Sony has unveiled a new Android smartphone that lets users browse the web by hovering a finger above links they would normally touch.
The electronics giant’s Xperia Sola handset is the first mobile to feature a so-called “floating touch” user-interface, which essentially turns the user’s finger into a mouse cursor. Once positioned over the intended link or selection on the screen, it becomes highlighted and can be activated with a single tap.
The phone’s technology, which Sony Mobile Communications called “a sense of magic”, is similar to that used by Microsoft for its Xbox Kinect motions sensing device.
Other features of the Xperia Sola include a 3.7-inch display, 1-GHz dual-core processor, a 5MP HD camera and 3D surround sound audio technology.
The device will run Android 2.3 – with an upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich promised this summer – and come with Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, as well as two NFC-enabled SmartTags that will allow users to quickly load apps and change their phone’s settings.
Sony said it will launch the Xperia Sola globally in the second quarter of 2012, although it is unlikely to arrive in the UK until the second half of the year.
