14 DAY TRIAL // We've just reported earlier about Sony Ericsson xperia mini pro's debut in Taiwan along with its keyboardless Xperia mini, and it looks like the manufacturer made the smartphone available in the Middle East, as well.
According to Sony Ericsson, Xperia mini pro will be available starting this week at leading electronic stores in the region.
The compact slide-out smartphone is priced at AED 1299 (about $354) and comes in black, white and pink colors.
Unlike the standard Xperia mini, the mini pro offers heavy texters and messaging fanatics a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard.
Although it may pass as a small toy, the Xperia mini pro is in fact a powerful smartphone and comes with a 1 Ghz Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon processor, which is complemented by an Adreno 205 GPU (graphics processing unit).
Furthermore, the slider comes with a 3-inch LED-backlit LCD capacitive touchscreen with 16 million colors support and 320 x 480 pixels resolution, which is based on Sony's BRAVIA engine technology.
Among the strong points of the smartphone, Google's Android 2.3 Gingerbread platform offers users the ultimate communication experience.
“Building on the success of the original mini-series, the Xperia mini pro provides a flexible interface that enables instant and enhanced communication. The turbo-charged smartphone addresses the needs of today’s user by providing several feature-rich applications with a smart and easy-to-use design,” said Rudiger Odenbach, general manager, Middle East and Africa, Sony Ericsson.
With a 5-megapixel camera on the back, users will be able to capture and record HD videos. The phone's main camera features LED flash, autofocus, image stabilization, as well as smile and face detection.
In addition, video calls via Skype 2.1 for Android are also a possibility with the Xperia mini pro, which sports a secondary VGA front-facing camera.
Connectivity options include features such as HSDPA (7.2Mbps) and HSUPA (5.76Mbps), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP support and built-in GPS.