Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray beaming to Vodafone

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray will be coming to Vodafone. The red-tinged operator is the latest UK network to confirm it will be selling the Android-powered smart phone, by means of a 'coming soon' page on its website.

Details of the actual launch date are still scant, with the Vodafone registration page simply saying the phone will be landing 'soon'. We reported in June that the Ray was listed on Carphone Warehouse with an August release, so we imagine we won't have long to wait.

It looks as though Vodafone will be stocking a black and gold version of the Ray too. We're fans of more colourful mobiles, but if you fancy trying to convince your extremely short-sighted friends you've got a phone made of real gold, this is the way to do it.

We're rather excited about the Ray, which looks like a slimmed-down version of the excellent Xperia Arc, with a 3.3-inch touchscreen and measuring just 9.4mm thick -- almost as slim as the iPhone 4 (which is 9.3mm across).

Despite its slender size, there's a 1GHz processor inside, which powers the Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system. An 8.1-megapixel camera is glued to the Ray's rear, and powered by the same Exmor R CMOS sensor that's in the Xperia Arc. We were particularly smitten with the Arc's display, so we're hoping some of that magic rubs off on the Ray.

Because it's a little smaller, we'd be disappointed if the Xperia Ray wasn't cheaper than the Arc. We'd love to see a really decent mid-range Sony Ericsson Android phone.

The Xperia Ray is also coming to Three. Keep it CNET UK for all the latest on this Android phone, and let us know whether you'll be getting one in the comments section below, or on our Facebook wall.