Sony Xperia Z US Release Date: Launching Through Carrier In The Coming Weeks, AT&T or T-Mobile Most Likely

U.S. fans of Sony's waterproof Xperia Z have some good news: Sony CEO Kaz Hirai revealed that the popular Android handset will be launching through a U.S. carrier soon.

Hirai quelled questions about the Xperia Z's status in the United States at the recent D11 executive conference hosted by AllThingsD.

"We will make an announcement about the Xperia Z with a carrier very shortly," said Hirai.

Fellow Sony executive Phil Molyneux chimed in, saying that the announcement should be made in the coming weeks.

The million-dollar question is, of course, which carrier?

The two most likely candidates are AT&T and T-Mobile. Sony and AT&T have a storied history together, and given the fact that the Xperia ZL works on AT&T's LTE network, the Xperia Z could be headed there as well. T-Mobile also has a good shot, as it was just earlier this month that an LTE-enabled T-Mobile Xperia Z was seen passing through the FCC.

Given the fact that the Xperia Z only supports HSPA+/GSM networks, there's a slim chance the handset will appear on Verizon and Sprint CDMA networks. The Xperia Z has not yet proved itself in the United States, after having enjoyed the mantle of bestselling smartphone for six weeks in a row in Japan, Hirai is confident.

"We were able to do that - it's above and beyond Sony technology. It's the Sony brand. Think about the marketing prowess we bring,"  he explained.

The Sony Xperia Z comes with a 5-inch 1920X1080 display, a 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 16GB internal storage, 2GB RAM, and a 13-megapixel camera. The handset runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean out of the box. It's most unique feature, however, may be that it is waterproof and dustproof. Users can use the phone at depths of up to one meter for up to half an hour.