New. Not improved. Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo V.

Here's a mystery.. namely the Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo V. It's not often that a hardware manufacturer revises a product and makes it less good, but for some reason SE have taken the 8 megapixel camera out of the Xperia Neo and replaced it with a 5 megapixel sensor in the Neo V.

Apparently, Sony hinted that they might be supplying 8 megapixel sensors to Apple for the next generation iPhone, and it is well known that the earthquake and tsunami in Japan has been causing problems with certain areas of the supply chain.

From the point of view of Sony Ericsson's customers, it really doesn't make much difference, because camera phone picture quality is constrained by more things than the pixel count, and besides the updated camera software in the Neo V probably compensates for it.

But - and this really is speculation - if Sony are switching components from their subsidiary to another project then it indicates that there must be some serious supply problems indeed. Apple always have a massive amount of iPhone handsets in their inventory when they launch a new product, so it remains a tantalizing possibility..