Last week we brought you news of an upcoming unannounced Sony Ericsson Android device that looked to be the flagship smartphone of the first half of 2011. Today we find out that may not exactly be the case. The handset, codename “Anzu”, runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread, features a Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM7230 processor, the same one found in the T-Mobile G2 [HTC Desire Z], so we could be looking at 800 MHz of HSPA+ goodness, 8.1 megapixel camera with Exmor R technology, otherwise known as a back-illuminated CMOS sensor, 720p video recording at 30 frames per second with facial recognition, 3.5 mm headphone jack supplied via an adapter, 4.2 inch, not 4.3 inch, display with a resolution of 854 × 480 pixels, WiFi b/g/n, HDMI type D (aka microHDMI), 1500 mAh battery, all in a sleek package that measures 125 mm x 62.5 mm x 8.7 to 10.9 mm.
If I head about this device in the Spring of this year, I would have been excited, but word on the street is that Samsung is going to announce a dual core successor to their wildly famous Galaxy S during the first quarter of 2011. That and you’ve also got the Nexus S, which features NFC technology. Other than a fancy pants camera, what exactly does the Anzu provide that’s groundbreaking enough to warrant the supposed 650 EUR price tag?
It’s amazing how the definition of high end smartphone changes every 6 months now, whereas a few years ago a flagship device out of Nokia could easily last 18 to 24 months. The pace of innovation is damaging our wallets, but more importantly it’s making consumers more aware of their purchase. Why buy something that’s midrange today, when it’ll be ancient in less than a year? High end smartphones like the Anzu may be more of an investment, considering that you’ll be staring at your mobile phone a lot more often than your clunky personal computer.
[Via: Unwired View]