Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc shows up
Next generation of Xperias will have better build, screens and software
It’s fair to say that Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Android phones have lacked the lustre of some of their peers – bulky form factors, cheap materials and delayed upgrades made for a pretty clumsy package. But strip out the clumsy for Sony Eric’s new phone – the Xperia Arc – which is just a pretty package.
At a trim 8.7mm thick, the Arc is also thin, but why look at the profile when you could be gazing at the expansive 4.2in screen with Reality Display (which we assumed would be AMOLED, but turns out to be trusty old LCD)? We’re assured it shines bright and clear, something we’ll confirm this morning when we go hands-on. More than likely that’s the result of Sony jamming a mobile version of its Bravia TV processing engine in there.
Talking of good picture, there’s also an 8.1MP Exmor R CMOS camera sensor for image capture and HD 720p video. We’re also told the handset has been made with premium materials, again something we’ll confirm in this morning’s hands-on session.
It’s the first of Sony Ericsson’s new generation of Xperia Android phones and will be shipping with Android 2.3 Gingerbread from the off, the off being sometime in the first quarter of 2011. Pricing remains – for now – a mystery.
For now, you can ogle the Arc’s lovely curves in this series of videos and see our (very) brief hands-on from the show floor here. We’ll have more in-depth feedback later this morning.
Dan Grabham
Editor-in-Chief 
