Gone are the days of the Sony Ericsson Nozomi, say hello to the Sony Xperia S. We’ve waited a long time for Sony to pull the curtain on the Sony Ericsson Nozomi and now that they have, we’re left with a one letter moniker, less intrigue, and a device very similar to the Xperia Ion. Announced today, the Sony Xperia S is the first smartphone from the new Xperia NXT series and features:

• A 1.5GHz dual-core processor
• 720p display
• 12MP Exmor R camera
• NFC
• Android 2.3

As I said before, the Xperia S is very similar to the previously announced Xperia Ion, with the only differences being the Xperia S lacks LTE support. It’s also interesting to note that the Xperia S has been “Playstation Certified” while I can’t recall the Ion receiving the same certification (although it may have). Being “Playstation Certified” means access to the PlayStation Store and plenty of great games.

The Xperia S is definitely packing some serious hardware and should be even more appealing once the Android 4.0 update hits it. There’s no info about pricing but it is should be available within the next couple of months.