14 DAY TRIAL // Unveiled in early January at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Sony Xperia S has just made its debut in Australia, earlier than expected.
Sony officials announced last week during the company's launch event at the Mobile World Congress 2012 that the Xperia S is available for purchase in Barcelona, Spain from this Monday.
We initially thought that other markets will get the smartphone starting next week, as the Xperia S has already been confirmed by several UK-based retailers for early March.
However, we've just been tipped that Sony Xperia S has just hit shelves in Australia. This means that customers who want to purchase the smartphone can do so now via major retailer MobiCity. The handset is available for $699 AUD ($750 USD or 570 EUR) unlocked and free of contract.
The Xperia S is one of the first smartphones wearing Sony's own brand. The smartphone is shipped with Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system, but it has been confirmed for an Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade soon after launch.
Currently, Xperia S is the most powerful smartphone announced by Sony, as the company let it slip that it won't be releasing quad-core devices until next year. Sony Xperia S is equipped with a dual-core Qualcomm MSM8260 Snapdragon processor clocked at 1.5 Ghz.
On the inside, the device packs an Adreno 220 graphics processing unit, 32GB of internal memory, 1GB of RAM, but no microSD card slot for memory expansion.
There's also an impressive 12-megapixel rear photo snapper, which features autofocus, LED flash, 3D sweep panorama and full HD (1080p) video recording, as well as a secondary 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for self-portraits and video calls.
Sony Xperia S sports a hyper-vibrant 4.3-inch LED-backlit LCD capacitive touchscreen display based on Sony Mobile Bravia Engine technology. The screen features scratch-resistant glass and supports 720 x 1280 pixels resolution.
Thank you tipster!