SE prepping ‘Nozomi’ for Q4 Japan release? 1.4Ghz, 4.3-inch, 720p display

I like the screenshot option

Unfortunately, it looks *slightly* disappointing although I would hope that, externally, it is a beautiful looking device.

Basically though, 1GB of RAM is nice, 4.3″ high-res display –depending on the external industrial design– and a few other things could be really nice, but the lack of Japanese market specific things like 1-seg and NFC (with e-wallet functionality and the functionality to use coupon by using NFC to have phones talk to registers, etc…), and water resistance is disappointing for the Japanese market.

Also, if the UIM slot will only accept mini UIM (MicroSIM sized and MicroSIM compatible), then that is also a huge disappointment if you already have regular UIMs.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they charged an additional fee to change your UIM to the Mini UIM.

Finally, what’s with the Navigation software being listed as Docomo Maps Navigation? What’s wrong with Google Navigation? It works pretty well in Japan.  That, or team up with NaviTime for their excellent Japanese market specific navigation that even tells you which train cars will be closest to the stairs at your destination or transfer point.

So, improvements revealed over existing models do not seem to be huge but the nice screen sounds good and further improvement to the Camera would be nice as well.

PS: Also not supported is Xi (Crossy), NTT Docomo’s LTE Advanced Implementation… but that’s not too surprising
PPS: Also forgot to mention the IR communications are not supported and while incredibly ubiquitous and widely used here for contacts beaming, I kind of hope that it gets phased out in favour of NFC.

me too

“Dual core’s more efficient at multi tasking..”
Well duh! :p

I could imagine that it is in fact a dual core phone as the 1.4Ghz is the same as highest dual core phone as of now, but who knows…

That Android skin looks sleek and polished! Very good, very good!
SonyEricsson should drop ‘XPERIA’ and choose a new solid timeless (not trendy) name for their lineup.+It should focus on design (thin and smooth, yet simple- genius) and MATERIALS. Make your smartphones from something *premium*- aluminum, steel, carbon fiber, glass, some unusual innovative materials;)Android is the best smart OS in the world! =)

The screenshots show chinese characters, not japanese. “Spec sheets” also the same. So, if this phone is for japanese market, I highly doubt the originality of the “leaked information”

Asking too much? Probably.

But, if this phone is for the Japanese market, they really should have market-specific features similar the Xperia Acro which at the time I originally wrote the comment, was one of the top 2 selling smartphones in Japan (along with the Galaxy S ii)… or if you combine both version of the Xperia Acro, it probably would have made it the best selling phone in that week.  I haven’t bothered to check sales figures since then.

The Japanese market wants some specific features.  Given two equally “glamourous” or “hyped up” models, they would choose the one with the features they want.

Water resistance is not the end of the world, but it’s a great differentiator for this market. Other things have already been developed for the Xperia Acro so there is some expectation going forward that companies should not be taking perceived steps backwards (although of course they do and it’s perfectly understandable why company do)