By Johnny Wills | Jun 15, 2012 11:04 AM EDT
Sony Xperia Ion, the first Sony-branded smartphone in U.S., is all set to release on AT&T this month. AT&T will be selling Sony's LTE-powered high-end smartphone at an affordable price tag of $99.
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Sony and AT&T on Thursday announced the availability of Xperia Ion. Revealed back in January at the CES trade show, Xperia Ion is hitting AT&T shelves on June 24. The smartphone will be available for just $99 on a two year contract with the carrier.
"The new Xperia ion builds on Sony's reputation as an innovator and leader in imaging and entertainment and costs just $99.99 with a two-year agreement. Entertainment fans longing for a better mobile HD experience will soon have an all-new 4G LTE Android smartphone to covet as the Xperia ion hits stores in the coming days," said AT&T in a statement.
Sony Xperia Ion packs a 4.6-inch display with HD resolution of 1280 X 720 pixels. The device runs on dual-core Snapdragon S3 processor clocked at 1.5GHz. Xperia Ion has 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. The best thing about Xperia Ion is its 12-megapixel camera, which is at the rear with Full HD video recording support. Bringing some expertise to the camera, Xperia Ion can take continuous shots with less than a second shutter lag in between. There is also a 3D panorama mode in the smartphone. Connectivity features include LTE/HSPA+ network support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, microSD card slot, HDMI and microUSB ports.
The device can also be controlled by a TV remote when hooked through an HDMI cable.
Unfortunately, the Xperia Ion does not run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box. Buyers will get a smartphone running Android 2.3 Gingerbread in the package. However, Sony has confirmed that the ICS update will reach the device soon.
Also, it runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 which is comparably slower than the Snapdragon S4 processor featured in competitive high-end LTE-powered smartphones.
The Xperia Ion boasts HD display, 4G LTE connectivity, 12-megapixel shooter and everything else that an high-end smartphone needs to boast off, which makes it to stand in the same league as HTC One X and Samsung Galaxy S3. Priced at $99, the phone will be available at a much affordable price than the all the other smartphones in the big league.
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