Sony Xperia sola gets unveiled: Android mid-ranger with dual-core processor

It looks like Sony's family of Android handsets has just grown bigger. Introducing the Sony Xperia sola – a mid-range offering that has a magic trick hidden up its sleeve. What kind of magic we are talking about, you ask? Well, you know how when you surf the web on your computer you can hover over links with your mouse cursor? You can do that on the Xperia sola by placing your finger over the item that you want to highlight without actually tapping on the display. Floating touch is what Sony calls it, and it is a feature that the Xperia sola will be the first to brag with.

When it comes to specs, the Xperia sola comes with a 3.7-inch display enhanced with Mobile BRAVIA engine for superior image quality. Inside it ticks a dual-core processor clocked at 1GHz, and on its back we have a 5-megapixel camera that can capture HD video. You also get Sony's xLOUD technology for boosting the audio's volume without distorting it, and NFC with support for Xperia SmartTags. It is somewhat frustrating that the smartphone will launch with Android 2.3 Gingerbread out of the box, yet fortunately, an update to Ice Cream Sandwich is planned for the summer of 2012. And by the way, the Xperia sola looks pretty similar to the Xperia Pepper, which leaked once again this morning. Seems like the Pepper might simply be a version of the Xperia sola that is tailored for the Asian market.

The Sony Xperia sola is expected to launch globally during the second quarter of 2012 and will come in black, white, or red. Pricing, however, is still unknown at this time.

source: Sony