The newest addition to this fall's bevy of hotly-anticipated smartphone releases is an offering from Sony called the Xperia SL. Since July of this year, the gadget grapevine had been abuzz with rumors and leaks that a Sony Xperia S upgrade to Xperia SL was on its way. Over the weekend, Japanese electronics bigwig Sony quietly announced the launch of its Xperia SL on the company's official Web site.

The Android-powered Sony Xperia SL is a follow-up to the company's flagship Xperia S. The "S" to "SL" progression does not feature a gamut of dramatic improvements, but the Xperia SL makes way for a few firsts and packs a punch with key enhancements including a faster 1.7GHz processor.

The 4.3-inch Xperia SL will sport a scratch-resistant touchscreen with a 720x1280 pixel resolution. The faster dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, clocked at 1.7GHz with 1GB of RAM, will power the smartphone. This processor betters the current Xperia S, which features a 1.5GHz dual-core CPU. The Xperia SL will also come pre-loaded with Android 4.0 ICS as opposed to the Xperia S's Android 2.3 Gingerbread platform offering.

The Xperia SL will also sport a 12-megapixel front-facing camera with HD 1080p video recording, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, HDMI and DLNA connectivity, 32GB of internal storage, and a 1750mAh battery.

Moreover, the Xperia SL is tapping into the consumer market and increasing its user attractiveness through the introduction of two new color options. It will be available in four color variants: pink, silver, black, and white. By contrast, the Xperia S offers only a black or white phone model option.

The Sony Xperia SL is anticipated to make its debut at IFA 2012 in Berlin next week. Sony has not yet released information on the release date and pricing.