Minus the usual Ericsson name attached, Sony will be releasing the Sony Xperia S in the UK on the 30th of January, we finally have an update of the date courtesy of Play.com and it looks set to cost around £429.99 with VAT and SIM-Free.

With CES being the showcase for the Sony device we think with the feature and spec it has on offer that it will be a welcome new addition to the Android family though some may be disappointed that it will arrive with only a Gingerbread operating system with ICS promised some time after the initial release.

<h3.Who will carry the device?

The usual few will be carrying the Sony Xperia S, including:

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• O2
• Three
• T-Mobile
• Orange
• Phones4U (offering exclusive white version)

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The talk is that Vodafone is not going to be adding it to their stock range but time will tell on that.

So what do I think of the Sony Xperia S?

Looks wise it looks great in product shots, nice and slim, powerful with a 1.5 Ghz dual core processor and with a sizable 4.3 inch LCH HD screen it is also impressive to look at, the camera is a huge 12 MP and it shoots in 720p.

But as is mentioned in the original article, this year is now all about the quad core smartphone and (hopefully) making phones a bit bigger so they can contain a larger battery, slim size zero smartphones are so 2011. Hopefully we can start using our phones as we want without fear of no life remaining in them after only a few hours.

So maybe for those reasons this device may be the last of a dying bred, albeit a sweet looking device and top of its class, it looks likely to get superseded pretty much as soon as it comes out by other beasts on the way.

All that said, bloody nice phone though, what do you think?

There is major convergence of technology happening right now, look around you and you will see that we have TV’s becoming home media hubs, phones becoming laptops, and now watches that can control and entertain on levels that we have only seen glimpses of in the movies.

Enter the smartwatch, and in this instance the Sony Smartwatch, as was seen at CES 2012, a new android based watch that does cool things like:

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• Twitter
• Facebook
• Email
• Music

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Coupling up to your new Sony Xperia S smartphone the new Sony SmartWatch will offer easy access to the above services via a bluetooth connection, which sounds a bit pointless when your phone is a mere few cm’s away from your hand, but in these time precious days there could be other benefits to not waking up your device; battery life, and occasions when it would appear rude spring to mind. So while this is most definitely a niche gadget, it could well have some purpose for a select few gadget lovers globally.

As you can see it sort of works like a watch version of an iPod.

Now I have to say that this device looks great, but I am not all that interested in paying for a gadget that duplicates what my phone does on a day to day basis to save me seconds.

Your thoughts?

With Sony now dropping their old Ericsson name it seems that dropping letters is in fashion right now, as the more correctly named “Sony Mobile Communications” has out fooled us all and is now to call the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc HD quite simply the Sony Xperia S.

US carriers for the Sony Xperia S:

The release of the new smartphone will however be delivered in the first quarter of this year globally.

Networks:

With no news on carriers in the US, it appears that UK buyers will see the device on the Three network, though we simply have no other news than that currently.

Tech Specs:

The new smartphone device will arrive with some pretty impressive technical specs including a 4.3 inch 1280 x 720 resolution touchscreen display, however right now it seems that it will be running the older version of Android on 2.3, though this could well get an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich come full release, and is definitely promised by the 2nd half of 2012.

And in typical Sony style the new smartphone will sport a massive 12 megapixel camera, with a Sony Exmor R sensor, which will enable the device to record 1080p and 720p video.

Processor:

You will be provided with a powerful 1.5 GHz dual core processor from Qualcomm and an additional 32 GB of storage.

Watch the video below:

What do you make of the new phone?

I am quite glad to see Sony stop writing books for model names and get back to some simplified terms that we can all remember. And from cursory observations it would seem that this device could be a contender, though I see nothing of real note that other smartphone releases such as the Samsung Galaxy S2, Nexus, iPhone 4S or Samsung Galaxy Note can not compete against.

So would the new Sony Xperia S be of interest to you?

In an admission of guilt or simply a wise pricing strategy, the Sony Tablet S has decided to move markets from the high end Prime tablet arena with the likes of Apple’s iPad ruling supreme, and the new Transformer prime nudging shoulders alongside, down to a more affordable mid range level tablet offering.

Yes the 9.4 inch Tablet S can now be yours for a mere $400 for the 16GB version, going up to a sightly more pricey $500 of the 32GB flavour.

Sony Tablet S now a mid-level range tab:

Does a crowded mid-range market suit Sony better? Or, have they just dug a ditch that will happily allow the Sony Tablet S to bury its head in shame and never see the light of day again?

Lee us look again at the Tablet S features:

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• Cameras: 5-megapixel rear, 0.3-megapixel (VGA) front-facing
• Display: 9.4-inch LED-backlit multi-touch screen (1280 x 800 pixels)
• Operating system: Android Honeycomb (3.1)
• Processor: Dual-core 1 GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2
• Inputs/outputs: 1 MicroUSB, 1 headphone
• External storage: Full-size Secure Digital (SD) memory card, up to 32 GB in size (for media exchange only)
• Internal storage: 16 GB or 32 GB
• Connectivity: Wireless-N Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n); Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (with A2DP stereo audio streaming profile); IR (infrared) remote control functionality
• Battery: Lithium-ion (5000 mAh)
• Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.8 x 0.3 inches
• Weight: 21 ounces

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Sony Tablet S summary:

So while this is no slouch or ugly duckling, it is not an iPad or ASUS Transformer Prime for various reasons, but does hold its own in many areas.

So with new price tag attached, is this tablet going to be swanning around looking really rather proud amid the medium level competitors now that the price tag has put it within reach of even more potential customers?

With mixed reviews ranging from glowing to average, maybe this new mid price level is more in keeping with this current Sony Tablet.

Let us know your thoughts on this strategy from Sony.

Sony have released their second tablet computer. The Tablet P will be arriving in the UK on the 4th of December and will be an interesting Android based offering from the Japanese technology giant.

At £499 the price is certainly not cheap, so how will they differentiate their own tablet from the likes of the iPad?

Portability:

Yes, the clamshell design allows two screens to be utilised and when finished can be closed and then transported slightly easier than a traditional tablet.

Connections:

The connectivity of the device is aided by offering access to 3G and Wi-Fi connections, and the tablet experience will be delivered via two 5.5 inch screens which utilise “TruBlack” technology to ensure strong clarity and colours.

Operating System:

With Android 3.2 Honeycomb powering the tablet, the weight of which has been kept down to a reasonable 370g, the new Sony Tablet P is no slouch.

The design (which looks like the 3DS) will also have a Tegra 2 Dual Core processor, slots for Micro SD cards and 1GB of RAM.

Sony Entertainment Network:

Similar to Apple, Google and Amazon. Sony have gone the way of the big boys with their Sony Entertainment Network, a hub that will allow content such as music and movies to be streamed onto the tablet and other compatible devices such as TV’s using DLNA apps.

Games machine:

With applications being available straight from the Android market, another option for Sony P owners will be the ability to play Playstation games, this device, which is “Playstation-certified” will come with games such as Pinball heroes and Crash Bandicoot already installed.

Sony want to dominate:

Sony have said that they want to become the second largest supplier of tablet PC’s globally, though this seems like a bold prize to aim for. I am unsure how feasible it will be after a pretty bad year all round for the once even mightier Sony group.

What do you think of the dual screen offering?

In a week that has seen relatively few huge headlines compared with the takeovers and litigation fever of the last few weeks, there has however been some interesting news from Sony and HTC about new ranges of smartphones that they are due to bring out.

In this article we take a look at Sony’s new offering going by the name “Nozomi”, not the best name in my opinion mainly because I am unsure how to spell it, but there you go.

Sony Nozomi a flagship smartphone?

With Sony releasing the Xperia Arc and Xperia Neo to muted critical acclaim, Sony have not exactly had the easiest entrance into the smartphone device market, this is a shame as I actually like Sony for many reasons. They do try to innovate, they do care what things look like, but they have been caught very much off guard by a new breed of manufacturers like HTC and Apple.

So will this new phone be a competitor to flagship ranges from Apple, HTC and Samsung?

Well going on specs alone this has to be a resounding yes, let’s take a look at what was leaked by a source working for Sony Ericsson via the Xperia blog:

The snap dragon dual core 1.5Ghz processor is sure to make the phone snappy to say the least, on top of this Sony are offering a 4.3 inch 720p HD ready display (1280×800 pixels) with a 12 Megapixel camera that includes Exmor R technology,

With the phone also offering 32GB storage capacity and (NFC) Near Field Communication ability, it seems like this will be a real contender finally for Sony and will be up there with the Samsung, Apple and HTC big boys.

It will also be very likely to be running on the (to be released) Android “ice cream sandwich” operating system due for release in October, at version 4 this is likely to be the O/S of choice, though rumours have emerged that Google are now pushing a newer version still called the “jelly bean” so there is a chance that this version may make it as the operating system of choice for this new Sony device.

When will the Sony Nozomi be released?

It is expected that the Sony Nozomi will be released at some point in the early part of 2012, many believe it will be in March or general Spring time.

In order to keep what looks like a bit of a beast tamed, it seems that micro-sim functionality will be the order of the day to keep the device slimmer and lighter, but I personally like slim so see no real issue if this is true.

Sony coming back fighting:

With Sony due to release an update to their Xperia Arc S, an obvious improvement on the original Arc, the new offering will be powered by a powerful 1.4Ghz processor, with a price point of sub £350 compared to the expected price point of £500+ for the Nozomi it looks and sounds like it may well have legs and be the kick-start to a Sony revival perhaps?

I have never actually owned a Sony phone but have heard that the camera facilities are second to none in the phone world, and I know for a fact that they can easily beat Apple in this area but is it that important when most on board camera phones are now so decent anyway that the only next logical step up is to start offering serious lenses!