There have been a few signs pointing to the possibility of an Xperia Arc release on AT&T in the US - FCC paperwork showing the proper bands are in place, a new model number for the smartphone that hinted at an AT&T connection - but so far no word from the carrier. It now looks like there won't be a subsidized version available, but that shouldn't keep you from getting your hands on the Arc, as Sony Ericsson is now offering the smartphone for sale directly through its website to US customers.
You could have imported an Arc already, were you really serious about obtaining one, but direct US sales should make that chore all the easier for interested parties. The phone will run you $600 without contractual obligation, which is pretty much par for the course. Quad-band HSPA will let you get online in the US with - no surprise here - AT&T as your carrier.
We recently heard about the possibility for a manufacturing defect to lead to some minor cracking of the Arc's facade, but other than that hiccup it's supposed to be quite the solid Android. The Arc's powered by a 1GHz Snapdragon QSD8255, has a 4.2-inch WVGA screen with a BRAVIA Reality Display, and ships running Gingerbread.
