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  • irishtimes.com - Posted: October 21, 2011 @ 11:48 am

    Phones, phones everywhere

    Ciara O'Brien

    Today’s Tech Tools column showed off the Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray, which is one of Sony Ericsson’s latest smartphones. It’s one of pile of phones that SE has released lately.

    Unfortunately, we don’t have the room to include every phone in Tech Tools, so here’s a round-up of the rest.

    Xperia Arc S


    Take the regular Xperia Arc, add in a faster processor – 1.4GHz – the ability to take 3D sweep panorama shots and gesture input, and you have the Arc S.  The battery life has been extended – you get an extra hour of talk time (seven instead of six) and 460 hours of standby compared to 430.

    Oh, and they make it in more colours. Instead of silver and dark blue, you have the option of pink and black too.

    Xperia Mini




    One of the more compact Xperia phones. The Android handset can shoot HD video, and has 5-megapixel still camera, but won’t weigh you down. The Android homescreen can be customised by putting up to 16 of your favourite apps in the corners of the home screens. The downside is that the screen itself can be a little difficult to use at times, especially if you don’t have small hands.

    Xperia Mini Pro


    The Mini, but with a slide out QWERTY keyboard. This means it’s slightly less compact but infinitely easier to use. It has better talk time than the Mini, at five hours compared to four, but loses out on standby time – 331 hours versus 340. It’s also about 40g heavier. And the Mini Pro has a front facing camera, with the Mini does not.

    Live with Walkman



    Aimed at the music fans, the Live with Walkman has a dedicated button that takes you straight to your music. The Android phone also has Sony’s 3D Panorama Sweep technology, and the ability to video chat. It’s compact, but still has a 3.2 inch screen.