Sony Ericsson Unveils Xperia Play at Mobile World Congress

As expected, Sony Ericsson unveiled the Xperia Play at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Combining the power of Google Android and the gaming prowess of the PlayStation Portable, the Xperia offers an impressive blend of communication, productivity, and entertainment.

It looks like the phone will hit Asia and Europe before coming to America (through Verizon) in Spring 2011. It will come bundled with a game, while several other will be available at launch. I’m guessing it will be a well-known first-party game from Sony, but that would be cool if Final Fantasy VII was the launch title. The kids would go nuts. Anyway, here’s a clip from the press release:

The Android smartphone offers all the benefits that users have come to expect from Sony Ericsson’s existing range of XperiaTM smartphones with best-in-class entertainment experiences, a great 5 megapixel camera, a brilliant 4” multi-touch screen and great social networking features.

However, slide out the gaming control and users enter a new world of immersive mobile gaming. The slide out game pad reveals a digital D pad, two analogue touch pads, two shoulder buttons and the four PlayStation icons: circle, cross, square and triangle. Qualcomm’s optimized Snapdragon processor with a 1Ghz CPU and embedded Adreno GPU graphics processor deliver silky smooth 60fps play-back 3D mobile gaming and Web browsing with minimal power consumption so Xperia PLAY users can enjoy long hours of battery life and game time.

Initial software partners include Sony Computer Entertainment, Digital Chocolate, Digital Legends, Electronic Arts, Fishlabs, Gamehouse, Gameloft, Glu Mobile, Handy Games, Namco Bandai Networks, Polarbit, PopCap, Trendy Entertainment, and Unity Tecnologies.

Lastly, here are the official specs:

Camera
5.1 megapixel camera
Auto focus
Flash / Photo light
Geo tagging
Image stabiliser
Send to web
Touch focus
Video light
Video recording
Video blogging

Music
Album art
Bluetooth™ stereo (A2DP)
Google™ Music Player
Music tones (MP3/AAC)
PlayNow™ service*
Sony Ericsson Music player
Stereo speakers
TrackID™ music recognition application

Internet
Android Market™*
Bookmarks
Google™ search*
Google™ Voice Search*
Pan & zoom
Web browser (Webkit)

Communication
Call list
Conference calls
Facebook™ application (from Android Market™)
Google™ Talk*
Noise Shield
Polyphonic ringtones
Speakerphone
Sony Ericsson Timescape™***
Twitter™ application (from Android Market™)
Vibrating alert

Messaging
Android Cloud to Device messaging (C2DM)
Conversations
Email
Google Mail™*
Instant messaging
Picture messaging (MMS)
Predictive text input
Sound recorder
Text messaging (SMS)

Design
Auto rotate
Keyboard (onscreen, 12 key)
Keyboard (onscreen, QWERTY)
Picture wallpaper
Touchscreen
Wallpaper animation

Entertainment
3D games
Dedicated gaming keys
Flash Lite™
Gesture gaming
Motion gaming
Video streaming
YouTube™

Organiser
Alarm clock
Calculator
Calendar
Document editors
Document readers
E-Manual
Flight mode
Google Calendar™
Google Gallery 3D™
Infinite button
Phone book
Set-up Wizard
Widget manager

Connectivity
3.5 mm audio jack
aGPS
Bluetooth™ technology
DLNA Certified
Google Latitude™
Google Location Service
Google Maps™ with Street View
Media Transfer Protocol support
Micro USB Connector
Modem
Synchronisation via Facebook™**
Synchronisation via Google Sync™
Synchronisation via Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync®
Synchronisation via Sony Ericsson Sync
USB 2.0 high speed support
Wi-Fi™
Wi-Fi™ Hotspot functionality
* The service is not available in all markets.
** Requires Facebook™ application installed on the device.

Google™ services*
* These services may not be available in every market Android Market™ Client
Gmail™
Google Calendar™
Google Gallery 3D™
Google Latitude™
Google Maps™ with Street View
Google Media Uploader
Google Music Player™
Google Phone-top Search
Google Search widget
Google Sync™
Google Talk™
Google Voice Search
Set-up Wizard
YouTube™

Screen
16,777,216 colour TFT
Capacitive multi-touch
4 inches
480 x 854 pixels (FWVGA)

In-Box:
Xperia™ PLAY
Battery
Stereo portable handsfree
8GB microSD™ memory card
Charger
Micro USB cable for charging, synchronisation and file transfer
User documentation

Facts
Size: 119 x 62 x 16 mm
Weight: 175 grams
Phone memory: 400 MB
Memory card support: microSD™, up to 32 GB
Memory card included: 8GB microSD™
Operating system: Google™ Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
Processor: 1 GHz Scorpion ARMv7

Talk time and networks Networks
Talk time GSM/GPRS: Up to 8 hrs 25 min*
Standby time GSM/GPRS: Up to 425 hrs*
Talk time UMTS: Up to 6 hrs 25 min*
Standby time UMTS: Up to 413 hrs*
Talk time CDMA2000®: Up to 7 hrs 40 min*
Standby time CDMA2000®: Up to 405 hrs*
Game play time: Up to 5 hrs 35 min*
MP3 playback: Up to 30 hrs 35 min*

Networks
UMTS HSPA 800, 850, 1900, 2100
GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900
UMTS HSPA 900, 2100
GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900
CDMA2000®, cdmaOne, EVDO

Colour
Black
White