New Android smartphones at CES 2011

With the announcement of the LG Optimus 2X before the new year, and an Nvidia Tegra 2 chip, I was expecting to see a slew of dual core Android smartphones announced as CES 2011. LG did not disappoint with another flagship phone announcement, the LG Optimus Black, with an improve 4-inch 800 x 480 NOVA display also with Nvidia Tegra 2 chip inside. 

LG Optimus Black

The Optimus 2X will be LG's flagship phone for the first quarter of 2011, and in the second quarter the Optimus Black will come out. Its like announcing an iPhone 4, and before it is out showing off an iPhone 5 out a mere three months later. Kind of makes you want to wait for the Optimus Black and get that or wait good deal on the, by than, older generation Optimus 2X.

Motorola Atrix 4G

Motorola also did not disappoint with their Atrix 4G. This device is massively impressive. It sports a 4-inch 960x540 screen. Inside it has a Tegra 2, 1GB of RAM and a 1930 mAh battery. The battery is 50% bigger than most. It also has an accessory called the WebTop. Basically it is a keyboard and LCD that converts your Atrix into a "netbook." Now this is one innovation I really really like. Take a look at it here.

Motorola also announced a Droid Bionic with specifications nearly identical to the Atrix 4G.

What we were not expecting were Sony Ericsson's and Samsung offerings. Sony Ericsson unveiled the XPERIA Arc, likely to be called the XPERIA X12 in the Philippines. It is surprising since it has larger screen than the former SE flagship, the X10. The XPERIA Arc will have a 4.2-inch 854 x 480 screen. Samsung also surprised us with its Infuse 4G which has an even larger 4.5-inch 800 x 480 screen. Move over, HTC HD series, you are no longer the biggest kid on the block.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc

What was surprising other than the larger than expected LCD screens, was that both the XPERIA Arc and InFuse 4G are powered by single core processors. The XPERIA Arc will be powered by a 1GHz Qualcomm processor while the InFuse 4G has a 1.2GHz Samsung Humingbird processor.

Samsung InFuse 4G

The absence of dual core processors may seem disappointing. But I suspect Sony Ericsson and Samsung have dual core version of their flagships ready to go for the second or third quarter of the year. What is the point of rendering your flagship obsolete before launch by announcing another one.