By Ray Nicolini
Via TheCellularGuru.com
Along with showing off the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY today we were also given a hands on sneak peek with the Sony Ericsson Xperia arc. This device will also be launching exclusively on Rogers in the Spring although a release date and pricing have not yet been given out.
The Xperia arc is very much like the Xperia PLAY, in fact, the Sony Ericsson folks went so far as to say that the two phones were identical aside from screen size and the fact that the PLAY has the extra GPU for game play (and the physical slide-out controls). The device will launch with Google Android Gingerbread (2.3) installed and will be a definite upgrade for all Xperia X10 users.
The Xperia arc will be the flagship Sony Ericsson device once it is released. It is 8.7mm thin and weighs in at a svelte 117 grams and features a 1500 mAh battery.
It has many of the technologies that Sony as a brand has in its other devices incorporated into it to make it one sweet device. Its 4.2″ screen has built in BRAVIA technology in the form of the Mobile BRAVIA Engine so you can view pictures and videos with sharpness and vibrant color just like on your TV. The screen’s resolution is 854×480 pixels (FWVGA). Its display has what is referred to as a “no air gap display” which means that between the exterior clear covering and the screen itself there is no gap which results in more viewing angels in general but especially in direct sunlight (we didn’t get to try this out) and an overall better experience in direct sunlight -an environment where many phone screens falter. The arc features an 8MP camera on the back which has the Exmor R Sensor previously seen in Sony Cyber-shot cameras appearing as an Exmor R for Mobile Sensor. The Exmor R allows for capturing crisp and clear photos and videos even in low light conditions which we all know has often been a problem of many cell phone cameras.
One thing I didn’t know the answer to is if you look closely at the above photo of the back without the back cover on you’ll see next to the SIM card slot a little box that says “2nd MIC”. I do not know what this is for but I assume it is for noise cancellation in a call as that mic looks perfectly positioned for capturing ambient noises.
The Xperia arc is going to ship with a 16GB Micro-SD card in the box and it can take up to a 32GB card if you feel the need for more space. As well, in the box will be an HDMI cord for HDMI output. When the Sony Ericsson crew plugged the arc into their HD TV at their offices the transition was a quick plug-and-play. Within seconds they were showing us how awesome it is to play Angry Birds in HD.
