The Sony Xperia Ion arrives in France in September

Originally scheduled for LTE connectivity, the Xperia Ion will finally arrive in Europe in a GSM variant.

The Sony Xperia Ion was announced at CES last January, along with the Xperia S . One was planned for the U.S. with AT & T and LTE connectivity, while the other had a global dimension, as it embeds a GSM chip. But some time ago, we mentioned the possible arrival of the Xperia Ion GSM version  (HSPA +) and this is indeed what happens.

On the occasion of Medpi being held in Monaco, Sony Mobile has announced its availability in France for the month of September (at a price still unknown). On paper, the main difference between this phone and the Xperia S is the diagonal screen that measures 4.6 inches, 4.3 inches cons. Technology Bravia Engine image processing is integrated, while offering a HD of 1280 x 720 pixels (323 ppi density).

At the photo, the Xperia S is very good and the Xperia Ion will be similar, in that it incorporates a sensor of 12 megapixels Exmor R (with the traditional LED flash and autofocus). On the front we find a 1.3 megapixel sensor for video chat (720p max). Just like the Xperia S, you can press the photo button while the phone is in standby and less than 2 seconds, a picture is taken.

At the processor, it is the dual-core Snapdragon Qualcomm MSM8260 clocked at 1.5 GHz and with an Adreno 220 graphics chip. Note that this is a chip S3, where phones like the use of One S S4. This is the same processor as the 2011 generation of HTC Sensation. For memory, there are 1 GB RAM and 16 GB of internal memory with microSD card reader.

Sony is once again focus on the multimedia aspect, with a port microHDI, USB on the go, and DLNA certification of Playstations. It provides access to the Playstation Store full of PS1 titles and some exclusive temporary. Like almost all of its range, Sony plays the game of NFC, which will make sense with SmartTags. As a reminder, these tags are used to change the phone profile passing near the phone.

We do not hide that the announcement of this smartphone surprises us, since it is relatively close to the Xperia S. Sony had accustomed us to launch in September boosted models, or this is a smartphone announced in January.