Thanks to our magic ball, early last month we predicted that Sony would release the long announced Xperia Ion in June. Not wanting to ruin our track record of predicting things, Sony Mobile has announced a June 24th release date for the AT&T exclusive 4G LTE device. You might recall that just yesterday, Sony also announced the Xperia Ion HSPA for countries that lack 4G LTE .

Seeing how we saw the Xperia Ion, Sony’s flagship Android smartphone 6 months ago at CES, lets take a refresher course on what this device is capable of. Some key features include:

• 4.6-inch 720p HD Reality display
• Dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S3 processor
• 16GB Internal Memory (expandable with SD card)
• 12-megapixel rear camera with Exmor R sensor
• PlayStation Mobile
• Android Gingerbread 2.3.7

Speaking of Android, despite the Xperia Ion shipping with Android 2.3 Gingerbread, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is right around the corner as a free update, later in the summer. Best of all, this AT&T exclusive smartphone is priced at just $99 with a two year contract. You can bet that a phone of this caliper had been launched by Apple and Samsung who are dominating the market, the price would easily have been $199. That’s why its refreshing for Sony to realize the position their brand is in and that though on a technical level the phone might merit it, many might not wish to pay a higher price with a brand they’ve became unfamiliar with.

Well played Sony, well played.

Discuss:

Does the Xperia Ion with a $99 price tag entice you?