What with the Google ad we’ve recently seen, it seems clear that after a couple of months of not hearing much about the Sony Xperia Ion, it’s nearing a US release. The Google ad we recently saw told us that the handset would be out in June exclusively to AT&T. The Sony Xperia Ion has also been certified by the GCF (Global Certification Forum) which means it’s close to being released.

Hopefully we’ll hear something official from Sony or AT&T regarding the release date of the Xperia Ion which will be the first Sony LTE phone in the US – when it is released any way. Other handsets announced for AT&T after the Ion, have already been released so hopefully we won’t have to wait much longer.

Along with the arrival of more cases for the Xperia range, Sony Mobile Japan have also decided to get in on the accessory action by releasing their own bizarre USB emergency charging device for their smartphones.

Due for release in Japan on June 20th and costing 8000 Yen, the CP-A2LAKS USB charger is a ‘wind-up’ device where users simply crank the handle for, as Sony recommend, three minutes to give a connected handset one minute of call time. Alternatively, the fitter user could carry on cranking that handle for five minutes and gain a whole minute of internet browsing through their smartphone.

Alternatively, by plugging the charger into the mains supply and ironically ‘charging it’, the device will store the power and can provide a smartphone with the equivalent of two full charges which is more useful, especially for travelling.

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With the market for mobile accessories becoming increasingly more popular worldwide, Sony have taken steps to ensure that they are more involved with the accessories that are created for it’s own range of Xperia mobile smartphones.

Sony has joined forces with a number of arguably the most notable mobile case manufacturers including CaseMate, Coptor, Orbyx, Krussel, Dicota, Muvit, Incipio, Shinnorie and RoxFit to ensure that Xperia owners have as big a variety of cases available for their Xperia handset as possible.The range of cases due to be released will be officially revealed this month along with cost details.

Of course, there is still a huge market for cheaper accessories on the likes of eBay so hopefully, Sony and it’s new case partners won’t price themselves too highly and will endeavour to encourage more users to opt for the better quality mobile accessories for what are becoming increasingly more expensive handsets.

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One thing that has troubled Xperia owners is those who own Macs have been unable to update their Xperia handsets, as Bridge for Mac didn’t allow users to update the software and PC Companion and the Sony Ericsson Update Service were for Windows machines only.

With version 2.0 of Bridge for Mac though, users are now able to update their Sony (Ericsson) devices. Which will be important over the coming weeks as Android 4.0 has began rolling out for specific 2011 Xperia models already and the Android Ice Cream Sandwich update for the Xperia S will also be released shortly. You can download Bridge for Mac from Sony Mobile

Two unannounced Sony handsets have made shown up on the GL Benchmark website. The Sony ST23i is likely to be similar to the ST21i aka Tapioca. The ST23i could be known as the Tapioca DS, as it’s rumoured to support dual sims.

The other handset that has shown up, is the WT23i which will be a Walkman phone and another “low end” handset. The benchmark gives us a little  information about the handset. We can see that the WT23i, while not an Xperia handset will run Android with an 800MHz processor like the ST23i and both will have a screen with a resolution of 320×480. Apart from the benchmarks more information about either handset is currently sparse but, we don’t expect the handsets to have a global release.

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As well as announcing the Sony Xperia P, Sony have announced the Xperia U which also features the Sony Xperia NXT Series design. The Xperia U will feature a 3.5″ display making it the smaller of the NXT series which includes the Xperia P and the previously announced Xperia S.

The Xperia U will feature a 5 megapixel camera, a step down from the 8 megapixel camera found on the Xperia P. Sony have also included a 1GHz dual core processor on the Xperia U. Unlike it’s bigger brothers, the Xperia U doesn’t feature NFC technology. Both the Xperia U and Xperia P should be available from the middle of Q2.

We heard the other day that Sony’s buyout of Ericsson from the joint venture had been approved by the European commission. The process was due to be complete in January but, it’s taken slightly longer than anticipated but, Sony Ericsson is now known officially as Sony Mobile Communications.

Existing handsets will continue to bear the Sony Ericsson branding but, future handsets including the Xperia S will only carry Sony’s name on them.

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Mobile World Congress starts tomorrow in Barcelona but, several companies are holding press events today where they will be unveiling new products. Sony will be one of those companies and for those of us not at Mobile World Congress, you can “join” Sony on their Facebook page. They will be streaming the event live for us Sony [Ericsson] fans to watch.

To join the event and see the stream, head on over to their Facebook page here. The press event starts at 19:00pm in Europe, which is 10:00 PST, 13:00 EST, 18:00 GMT and 23:30 IST.

Back in October Sony bought Ericsson out of the 10 year joint venture for €1.05 billion acquiring Ericsson’s patents and allowing Sony to integrate their phones more with their own products. At CES we saw the Xperia S which dropped the Ericsson branding but, all images of the Xperia Ion and Xperia S came with the disclaimer “Use of Sony brand subject to regulatory approval”.

In Europe the buyout has now been approved and the Sony Ericsson brand will no longer be used. Future mobiles will instead be branded under Sony Mobile Communication.

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Sony [Ericsson] have unveiled a swanky range of 3 new accessories for NFC or Bluetooth capable Android-running smartphones. The ‘Smart Extras’ include NFC tags (which will also come bundled with the Sony Xperia S handset) called Xperia SmartTags, a SmartWatch and the Smart Wireless Headset Pro.

SmartTags will work with any NFC enabled Android smartphone and will enable the user to change settings on their phone to a pre configured ‘profile’ simply by swiping the phone against the tag. It is also possible to configure the tags to open apps on touching the phone. For example, it is possible to use a SmartTag to switch a handset to a configured night time profile where by on swiping the tag, the phone automatically turns an alarm on or perhaps turns the phone to silent mode, all done by touching the SmartTag with the handset using NFC technology.

Anyone that has used the Sony Ericsson LiveView will recognise some of the features of the SmartWatch. The watch displays updates from social media outlets such as  Facebook and Twitter, shows emails and text messages and can show caller ID. The SmartWatch can also play music and is scratch proof and ‘splash proof’ too making it ideal for using in the gym. TheSmartWatch also features multi touch on the display.

The Smart Wireless Headset Pro is a bluetooth headset that can also be used as a stand alone FM radio and MP3 player when not connected to a mobile handset. It features a crisp black and white OLED display which shows call lists, caller ID, media information and can display text messages too.It will also be possible to download apps from the Android market to customise the headset.

Full specifications and details of all three of the Sony Smart Extras can be found on the Sony Ericsson website.