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Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc HD photos leak, but no Android 4.0

Photos of the upcoming Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc HD (also known as the Xperia Nozomi) have leaked, along with a bunch of specs.

Luke Westaway Senior editor
Luke Westaway is a senior editor at CNET and writer/ presenter of Adventures in Tech, a thrilling gadget show produced in our London office. Luke's focus is on keeping you in the loop with a mix of video, features, expert opinion and analysis.
Luke Westaway
2 min read

Photos of the upcoming Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc HD (codenamed the Xperia Nozomi) have leaked, along with a host of specs.

The details, sent to GSMArena, suggest that when it launches the mobile will be slightly bigger than the Arc, sporting a 4.3-inch LCD display. Not unusual, but we're far more intrigued by the purported 720x1,280-pixel HD resolution -- so far only the gorgeous Samsung Galaxy Nexus packs that many pixels.

Around the back we're expecting a honking great 12-megapixel camera. The Xperia Arc had a terrific camera thanks to Sony's own Exmor R CMOS Sensor, so we've got high hopes for this snapper.

Design-wise, we like the look of that clear slab underneath the screen. It looks to house touch-sensitive buttons, and while we worry it'll feel a tad tacky once we're actually holding the thing, at least it makes the Arc HD stand out.

A dual-core 1.5GHz processor and 1GB of RAM are rumoured to be chugging away inside -- if true that should make this phone a frighteningly powerful one. There are some restrictions though -- it uses a Micro SIM rather than the normal kind, the battery is not removable, and like the Nexus there's no microSD card slot, so you're stuck with the 16 or 32GB of built-in storage.

No Ice Cream Sandwich

Apparently this phone will launch running Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread, which is a version behind the newest edition, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

ICS brings a significant interface overhaul to Google's mobile operating system, and a host of new features like the ability to unlock your phone using your face. It's already out there, running on the Galaxy Nexus, so to not have it as standard on a new Android mobile is a severe disappointment.

We think we'll probably see this phone making its debut at the CES tech show in January, where we'll hopefully also learn its official name. Stay tuned for more info, and in the meantime let us know whether you're excited about this mobile in the comments, or on our Facebook page.