Sony Ericsson Xperia pro to Land in Q4

Sony Ericsson Xperia pro, one of the new Android 2.3 Gingerbread-based handsets that the Japanese-Swedish mobile phone maker unveiled to the world in February during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, is rumored to have been delayed to the fourth quarter of the ongoing year.

Initially set to arrive on the market in June, the smartphone was delayed to July, and is now said to have been pushed back by a few months more.

Some retailers already updated their websites to reflect the new release date, such as The Carphone Warehouse in the UK, which lists it with an October launch expectation, and with a price tag of £349.99 attached to it.

Sony Ericsson delayed the phone's release due to the earthquake that struck Japan in March, but there is no indicator whether the new delay has the same cause or another one.

When unveiled at the Mobile World Congress 2011, the Xperia pro was presented with the same specs as the Xperia neo, plus a sliding QWERTY keyboard.

While the keyboard-less flavor is already available for purchase, though with a delay of several months as well, the Xperia pro will not arrive in users' hands in the near future.

The smartphone boasts features and specs similar with those of Sony Ericsson's high-end Android-based devices, but in a smaller form factor.

However, it does include a fast 1GHz application processor, as well as a high-quality camera on the back with support for HD video recording.

The mobile phone also comes with support for 3G networks, WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities, and with a built-in GPS receiver, as well as with support for expanding the available internal memory via microSD memory card slot.

The Xperia pro runs under Google's Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system and offers support for various Google Mobile Services, including Search, GMail, Maps, YouTube and more, as well as for applications that can be downloaded from Google's store front, the Android Market.