Sony have announced that they have partnered with several case and accessory makers, such as CaseMate to bring more case options to the Xperia range of Sony handsets. While some people prefer their handsets without any cases on, I personally prefer to give my phone some extra protection to keep it shiny and scratch free and with this partnership, it will bring a wider range of cases which, should mean there is something to suit every one.

Perhaps a sign of something big to come from the mobile giant is the news that Sony have filed for the Trademark on the name ‘Xperia Duo’ with the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office).

Alongside the other two ‘hardware’ additions to the Sony Xperia Smart Extras range, Sony have also announced the arrival of exciting new product – Xperia SmartTags into the Smart Extras family.

SmartTags are basically tags that use NFC (near field communication) technology to communicate with any Android smartphone capable of using NFC. The Xperia SmartTags can be configured to change the profile on a mobile handset when the phone touches the tag. As an example, you could take one tag and configure it so that when you swipe it with your phone, the tag changes the phone profile to turn on WiFi, turn the phone onto silent, open an app and so on.

More new products from Sony have been announced, in the form of three ‘smart’ accessories that will not only be compatible with the new Xperia NXT range of handsets but, with any Android smartphone with bluetooth or NFC support enabled.

Announcing it’s arrival as their ‘flagship smartphone’, Sony have now confirmed the release of the Xperia S handset, their first foray into the mobile phone market since splitting with former partner Ericsson recently.

The Xperia S comes packed with a 1.5 GHz dual core, 1GB RAM, a fantastic 4.3-inch 720×1280 resolution reality display, NFC support and a 12 MP Exmor R camera. Sony have also confirmed that the Xperia S is to be their first handset release in their new ‘Xperia NXT series’ and will come preinstalled with the Android 2.3 operating system although, sources tell us that Ice Cream Sandwich should be coming to the Xperia S in Spring 2012.