Sony Adds Xperia P and Xperia U To Local Line Up, Brings The WhiteMagic


Sony’s Xperia family just got that little bit bigger in Australia thanks to the arrival of two new members: the 4-inch Xperia P and the 3.5-inch Xperia U, complete with something called WhiteMagic screen technology.

WhiteMagic describes a type of screen technology that use puts an extra white pixel next to the red, green and blue pixels already inside an LCD screen. Here’s how Sony says it works:

In LCD screens, the sub pixels are made of liquid crystals in the three primary colours through which the backlight  is filtered in different proportions to compose different colours. In normal LCDs, white is represented by letting the backlight pass through all three sub pixels in the right proportion. In the Xperia P display with WhiteMagic technology, the light can also be filtered through the white sub pixel, to represent a true white. WhiteMagic technology will significantly increase display brightness compared to normal LCD and OLED screens. In this way, WhiteMagic technology can be used to double the brightness or to save up to 50% of the backlight power based on user’s preference and surrounding light. By making the display brighter, it also brings out details in images and video content.

The Xperia P comes with a 4-inch WhiteMagic screen, a 1Ghz dual-core processor, 16GB of on-board storage, an 8.1 megapixel camera (with 3D and panorama support) and HDMI and NFC capabilities, draped in silver aluminium.

The little brother, Xperia U handset is geared more towards music users, complete with a 3.5-inch display, 1 Ghz dual-core processor, 5 megapixel camera (with 3D and panorama support), 3D surround sound technology and comes in black with a pink cap.

Disappointingly, both the Xperia P and the Xperia U ship with Android 2.3 Gingerbread installed, but Sony is promising an update to Android 4.x Ice Cream Sandwich in the next few months.

Telstra will carry the Xperia U from 26 June for $0 on its $49 Freedom Plan for 24 months, before Dick Smith starts carrying the handset outright on 14 July for $447 outright.

The Xperia P meanwhile is a little kinder on the hip pocket. Crazy Johns will carry from 22 July it for $0 on a $15 Value Plan, while Dick Smith will sell it outright at around the same time for $289.


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