Sony Ericsson Supplies to be Affected by Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster

There isn’t a whole lot of details about this but Sony Ericsson has issued a statement, indicating that the companies supply chain will be affected by the recent natural disasters that have struck the people of Japan. Sony has also shut down another 6 plants in Japan, due to damage. We don’t know how immediate of an disruption this will have on the companies new set of Android handsets that will be launching in the Spring.

“Although the full impact of the current situation on our business will take additional time to assess, Sony Ericsson anticipates disruption to its supply chain operations,” the company, owned by Ericsson and Sony Corp., said in a statement. “As part of our business continuity plan, we are in contact with all our key suppliers in the region and we are identifying the possible relocation of certain component manufacturing, and looking at secondary sources of supply.”

[Via Reuters]

Sony creates Single Copper Cable for Cellphones, helps give them more flexibility

Many times when we see patents for a particular product or technology, it’s meant to be something that may or may not happen and can be years down the line. For Sony, this new design is right around the corner. Inside of most handsets, especially the flip and split screens, runs about 22 cables that connect power, control signals, audio, video and other functions of the phone. With this new single wire interface technology, Sony will be replacing all of them with a single cable that is capable of doing speeds of 940Mbps. This means that not only is Sony able to clear the clutter inside of the phone and give their engineers more space for other components or help reduce weight and size, but they will also give the design team a lot more freedom to create. Sony has stated that it plans to “swiftly” use this new creation.

[Via Sony]

Sony Ericsson Ships 9 million Xperia Android Phones

With Sony Ericssons Q4 results in, it turned out to be a case of good news bad news for the struggling partnership that has been having high hopes on their new phones. In the last year, Sony Ericsson has been looking to turn their fortunes around, especially with the rise of popular devices like the iPhone and Android has been their savior like almost all other phone makers. During this time, Sony has released the Xperia X10, X10 Mini, X10 Mini Pro which have now surpassed 9 million shipped. This is the good news for Sony and this achievement is that much more impressive when you consider that the Xperia X10 is the only one of the series that was released in the US and it was a product that was never advertised. Other sites have noted that this is equally impressive because most of this fleet was running around during 2010 with the outdated Android 1.6 and only recently saw an upgrade path to 2.1. Still the bad news is that this comes as profits dip with the company reporting a moderate €35 million pre-tax profit for Q4. Though this is below what the company had hoped for and lower then previous quarters, this is still a large turnaround for a division that was losing money left and right just a little over a year ago.

Check out Our Entire Set of Sony Photos from CES 2011

During CES we had the wonderful opportunity to float around freely and really lose ourselves in technology heaven. Having been there for the first time both personally and professionally for this site, it was really something that’s hard to describe. Between the sheer amount of new products, old products, lights, music and sounds from different presentations, you would at times need just a few minutes to just refocus on what it is that you were trying to do. In our case, that meant covering Sony and offering you news and information on their current and up coming products. The following are some of the pictures that we captured along the way.

[Flickr]

Editorial: Sony Wants to Become a Top Android Handset Maker. Can They Do It?

Sony Ericsson finally got into the Android handset race mid 2010 and its been a bumpy ride for the two company partnership ever sense. Though they offer a few models, starting with the current flagship Xperia X10, followed by the Xperia X10 mini and Xperia X10 Mini Pro, Sony has been unable to gain much traction within the cellphone world (though to be fair to them, the company currently claims that they have 17% of the Android market in Europe). Some might point towards the fact that its been hard to find their devices out of few Sony Style stores and now Best Buy promotion. Other might think that the problem has been with the lackluster Android support that we have chronicled on this site with the Xperia X10 finally getting Android 2.1 in late December, months after devices like the Droid X, X2 and HTC Evo had them. Still, Sony Ericsson has been bullish on its prospects and the company has gone on record, stating that it wants to be the top Android handset provider. Can they do it? Currently, I say no.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc Announced; We Have Specs

Though not the PlayStation Phone, Sony Ericsson did have a new phone to show off during CES, the Xperia Arc. This 4.2-inch phone packs some of the latest from both Sony and Google by being one of the thinnest Android phones out there with a thickness just under 8.7mm and running Android 2.3 as the OS backbone. With the latest OS comes great power and a 1GHz Snapdragon processor should please the multitasker and ADHD kid inside of you, while the phones 8.3 mexapixel Sony Exmor R camera with LED flash should give the photo camps something to smile about also. Other little tidbits about the phone include a 802.11n wireless card and HDMI out. Another first for Sony is the collaboration between the Sony Ericcsson and Bravia division to produce what Sony calls “Reality Display” with a Mobile BRAVIA Engine. This new screen is meant to fight off the Super AMOLED display from Samsung and the Retina Display from Apple with Bravia engineers optimizing the engine, insuring optimal brightness and color with special focus on deep blacks when it comes to video and game playback. As I mentioned, this also marks a first for Sony as two completely separate divisions are collaborating on a singular device to draw from the strength of Ericssons phone design and the Bravia teams know how of displays. Hopefully we will continue to see further collaboration between Sony’s many different devisions as they have a vast array of products and offerings that can complement and build off of each other, while helping to reduce cost and the need to go to 3rd party venders for parts and licensing. Once released, the phone will be available in two colors, Midnight Blue and Misty Silver.

Hit the jump for another shot of the Xperia Arc and full press release from Sony.

Sony Starts Shipping Xperia X8, Still Sports Android 1.6

Sony Ericsson has started to ship the Xperia X8, the smaller, less beefy version of the Xperia X10. The unit includes what you would expect with GPS, 3G, Wi-Fi and touchscreen. Less stellar is its 600mhz processor and 3.2 fix focus camera, but then again, its not meant to be a flagship unit and not everybody cares for all the bells and whistles out there. Currently, this unit ships with Android 1.6, but an update to Android 2.1 is expected for later in the year. Although I’m not too clear about the contract based price of this phone sense those shift weekly with provider promotions, you can pick this unit up from Sony unlocked with no contract for $300.

Hit the jump for a video overview of the Xperia X8 which will give you a pretty good feel of what Sonys take is on the smart phone.

Sony Xperia Won’t Gain Android 2.1 Till Late October

Sony Ericsson continues to be one troubled division, seeming to be schizophrenic. There are times where the company gets it and decides to get into the smartphone war with a lower price to gain some shares and even abandon dead formats. Then, during the same big launch, Sony releases its Xperia X10 and Xperia X10 Mini Pro with Android 1.6, already a dated OS. Now, after promising a September release date,  Sony wont be giving its users Android 2.1 till late October. This of course wouldn’t be as bad if Android 2.1 hadn’t been out for months, but not only has 2.1 been available all summer, but 2.2 is currently out as well. Sony needs to realize that the smartphone market is moving fast and every other week there is a new device coming out that wants to be king of the hill. Sony Ericsson, who has not had any real presence in the US market, cannot afford to enter the market with outdated software. This then brings us to the point that this is a software upgrade. All Sony needs to do is to give Xperia users new build to download and they will gain all the new features. Now I understand that there needs to be engineering and coding to make sure the build works with all of the Xperia features and layouts but this is work that should have been done months ago. In order for Sony to truly compete, they cannot play catch up with everybody else. They need be aggressive, both in their pricing, marketing, and support of their smartphone lineup.

[Via Sony Ericsson Blog]

Sony Ericsson Dumps Symbian, Favors Android All Around

Not too long ago, Sony Ericsson was in a huge rut and the marriage between Sony and Ericsson seemed to be all but over. Then Sony introduced the Xperia X10 and the X10 Mini Pro and the company seems to have its mojo back. In the glory days of Sony Ericsson, the company used the Symbian OS which is an open source platform much like Google’s Android along with other giants like Nokia and Motorola. That was pre-iPhone. Since then, Motorola has gone nearly out of business, fully dumped Symbian and now is banging out Android phones while it holds onto dear life. Nokia, once-dominant handset maker, has now zero presence in the United States although the company has a huge worldwide market presence, though that has declined from 51% a year ago to current 41.2%. In order to make Symbian relevant, Nokia and the Symbian foundation are dumping a lot of money into revamping the OS and making it a much better competitor to Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android. Let’s not forget that there is Rim with their new Blackberry 6 OS and Microsoft this winter with their Windows Phone 7. You can quickly see how much work Symbian has ahead of itself. In the meantime, Sony wants to make money, not wait to see if Nokia and Symbian can deliver. As Sony Ericsson spokesperson Aldo Liguori bluntly puts it, “We have no plans for the time being to develop any new products to the Symbian Foundation standard or operating system.” With Sony having many new ventures with Google, this news doesn’t come as a surprise as we expect many new Sony Ericsson products with the Android OS. Still, never say never is a universal lingo for Sony’s statement: they will leave the door open for them to develop future Symbian products, pending how well things turn out for Nokia and their new OS.

[Via BusinessWeek]

Sony Ericsson Xperia and Bike Have Sex

During the IFA conference last week, in celebration of the launch of the new Xperia X10, Sony had a cool concept bike out. Ever wondered what a bike would look like if Sony Ericsson made one? Well wonder no more! There you have it. You can now finally sleep at night, not having to wonder about the possibility and outcome.

[Pic Via Engadget]

HTC Favors Sony SLCD over Samsung’s AMOLED

HTC has a few things going for it with the wave of Android based handsets it has released. With the Droid Incredible, Nexus One and Desire gaining more and more sales, HTC hasn’t been able to actually provide them to the retailers because they simply cannot keep up with demand. As we noted, the popularity of Android is one but the other big contributor is that they currently use Samsung’s AMOLED for the screen and Samsung has not been able to ramp up their production to meet the demand. Of course HTC has a simple choice, wait around on Samsung or switch to a different company and make more money.

Breaking News: HTC switches over to Sony’s Super LCD display (SLCD) technology. HTC said that it will begin using SLCDs in a “variety” of its devices, and points out that the HTC Desire and Nexus One are on the list. Beyond being able to meet the demand that HTC seeks, Sony’s SLCD also offers a wide viewing angle, clear contrast and “natural balanced color.” The displays that HTC will use include Sony’s new VSPEC III technology. This is really good news for the consumer because not only will they get the product they want, but will also now get a superior screen (of course Samsung were sure will disagree).

Sony brings Xperia X10 to AT&T, something Smarter is Sony

Sony over the weekend teased us that something smarter is coming. Our guess was the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 and that’s exactly what Sony is introducing to the United States. Details on the phone are a little slim in the sense that we know the entire hardware, but we don’t know which version of Android it will be shipping with and there is no mention of the specifics on Sony’s own site, other than OS Android. You might wonder why I mentioned in the title that the something smarter is Sony. The reason is simple, the phone is priced at $129 with a two year AT&T contract. That is a fantastic price for the phone, but more importantly, Sony knows that the $199 price range is currently way crowded by brands everybody knows. Palm tried the $199 with the Palm Pre and they got destroyed because of the iPhone and others. The same is true for Sony; at $199, there is a huge selection for customers. So instead of just being another $199 phone, they are aiming to offer a great phone for a lower price to set themselves apart. Also, currently on AT&T, there are not many Android-based phones so for those looking for something other than an iPhone or Blackberry, this puts Sony at a nice position. Well played Sony. More details on this as Sony makes them available.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Coming to AT&T Soon?

As always when it comes to Sony Ericsson, there is good news mixed with bad news. The good news is that not only has Sony Ericsson been doing much better than years before, but that they may finally get a decent presence in the United States. If everything goes according to plan, in late August/early September, Sony and AT&T will be partnering to bring to the States the much raved Xperia X10. As Engadget reports: “It’ll cost independent dealers $345 per unit (retail pricing is anyone’s guess)” so there is no real price point out there. The other negative they seem to point out is that the Xperia X10 would be shipping with Android 1.6 which is just pure garbage compared to the now 2.2 Froyo.

I’m personally not sure if this is true or not, mostly because Sony has stated that it’s planning on bringing the newer Android build by Q4 at the exact time when the Xperia X10 would be launching in the States. But if we take the negative news for fact, this can be devastating for Sony from the reviewers’ stand point and Sony can’t use the bad press for their launch because of the fact that they don’t have any real following or fan base here in the phone market. The biggest reason is that Sony won’t simply be competing with the undisputed king, the iPhone, but it has to take on the everyday growing portfolio of Android phones and there are plenty of good phones for the consumer to pick through. With HTC and Motorola (and soon LG) beating each other over the head, the much anticipated Blackberry Torch with the new Blackberry software has basically been shrugged off by every review site and Blackberry is a brand with loyal users. Sony in the States would be starting off from scratch so a lackluster software offering would never make up for the phone, no matter how good the hardware and quality is that the device itself holds. So to Sony, please make sure that your software is up to snuff or hold off the release. Seriously.

Sony Ericsson Brings First Full Touch Screen Walkman Phone

Sony Ericsson is introducing its first full touch screen Walkman phone, the Yendo. Now remember, their Walkman phone lineup is different than the other Sony Ericsson lineups, so don’t mistake this for Sony Ericsson’s first touch screen phone. Those familiar with the Xperia 10 mini will note that the Yendo works with a similar design, but is being aimed for a Q3 release date with no pricing yet. The touch screen is 2.6 inch with 262k colors and 320×240 resolution. Other specs include:

• 200MHz of processor
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• Bluetooth
• Micro USB support
• Pre-loaded apps: Facebook, Orkut, and Twitter, FM radio and Java support
• Bluetooth stereo (A2DP)
• MP3/AAC music tones
• Walkman Player and TrackID
• 2.0 Mpixel only with 4x digital zoom.

Look for this phone to come in black, blue, green, orange, pink, purple, red, silver, white and yellow. I believe this is for Asia and Europe only but I can’t be sure of it. Sony Ericsson barely has a presence in the United States anyway.

Hit the jump for an amazingly lengthy (and official) press release.

Sony Xperia X10 Mini Unboxed

Remember the upcoming the X10 Mini we told you about? Well guess who has one? Yup, not us. So we’re not unboxing it for you. Instead, Sony itself will do it! Watch away!

[Via SonyBlog]

Android 2.1 Coming To The Sony Ericsson X10 Family

Remember those sexy Sony Ericsson X10 units and it’s little sister, the X10 mini? Well they currently are using the lackluster Android 1.6 but all of this is set to change in Q4 of this year when Sony Ericsson will release Android 2.1 for the entire X10 family. Keep in mind that for Sony, Q4 2010 starts in September.

Sony Ericsson Posts Surprise Profit

It’s no secret that the Sony Ericsson team has been in trouble the last few years. They have no clear strategy and a wide support of OSes, including Symbian, Windows Mobile, Android and some in-house Sony OSes as well. Regardless, Sony Ericsson posted a €21 million, besting analysts who were expecting a €128 million loss. This marks their first profit since Q2 of 2008. SE managed to bump the average handset selling price to €134 on 10.5 million sold compared to the 14.5 million sold at an average of €120 a year prior thanks, in part, to the launch of its X10 and Vivaz. However, all of this comes at a cost of a decreased global market share of 5% to now 4%. Also to help with this profit was a slashing of employees and some facility closing so this might end up being a short term win. However, we hope that this gives Sony Ericsson enough time to be formulating what we hope is a strategy behind closed doors and will begin some form of road map and not random headsets. A starting point for them would be to leverage the Playstation Brand and PSN Network? A PSP Phone with access to all PSN content and PSN friends list? That would put them right in par with the Windows 7 Series Phone Xbox Live integration and the new gaming network that will be introduced in iPhone OS 4.0.

[Via WallStreet Journal]

Sony Ericsson To Use Android 2.0

At a launch event over in Taiwan, SE Asia-Pacific’s vice president of marketing Peter Ang was quoted as saying that Sony Ericsson is hard at work on their next generation smartphone which is said to be based on Android 2.0. The good news here is that at least Sony is working on an open technology that gives them full control, but is an open platform that can easily expand, adapt and grow without being tied to a particular format. The bad news of course is that Android 1.5 isn’t even out yet, let alone 2.0. With that in mind, I highly doubt that, behind the scenes, Android 2.0 is so far along in production. I see this as meaning only one thing, don’t expect these guys before fall of 2010, easily.

The big problem here is that Sony Ericsson is hurting bad. Profits have dropped 50% over and over and the rumors keep coming that the two companies may split.  All this just puts added pressure on a company that’s on the edge. Now, the good news is though that Sony is at least developing these phones and if they can come out with something that’s really different and maybe part of a larger plan, they have a chance at redeeming themselves and establishing themselves as a game changer. The reason is this: the iPhone wasn’t the first smart phone but it was the first one for the masses and this truly set up for the growth that the smart phone sector is seeing. A lot has came out since then, but it was again the G1 that gained attention and now the Palm Pre is earning its place. This means that the majority of people are just starting to transition to the smartphone market. As good as the Sony X1 is in the Mp3 market, I feel like that market is already fully owned by Apple and they are starting to go towards the smartphone market (Why have an iPod and a phone in your pocket when you can have one device that does both?). If the smartphone market is truly just beginning to grow, then Sony is still not late to the party, as long as they bring a product that’s part of a community of Sony services, yet is open and part of a longer term plan.

[Via Slashphone]

Updated: Sony Ericsson Picks Up MicroSD, Ditches Own Memory Stick Micro

In some of the latest Sony Ericsson models, we have seen the lack of Sonys own Memory Stick Micro, their version or competition to the MicroSD that many cellphones use. This holds true in their upcoming K850 and the newly announced Satio and came to us as odd but we figured, it was due to the development methods and partners with those models. Will today, all that is cleared up as Sony Ericssons Global Marketing Director Fortuné Alexander, stated that the company is “moving in that direction” when asked about dropping the Memory Stick Micro line in favor of the MicroSD.

As a user of  Sony products, it’s not fun to see the company give up on their on smaller formats, but from a business practice, I’m beyond glad. A problem Sony is currently having is that they are fighting far too many battles. If there is an electronic device or format, Sony has a version. Many times, (looking at you BetaMax and Mini Disc Players), they were indeed superior but because the company is do divided up, they cannot poor in the real amount of resources needed to fend and advance that product/brand or format. With one less format to worry about, it means that the costs of their devices can potentially come down as the tap into a universal format and in hopes, also make more money, because they can sell a MicroSD to lets say 400 million phones versus a Memory Stick Micro to only 20 million phones (all numbers being made up). Maybe Sony is indeed serious about moving to a more open format.

Update:

So here is an odd twist to the story that makes no sense. It seems that Sony is indeed ditching their M2 for MicroSD and so one would assume that this would be a company wide policy but in fact, during the E3 announcement of the new PSP Go, the unit will be using…you guessed it, Sony’s Memory Stick Micro. Now, I understand that products will be in different development cycles and such but one would assume that ditching M2 would be a company wide policy and that the PSP Go would also adopt MicroSD as they are extremely similar in size.

[Via Engadget]

Sony Ericsson Satio To Launch In October

Earlier this year, during the Mobile World Congress, Sony Ericsson showed off a new phone, code named at the time Idou. Well, today comes news that the Idou will be called the Satio and will launch sometime in October. Some key features of this phone include:

• 640 x 350, 3.5-inch touch screen
• 12.1 Megapixels (take that Palm Pre and iPhone combined)
• Dual-Band HSPA
• Xenon Flash
• MicroSD expansion with an 8GB in the box (Is Sony looking to get rid of the Memory Stick Micro?)

Look for this unit in  October then in Black, Silver or Bordeaux. No price point yet though. As always, hit the MagicGate for more shots. (reminds me of my Cybershot T-300)

[Via SEMC Blog]

Facial Recognition From Sony Ericsson, Plays Your Moods Song

A new patent was recently discovered from Sony Ericsson that while listening to our music, your device will change the song depending on your mood. The example is based on the idea that while you hold your Smart Phone, through the camera, a picture of your face will be taken, scanned and pending on your mood, a corresponding song will play. Of course as all patents go, I wouldn’t give this a second thought for something like this could be many years out or something that may just never work.

[Via Slashgear]