Sony Ericsson announces the Xperia neo V and Android updates

Sony Ericsson has just announced the Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread update for the 2011 Xperia lineup and the first phone that will run on 2.3.4 out of the box - the Xperia neo V.

The Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread update will hit the whole Xperia lineup from this year - PLAY, Arc, neo, pro, mini, mini pro, active and ray. It will bring along a few nice features:

• Sony 3D sweep panorama functionality - you can take panorama shots and watch them (in 2D) on your phone, (in 2D) on your HTDV or (in 3D) on your 3D HDTV
• Screen capture - grab a screenshot anywhere from your Xperia
• Enhanced Facebook integration
• Google Talk with Video Chat (for Xperia phones with front-facing camera)
• Swipe text input - works just like Swype, but it's called T9 trace
• USB on-the-go functionality - it works only when you've connected your Xperia phone to the Sony Ericsson LiveDock. It supports wired and wireless USB accessories such as keyboard, mouse and gamepads. There is no word on USB drives support yet.

Here is the official video for the Xperia Android 2.3.4 update.

Android 2.3.4 update will land on the 2011 Xperia family this October.

Sony Ericsson has also announced the Xperia neo V (it’s the Roman numeral five, not the letter v). The neo V has the same specifications as the previous Xperia neo, save for the camera. It's now a 5 megapixel one instead of 8 megapixels. Sony Ericsson has some difficulties manufacturing the 8 megapixel camera sensors since the tragic earthquakes in Japan and that's most probably why the neo V is supposed to replace the previous neo.

Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V

In case you haven’t met with the neo yet and you are unfamiliar with its specs, here is what you will get with Xperia neo V - a 3.7-inch FWVGA Reality display with scratch-resistant surface; a Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon chipset with a 1GHz Scorpion processor, Adreno 205 graphics and 512MB RAM; 5 megapixel camera with HD video recording and 3D sweep panorama functionality; lots of connectivity options incl. HDMI port and will run on Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread out of the box.

Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V will be released in Q4 this year, but the pricing is yet to be revealed.

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