Well how about this, our trusty all-things-Telstra source has come through with the goods once again. This time confirming the availability of the following phones and tablet that will launch with the corresponding dates.
- Samsung Galaxy Ace – mid April
- Motorola Atrix – mid May
- Sony Ericsson Xperia Play – mid May
- Motorola XOOM – late May
- Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo – Coming soon
It’s good to see a confirmation of the Motorola Atrix after Telstra hinted at it a few months back. They also hinted at Tablets, so it’s nice to see the almighty Motorola XOOM make an appearance in the lineup. The XOOM will be a direct competitor against the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1v which is launching on Vodafone in the next two to three weeks. The Galaxy Ace, which is more or less a smaller, less powerful, Galaxy S, is the first to launch and will make itself at home as a mid-range device on Telstra. The Xperia Play (which we love!) will launch around mid May with the Atrix and sit at the high-end of the Telstra range, though we’d love to see it on prepaid for all the school kids who will love this device. Last but not least is the Xperia Neo, which our source has noted as having no concrete launch date just yet.
Interestingly enough, our source made no mention of the HTC Pyramid (or Sensation), Desire S or Wildfire S. Maybe they’ll hit later around the middle of the year. Bring on the launch dates, Telstra!
The Xperia Neo has been reported to have been delayed to July due to the supply chain disruptions caused by the Japanese earthquake/tsunami; Sony Ericsson is concentrating on keeping the Arc and Play in production for the time being.
Hey.. a question from someone who doesn’t know a great deal about the Xperia series.
Is the Xperia Pro – the full QWERTY Xperia.. is that still coming out?
I haven’t heard much about it of late..
No news on an Australian launch date but i would expect more than one carrier to get it this year. Here is a great review if you wanna waste some time http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/hands-on-sony-ericsson-xperia-pro-review-928559
Many thanks!
Now I just need to decide whether to nurture the clinical side of me (the Xperia Pro) or the gaming side of me (Xperia Play). Since the play is coming out earlier, I dare say that’ll be it.
Thanks for your help.
I hope Telstra will sell a WiFi only model also….
I hope Telstra will sell a WiFi only model also….
if the xoom is anywhere near the 10.1v’s price, I’m in
Based on the USD pricing, sadly I think going to be way more $$$$ than the sammy 10.1v
No pricing on these things right?
I really want to know what kind of plans the Atrix and Xoom will be on.
I must say, you guys are really establishing yourselves as a serious Android blog.
You’ve even got people leaking to you now 🙂
I wonder what 3G bands the Xoom will support. It looks like the UK model only supports 2100MHz. It would be nice if it supported all 4 popular bands like Samsung.
Considering these are going to be offered by Telstra, what’s the betting that Telstra will have them locked down to only do Telstra bands, rather than allow them to do all the bands they they are capable of.
Telstra don’t lock down or modify the bands on any of the phones they sell. The issue is that Telstra use a different frequency for their 3G network compared to the other carriers. Very few carriers around the world use this frequency (850MHz) but some others include AT&T in the U.S and Rogers in Canada. In general, to cater for these networks mobile manufacturers make phones with a different chipset which supports these frequencies at the expense of others (almost always the 900MHz frequency which is used by the other 3 networks in Australia). As technology gets better there are… Read more »
BTW thailand are big on the 850mhz for the 3g network too…
This is one of the big selling points for me is the quad band 3g on the sammy. Hopefully the xoom matches this, else its out the window on my shopping list.
This is one of the big selling points for me is the quad band 3g on the sammy. Hopefully the xoom matches this, else its out the window on my shopping list.