Sony today announced the Xperia S, a new Android smartphone that is among the first wave of products to lose the Sony Ericsson branding. The Xperia S is similar to the Xperia Ion announced earlier today. It has a 4.3-inch 720p HD display, 12-megapixel Exmor camera, and a 1.5GHz dual-core processor. The Xperia S will include support for near-field communications and ships with Android 2.3 Gingerbread with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich promised for the second quarter of the year. It will come in black and white, and will be available in select markets by the end of the first quarter.