The European Union has approved Sony’s acquisition of Ericsson’s stake in their smartphone enterprise. The approval was granted on January 26 and gives the company the green light to forge ahead with its Sony-only smartphone branding, design and development. Sony announced it was moving to buyout Ericsson’s holdings in late October at a cost of $1.4 billion.
The Xperia ion introduced at CES has just got its first price tag, thanks to Negri Electronics. The third-party outfit is listing an unlocked device for just short of $570. The pre-order doesn't include a shipping date, however.
At a special event ahead of CES, AT&T has announced that it is set to launch six new LTE devices early this year. The offerings include Samsung's Galaxy Note, Galaxy S II Skyrocket HD and Exhilarate; Pantech's Element and Burst; and Sony's Xperia ion. The Note, a 5.3-inch device that fits somewhere between smartphones and tablets, was the subject of several recent leaks.
Sony Ericsson has filed to establish trademark protection for the term "Xperia ION", hinting at the company's upcoming branding. Although the US Patent and Trademark Office documents do not shed light on a specific product, the filing was tied to the cellphone market and is expected to be used for one of the company's flagship devices.
