Apr 04, 2012 13:00 BST New Sola Announced

Adding yet more weight to its line-up, Sony has unveiled the latest Android device as the Xperia Sola. It’s pre-loaded with the Gingerbread OS but users can upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich after the launch. The more interesting and innovative feature of the Sola is the ‘floating touch’ navigations system that allows you to browse web pages by moving your finger over the screen rather than pressing anything.

The way the floating works is similar to that of a mouse cursor. You direct the cursor around the webpage and stop at the links you want to click on. It means that you don’t have to get smears from fingertips on your screen so much apart from when you want to click on a link. With the powerful processor that has a dial core and boasts 1GHz of power, it makes for super-quick web browsing and multi-tasking. The new smartphone bridges the gap between the Xperia P and Reality Display, which have 3.5” and 3.7” screens respectively.

Sony is renowned for its technology and the Reality Display is razor sharp. There is a surround sound system called xLoud 3D, which bounces the sound waves off objects in the room to give a fuller sound quality and thanks to the powerful processor it can handle all of its technology.

The Sony Xperia Sola Android phone comes complete with near field communication (NFC) and two Xperia Smart Tags so you can touch the phone against them depending on what function you want to do. This is great as you can have the tags located at work or around the home so your experience in a wide variety of situations is made instant. It’s similar to how the Oyster Card works on London’s public transport, but for certain programs and apps instead.

Thankfully, there is a large internal storage system which boasts 8GB of space, which is handy for keeping photos, files and videos on your phone. There is also a 5-megapixel camera that has direct access to the Sony Entertainment Network and has the benefit of a panoramic sweep effect for capturing wide pictures. The network has videos and music available to download for those that want to watch or listen to media on their .

The Sony Xperia Sola is a step up for the firm which usually brings out more music-based phones, but this one has the power that any other smartphone has and looks really smart too. It comes in a range of colours for the lower case while all of the ‘floating’ design screens are glossy black. There are only three buttons on the front and the rest of the functions are controlled by your finger (or not, as you just have to gesticulate at it to move the cursor).

The release date for the Sony Xperia Sola Android phone is late 2012, which is good news for those with contracts ending in the next few months and are hunting around for the latest smartphone in time for Christmas.

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