I've got it on good authority that Sony Ericsson's new flagship Cyber-Shot phone is headed to a major GSM carrier before too long.  My money's on AT&T (for the reasons mentioned below), but it could be T-Mobile (for the other reasons mentioned below).  Either way the k850a, in all it's 5-megapixel, HSDPA glory, will soon be available from an American network operator.

AT&T's got a history with SE, what with the former Cingular having carried the w810i and currently featuring the w580i Walkman handset.  And then there's the supposed leaked data sheet that showed up on EngadgetMobile the other day, showing the k850a alongside of the z750a clamshell amidst AT&T's forthcoming offerings.

Then again, the k850i is already a T-Mobile product in the UK (you can even enter to win one over at Shiny Shiny), and that T-Mobile 3G network is due to rollout any day now ... so it's not like a T-Mobile branded k850a is entirely out of the question.  Though it'd really be sad to see such a state of the art phone hamstrung by an EDGE-only network.

Either way, it's about time a serious cameraphone got picked up by a carrier here in the states.  Sure the Nokia N95 now comes in a US-spec 3G model, but it's only available direct from the manufacturer.  I'm not saying that carrier-locked handsets are a good thing in and of themselves, but when you're talking about such high-end gadgetry, that discount you get for signing a service contract sure does help.

Read more from EngadgetMobile.