Frustration at Xperia ion release in Taiwan as US waits on
Only a few days ago we shared our hopes with readers that the Sony Xperia ion would be released shortly, following news that this Android smartphone had finally received certification. Many people have been waiting patiently for its arrival stateside but today we have news that it is about to release in Taiwan, which we’re sure will lead to frustration as those in the U.S. still wait on.
This smartphone impressed many when it was unveiled at CES back in January but we noted how it seemed rather strange that so little had been heard of it since. It was officially announced that it would be carried by AT&T in the US but we had heard almost nothing about it since its first reveal until news of it receiving certification came through, leading many to think it may release imminently. However today we have heard that the Xperia ion is about to launch but sadly for now at least, only in Taiwan.
This news is somewhat odd as the phone was originally announced as an exclusive for the US but Unwired View, sourced from ePrice, has revealed a release date for the Xperia ion in Taiwan as April 26, tomorrow in fact. What makes this more bizarre is that the Xperia ion is an LTE-equipped smartphone and there are no LTE networks in Taiwan yet so the market there won’t even be able to make full use of the ion’s capabilities.
Unwired View goes on to say that a release on AT&T looks probable for May or June so hopefully there’s not too much longer to wait. Nevertheless we’re pretty sure that there will be an awful lot of potential US customers eager to get their hands on the Xperia ion who may well feel that they are missing out. The model number for the Taiwan variant of the Xperia ion may well vary from that of the AT&T version (LT28at) and the name may even change for its launch there.
Specs though are expected to be the same and as a quick recap we’ll remind you that the Xperia ion features a 1.5GHZ dual-core processor, 4.55-inch HD display, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage (expandable with microSD) and a 12-megapixel rear camera. The only drawback is that it will release running on the Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS rather than 4.0 ICS although an upgrade will follow later.
In our previous post on the Xperia ion we had several comments from readers venting the general feeling that the wait had been too long and most couldn’t understand why there had been so little information forthcoming on the ion since the reveal. Most were still waiting for a US release soon so let’s hope that AT&T does launch the Xperia ion sooner rather than later. If not, more sales of what does look like a very decent Android smartphone will undoubtedly be lost, especially with the big reveal of the Samsung Galaxy S3 expected next week.
While the wait goes on you may want to check out a video that we’ve embedded below showing a demo of the Sony Xperia ion. Are you still waiting for the Sony Xperia ion on AT&T? Do you feel frustrated that it will release in Taiwan first or maybe you think this is a positive sign that it will soon come to the US too? Let us know with your comments.
Comments
11 thoughts on “Frustration at Xperia ion release in Taiwan as US waits on”
Sony…what are you trying to hide from US customers? I’ve been interested in the Xperia Ion since its announcement at CES. Yes… I am bothered that Taiwan will be getting the Ion first while the US has to wait without any new information. Really, I’d appreciate any official update from Sony regarding the US version. A release date update….rather than “coming soon” would be nice. Anything is better than dealing with the current radio silence. It feel like were being ignored….and that’s the last thing you want a customer to feel.
So what does the Galaxy S3 have to offer
Galaxy S3 is likely to have Exynos 4 Quad, the new processor features four cores clocked at 1.4GHz and is based on the ARM Cortex A9 chipset design. I really like Sony products, but they consistently are late to market on their phones. Great technology, cool features, but always seems to be a day late and a dollar short…
I’m extremely frustrated with this… the iPhone 5 is coming in June so Sony had better be waiting for the May 8th date, becuase they’re going to lose a lot of sales if it’s not then. Seriously, I might go Galaxy s3 as well if we don’t at least get a real date. It’s bad enough that Apple tries to be secretive, Sony doesn’t need to also.
Hopefully worth the wait…
I think the problem may be the US government or AT&T. Going through Forum certification means nothing; it still must go through FCC certification, something it does not have to go through for Taiwan. AT&T must also throw their bloatware on the device, which the Taiwan version more than likely will not have. I am getting very sick of the waiting game for this phone even though I have been saving my upgrade for a few months now specifically for the Ion.
Not a valid argument, ALL cell phones go through FCC and carriers and they give out solid release dates and meet those dates. Sony has a history of leaving consumers in the dark. It’s not the FCC, carriers or the government because if it was, all cell phones would have real crappy communication with their customers and the media. This is Sony’s fault and they continue to dig their grave with lack of any marketing for the US market.
It would be very tempting to buy the Euro/Asian version but it would only work in 2g here in the U.S. I guess I will have to patiently wait as well.Â
I might be interested in this. More or less exhausted all my previous Android phone options as all of them we’re defective or had some flaw. Then again if we don’t get any random reboot loop reports in the first weeks of release, I wouldn’t entirely surprised either.
When the ION was announced at CES they clearly said the ION would be exclusive to the US. Why did they say that? Because they knew they have screwed the US market on so many occasions that any desire for sony branded phones in the US went away. They were trying to recover from their blunders in the US market by offering this phone exclusively to the US. So what do they do? They release it in Taiwan and continue to leave US customers in the dark. Way to go Sony, your genius marketing continues and your foot in the grave gets deeper.Â
I am very interested in Sony’s phone but really sick to waiting in dark.
I’m almost to the point where I’m thinking by the time this is released there will be 4 or 5 phones that will beat this back spec wise…. not a good move sony for delaying this soo long. 1) it makes me think that there’s something wrong with the phone software/hardware wise 2) makes me think I need to look at Nokia again (coming from an N900 potentially to another nokia) or a Samsung (which I really dont’ want to do).. Come on release already or at least give a date.