Smartphone maker Sony Ericsson this morning posted a pre-tax loss of 247 million euros ($318 million) in the fourth quarter of 2011, after reporting a profit of 31 million euros in Q3 2011. The company, a 50:50 joint-venture between Sony and Ericsson, blames “intense competition”, “price erosion” and effects from the flooding in Thailand as some of the main drivers for the drop.

Sales for the quarter were approximately 1.3 billion euros, down 16 percent year-on-year.

The fourth quarter of last year ended in a net loss of 207 million euros ($266.5 million), compared to a net income of 8 million euros ($10.3 million) in the same quarter of the previous year.

Analysts were actually expecting a modest profit from the company, so this is quite a shock.

Sony will soon acquire Ericsson’s 50 percent share of Sony Ericsson in a deal valued at 1.05 billion euros – the transaction is expected to take place “late January to February 2012″.

Sony Ericsson’s huge loss in Q4 2011 will impact Ericsson’s operating income with SEK -1.1 b. (125 million euros) in the quarter, the latter company said this morning.

Update with more information from Sony Ericsson’s earnings report:

Its gross margin for the quarter was 24 percent, a decrease of 6 points year-on-year and 3 percentage points from the previous quarter.

The company shipped 9 million units during Q4 2011, a 20 percent decrease year-on-year and a 5 percent decrease compared to Q3. Sony Ericsson has shipped 28 million Xperia (Android) smartphones to date.

Even though Sony Ericsson intends to go all-smartphone during 2012, feature phones still make up some 20 percent of its sales volumes.

Also read:

Sony Ericsson To Rebrand In 2012, Aims For Top Of The Android Pack

Sony Ericsson CEO: We Should Have Taken The iPhone More Seriously

I’ve never been a huge fan of Sony Ericsson. The phones are fine, I guess, and I certainly commend the company’s drive to differentiate. The Xperia Play is a great concept but it failed to really take off.

Today, however, I was very impressed after taking a good hard look at the new Xperia S. It’s not the thinnest phone at .4 inches, nor does it have the biggest screen, but it is something fresh which is more than I can say for most Android Gingerbread phones.

The phone is very boxy, and even has an extra bit of hardware on the bottom that seemingly has no purpose. Still, I don’t mind it since it adds something new to the look of the phone with that thin strip of clear plastic. I also tend to frown upon white phones, but the Xperia S is a sexy little beast in white.

Spec-wise, this new phone continues to impress with a 4.3-inch HD Reality Display powered by Sony’s Bravia Engine. The screen boasts a 720p resolution, joining ranks with the Galaxy Nexus, the LG Spectrum, and the HTC Rezound.

Under the hood you’ll find 1GB of RAM, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, and a memory card slot with room for up to a 32GB card.

Another impressive feature of the Xperia S is its 12-megapixel rear-facing camera that is capable of video capture in 1080p, along with a front-facing shooter for video chat.

All in all, the phone feels great in the hand and looks hot. The corners are a bit “sharp” but not at all uncomfortable, and the purposeless extra hardware along the bottom doesn’t make the phone cumbersome at all. Oh, and if gaming’s your thing than you’ll be happy to know that this phone is Playstation-certified.

Sony promises that Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich will head to the S eventually, but we have no word on pricing or availability yet so stay tuned.

The era of Ice Cream Sandwich is upon us, and while some of us are waiting diligently for our Galaxy Nexuses to to arrive, others are left pondering a more different question: when will my device get Android 4.0?

Sony Ericsson (soon to be just Sony) and Motorola have heard our pleas, and have both gone into lengthy tirades about how the Ice Cream Sandwich process actually works and how long it takes, albeit without juicy details like dates.

Though they both go about it in different ways — Sony Ericsson’s explanation delves into more technical territory, while Motorola’s is more accessible — they essentially outline the same multi-step process. I’d recommend Android junkies take a look at both just for the nitty gritty details, but here’s the TL;DR version of how the upgrade process works.

Get it working: It wasn’t long ago that Google released the AOSP version of Ice Cream Sandwich, and at that point vendors began to work on getting it running on the devices that they have decided will get the upgrade. For Motorola, this means the Droid RAZR, the Droid Bionic, the original XOOMs, and the new XYBOARDs. Meanwhile, Sony Ericsson will be updating their entire 2011 Xperia line. At this point, they’ll also be working on integrating manufacturer-specific tweaks, and making sure all the basics (phone calls, SMS, data connections) work properly.

Squash the bugs: Now that ICS is up-and-running, it’s up to the vendors to make sure it runs as smoothly as possible. This includes (mong other things) applying patches and fixes, making sure downloaded apps run properly, and the extensive testing different use-cases for stability.

Submit for certification: Once all the heavy lifting is done, it’s off to the network operators for certification. This is probably the most time-consuming of all the steps since they have to extensively test the update, and the process can differ from carrier to carrier. It can take longer still for companies who launch the same devices in multiple countries. The updates also have to be certified to show that they are compliant with a given regulatory body’s technical standards (like Bluetooth, WiFi, etc.).

Push it out: The best part (at least from my point of view). With everyone having signed off on the update, it gets released for end-users to download.

Though very informative, Eurodroid points out that their explanations also seem to serve as something of a mea culpa — getting all these devices to run Android 4.0 takes a lot of work, so sorry for the (inevitable) wait.

Sony and Ericsson have made no secret of their impending split-up, but at the time of the announcement, the two didn’t have much to say about when the companies would officially go their separate ways.

That is, of course, until now: an executive source from within Sony told the Times of India that the mobile phone company will begin to fly solely under Sony’s banner by the middle of 2012.

The joint venture, which celebrated it’s 10th anniversary this past October, made waves earlier in the decade thanks to their scores of multimedia-friendly devices and successes in the burgeoning smartphone market. To say that their position has changed in recent years is putting it lightly — Sony-Ericsson is now the sixth-largest handset manufacturer in the world, and they’re preparing to put all of their eggs in a single proverbial basket.

Now, as the company has stated in their Q3 financials, it’s going to be all Android smartphones all the time. Killing off their feature phone portfolio going forward is a bold move, considering that companies like Nokia successfully milk developing markets while bolstering their smartphone lineup. Still, Sony Ericsson EVP Kristian Tear has high hopes for their Android-only push. He says that the company’s target is to become the number one Android player in the smartphone segment — a lofty goal, but will Sony actually make able to make good on their word?

Samsung currently occupies the seat that Sony wants to claim for themselves; the Korean company became the biggest smartphone vendor in the world in Q3 2011 for shipping 24 million smartphones. Sony Ericsson, on the other hand, shipped a relatively paltry 9.5 million units in total, and CEO/President Bert Nordberg stated that the company shipped 22 million Xperia smartphones through the end of October 2011. That’s right — Samsung shipped more smartphones in one quarter than Sony Ericsson’s flagship Xperia line has since it was released. Talk about David taking on Goliath.

Of course, having the full backing of Sony’s consumer electronics empire could help even the playing field. Once the buyout transaction is approved, one of the first things Sony’s mobile division will do is refocus on their advertising and marketing campaigns in an attempt to harness the power of the Sony brand. It’s a step in the right direction, but Tear feels that’s just the beginning:

“Sony is the world’s biggest entertainment company. We were earlier a 50-50 JV, but now that we are a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Corp, we expect to gain from its assets on the content, technology and brand side.”

Getting content from your Android device onto a bigger screen has never been terribly hard, but Sony Ericsson’s Vscreens service makes it an absolute cakewalk. There’s no fiddling with DLNA settings or fumbling with cables here — just QR codes.

Once you’ve downloaded the Vscreens app from the Android Market (which works on any Android device running 2.1 later, not just SE handsets), point your browser at vscreens.com and scan that QR code. Your device and the website will forge a connection, and allow you to quickly throw photos up onto a bigger screen. Scrolling back and forth between photos was fairly smooth, and to my surprise, pinch-to-zoom worked nicely as well.

I tested it on my work-issued laptop with great success, and Sony Ericsson says the service should work on any screen with an internet connection and a browser (and yes, that includes iPads). The truly daring can even share videos, though it requires both devices to be on the same WiFi network. Sadly, it had a rough time working with the episode of Doctor Who I always have on my phone, but shorter videos worked just fine.

Oh, and did I mention that the Vscreens is free? Sony Ericsson’s got it labelled as a beta product, and it occasionally shows: some pictures came up pixelated (though it’s probably more the camera’s fault), and buffering some videos took longer than I was willing to wait. Still, it’s an impressive little service to play around with, and with any luck it won’t die when Sony and Ericsson part ways.

In addition to outlining its plans in Dutch on Facebook, Sony Ericsson has clarified its stance on bringing Ice Cream Sandwich to the Xperia-toting masses on its blog today. As if you haven’t been obsessively reading up on the update already, I’ll go ahead and mention a few new features including flexible widgets, Roboto font, the ability to take screen shots, revamped notifications and facial unlock. Luckily, if your phone came out in 2011 and it has “Xperia” in the name, Ice Cream Sandwich is headed your way.

Here’s the official statement:

There have been a few questions here on the blog and in our support forums regarding our upgrade plans beyond Gingerbread. We can today confirm that we plan to upgrade the entire 2011 Xperia portfolio* to the next version of Android known as Android 4.0 or Ice Cream Sandwich. We are working on merging our current Xperia™ experience with the new features in Android 4.0. More detailed information regarding this upgrade, timing and global availability will be communicated in due course here on the blog.

* “2011 Xperia™ Portfolio” refers to the following products: Xperia arc and arc S, Xperia PLAY, Xperia neo and neo V, Xperia mini and mini pro, Xperia pro, Xperia active, Xperia ray as well as Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman.

SE had originally posted vague upgrade plans through its Dutch Facebook page, but failed to clarify what it meant by “2011 Xperia portfolio” like it did this time. Unfortunately, the phone maker offered no timeline for update availability. As soon as we know, so will you.

Yikes, what a disheartening story.

Proving that they don’t know a damned thing about fan communities, Sony Ericsson has filed a formal complaint against the fan-operated blog/forum Xperiablog.net, claiming that the owners were using it in “bad faith”. Fearing the costs of a legal battle, the site says they will be shutting down operations immediately.

If there were a class on “How not to handle potentially sticky trademark issues”, this would be lesson one.

Here’s the thing about the users in a community like this (I used to run a few, long before my time here at TechCrunch): they love the product. They really, really love it. In most cases, it’s almost an obsession. Think about it: they love it enough to search for other people who love the product, and who want to sit around and talk about nothing but the product. Treat them right, and they’ll be some of the best marketers you’ll ever find. For free.

Instead, Sony Ericsson has just gone and turned them all into enemies. A large group of people, all obviously quite vocal about the products they use, now dislike your product. Whoops.

The site’s founder on the decision to shutdown:

We do not have the resources to fight Sony Ericsson on this and therefore this is the last you will hear from us. Sony Ericsson has made great strides in its Xperia portfolio, especially in listening to the community. This makes it all the more confusing as to why Sony Ericsson would want to shut us down. We genuinely believe that 2012 could be a bumper year for the company, we just wish we could have been there along for the ride.

Admittedly, using a trademarked term wasn’t the best move on their part (at least from a legal standpoint) — but it is pretty much standard. Imagine if Sprint went after SprintUsers, Google after AndroidCentral, or Facebook after InsideFacebook?

Was it Sony Ericsson’s job to protect their trademark? Absolutely — but there are better ways to do it. At the very least: reach out, express the company’s concerns, and offer to help them find a new, less trademark-infringing home. When someone’s doing you a service, you don’t hold a gun to their head because they’re not doing it the way you’d like.

Sony Ericsson has joined HTC in offering up a general plan for pushing the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich updates to existing handsets. In a message on its Dutch Facebook page, the company has said it will roll out Ice Cream Sandwich to all 2011 Xperia handsets. Phones that should receive the update include the Xperia Play, Xperia neo and neo V, Mini Pro, Xperia Ray, and the Xperia arc.

Much like HTC, Sony Ericsson has given no firm timeline, but did say that the roll out will begin once all 2011 Xperia phones get the update for 2.3.4 Gingerbread. Here’s the official statement given to Engadget:

Sony Ericsson is currently rolling out the upgrade to Gingerbread 2.3.4 across its entire 2011 Xperia smartphone portfolio. This software upgrade will be available through a phased roll out in select markets. Beyond Gingerbread 2.3.4, we plan to upgrade our 2011 Xperia smartphone portfolio to the next Android platform made available to us.

According to Dutch blog AllAboutPhones, Sony Ericsson will release Ice Cream Sandwich update in 2012. This jives well with earlier statements made by Google executives, who mentioned that most Gingerbread phones should “theoretically” get Android 4.0 in 2012.

A day after Google announced that 190 million Android devices have been manufactured to date, Sony Ericsson this morning revealed that 22 million of those that were sold were its Android-powered Xperia smartphones.

In fact, 80 percent of the company’s sales now comes from higher-end mobile devices, which is why Sony Ericsson will be shifting its entire product portfolio to smartphones during 2012, the company said.

Sony Ericsson estimates that its share of the global Android-based smartphone market during Q3 was approximately 12 percent in volume.

As the company’s President and CEO Bert Nordberg put it recently: they probably should have taken the iPhone more seriously when it was introduced.

The company broke even – albeit barely – during Q3, after making a €49 million (~$67.6 million) profit in the third quarter last year, and reported a tiny year-on-year drop in revenue. Revenue for the third quarter of this year was about €1.59 billion (~$2.19 billion), compared to €1.6 billion a year earlier.

The company blamed the drop in net income on higher taxes and lower margins.

Units shipped during the quarter were 9.5 million, a 9 percent decrease year-on-year due to a decline in ‘feature phone’ shipments.

The earnings come a week after the WSJ reported that Sony may soon buy Ericsson out of the partnership. The company declined to comment on said report during the Q3 earnings call.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Sony Ericsson President and CEO Bert Nordberg made a number of interesting statements about the iPhone, Android, Windows Phone and Motorola.

Defending the decision to pick Android as the choice operating system for its mobile handsets, Nordberg posits that it was ‘the best choice they could have made’ considering its rapid growth, but also acknowledges that the company “should have taken the iPhone more seriously when it arrived in 2007″.

Asked whether he would have liked to buy Motorola Mobility rather than Google, he candidly responds:

“Well sure, but before you go shopping you have to become rich.

And a deal between us would have been extremely complicated, with us being a private company with two large owners and them being a listed U.S. company.”

Nordberg says the goal is for Sony Ericsson to gradually shed its feature phone business and become a 100% smartphone company – much unlike Nokia, I should note. He estimates that to happen in the middle of next year (70% of its sales already stem from smartphones today).

Asked why Sony Ericsson hasn’t become the world’s largest maker of Android devices yet, Nordberg tells the WSJ that they’ve underestimated the speed with which it could penetrate the United States, where he acknowledges the company to be a “very tiny player”.

Sony Ericsson has an estimated 11 percent share of the total Android market.

Asked whether the company would consider switching to Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform, Nordberg says (emphasis ours):

“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.”

With an October/November launch window more or less confirmed, the next burning question is which devices will get to benefit from the Ice Cream Sandwich treatment first. Motorola’s Sanjay Jha mentioned last month that he’d like his company to be first to market with an ICS device, but now another vendor has thrown their weight behind the latest update.

Today, Sony Ericsson has announced their support for the forthcoming version of Android, with all of their 2011 Xperia smartphones shipping with support for Ice Cream Sandwich.

Of course, this announcement says nothing about the actual logistics of the situation. Sure, flashy handsets like the Xperia Ray and the Xperia Arc will be privy to an ICS update, but SoMobile’s Sony Ericsson source makes no mention of availability dates. All devices that will get the Ice Cream Sandwich update will reportedly be upgraded to Android 2.3.4 first, which is curious since Sony mentioned that process would start as a phased rollout in October. Unless Sony Ericsson plans to stick very tightly to their timelines, that likely would push their ICS update window into November or beyond.

However murky the plan may be right now, at least Sony Ericsson has made it known. The competition, on the other hand, has remained largely quiet in the face of an Ice Cream Sandwich war during the coming months. How will their ICS rollouts play out?

Samsung’s in a good position here: their Nexus S handset was the first in the world to run Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and recent buzz points to them carrying that same distinction for the Ice Cream Sandwich update. That said, if their Gingerbread rollout track record is any indicator, it will take a few months for ICS builds to start making their way onto their other devices.

While Gingerbread first hit on Samsung’s Nexus S in December 2010, Motorola scrambled for months to get their Gingerbread builds out to their devices. In fairness, a majority of Motorola’s devices run custom interfaces that required a bit more fine-tuning, but that could all change now. Thanks for their new relationship with Google, it stands to reason that Motorola may be in a privileged position when it comes to ICS access. Sanjay Jha’s wish for being first to market probably won’t come true, but with Google’s support, those updates may come at a much faster clip than before.

UPDATE: Sony Ericsson has come out and denied any Ice Cream Sandwich update plans. In a statement to SlashGear, representatives from SE said that “when it comes to future platforms of the Android OS, we will make them available to consumers in a timely manner, as long as they improve the user experience and are viable from a hardware point of view.”

Sony Ericsson knows how to do Facebook. A social network can’t be the only selling point of the phone, like on the HTC Status — there has to be something else. For gamers, SE brought Facebook into the mix with the Xperia Play. Now, music fans are getting the same love. This morning, SE unveiled the Live With Walkman smartphone featuring a button for instant music access and deep Facebook integration.

Though SE has only called it “deep Facebook integration,” the capabilities of the software lead me to believe that this is nearly identical to the Facebook Inside Xperia platform, just without the Xperia bit. You can still connect direct to Facebook from within the photo gallery, music player, calendar and phonebook. Past that, there’s a dedicated hardware button that connects the user to Sony’s Qriocity music platform, offering instant access to music and videos.

The only hangup is that this little guy doesn’t quite have the specs to compete with the big boys: 3.2-inch TFT display, single-core 1GHz processor, 5-megapixel auto-focus camera that shoots in 720p, a front-facing camera, and Android 2.3 Gingerbread. If you’re all about having a bad mamma jamma phone, the new offering from SE probably won’t cut it. Then again, if you primarily use your phone to listen to music and keep up with Facebook, the Live with Walkman may be just what you’re looking for.

Pricing is as-yet unannounced but we expect to see the Live with Walkman hit shelves in October.

Sony Ericsson released its quarterly earnings this morning, reporting a surprise loss for Q2 2011 and declining sales. The earthquake that hit Japan earlier this year has a lot to do with the slump, as it had a major effect on the company’s supply chain.

The quarter ended in a net loss of €50 million (roughly $70.5 million), compared to a net income of €12 million ($17 million) in the same quarter in the previous year, and €11 million ($15.5 million) in the last quarter.

Sony Ericsson estimates that the impact of earthquake-related constraints on its product portfolio was close to 1.5 million units, with most of the effect in the early part of the second quarter of the year.

Total units shipped during the quarter were 7.6 million, a 31 percent decrease year- on-year. The average price per handset also fell, from €160 to €156.

Sales for the quarter were nearly €1,2 billion (roughly $1.7 billion), a 32 percent decrease year-on-year. Loss before taxes for the quarter was €42 million ($59 million), compared to an income before taxes of €31 million ($43.7 million) for the same quarter in the previous year, due to lower volume.

On another note: smartphone sales accounted for more than 70 percent of Sony Ericsson’s total sales during the quarter. The company says it has shipped more than 16 million Android-powered Xperia smartphones to date.

The company estimates that its share in the global Android-based smartphone market during the quarter was approximately 11 percent in volume as well as in value.

Looks like two new Xperia smartphones are headed out of Sony Ericsson labs and into the wild, with an expectation to launch in the third quarter. We still don’t know much about the handsets, called the Xperia Ray and the Xperia Active, although we can confirm that both will be powered by Google’s Android OS. From the ads, we’re thinking that the Ray will run Android 2.3 Gingerbread, but it’s hard to tell which version of the OS got slapped on to the Active.

The Xperia Ray is just 9.4mm thick, with a bronzy back panel. We know from the video that the Ray will come with Sony’s Bravia Engine technology, which is meant to enhance the resolution of the screen. The ad also indicated that the Ray will shoot HD video from its unspecified rear-camera, and we can also see a little front-facing shooter there, as well. Just like the Xperia Play, SE’s Ray smartphone will also get Facebook Inside Xperia. This lets users tap into the social network from all the most-used apps on the phone, such as the camera app, the media player, and the address book.

Unfortunately we know even less about the Xperia Active. It will also run Android, although which version is hard to say from that ad. However, it’s very clear that the Active will be a rugged handset. As you can see from the video, it comes with a little loop for a key chain or attachable wrist strap, and has a much thicker build than the Ray. We can see a rear-camera on the back, although again, we don’t have specifics on the shooter. It comes in four different color schemes: white with grey, black with white, white with red, and black with red. With curved, and what looks like rubberized edges, the Active is meant to stand up to tougher elements, and is supposed to be water resistant. Sweaty-palmed phone lovers, enjoy!

Obviously this is about as incomplete as a specs rundown can get, but this is just the very beginning for both phones. According to SE’s chief marketing officer Steve Walker, the Ray and the Active should launch at a lower price point than the Xperia Play, which is currently priced at $200 with a new two-year contract from Verizon. If neither of these suit your tastes, SE has plans to release a lower-end messaging-centric smartphone later on that is aimed towards teenagers.

[via Huffington Post]

Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Play and Arc smartphones will be getting an update this morning to Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread, but only for our cross-the-pond friends on Vodafone’s network. Sorry Verizonites, but I’m sure your Xperia handsets will get bumped up to 2.3.3 soon. In the mean time, Vodafone Play and Arc owners can look forward to a few bug fixes, and Facebook Inside Xperia, Sony Ericsson’s new Facebook-integrated UI.

According to Vodafone, the Android 2.3.3 update will bring with it improved voice quality, stability improvements, and email set-up and exchange account improvements. But the real meat of this update lies in the Facebook integration. As we reported earlier, Facebook Inside Xperia basically puts the social network at the core of each of your most-used applications, like the address book, the camera and media library apps, and the music player. From there, you can post suggested songs to walls, “like” just about anything, and see extra info on the friends in your address book, pulled straight from their Facebook profiles.

This is a manual update, so you’ll need to connect your device to a computer and use the Sony Ericsson Update Service app to get things rolling. If you’re a gamer at heart, and a social butterfly online, the Android 2.3.3 update should come as a delicious dollop of icing on top of your Gingerbread-powered Xperia Arc and Xperia Play.

In an industry first, Sony Ericsson Strategic Business Developer Martin Essl just announced that Sony Ericsson will integrate Facebook’s Single Sign On system across all its Android phones in the next couple of months. Launched in December, Single Sign On is like Facebook Connect for mobile apps, removing friction because it allows you to log into all apps that use Facebook Connect just by logging into one.

Essl did not go into the specifics of the integration but revealed that the Facebook app for Android will come preloaded on all phones and there will be an (optional) initial walk through process for Single Sign On as part of the phone setup. Essl also said there would be additional integrations beyond what the Facebook app can already do.

“Sony Ericsson’s core values are entertainment, communication and we strongly want to see communication as entertainment by deeper integration with Facebook,” says Essl.

Connecting mobile and social is a huge thing theme here at the Inside Social Apps conference and panel moderator Mattheus Krykowski hinted at this announcement at the beginning of the talk by affirming that “the most important thing Facebook did is Single Sign On” because it offers easy accessibility of the social graph on mobile.

Being able to easily import your friends contact information into your phone is becoming a mobile game changer and Sony Ericcsson’s move to adopt Single Sign On for Android is subtle but bold, as Facebook nears 600 million users (1/10 of the world) the solution to this problem will be increasingly one sided.

Other panelists, like Storm 8 founder Anil Dharni, expressed doubts, holding that the Single Sign On system was still “in its infancy.”

Sony Ericsson have previously said that Windows Phone 7 has “remained on their roadmap”, but, to date, we’ve seen nothing of any WinPho devices from ol’ ess eee.

However, with Sony Ericsson’s market share continuing to decrease, it seems that they may now be taking WP7 a little more seriously.

These are early days, so don’t expect any information on specific devices or hardware specs to leak out for a little while yet.

So, are you excited for a Sony Ericsson Windows Phone 7 handset? Are there any little bits of Sony magic that you would like to see included? Let me know in the comments.

[via BGR]

I’m totally down with Sony Ericsson trying almost anything to stay relevant in non-niche markets, so the Xperia Arc looks actually exciting and/or good. Sadly, as handsome as it is I doubt there are many who who really want to watch an eleven minute video describing every nuance. However, if you’re that kind of guy, here you are.

via HDBlog.It

Mobile Review have a very detailed overview of the phone — also known as the MT15i or Halon — including more pics than you can shake a megapixel at. The skinny of it all, though, is the juicy, juicy specs, which I’ve compiled for you below.

• Android 2.3
• 1 GHz ARM 7 processor
• 512 MB of RAM
• 8MP camera with Exmor sensor and 720p video recording
• 480×854 “Bravia-quality” display
• HDMI port
• 1500mAh battery

Apparently, SE’s Timescape skin hasn’t changed a great deal, but does run a heap better on the newer hardware. One change, however, is the ability to sort the application grid based on date installed, or frequency of use, rather than just having it come up alphabetically, as on other Android builds.

It should launch in April for somewhere around €320–350. There is no word just yet on a US release.

[via Into Mobile]