Sony
Xperia ion

When the Xperia ion was announced at the CES trade show in Las Vegas it was as part of an exclusive agreement with US carrier, AT&T. Later in 2012 it was offered to other mobile network operators around the world, predominantly as a 3G HSDPA variant. The AT&T variant had the model number LT28at, while the 3G variant (which is included in the Mobile Phone Museum collection) had the model number LT28h. The phone was notable for being the first Xperia smartphone to be branded as a Sony rather than a Sony Ericsson device. The AT&T variant was also the first 4G LTE-capable Xperia device. It had an impressive 4.6-inch HD display and HDMI-out support allowing users to easily share content to other screens such as a TV or monitor. Sony boasted that the ion’s camera was one of the fastest when it came to its “time to capture”. The 12-megapixel rear HD camera was able to go from standby mode to the first shot in 1.5 seconds. The front-facing camera was also able to record in HD quality. Sony offered Xperia ion users access to the Sony Entertainment Network which comprised Music Unlimited, which had a global catalogue of 15 million songs, and also Video Unlimited which had the latest Hollywood blockbusters and TV shows from all major studios. The phone was also PlayStation Certified which Sony claimed ensured a high-quality smartphone gaming experience.