Sony unleashes Xperia S on Australia

Sony will launch its NFC-enabled Xperia S smartphone to Australian buyers in early April.

First launched in select overseas markets in February, it is the company’s first handset to lose the “Sony Ericsson” branding after Sony paid Ericsson $US1.45 billion last October to exit the long-term joint venture.

The Xperia S will retail through Optus, Vodafone, Harvey Norman, Dick Smith, JB HiFi and Allphones among other major retailers from early April.

The phone is available in black and white in 16GB and 32GB models, running on Android 2.3 Gingerbread with Sony promising a future Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade. 

Harvey Norman confirmed to CRN the 32GB model would retail for $599, available in all Harvey Norman stores.

The retailer's head of computers Ben Macintosh said he expected the Xperia S to be one of its top smartphone sellers. Harvey Norman will bundle the phone with a gift with purchase.

“The combination of the brand, the features, and the look and feel is fantastic,” he said. “We’re confident once customers get their hands on it they will want it."

Sony will retail the handset through its Sony Centres for $579 from the first week of April.

Optus will offer the phone to both business and consumer customers on a $0 upfront, $49 cap over 24 months. Vodafone will release pricing information this Wednesday and will retail the phone from April 11.

Dick Smith told CRN it will only stock the black model RRP of $555, going on sale April 18.

The Xperia S comes equipped with an NFC chip, 12 megapixel camera and 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera which records 720p HD video, a 1.5GHz Qualcomm dual-core processor with 1GB of RAM and either 16GB or 32GB of internal storage. The handset is 10.6mm thick with a 4.3 inch screen.