14 DAY TRIAL // One of the latest Android-based mobile phones that Sony Ericsson announced to the world was the Xperia ray, an affordable and highly appealing handset that might soon see a successor, the SK19i.
However, unlike the original device, the new one is expected to arrive on shelves in a sliding form factor, some of the latest reports on the matter suggest.
The Antutu Android benchmark shows a certain Sony Ericsson SK19i smartphone that runs under Google's Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system and which features a 1GHz application processor inside.
Given the SK19i model number for the device, some suggest that it should arrive on the market with a sliding QWERTY keyboard included into the mix, in addition to the touchscreen display that any Android smartphone has to have.
Moreover, the fact that Xperia ray came to the market with the model number of ST18i attached to it suggests that there might be a tight connection between the new device and the already official one.
The Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread platform version suggests that Sony Ericsson would pack the device with decent hardware, though it might have it available for purchase for a lower price tag, the same as the Xperia ray.
Chances are that the new mobile phone would sport a touchscreen display of around 3-inches, making it a little larger than the Xperia mini series that Sony Ericsson has unveiled to the world only a few months ago.
Although there is the possibility that the new mobile phone would arrive on shelves as the successor of Xperia ray, there are also chances that it would actually be released as a totally different handset.
The fact that SK19i already made it to a benchmarking site suggests that it might not be too long before Sony Ericsson decides to make it official, though no specific info on when that might happen emerged for the time being.