American consumers have long been ignorant of the true price of their mobile phones. It’s not their fault, it’s operators who have been subsidizing handsets since the beginning of time. When Apple started selling the iPhone 4 unlocked for $650, people kind of sort of began to see the real cost of high end smartphones. Now Apple wasn’t the first to offer unlocked hardware, that title goes to Nokia, who as early as 2009 began pumping out videos trying to educate consumers to the benefits of going unlocked. Oh and by unlocked we mean you can shove a SIM card from any GSM operator around the world inside your device and it’ll work just as you expect it to. Google tried the whole unlocked thing too when they launched the Nexus One in 2010, but that didn’t really work out either. It’s safe to say that offering your devices unlocked in America isn’t really a smart way to push units. That hasn’t stopped Sony however, who is now taking orders for the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc, due to ship on July 11th for $600.
The Arc, for the forgetful ones, is Sony Ericsson’s flagship Android 2.3 device. It has a 4.2 inch “reality display” with a resolution of 854 x 480 pixels, 8.1 megapixel Sony “Exmor R” camera that can also capture 720p video, is 8.7 mm thin at its thinnest point, has HDMI out, and just about every wireless radio you can imagine, like most other smartphones being offered at this price point. Now the Arc will do 3G, but only on AT&T, so you’re kind of screwed if you want to use T-Mobile or Simple Mobile. That being said, throw Opera Mini on the Arc and it should handle EDGE speeds just fine, not to mention that you’re phone bill will be only $50 per month if you opt go with the Simple Mobile.
Anyone going to pick this bad boy up?