Sony Ericsson today announced the game changing XperiaTM PLAY, the latest phone in its XperiaTM range of Android based smartphones. XperiaTM PLAY delivers the smartphone experience that users need, teamed with the immersive gaming experience that any gamer would want. 

In portrait mode, the Android smartphone offers all the benefits that users have come to expect from Sony Ericsson’s existing range of XperiaTM smartphones—superior entertainment and social networking features, a high-quality 5 megapixel camera and a vibrant 4” multi-touch screen.

However, slide out the gaming control and users enter a revived world of 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 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.  

Brendan Johnston, Managing Director for Oceania at Sony Ericsson, commented: “Today is a very proud moment for Sony Ericsson as we bring something truly revolutionary to the market. Xperia™ PLAY will forever change the way people think about smartphones and mobile gaming. Living up to our Xperia™ vision of providing the most entertaining smartphone experience, Xperia™ PLAY allows people to enter a new world of immersive mobile gaming.”

XperiaTM PLAY will run on Gingerbread (version 2.3), the latest version of Google’s AndroidTM platform. The XperiaTM PLAY will also be the first PlayStation Certified device. This means it will have access to PlayStation® game content provided through the PlayStation® Suite initiative, currently under development by Sony Computer Entertainment and due to launch later this calendar year.

Sony Ericsson has partnered with key publishers in the gaming industry to deliver a rich, vibrant ecosystem at launch and post launch with many leading new titles available via the AndroidTM Marketplace. Leading franchises coming to Xperia™ PLAY includes EA’s Need For Speed, Sims 3 and a world-first multiplayer version of FIFA 10 for mobile. GLU Mobile/Activision will be bringing Guitar Hero while Gameloft’s titles include Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell. Sony Ericsson is also partnering with Unity Technologies, using its award-winning development platform, to ensure a continuous flow of high quality 3D game titles.

XperiaTM PLAY and PlayStation Certified gaming are great examples of the kind of innovation that’s possible in the open Android ecosystem,” said Andy Rubin, Vice President of Engineering at Google.
A pre-loaded application will enable users to easily discover and download titles that have been optimised for game play on Xperia™ PLAY, access recently played games and see information about the games they have downloaded.

AVAILABILITY- Sony Ericsson Xperia™ PLAY will be available in New Zealand in Q2 (April – June) 2011- Operator ranging and pricing will be announced closer to launch