The Sony Xperia Ion with 4G LTE is expected to launched on AT&T in the first quarter of this year. However, while AT&T and Sony haven't announced a price or release date, Negri Electronics quoted a price of $569.50 for the Sony Xperia Ion without a contract.
Those who like to speculate, an unlocked version may mean that other carriers such as Verizon Wireless will launch its own version. The Sony Xperia Ion is the first smartphone that will not have the "Ericsson" name its brand name. It is also the first 4G LTE smartphone from Sony in the United States.
Similar unlocked smartphones in the $500.00-$600.00 price range, sell for $199.99-$299.99 from carriers. An unlocked version of the Samsung Galaxy Note sells for $694.50 while AT&T announced that the price for tabletly smartphone will sell for $299.99. However, AT&T priced the dual-core Pantech Burst at $49.99 with a contract. The Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket sells for Our best guesstimate of the price of the Sony Xperia Ion will be between $99.99 and $199.99
The best features of the Sony Xperia Ion are its 4.55" 720p HD Reality touchscreen, using Sony Bravia technology that can send video to Sony Bravia TVs and a super 12MP camera. The 12MP camera captures 1080p videos, has a Sony Xmor R sensor(for better photos in low light) and is very fast.
Features of the Sony Xperia Ion include 4.6" HD (1280x720) touchscreen, HDMI port, aluminum body and 1.5GHz dual-core processor. It will launch with Android 2.3 Gingerbread (with a promised update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich).
The Sony Xperia Ion is designed to complement Sony's other media and equipment such as:
- The Sony Xperia Ion is PlayStation certified for PlayStation gaming.
- It offers HD sharing through DLNA, HDMI and BRAVIA Sync to quickly and easily stream content on other screens.
- The HD camera goes from standby mode to first shot in 1.5 seconds
- Owners can watch their favorite content from the Sony Entertainment Network by connecting their Xperia through HMDI to TV or share photos wirelessly with just one touch.