Sony today confirmed its newset flagship handset, the Xperia S, will go on sale in Australia from “early April”.
![](https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/e801bfc4d299da13a1ce4ffb442f204e10fd2bfd/hub/2012/03/25/872a51c8-cc2e-11e2-9a4a-0291187b029a/xperia-s_1.jpg?auto=webp&width=644)
(Credit: Sony)
Vodafone and Crazy Johns have locked in 11 April for the date of release for the new Android-powered handset. Optus has confirmed it will range the Xperia S, but has not yet settled on a firm date in April. The smartphone will also be available for outright purchase through JB Hi-Fi, Dick Smith Electronics, Allphones, Telechoice and Harvey Norman.
The Xperia S represents a milestone for Sony, being the first handset to carry only its branding since the company bought out its long-time partner Ericsson at the end of last year. The Xperia S is also Sony’s first dual-core-powered smartphone and sports the highest resolution display to come from the company for a smartphone to date.
Sony’s phone will face stiff competition though, with April set to be a busy month for smartphone releases. HTC has also selected early April to launch its latest superphone, the One X, with Vodafone and Optus also as launch partners. LG will launch the fashion-conscious Prada 3.0 handset exclusively with Vodafone next month, while Samsung is rumoured to announce the availability of the Samsung Galaxy S II 4G shortly.