14 DAY TRIAL // Xperia PLAY, the gaming powerhouse smartphone that Sony Ericsson brought to the market earlier this year, is now available for purchase for only $99 on shelves at Verizon Wireless.
The handset was launched on Verizon's network a few months ago, and can be purchased today for the said price tag with the signing of a two-year contract agreement with Verizon.
The deal is available on the carrier's website here, where Verizon has the Xperia PLAY listed with a full retail price tag of $449.99.
Also, the wireless carrier notes that the smartphone's contract price is of $149.99, but that there is a $50 online discount that users will benefit from.
The Xperia PLAY smartphone was launched in February this year, during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
It comes with a sliding gamepad that includes all the usual PlayStation controls, and is the first handset in the world to be PlayStation certified.
“Experience real console– quality game play with dedicated gaming controls. Xperia PLAY is the world’s first PlayStation certified smartphone, and comes equipped with dedicated slide–out gaming controls and all the buttons your thumbs will never forget,” Verizon notes on its website.
The handset runs under Google's Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system, sports a large 4-inch touchscreen display, and a fast 1GHz application processor inside.
“The Xperia PLAY’s Android OS doesn’t just throw multitasking into overdrive. It ups the ante with smooth animation and responsiveness for an awesomely immersive gaming experience,” the carrier continues.
The smartphone also comes with a 5MP camera on the back, a front camera for video calling, WiFi, Bluetooth and 3G connectivity capabilities, as well as with a 3.5mm headphone jack, and with built-in GPS receiver.
It also sports an 8GB pre–installed memory card with up to 2GB used for pre–loaded games, and can accommodate cards of up to 32GB in size.
“Start chalking up wins the second you slide out the gaming pad with Xperia PLAY’s pre–loaded games, including Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior, Star Battalion, and Madden NFL 11. A boatload more games–and all the apps you can tackle–are available in the VCAST Apps Store,” Verizon concludes.