Archive for: .se
CES is still a few days away but that isn’t stopping Sony (and soon no longer) Ericsson from getting into the mood early. The company just posted a teaser image to their Facebook Fan Page wall that just so happens to depict the rumored successor the Xperia Arc. If this is indeed the phone we think it is, we should see SE add LTE and HSPA to the mix along with an HD camera/video, we’d assume speedy processors and generous amounts of RAM, and we hope (really hope) Android 4.0, all tied together with SE’s admittingly pleasant looking custom UI.
Stay tuned. We’ll be at the big Sony Keynote at CES next week with plenty of news to share, phone or not.
Sony hasn’t exactly been killing it in the mobile sector. Yeah, they design some pretty hot hardware, and admittingly, their UI is very slick. But it’s too little too late — at least as it stands right now. So it’s rather unsurprising to hear Sony Ericsson President and CEO Bert Nordberg make the claim (via: WSJ) that “they should have taken the iPhone more seriously”. Shocker.
Other notable quotes from Nordberg include the claim that “Android was the best choice they had at the time” when questioned on platform choice, and downright giving Windows Phone 7 a swift kick to the teeth:
“At this point I wouldn’t feel comfortable investing in a platform that isn’t as good as the one that we currently use. Therefore we have remained with Android, but I am quite curious about Windows Phone.”
Ouch.
Finally, Nordberg claims that by the middle to end of 2012, the company hopes to begin transitioning to a 100% smartphone company. (Goodbye featurephones.)
Let’s hope this newfound self-honesty results in some new, exciting gadgetry.
Today Sony Ericsson unveiled a new Walkman-themed phone. Dubbed “Live with Walkman”, the new smartphone brings several worthy bullet points to the table including: Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), 1 GHz processor, 3.2″ 480 x 320 display, 5-megapixel rear-facing camera w/ flash and 720p video recording and several deeply integrates social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter.
Look for the Sony Ericsson to hit “select” markets in Q4 of this year for an as of yet undisclosed price.
A bit rough with your phones? Up until now Casio’s rugged line of Verizon Wireless phones was your only legitimate solution. Outside of the phone itself, several Android phones as well as Apple’s own iPhone have had extra-rugged cases designed exclusively for the sole purpose of taking a beating. Today, that world of rough and tough smartphones gets a new competitor by way of Sony Ericsson’s new “Active”…
Another day, another Sony site/service falls victim to hackers. Customers of Sony Ericsson’s Canadian eshop will want to watch bank accounts and other financial services extra carefully over the next few months as a fresh hack has exposed roughly ~2,000 users’ data. To be clear, however, Sony maintains that passwords were encrypted and that credit card information was stolen. Among the list of ill-gotten goods include email addresses, addresses, full names, etc.
Following the lengthy PSN breach, Sony Japan website hack, and Sony Thailand having security issues of their own, it’s painfully clear that Sony’s security infrastructure is atrocious. Hopefully Sony starts getting a bit more proactive across their various entities to keep these daily stories from popping up.
Sony Ericsson on left, Clearwire on right
Depending on where you stand, Clearwire’s future just got a little brighter. While the company has officially pulled out of the phone market with their plans of building an array of smartphones, it has resulted in a bittersweet ending. Sony Ericsson is no longer pursuing legal action against the company and has officially dropped their lawsuit which involved Clearwire’s too-close-for-comfort logo above (right) as a means of identifying the Clear’s future smartphone.
And with that, SE and Clearwire can go on the merry way. Now what will Clear do without a potential smartphone designing/manufacturing future?
Fancy a Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc but are drawn towards smaller phones? The SE Vivaz 2 is your phone. Originally dubbed the “Hallon”, this mini-Arc brings to the table several higher-end features such as 1GHz ARM 7 processor, 512MB of RAM, 480 x 854 Bravia-quality display, 8 megapixel camera with Exmor sensor, Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and a 1500mAh battery. The improved hardware reportedly results in much smoother navigation with Sony Ericsson’s graphic-rich mediascape “Rachel” UI. Hardware aside however, it is the “sort by install date” option in the application menu that has us really impressed. Alphabetical sorting is nice and all, but sometimes having another option or two to pinpoint that seemingly lost app is all that matters.
The Sony Ericsson Vivaz 2 is expected to *officially* show its face in a couple weeks time at Mobile World Congress, with a scheduled release time frame around April. Check back in the coming weeks for more information.
- December 27, 2010 10:11 am
Who doesn’t like a good photo leak of an unannounced, unnamed upcoming gadget — and a smartphone no less — in the morning? The image above is rumored to be the upcoming SE Hallon MT15i. Besides that sliver of information, the only other things we’ve got to go on are the screenshot that oddly enough, shows HTC’s Sense UI, and a sole USB port atop the device itself. Not very telling, is it?
Meanwhile, the phone that actually took the picture above is another unknown. Carrying the internal model number of “LT15i” itself, this phone is supposed to be carrying a 12MP camera. Though the quality of the image above leaves only two conclusions: The camera is either not shooting at full resolution or the rumor of a 12-megapixel camera is wrong.
Regardless, two new phones that we fully expect to hear more about next week at CES. Check back soon…
Better late than never they say? But is there a point at which you can be too late? Sony seems to be testing that very belief. Sitting here and gazing into the 2010 calendar — almost three years after the original iPhone — Sony is just now getting into the mobile phone biz. I say just getting into because frankly, let’s be honest — SonyEricsson sucks. Their phones suck. That’s why no one has gotten excited in them for years. The one recent glimmer of hope was the Xperia X10, but that was quickly dashed when all the Android 1.6 talk began floating around amid the current Android 2.x wave we see swirling around us.
New reports from the WSJ have Sony finally getting their act together with an “uber phone” of their own. A Playstation Phone has been tossed back and forth numerous times in the last several years though nothing has materialized. Why Sony didn’t play off of the PSP sooner is beyond any rational guess I can understand. Regardless, this new phone/device from Sony will supposedly “blur the line between a netbook, an e-reader and a PlayStation Portable”.
It’s a tough claim to backup and an even tougher claim to succeed with. But I hold out hope that Sony can wow me, and us again. Think a PSP phone would be everything it’s been rumored to be?
AlleyInsider > WSJ
