Rumour: 2013 Lineup

The following text is based upon various rumours floating around and should be taken with a pinch of salt. 


Not really keen on Sony's 2012 lineup and you're already looking at next year? Well here's a sneak peek!
First up, at CES in January 2013 - there will be two new models codenamed DOGO.Twin phones. One International version and other for Japan only. International version will sport a 4.6 inch screen 720p HD resolution, S4 Quad Core processor (APQ8064), 1 GB RAM, Sony Bravia Engine. The Japanese version will have the same specifications except that the RAM will be bumped up to 2 GB and the device will be waterproof, hence a non replaceable battery.


Later in the year, there will be a new flagship device codenamed 'Odin' with a 5 inch screen with 1080p full HD resolution, 2 GB RAM, Sony Bravia Engine.  No waterproof/dustproof functionity. 

There will also be a 6 inch tablet with the same specifications (1080p screen resolution, 2 GB RAM, S4 Quad Core APQ8064 processor). 


These H1 2013 models will have SLCD screens. This will be the first time Sony will be using its SLCD panels on its Xperia phones. 


In late 2013, there will be newer models with MSM8974 (updated S4 Quad Core processor with integrated LTE), 2 GB RAM, and 720p and 1080p OLED panels. 


it's important to note that all of the above are based on rumours and since 2013 is still a long way off, everything is subject to change. Anyway, dream on!

Sony Mobile India leading the mid-segment; 50% market share

For Sony, in India,the first and faintest glimmers of a turnaround in the mobile space have begun to appear. Over the last six months, in which it had five launches, Sony Mobile claims things are changing for the better. According to industry folk in the know, in the January to April 2012 period, it led certain segments within the Android based smartphone universe with a share of 50 per cent albeit in a narrow price bracket of Rs 15,000-20,000.

P Balaji, MD, Sony Mobile, is pleased with the results but knows there is still a long way to go. "When we started the journey a year back, there were a number of areas to be fixed — distribution,customer pull, operator engagement, end-to-end customer management, a strongleadership and most important the product," he says.

Sony hired new heads for sales, operator alliances and product, content and services. Retailers were won back by providing trained staff for product demonstrations, setting up kiosks and even giving the stores live mobile phones. "It was important that distributors saw us as a dependable company," says Balaji. Sony mobile tied up with operators like Airtel, Aircel, Tata Docomo and Reliance to offer exclusive data plans for corporate customers. Offers comprised money-backpacks, free mobile TV and access to Sony's cloud service called 'Box', with 50GB of free file sharing and storage

Via: ET

Xperia S Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update now rolling out

There was some disappointment when Sony’s 2012 flagship handset, the Xperia S, shipped with Gingerbread on board instead of Ice Cream Sandwich. The company did promise an update, and true to its word, Ice Cream Sandwich is now rolling out to the Xperia S, bringing with it a bevy of new features. Sony has tweaked some of the entertainment apps such as Walkman, Movies, and Album, and you’ll get all the functionality that Ice Cream Sandwich brings to the table too.

Newest Xperia Smartphones showcased

Sony held a media event in Singapore where it launched the newest six Sony Xperia handsets namely the Xperia acro S, Xperia go, Xperia ion, Xperia miro, Xperia neo L and Xperia tipo. The Xperia go will initially launch with Android Gingerbread, whilst all other models will be pre-installed with Ice Cream Sandwich. All six Sony handsets will be available in Q3 for Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Pricing has not been announced.

Will the LT29 and LT30(Hayabusa & Mint) be launched tomorrow?

So, June 20th is here. Well, almost. Sony is holding an event to announce new Xperia smartphones. So what do you think? Will the 'Hayabusa', and probably the 'Mint' too, see the light of the day?

In case you've forgotten, here's what the LT29 ie 'Hayabusa' will bring:

A 4.6-inch (720 x 1196) display, 1.5Ghz dual-core Qualcomm S4 Krait processor , 16GB flash memory, HDMI, microSD card slot and a 13MP camera with Exmor sensor and full HD video recording. The phone's design resembles the Xperia arc and will have a chassis with a matte texture coating. It will also have a removable 1700mah battery.

The LT30 (Mint), if we do manage to see it that is, has the same specs as the LT29 with the few differences being:
1. It will have LTE
2. A non removable 1850 mah battery
3. A metal back cover of sorts

Also, the Mint is significantly thicker than the LT29 and it doesn't come in white. Only Black and Silver.

Another day to go, are you excited? We certainly are!

Will the LT29 and LT30(Hayabusa & Mint) be launched tomorrow?

What we've missed: About Hayabusa, Mint & more

Since we've been offline for quite some time, and there have been a plethora of announcements, news, leaks all this while, we're taking the trouble to give you a roundup of all that's been happening over the last 2-3 months

Xperia P, U and Sola announced

The Xperia P has a 4-inch WhiteMagic display, 1GHz dual-core processor, 8MP camera, NFC, HDMI and be aluminium brushed launched in three colours. 

 
The Xperia U has a 3.5-inch display, 1GHz dual-core display and 5MP camera. The transparent strip will light up with different colors for notifications.

The Xperia sola is basically the MT27 ‘Pepper’ that we all know about. It has a 1GHz dual-core ST-Ericsson NovaThor U8500 processor, Mali 400 GPU and 512MB RAM. You also get 8GB of internal storage (5GB user accessible), plus a microSD card, a 5MP camera capable of 720p video recording, NFC and a 1320mAh embedded battery


Xperia GX and Xperia SX announced by Sony Mobile: Japan

The Xperia GX has a 4.6-inch (720 x 1196) display, 1.5Ghz dual-core Qualcomm S4 Krait processor , 16GB flash memory, LTE , HDMI, microSD card slot and a 13MP camera with Exmor sensor and full HD video recording. The phone's design resembles the Xperia arc and will have a chassis with a matte texture coating.

The Xperia SX is the world’s lightest LTE phone weighing at just 95 grams. The Xperia SX will come with a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, 3.7-inch (540 x 960) display, 8GB internal storage, 8MP Exmor R camera with HD video recording as well as Japanese specific features such as infrared port data exchange, mobile wallet and mobile TV. 
Three new apps will be included. First up, the WALKMAN app which will include a number of audio technologies such as clear stereo, clear bass, VPT surround sound and a manual equalizer. The Album app will allow you to browse photos/videos as well as commenting and sharing on Facebook. The Movies app will search an “intelligent database” to give more info about the movie or video content you are watching.


Both handsets will launch with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and will be available in black and white colours. The handsets will launch in Japan during summer 2012


Xperia Go & Xperia Acro S announced

The Xperia Go is the successor of the Xperia Active and is both dust and water resistant and IP67 compliant, the highest level of resistance found in any smartphone. The Xperia go will use a 1GHz dual-core ST-Ericsson NovaThor chipset as seen in the Xperia P, Xperia U and Xperia sola. It will come with a 3.5-inch (320 x 480) display, 512MB RAM, 8GB of internal storage (4GB user accessible) and microSD memory card support. It will also come with a 1305mAh embedded battery promising 6hrs 30 mins of GSM talk time. Camera capabilities will be taken care of a 5MP sensor with 720p video recording.

Xperia Acro S is a higher-end waterproof smartphone destined to be released globally during the third quarter. It is protected against “dust-limited to ingress (no harmful deposits) and the effects of water immersion between 15 cm and 1 m for 30 minutes.”. The Xperia acro S will come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8260 chipset with 1.5GHz dual-core processor and Adreno 220 GPU. There will also be a 4.3-inch (720 x 1280) scratch resistant mineral glass display supporting 10 finger multitouch, 1GB RAM, 16GB of internal storage (11GB user accessible) and microSD memory card support.


Xperia Miro unveiled by Sony Mobile

The Xperia miro (ST23i/ST23a) has been recently launched on Facebook. It will sport a 3.5-inch screen and come in four different colours (black, black/pink, white and white/gold). It will have a 5MP rear camera sensor and a VGA front-facing camera.  It will be powered by a 800MHz MSM7225A chipset, 512MB RAM, 4GB of internal memory (2.2GB user accessible) and microSD memory card support. Other features include a battery with 1500mAh capacity capable of 5 hours of GSM talk time and 8 hours of video playback. The Xperia miro is pegged for a global release during the third quarter of 2012. 

SE Loyalist is now Sony Mobile Evangelist

Greetings!

After a long hiatus and much pondering over the future of the blog, especially after Sony Ericsson becoming Sony Mobile, we are proud to tell you that we are back. SE Loyalist Blog is now Sony Mobile Evangelist.

With Sony making a new beginning, there is a need to garner support and create a cult following .And as Sony Mobile Evangelist, we are promoters of Sony mobile smartphones. We truly believe Sony can keep up the spirit of innovation in both hardware and software, something what Sony Ericsson essentially stood for.

So stay tuned as we take you through the journey of Sony mobile, right from where it is now - trying to gain a foothold, to becoming a true mobile powerhouse.

First up: A post on all that we've missed.