Sony Ericsson Nypon shows off Ice Cream Sandwich on video

Sony Ericsson is turning Japanese -- we really think so -- with the Sony Ericsson Nypon. And we've had a first sneaky glimpse of the insides of the rumoured phone, complete with Android Ice Cream Sandwich on board.

The Nypon, also known as the Sony Ericsson Nypon LT22i, packs a 540x960-pixel screen. Word on the street is it will be powered by Sony Ericsson's own NovaThor U8500 processor, a 1GHz dual-core chip. And here's a video released today by Sony Ericsson showing the NovaThor chip in action running Ice Cream Sandwich...

Sony Ericsson has a couple of exotically named Android phones in the pipeline. The Nypon, also known as the LT22i, is joined by the Nozomi, aka the LT26i, and Aoba, or LT28i. The Nozomi could be the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc HD, or something else entirely. These are just codenames, and will be traded in for Son Eric's trademark simple names when the phones hit shops next year.

The company has confirmed that every Xperia phone from this year will be upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich. That includes the decent Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S and Xperia Ray, and the slightly less decent Xperia Play.

Ice Cream Sandwich is the latest version of Android, Google's software for smart phones and tablets. It makes its debut on the troubled Samsung Galaxy Nexus, currently experiencing teething problems. The new software includes features like unlocking your phone with your face, zapping photos to other phones by tapping them together, and assorted updates across the board.

There's big changes afoot at Sony Ericsson. The partnership between Japanese mega-corporation Sony and Swedish telecoms company Ericsson, which has lasted the past decade, is ending as Sony cashes Ericsson out for £918m. Sony is keeping the phone business and connected patents, as it attempts to bring phones into a tighter huddle with its tablets, tellies and laptops.