New Sony Xperia models

Sony have announced the Sony Xperia S, P, U (and Ion and LTE model).

The Xperia S is the thigh end, P middle and U consumer phone.

The S has a dual core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU and 3d graphics accelerated GPU with Bravia and 32GB of storage. The display is HD and uses LED/LCD to produce an amazing display which very high contrast and bright colours. It also has the usual features of 3 axis accelerometer, gyroscope etc with WiFi and Bluetooth. When attached via HDMI to a SmartTV, the phone can be controlled through the TV remote, accessing all the phones connectivity functions and for viewing Full HD at 1080p resolution.

The P has a slightly less powerful CPU and less storage though still displays HD content. When connected to a TV it only supports Dh at 720p resolution.

Sony also announced the SmartWatch which connects to Sony's phones. Sony has pre-installed the SmartWatch app as standard, but the SmartWatch can connect to any Android phone by downloading the app from Android Marketplace. It has an OLED touch screen display and a metal surround. Various (coloured) straps are available for the watch, though it can removed and clipped onto a belt (or equivalent).

It has many features

* Find your phone - will cause the phone to ring, even if the phone is in silent mode.

* If the watch loses connection with the phone (i.e. say the phone is being stolen) it will buzz 3 times.

* It support social media streams and these can be viewed and simple actions taken (like retweeting) by touching the relevant part of the screen.

* It shows the time (taken from the phone).

* The Android App support plug-ins allowing mini-apps to be run on the SmartWatch.

Now Sony have lost Ericcson, they've gone back to making very pretty phones and the Xperia S has the potential to be a real contender the iPhone.