The most exciting Android announcement of the week may not matter for Americans

A curious thing happens almost every year in the land of Android announcements: We hear about some of the most interesting Android phones around -- devices that not only are beautifully designed and a pleasure to use but also fill an important gap in the current Android ecosystem -- and then...nothing.

Crickets.

Silence.

For those of us in America, it's as if the phones were no more than a mirage.

I'm talking about Sony's Android phones -- the always-impressive Xperia Z flagship series. If you didn't pick up on that, don't worry: You aren't alone. Most people in the U.S. have no idea those devices even exist.

As someone who watches the Android ecosystem closely, though, Sony's irrelevance in the U.S. gets more baffling with every passing year. The company really is doing something special -- something that stands out from the sea of sameness that's much of the smartphone market -- and yet, you'd be hard-pressed to find most of its mobile products anywhere in this country.

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