On top of announcing some oven-fresh Gingerbread for their older Xperia phones, Sony Ericsson announced a new Android handset today, the neo V. The original neo didn’t look so hot next to the Xperia Arc, and this one doesn’t either since so many of the specs are the same: 3.7-inch 854 x 480 touchscreen, 2 megapixel shooter on the front, HDMI-out, and a 1 GHz processor. The camera got bumped down from 8 megapixels to 5, but aside from that the only real difference is that it’s running Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Oh, and the glasses-less 3D display. Did I forget to mention that? The phone includes a 3D panorama sweep camera function that captures 3D images and lets you share them on 3D TVs, but also alludes to a “multi-angle 3D display” on the phone itself. How it’s capturing 3D pictures with just one camera is anybody’s guess. The neo V includes video chat over Google Talk and Skype, and there are apparently some new Xperia customizations with Facebook in there. Finally, the neo V gets Sony Ericsson’s GreenHeart seal of approval, meaning it’s meeting certain eco-friendly standards.
It seems weird that Sony Ericsson needed to make an entirely separate variant device just for Gingerbread, especially considering how far beyond their expectations they managed to update the X10. Hopefully with the dumbed-down camera, the price point on the neo V will be reasonable, and give more of a gap with the upper-end Xperia handsets like the Arc. There have been quite a few Sony Ericsson phones coming out of the woodwork lately, like that new Walkman phone, the mini pro, the Ray, and the Active. That said, there will be no shortage of options for those going back to school.
Unfortunately, the Xperia neo V won’t be launching until Q4, which means this is more of a stocking stuffer than anything. In the meantime, you can take a look at the Xperia neo V over here.