Less than four months separate Australians from the launch of Sony Ericsson’s Xperia neo smartphone.

After being unveiled this week at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Telstra today announced it would bring the new smartphone to the Australian shores in the first half of 2011. The Xperia neo will operate on the telco’s Next G network exclusively for the first three months.

Telstra Mobility Products executive director Warwick Bray said in a statement that there was a growing market demand for Android smartphones, to which the introduction of the Xperia neo would respond with what he believed to be one of the best multimedia devices.

“The Sony Ericsson Xperia neo combines the latest Android 2.3 operating system, a powerful 1GHz processor and impressive multimedia features you’d expect from Sony products,” he said. “For instance, it incorporates picture technology previously reserved for Sony BRAVIA TVs to deliver bright, sharp images on its 3.7-inch screen”.

Operated by Google Android 2.3, the Xperia neo features a built-in HDMI connection and can display photos and videos on an HD television; it can support more than 100,000 applications through the Android Market and relies on Google services such as Gmail, Google Search, YouTube and Maps. Its weight is 126 grams, spread on a surface of 116x57x13 mm.

Telstra’s Bray said the multimedia experience would also be enhanced by an 8 megapixel camera and its connectivity capabilities.

“It has an 8 megapixel camera which borrows technology found in Sony’s Cybershot cameras to capture better pictures in low-light conditions. There’s also an HD video recorder built in,” he said. “And for our many customers who like to share what they’ve captured, there’s HDMI and DNLA connectivity which makes it easy to send pictures and movies from the phone to a TV screen.”

Pricing, availability and a date of launch have not been announced yet.

Image credit: Sony Ericsson

Related posts:

1. Xperia neo: Telstra adds to Android love-in
2. Telstra left out as Xperia arc lands in April
3. Sony’s Xperia PLAY to hit Australia Q2
4. Sony Xperia S hits Australia early April
5. Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc: Review

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1. NightKhaos
   Posted 15/02/2011 at 12:20 pm | Permalink | Reply

   I’ve only really experienced HTC Sense when it comes UI, I’d be interested to see Sony’s take on UI and if it is worth migrating to this headset for the Gingerbready goodness, or just waiting for an OTA carrier update for my Desire.

2. den
   Posted 15/02/2011 at 1:51 pm | Permalink | Reply

   Xperia not Experia. I guess they are not getting the Arc?

3. Marlon
   Posted 15/02/2011 at 3:24 pm | Permalink | Reply

   As a user of the Xperia X10 (and a very happy one despite the comments that follow), I can say that while Sony Ericsson’s UI looks great, it honestly doesn’t add much to the phone. If anything, their custom apps (Mediascape and Timescape) only slow down the phone and are impossible to ‘task kill’ effectively.

   Rumour is however, that they have learned their lesson for the 2011 line of phones, so who knows.