While we all knew that the announcement Sony Ericsson had in store for us would include further information about the Xperia Play, what we weren’t expecting was the announcement of two other handsets in the Xperia line.

First Sony Ericsson announced the Xperia Neo after reiterating information about the Xperia Arc. The Xperia Neo features many features found on the Xperia Arc and to many will be seen as a “mini Arc”. The Xperia Neo features an 8 megapixel camera with Exmor R. The screen is slightly smaller but, also uses Mobile Bravia technology, which will enhance the viewing experience and will make colors more vibrant and vivid. As expected, the Xperia Neo will also be powered by Android and have Android 2.3 on launch.

Next up, Sony Ericsson unveiled the Xperia Pro. The Sony Ericsson Pro is hugely based off of the X10 Mini Pro, where it sports a slide out QWERTY keyboard. The handset is described as being perfect for those who email and message a lot. The handset is also considerable bigger than the Mini Pro, which will also make messaging easier. Sony Ericsson explained that the Xperia Pro would feature “smart keyboard” technology. This means if you want to reply to an email or message using the keyboard, you don’t have to bring up the menu to reply or forward the message, as opening the keyboard will bring you to this dialogue box instead. If you ignore the dialogue box and begin to type, it will automatically set itself to reply to the message. The smart keyboard technology brings the software and hardware of the handset closer to work in unison.

Lastly, Sony Ericsson provided more details about the Xperia Play. Upon launch, we know that there will be at least 50 launch titles, with one game pre-installed on the handset. Also there are over 20 publishing partners working with Sony Ericsson to produce games for the Xperia Play, which are optimized for use on the Xperia Play. The PlayStation Suite will also bring new games in the future, as well as the Android market. PlayStation One games will also be available on the handset.

Both the Xperia Play and Xperia Neo are due to be released from March and the US are said to be one of the first countries to receive the Xperia Play, something that many will agree Sony Ericsson messed up on with regards to the Xperia X10, as the X10 was released considerably late in the US. A release date for the Xperia Pro however wasn’t mentioned.

Ahead of the Mobile World Congress, it appears that the giant test booths for Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Play handset have been leaked. Each test booth has three handsets on top of the booth, each with what appears to be a description beside it, most probably describing different aspects and features of the handset. While the actual booth depicts someone using an Xperia Play and the handset in large at the bottom. The tag “Smart Phone, Smart Gaming” also appears on the booth, which would be the tagline for the handset, instead of what we’ve already seen: “Android is ready to play”.

The Mini X10, which was codenamed Robyn, appears to have been renamed to Recall. Rumors are rife that Sony Ericsson will announce Recall at the Mobile World Congress next month. Sony Ericsson are also likely to announce Abelin there, which could well be the Xperia X9. Albein will feature a QWERTY keyboard and resemble the BlackBerry. Like the X10 and Recall, Albein will also run on Android. Albein will also feature a 5 megapixel camera, like the X10 mini. Other information on specs are not known yet, nor are they any images of Albein in circulation.

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