Sony Ericsson announced its first TD-SCDMA smartphone, specifically directed at the Chinese market. Called the Sony Ericsson A8i, the handset will be running China Mobile's Open Mobile System 2.0, a proprietary platform based on Android.
A quick look at the handset reveals a design aesthetic that's similar to what the company has done with both the Xperia X10 and X8. It sports 117 x 59 x 14 mm dimensions and weighs 136 grams.
Details of the Sony Ericsson A8i include a 3.5-inch touchscreen display (854 x 480 resolution), a 5.0 megapixel camera, aGPS, 3G, WiFi, stereo Bluetooth, a 3.5mm jack, microSD card expansion (up to 32GB). Battery is rated at 5 hours of talk time, with 260 hours of standby.
We haven't played with OMS 2.0 first hand, so we're not sure what it's all about. From the sound of it, though, it inherits most of Android's messaging and overall smartphone capabilities, sans the bundled Google suite of apps. Since it's a Sony Ericsson device, it comes with their usual set of multimedia software, paired with China Mobile's custom offerings. There's also CNMB mobile TV on board.
The Sony Ericsson A8i is strictly for release in China. It will be available in two colors (black and white) sometime in the fourth quarter.
