World's slimmest smartphone - Xperia Arc Announced

Sony Ericsson finally put an end to all the rumors and leaks by announcing its latest and greatest Android smartphone, the Xperia Arc!

Here is a device that, upon first glance and then subsequently digging into the specs, I can’t help but feel a few notches of excitement about.

The Xperia Arc is a device that features Sony’s Reality Display, along with Sony’s Mobile BRAVIA Engine, which is designed to bring the best multimedia experience possible to a device. On the back of the device, there’s an 8MP camera with Sony’s Exmor R photo enhancement technology,with f/2.4 lens. The camera is also able to record 720p HD. There's an LED flash too. And, theres an HDMI out port. The arc-like design results into only 9mm thickness on the both ends and 8.7mm in the slimmest part.

Under the hood, you’ll find Android 2.3, with a 1GHz Qualcomm processor pushing everything along. The display is a 4.2-inches. There’s a 3.5mm audio jack, and the standard additions: 802.11 WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth connectivity and 512 MB RAM. There will be an 8GB microSD card bundled with it so that should provide you with adequate storage out of the box.

The 4.2-inch capacitive display is attractively called the Reality display. It uses Sony's BRAVIA Mobile Engine, which does real-time noise reduction, sharpness, color management and contrast enhancement on the picture. It has 854x480 pixels resolution and is covered with a scratch-resistant glass. There is still no official info on the screen type, but I believe its TFT.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc will be available in late Q1 or early Q2 in Midnight Blue and Misty Silver.

Check out these videos:

Press Release

Sony Ericsson records Q3 profit on product launches

The strong performance of Sony Ericsson's smartphones has led them to a third consecutive quarter of profits. Income was up from the previous quarter and restructuring charges were significantly lower too.

Here are the numbers: Sony Ericsson shipped 10.4 million units (down from 11 million the previous quarter) and the sales totaled 1,603 million euro (1,757 million euro for Q2). Despite that, the gross margin went up 2% quarter-on-quarter and almost doubled compared to last year's third quarter.

Smartphones, especially the XPERIA lineup, has been the primary focus for Sony Ericsson and it's paying off - smartphones now account for over 50% of total sales. Average selling price fell a little since the last quarter and is now at 154 euro (down from 160 euro).

The end result of all these numbers is a net income of 49 million euro - a huge improvement over the 12 million for the previous quarter. And last year's third quarter marked a loss of 164 million euro, so Sony Ericsson is clearly on an upwards trajectory.

Sony Ericsson estimates that they have a 4% market share (in number of units) - basically they've been keeping the same level since the beginning of 2010.

Official Press release

Yendo, Cedar and Xperia X8 announced

The Yendo is a standard feature phone with a non-smartphone operating system, but it seems that Sony Ericsson has finally optimized the user interface for finger usage. It's the much awaited touchscreen walkman device. 

There’s a 2.6 inch capacitive touch display with 240 x 320 pixels resolution. Being a Walkman phone, there’s naturally a 3.5 millimetre audio jack connector. Other features include a micro USB connector, social networking apps preloaded and ten different colours at launch.

Sony Ericsson expanded their eco-friendly Greenheart family with “Cedar”, a candybar feature phone. Cedar features built-in widgets for Facebook, Twitter and Myspace for those of us who would like to be connected on the move. Like all recent Sony Ericsson phones, the Cedar supports memory expansion via MicroSD and a microUSB port. It also sports a 3.5 mm audio jack and Exchange Activesync.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X8, previously known as “Shakira”, was announced today. It sports a 3-inch capacitive touchscreen, 16.7 million color display that sports a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels. A 3.2 megapixel camera,  FM radio , Wi-Fi and GPS are onboard too. And the price? Just 200 Euros!!

Sony Ericsson VH410 , VH110 , 2 new Bluetooth Headsets

Sony Ericsson has announced 2 new Bluetooth headsets and is calling them Extras, a new name for Sony Ericsson Accessories. The VH410 and VH110 are the latest addition to the Greeheart family of headsets.

“As part of our Communication Entertainment strategy we have listened closely to consumers and their needs when developing our handsets and this ethos is no different in our accessories division.” Said Peter Ang, Vice President, Marketing, Asia Pacific regionPacific region, Sony Ericsson. “We want consumers to experience their mobile phone to its highest potential and Sony Ericsson Extras will enable them to find the perfect accessory for their needs.”

SE has divided its Extras or Accessories into four categories, Talk, Play, Listen and Go

VH410
Design Colours: Red, Black and SilverBlack and Silver
Answer/end button: Yes
Volume: Yes
Wearing style: Over the ear
Compatibility Bluetooth™ version: 2.1
Connector: Micro USBMicro USB
Talk/standby time: 10/350
VH110
Design Colour: Black
Answer/end button: Yes
Volume button: Yes
Wearing style: Over the ear
Compatibility Bluetooth™ version: 2.1
Connector: Micro USB
Talk/Standby time: 10/350

Both these Bluetooth Headsets VH410 will be available in stores from August, 2010.

Press Release

XPERIA X10 family to get Android 2.1 in Q4

Sony Ericsson's Xperia X10, X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro will all get upgraded from Android 1.6 to version 2.1 during the fourth quarter, Sony Ericsson said in a blog post on Wednesday.

 Sony Ericsson is calling it the UXP or User Experience Platform which builds on top of the Android OS and brings together a rich graphical user interface, unrivalled service plug-ins and content from external partners to deliver unique consumer propositions such as Sony Ericsson’s signature applications Mediascape and Timescape.

The X10 will get a major update as compared to its siblings, the key features of the UXP upgrade being:

- Upgrade to Android OS version 2.1
- HD video recording as per the same execution as Sony Ericsson Vivaz™
- Wireless home connectivity via DLNA
- Improvements to signature applications Timescape™ and Mediascape to make them even smarter and richer

Sony Ericsson admits that the Q4 updates are a bit late compared to their rivals, but we are given a promise for extended firmware support for all OS-powered devices in the future.

This is indeed a great move from SE. Although many would be disappointed as to why SE didn't try nd get in Android 2.2, isn't much of a dealbreaker as the custom UI is incredible and takes care of any omissions.

X10 Mini wins Red Dot design award

I already knew that the X10 mini was a nifty device so it does feel good to see it win some accolades.

In close competition with designers and manufacturers from 57 countries, the one-hand compact Xperia™ X10 mini has been selected by an international jury to receive the 2010 red dot product design award.

Source

Sony Ericsson returns to profit in Q1

Sony Ericsson announced a surprise return to profit on Friday, after cost cutting and the launch of new, touch-screen mobile phones helped the company improve performance in the first quarter.

The company reported a net profit for the three months to March 31 of €21 million ($28.4 million), compared with a €293 million net loss a year earlier and analysts' expectations for a €128 million loss. Sony Ericsson, which has faced declining sales and market share due in part to a limited offering of high-end devices, hasn't made a net profit since the second quarter 2008.

Consumers have positively received its newly launched high-end phones, Xperia X10 and Vivaz, which helped boost the company's average selling price in the quarter.
The company shipped 10.5 million phones at an average selling price of €134 in the first quarter, down from 14.5 million devices at an average selling price of €120 a year earlier. Net sales fell to €1.41 billion from €1.74 billion, against expectations for sales of EUR1.63 billion.

Sony Ericsson's estimated share of the global handset market fell from 5% in the previous quarter to around 4%.

The company also saw a small improvement in sales in North America in the first quarter, after several quarters of dramatic declines. The US is Sony Ericsson’s weakest market and Mr Nordberg has made a turnround in America one of the company’s highest priorities.

Official Press Release

Spiro and Zylo reboot Walkman series

Well, here's the answer to the one question which you all have been asking. The Walkman series is far from dead, in fact with two new phones that were just announced it's as alive as ever.

Sony Ericsson today announced the Spiro and Zylo, next generation of Walkman phones which offer an affordable entry point into Sony Ericsson’s Communication Entertainment portfolio.

Both new Walkman models offer Twitter and Facebook applications as well as the state of the art Walkman Player. Sony Ericsson has kept its promise of bringing the UX UI to other platforms and both the handsets sport the UX platform interface. ( as seen below)

The Sony Ericsson Spiro (above images) is a compact slider at 92 x 48 x 16.75 mm and weighs 90 grams. It's a dual-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE phone with a 2.2" QVGA TFT screen and a 2MP camera. It has a memory card slot for microSD cards up to 16GB,an FM Radio, a 3.5mm audio jack and a microUSB port. It supports the two most popular audio codecs - MP3 and AAC.

The Sony Ericsson Zylo has more advanced features. It sports 2.6-inch scratch-resistant screen with QVGA resolution. The 3.2-megapixel camera offers geographical tagging possibility, despite the fact that the phone lacks GPS.  

 

There's a microSD card slot for cards up to 16GB for your music collection and the music player supports MP3, AAC . Also, the interesting thing about this device is that it provides support for FLAC format, which offers much higher sound quality than MP3. You should be able to tell the difference, since Zylo is coming along with a pair of the best Sony Ericsson headphones - the motion-controlled MH907. Besides, the phone will have Bluetooth, 3D games and will have the ability to imitate the noise of a busy street to help you avoid unpleasant conversations. However, in typical Sony Ericsson manner, for the sake of product differentiation,  this Zylo does not have a 3.5 mm jack like its brother.

The Sony Ericsson Zylo will be available in the third quarter of 2010 in select markets in Black jazz, Silver Cha-Cha and Pink swing. The Sony Ericsson Spiro will come out in Q3 of 2010 too and it will be available in Black contrast, Pink sunset, Green spring and Black stealth colors.

Product Videos:

Official Press Release

Xperia X10 mini goes Pro too!

Well, I'll be honest with you. This one was a surprise! Sony Ericsson announced a X10 mini Pro version, basically an X10 mini with a slide out QWERTY keyboard (codenamed Mimmi).

The XPERIA X10 mini pro is a bit thicker than the X10 mini due to its QWERTY keyboard, but still very tiny, especially by QWERTY phone standards.The X10 mini pro measures 90 x 52 x 17 mm and weighs 120 grams. It sports a similar 2.55” TFT scratch-resistant touchscreen of QVGA resolution, a 600MHz Qualcomm CPU, 5MP camera with auto focus and geotagging.

 It does feature Timescape too – the home-brewed UI that brings together all the various communication channels into one, so that's a big plus! It runs on Android 1.6, but that shoudn't be too much of a bother as it's quite capable as it is.

 On the connectivity side there’s quad-band GSM/EDGE and dual-band HSDPA and HSUPA. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS with A-GPS are also part of the deal. There’s also a microUSB port, microSD card slot for cards up to 16GB, 2GB card in the box and finally, a 3.5 mm audio jack. The device doesn't have a removable battery though,presumably due to its size.

The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini Pro will come in Black and Red color versions and will be available in Q2 2010. 

Official Press Release

Xperia X10 mini debuts!

Next up, Sony Ericsson announced the Xperia X10 mini ( previously known as Robyn).

Liked the Xperia X10 but thought it was too big for your taste? Well, Sony Ericsson has an answer for you - The Xperia X10 mini.

The X10 Mini has the distinction of being the world’s smallest Android handset weighing in at 88 grams and 83 x 50 x 16 mm. The handset is essentially a scaled down version of the X10. It does feature Timescape – the home-brewed UI that brings together all the various communication channels into one, so that's a big plus! It runs on Android 1.6, but that shoudn't be too much of a bother as it's quite capable as it is.

If you thought, 'such a small device, performance would be average', think again! it small but extremely powerful. ( It sports a 600 mhz processor just as the Satio, so I guess that'll silence the critics!).

  The basic specs include a 2.55” TFT scratch-resistant touchscreen of QVGA resolution, a 600MHz Qualcomm CPU, 5MP camera with auto focus and geotagging.

On the wireless side of connectivity there’s quad-band GSM/EDGE and dual-band HSDPA and HSUPA. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS with A-GPS are also part of the deal. There’s also a microUSB port, microSD card slot for cards up to 16GB, 2GB card in the box and finally, a 3.5 mm audio jack.The device doesn't have a removable battery though,presumably due to its size.

 The X10 mini will be available in select markets from Q2 2010 in several colours: Black, Pearl White, Lime, Pink, Red and Silver. Spoilt for choice?

 Official Press Release

Sony Ericsson Vivaz goes Pro!

I always knew that Sony Ericsson was going to surprise us all, and my what a surprise everyone got! Refreshing and unique was what I felt after I was through watching their MWC webcast. I'll keep my thoughts for a bit later ( Watch out for that writeup!) and give you all a lowdown on what Sony Ericsson is going to be outing in Q2.

First up is the Sony Ericsson Vivaz's QWERTY brother, the Vivaz Pro (previously known as the Kanna).

Basically, both devices are pretty similar but the Vivaz Pro is a slider and has an extremely inviting QWERTY-keyboard. The phone sizes 109 x 52 x 15 mm and weights 117 grams. it's pretty impressive SE managed to fit in a qwerty keyboard with just an additional 2mm thickness as compared to Vivaz.

The Sony Ericsson Vivaz pro packs the defining feature of the Vivaz - the HD (720p) video recording, though the camera has been downgraded as is now a 5-megapixel module as compared to 8mp on the Vivaz..Other features remain the same with the camera offering auto focus for still images and continuous focus for videos, face and smile detection, image stabilization, geo-tagging and touch capture. 

The screen is a 3.2” scratch-resistant touchscreen and sports nHD resolution ( 640x360). With the Sony Ericsson Vivaz pro you still get the generous 8GB microSD card in the package, the speedy 720MHz CPU, the Sony Ericsson's fine UI on top of Symbian S60 5th edition. That's a pretty sweet deal! 

The Sony Ericsson Vivaz pro packs quad-band GSM/EDGE and tri-band HSDPA/HSUPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS with Wisepilot navigation software preinstalled, Quickoffice, Twitter and Facebook integration.

The Sony Ericsson Vivaz pro will be available in two colors - Black and White - and is expected to hit the market in the second quarter of this year (Q2). The Vivaz is coming in March, so the Vivaz Pro will be next in line.
Official Press Release

Sony Ericsson Aspen unveiled

Sony Ericsson today officially announced Aspen – a Windows Mobile 6.5.3 handset, that was previously known by its codename Faith.The handset will also pack the company proprietary panel interface that we have come to know from the XPERIA X 1 and X2.

The device packs a 2.4" touchscreen of 320x240 (QVGA) resolution, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB, a 3.5mm audio jack and a 3.2 megapixel fixed-focus camera.There is a built-in GPS receiver and a microSD card slot and there is a 4GB microSD memory card included in the retail package. 

Sony Ericsson Aspen will be available in Iconic Black and White Silver starting from Q2 of 2010. As i've said before, pretty mediocre stuff. Next leak please! :P 

Official video:

Official Press Release
Official Product Page

Sony Ericsson posts narrower Q4 loss

Sony Ericsson warned on Friday a recovery in the cellphone market could be slower than many expected as it reported its seventh straight quarterly loss.

The company shipped 14.6 million units in the fourth quarter ,which is a sequential increase of three percent and a year-on-year decrease of 40 percent. This increase was largely driven by market seasonality and successful sales of Satio and Aino phones.

The year-over-year decrease in both units and sales was the result of a downturn in the global handset market and a faster than anticipated shift to touch screen phones in the mid-priced sector of the market. With a more favorable product mix, the average selling price for the quarter rose sequentially by 5 percent to $170.

Gross margin percentage improved sequentially and year-on-year mainly driven by the successful sales of new, higher-margin phones as well as the positive impact of cost reduction activities.

With a loss of $56 million, the quarter was actually an improvement over the previous quarter of a loss of $280 million. The loss was the result of the improved gross margin and the benefits of reduced operating expenses. For the year, the company produced a loss of $1.24 billion compared with an income of $184 million in 2008.

During 2009, Sony Ericsson found additional external funding of $643 million to strengthen the balance sheet. The company estimates the global handsets market in units for the fourth quarter 2009 was flat year-on-year and that its market share was 5 percent in the fourth quarter.

Sony Ericsson forecasts a slight growth in units in the global handset market in 2010.

Sony Ericsson chief Nordberg said the company's turnaround plan, focused on cost cutting and new phones with advanced mobile Internet and networking functions, was gaining traction.

Sales of Sony Ericsson's new Aino and Satio phones -- along with cost cuts -- gave a big boost to the firm's gross margin.

"On the positive side we see that the new phones ... are well received by customers and they are really selling more high-end phones, and that is raising the average sales price quite a bit," Sydbank analyst Morten Imsgard said, adding the overall results are better than expected once restructuring charges are taken out.

The full benefit of the cost cuts are expected to come through in the second-half of the year, but management would not say when the firm would move back into the black.
With the forecasts being of a slight growth in units shipped in the global handset market in the upcoming year, it might just be good enough ground for the X10, X2 and the Vivaz to sell well enough to save the company.
Lets hope, for the sake of competition that SE gets back into black figures real soon.

Official Press Release

Sony Ericsson Vivaz ( Kurara) announced

Finally! The Kurara has been announced as the Sony Ericsson Vivaz. It looks way better than in those leaked pics doesn't it? :)

The Sony Ericsson Vivaz runs on the Symbian S60 platform and packs a 8 megapixel autofocus camera capable of recording 720p video. The 3.2" display sports a resolution of 640 x 360 pixels and is capable of showing up to 16M colors. The CPU inside clocks at 720 MHz ( the Satio has a 600 MHz processor).

Other features include a microUSB slot, Wi-Fi, GPS, quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and 3G with HSDPA. 

Other interesting notables are a 3.5mm audio jack, the FM radio and a built-in microSD card slot that allows expanding the 75MB of internal memory. There will be an 8GB microSD card included in the retail package.

It’ll be available at the end of Q1 in four colours – Cosmic Black, Galaxy Blue, Moon Silver and Venus Ruby.

Here are a few videos for you to enjoy. The first one is a short promo video of the Sony Ericsson Vivaz and the next one is a video overview of the handset.

And lastly, here's a developer preview video. Enjoy!

Official Press Release
Official Product Page

Greenhearts 'Elm' and 'Hazel' Announced

                                                                 Sony Ericsson Hazel

Today Sony Ericsson presented their latest Greenheart tree-hugging phones - the aptly named Elm and Hazel. Those two are no slackers in functionality as they come with Wi-Fi, GPS and pioneer social networking integration via homescreen widgets. They also pack some innovative sound enhancing technologies such as Noise Shield, Clear Voice and Intelligent Volume Adaptation.

Sony Ericsson Elm

Screen resolution remains at the QVGA standard (320 x 240 pixels), but the one on the Hazel is 2.6 inches large and sports a 16.7 million colour TFT, whereas it’s only 2.2 inches on the Elm sporting a 262.144-colour TFT.

The Sony Ericsson Elm and Hazel pack 5 megapixel auto focus cameras, Wi-Fi connectivity and GPS receivers complete with the preinstalled Google Maps and Wisepilot mapping applications. The Sony Ericsson Elm has a thickness of 14 mm and a weight of 90 grams whereas the Hazel has a thickness of 16 mm and a weight of 120 grams.


Both the Elm and the Haze have rich multimedia features including support for SensMe, TrackID, and MegaBass. Screen auto rotation is also available thanks to the built-in accelerometer.


Another first from Sony Ericsson is the online backup of personal information at sonyericsson.com. There are no further details about the service mentioned, but we guess you'd be able to recover all your info if your phone gets stolen.

The Sony Ericsson Elm will be available in Metal Black and Pearly Rose from Q1 2010. The Sony Ericsson Hazel will be available in Superior Black and Passionate Rouge from Q2 2010.

Official Press Release
Official Product photos - Elm
Official Product Photos - Hazel