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Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo named and previewed in one fell swoop, bringing Gingerbread to MWC 2011
We said it at the Show and we'll say it again, Sony Ericsson just doesn't know how to keep a secret. One of its phones set for launch at Mobile World Congress 2011 has just slipped the net (again) and this time we have its full product name to boot, the Xperia Neo. You'll be familiar with this Android 2.3 handset already from mobile-review's thorough preview a couple of weeks ago, though at the time it was known under its codename of MT15i. This latest hands-on look at the hardware is similarly positive about the Neo, describing it as a well constructed phone and praising Sony's Android modifications as restrained and actually useful. Talk about a 180-degree turn from the way things used to be.There's another reason to be excited about this phone, however. Back in December, Sony Ericsson registered trademarks for Xperia Arc, Xperia Play, Xperia Neo, and... an Xperia Duo. We expect all four to be out and about at MWC this year, and we may have already seen the latter device in yet another bit of leaked photography.
Sony Ericsson MT15i / Vivaz 2 ensnared by Eldar Murtazin, given glowing preview
The choice of Android Gingerbread handsets just grew by one, courtesy of the Sony Ericsson MT15i and Russia's premier mobile reviewer, Eldar Murtazin, who has put it through his rigorous preview cycle. The typically curmudgeonly gent was pleasantly surprised by SE's latest (and entirely unofficial) handset, claiming that the company "has developed and is about to launch truly cutting edge devices and ... has almost nothing to fear in the hardware department as well." He has praise for the above-average front-facing cam, the endurance offered by the 1500mAh battery, and the 854 x 480 res on the Reality Display -- though he does warn that Sony's Bravia Engine is only used when consuming multimedia and therefore has limited impact on improving output quality. Internally, you're looking at 512MB of RAM and a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM7630 with Adreno 205 graphics, all of which resulted in perfectly smooth, lag-free operation. In spite of its many pluses, Eldar describes the MT15i as a phone targeting the mid-range, which invites all sorts of delicious pricing speculation, though we're not entirely sure we agree with his postulation that this handset will be called the Vivaz 2. The Xperia branding up front and the replacement of Symbian with Android would collectively suggest it'll bear an altogether new name when it's unveiled -- which we'll go ahead and presume is going to happen at MWC next month.
