Kicking off our coverage of the Mobile World Congress (formerly 3GSM Congress), Sony Ericsson has announced in a press release today the launch of Xperia. Xperia is a new brand name which represents premium devices that truly represent the idea of mobile convergence. Sony Ericsson has also announced the beginning of a licensing agreement with Microsoft for the use of Windows Mobile in its devices.
The first device launched under this new label will be the X1, due for launch in the second half of 2008.
The device features a 3 inch WVGA (800×480) widescreen touch sensitive display, Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional Edition, quadband GSM with support for all W-CDMA bands, aGPS support, Bluetooth 2.0 with stereo audio support, 400 MB internal memory with microSD expansion slot, Wi-Fi radio, FM radio, handwriting recognition, QWERTY keyboard hidden under the horizontally sliding display, optical joystick, and the debut of the Xperia Panel Interface, a front end that allows users to select the options they want without looking through cumbersome menus.
Two versions have been announced for pending sale with both the US and European versions featuring support for W-CDMA 1700 access as well as having full 3G world roaming support.
