 12 megapixel sensor and LED flash. Sony

representatives assured me that all the imaging bells and

whistles are here such as face recognition, smile capture,

panorama, plus a host of other shooting modes. It's also

built for speed with the phone designed to snap pics back-

to-back in less than two seconds. The Xperia Ion's front-

facing camera is noteworthy too, able to record stills and

video in 720p HD resolution.

Another novelty is the handset's Playstation certification meaning the Xperia Ion can play a selection of specially

ported Playstation game titles. Additionally the phone supports the Sony Entertainment Network which includes

the Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited content streaming and rental services. I'll reserve judgement as to how

compelling these features are though until I test them personally. For sharing media among home entertainment

products in the living room, the Xperia Ion sports a handy HDMI port as well.

What's not so nice about the Xperia Ion is its older Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system. Company reps at

Sony, however, did confess that a future upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is in the cards. Salivating for

an Xperia Ion yet? You'll have to wait until Q2 of 2012 since that's when Sony expects the device to hit AT&T store

shelves.

Rudz

Rudz