Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 on Sale at Best Buy for $1

Thanks to a report from Engadget, Best Buy is selling the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 for just $1. As the guys over there point out, they cannot find the deal online so this mean be an indication that Best Buy is looking to clear their inventory out and might be just an in store deal. As we reported last week, Sony has now changed it’s mind and will be pushing out Android 2.3 to all Xperia X10 user, making this deal, that much more tantalizing. Have you seen the Xperia X10 on sale at your local Best Buy?

[Via Engadget]

Sony Ericsson Admits They’ve Made Mistakes, Says 2011 Will Be Better

It’s always humbling to see a company be willing to look back, reflect, and admit that they have made mistakes. It’s even better when the company has learned from the mistakes and is both willing and planning on doing better. With the Sony Ericsson Arc on the horizon, it seems that Sony Ericsson will indeed have a different attitude and offering during 2011.

“The first generation of handsets in our portfolio was about getting the capability out there”, Steve Walker (Acting) global head of marketing for Sony Ericsson.

During 2010, Sony released the Xperia X10, X10 Mini, X10 Mini Pro which have now surpassed 9 million shipped though they all shipped with outdated Android 1.6 and only recently saw an upgrade path to 2.1. This and a lack of marketing and strategy made it hard for Sony to stand out from the crowded Android market with the likes of HTC, Motorola and LG.

“It’s important to remember that 2010 was the first year for mass market Android handsets. Yes there had been one or two things out from HTC previously, but when we started to design our 2010 handsets in 2008, nobody really knew the dynamics of the Android smartphone market or even what the smartphone market was going to be”, explains Walker in respect of a range that hasn’t been too well received over the last 12 months.

“None of us could predict 2 years previously, to what extent users would switch into smartphones. None of us could really predict what would be more important and less important for consumers”.

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.

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.

No OS Updates from Sony Ericcson for Xperia X10 Beyond Android 2.1

I’ve long chronicled the hardship Xperia X10 users have had to deal with, with it comes to Android and the latest offerings from Sony. Sony Ericsson first launched the Xperia X10 in Fall with Android 1.6 which for it’s time was already out of date and it took the company till late December to begin a true roll out to Android 2.1. Still, at least those users now have the semi current build of Android. But what about Android 2.2 and 2.3? Not so much says Sony. A few quotes from Sony Ericsson:

“We believe that the current Xperia range on Android 2.1 coupled with Sony Ericsson’s proprietary upgrades and unique hardware delivers a user experience that is on par with, and in many cases better than, a vanilla installation of Android 2.2.

We’re planning another upgrade to bring new features (such as for example multi-touch for Xperia X10) to the current family of Xperia™ smartphones in Q1 2011.

Our priority right now is to keep enhancing the user experience of the existing products through coming updates and to deliver a fantastic range of smartphones in 2011 that are all on the latest possible version of Android – that is a target we are determined to hit.”

So this is a case of good news, bad news. The bad news is obviously that Sony isn’t looking to bring further Android OS releases to the Xperia X10. The good is that the X10, X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro are not being abandoned. Instead, Sony will release it’s own updates for the phones, like Pinch-t0-zoom, something that is completely different from improvements from Google’s Android and can give Sony specific areas to improve upon, without having to wait for the mothership to do something about it. Just keep in mind, the up coming Sony Ericsson Arc will sport Android 2.3 from day one.

Sony Ericssons Xperia X10, Exclusive to Best Buy with Taylor Swift

Last week, we talked about the Sony Ericsson Xpera X10 coming to Best Buy on October 24th and the possibility of it being an exclusive product over there. We now have confirmation that indeed, Best Buy will be the only store, outside of Sonys on Sony Style stores to carry the Xperia X10. This AT&T only phone will be offered for $99 with a two year contract which is not bad at all, considering all other similar phones retail for around $149 or $199. Sony is also be pre-loading in the Xperia X10 what it called the “The Essential Taylor Swift Experience,” which is meant to promote the new Tayler Swift album that will be released on October 25th by none other than Sony/BMG. Including will be two albums, a new single, ringtone and video content, and access to her new album. And interesting promotion at a very intriguing price.

Hit the jump for the full press release.

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 Xperia X10 Mini Pro Review

Hot on the heals of their Xperia X10 launch, Sony is following up with a newer and different take on the Smartphone, the Xperia X10 Mini Pro. Woo, mouth full. Why not X10 Mini? Because that’s not how Sony does, they prefer extremely long and unconsumer friendly names. But that is for a different topic. With the new X10 Mini Pro, Sony is looking to target a different segment of the market. Those who want more then a phone that just makes phones calls, yet they don’t need everything an iPhone might have to offer. Now if you are reading this blog, chances are that you  might not be one of those people but if you look around, there is plenty of people I’m sure that can come to mind. It seems that the guys over and Engadget agree as well.

Despite the relatively slow 600Mhz processor, the phone is actually very speedy. Running apps such as Tweetcaster and NewsRob are much faster than devices such as theGalaxy S that runs a processor nearly twice as fast.

It seems like Sony was able to take the best feature of a regular phone, add some Android to the mix and create a very functional and affordable phone for those who just don’t need a fully fledged Smartphone. Hit up Endgadget for the full review.

[Via Engadget]

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.