We’re still hoping to see the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play released in the US, and now we’re hearing that the sleeker, Xperia Arc may debut stateside sometime this summer. Unlike the Play, the Arc may be released to the US toting GSM radios, giving AT&T and T-Mobile a good chance at grabbing the sexy handset.
The Xperia Arc is one sleek handset that you immediately want to touch at first sight. The ultra slim device runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS, and was the only Android device to run this latest version of the OS when we saw it back at CES. Unfortunately, while up to speed on software, the Arc, as well as the Play, both lack the dual-core innards that resides in much of the upcoming competition (though the second-generation Snapdragon processor is hardly something to call slow). That said, what the Arc lacks in raw processing power, it makes up with style, and it’s probably one of the best looking handsets we’ve ever seen.
When asked about the US availability of the Xperia Arc on the Sony Ericsson product blog, Rikard Skogberg had this to say,
I just got something from my US colleagues and the current plan is to have an “a”-variant available at retailers this summer. This version will be optimized for use in the US (GSM/UMTS). I’ll keep you posted as I get more details.
Sony Ericsson has yet to really make a splash in the Android world, even though a handful of Android handsets have been released. This may be the year that all of that changes, and by offering the world’s first Playstation-certified phone, as well as the uber-sleek Arc, Sony Ericsson stands to gain a decent following this time around. While many have been waiting for the Playstation phone to become a reality, since it’s aimed at such a specific group of people, the Arc may see better sales than the Play. Maybe not.
So if you’ve been looking into the Arc, you may not have much longer to wait before you can get your hands on one.