Sony Ericsson will need a hot cash injection of 100 million euro ($135 million) to survive after March 2010. Sony and Ericsson will both be raising cash in order to keep this dog afloat for a while longer and the company is cutting “one in five” jobs. The real question: Will they be missed? → Read More
If I was the FCC, I’d start my own gadget blog in light of the fact that I’d have first dibs to all the new gear. Er, wait…nevermind. Scratch that, stick to your federal duties and leave the blogging to us. Sony Ericsson’s newest (T-Mobile-bound) slider phone, the Cyber-shot CS8 (known elsewhere as the C905), has received approval by the FCC. Not only are there a bunch of external and internal photos of the new CS8, but for the extra curious/impatient readers out there, you can also read the CS8′s user manual (pdf). From what we can gather, the CS8 includes an 8 megapixel camera w/ flash, WiFi, GPS (w/ Google Maps), Bluetooth, and a Memory Stick Micro (M2) slot, among other features. Obviously, since this is just FCC approval, there’s no pricing or availability info yet. → Read More
Don’t worry, they’re not backing out entirely, but Sony Ericsson wants you to know that their Android handset (or handsets) won’t be coming for quite some time. They want to make something, you know, different. They didn’t put any sort of date on it, unsurprisingly, but they do sound kind of sincere. CEO Hideki Komiyama described the delay: “It does require a lot of evaluation, as well as a lot of testing, a lot of acceptance from a consumer viewpoint, and there is still some time to go.” That’s not really saying anything significant, but it’s far from the non-statement they could have made, something along the lines of “We are considering all options and market flizucuations.” At the moment, they don’t have much to differentiate their product from, but by the time they get theirs out (let’s just arbitrarily say Winter), they’ll have a whole lot more competition to worry about. → Read More
So maybe the company/venture isn’t OK as the previously released company statement indicated. Now, a few months later, word hits that 2,000 peeps are about to lose their jobs due to decline sales. → Read More
I had the opportunity to test Sony Ericsson’s newest mobile phone, the G9, in Tokyo today. The device is the first KDDI au is selling in Japan under the so-called iida brand. It’s not officially on sale yet, but I could lay my hands on finished versions for a few minutes in a KDDI showroom. The G9 will be available in Japan next week. → Read More
Don’t worry: these won’t come out here. The S312 is a 2-megapixel camera phone with dedicated “camera” button for taking impromtu snaps of your friends and relations. It should be available in Q3 2009. The W205 (shown here) has a 1.3-megapixel camera and FM tuner and supports up to an amazing 2 gigabytes of Memory Stick Micro storage. It should be available in Q3 as well. How far the mighty have fallen. → Read More
There’s a reason you can’t really see the phone in this picture. Let’s start with a little gem from the press release for this new S-E phone, shall we? Maria knows that all eyes will be on her this season and thanks to her new T707; she can rest assured that whatever she does, she will look stylish, glamorous and be in control of her life with just the wave of a hand. Now, to extrapolate, what we are seeing here is the suggestion that Maria Sharapova, besides having a mean arm, knows enough about cellphones to tell if she – or, in actuality, her travel coordinator and assistant – needs a gesture-based cellphone. Wait, what’s that you say? You think S-E paid her to say all those nice things about this otherwise dud of a flip phone? Why you might be right. And there we find the flaw in S-E’s plan for world domination. → Read More
Ericsson, phone-switch-maker to the stars, has “no plans to abandon its joint venture Sony Ericsson” said an Ericsson spokesperson, thereby ensuring that shiz is going to hit the fan sooner than later. As we pointed out before, S-E isn’t doing too hot and they just lost their North American President, Najmi Jarwala, who was probably ousted for not selling Sony Ericsson phones in the US. → Read More
It’s stirring. Even in this harsh economy, SE is still launching two phones for MWC, a move that shows SE’s dedication to the status quo and an understanding that consumers want more of the same. In a way, Sony Ericsson is telling the world “Yes, we’re still alive and kicking. Yes, we still have phones. And yes, one is is a mid-level cameraphone for Europe.”
The SE C903 Cyber-shot is a “creative and stylish mobile phone” with swivel screen, 5-megapixel camera, Smile Shutter (TM)(C)(R), BestPic (TM)(C)(R) (a silly system that takes 9 bad pictures in a row and lets you pick the best one). It comes in Lacquer Black, Techno White and Glamour Red and includes aGPS. → Read More
Sorry NuevaSync. It (syncing Google contacts and calendars unofficially through your wonderful free service, that is) was fun while it lasted. Google has finally fleshed out its Google Sync to work beyond just BlackBerry handsets – enabling (most) smartphone (and iPod touch) users the ability to perform bi-directional syncing of Google contacts and calendars. Today’s update adds support for iPhone OS, Windows Mobile, and any phone with SyncML support. Google provides specific usage instructions for the following platforms: iPhone (including iPod touch), BlackBerry, Nokia S60, Nokia standard, Sony Ericsson, and Windows Mobile. That’s pretty much all there is to it. An official app. Contact syncing. Calendar syncing. For more, check the video after the break. → Read More
Japan’s second biggest mobile phone carrier KDDI au today presented their new cell phones [JP] for this spring. The first handsets will be available in Nippon on Saturday.
And they have a few spectacular models to offer – if only the Japanese carriers did what they promised a few months back (large-scale internationalization due to a shrinking home market), everyone could get their hands on these things. → Read More
Are cell phones no longer a growth business? At least in the fourth quarter, cell phone shipments actually declined. According to Deutsche Bank analyst Brian Modoff, shipments from the top five cell phone manufacturers (Nokia, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, and Motorola) dropped 13 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2008. Unit shipments decelerated from 14 percent growth in the second quarter to 2 percent growth in the third quarter, and then finally went into negative territory in the fourth quarter. Shipments for the top five started decelerating sequentially (quarter-over-quarter) in the third quarter, when they were down 2 percent, and then were down 4 percent sequentially in the fourth quarter. The deceleration is likely to continue through 2009. Even Apple saw a 36 percent quarterly decline in sales of iPhones (4.4 million in the December quarter versus 6.9 million in the September quarter). And RIM’s Blackberry Storm sold only 500,000 units its first month, despite a $100 million marketing campaign. As a result, Apple and RIM have about 3 percent market share between them, down from 4 percent in the third quarter, estimates Modoff. Still, that’s half of Motorola’s 6 percent share. → Read More
Android just got stronger. The industry consortium behind the Google-developed mobile operating system, the Open Handset Alliance, just added 14 new members, including ARM, Garmin International, Sony Ericsson and Vodafone. The other new members are AKM Semiconductor, ASUSTek Computer, Atheros Communications, Borqs, Ericsson, Huawei Technologies, Omron Software, Softbank Mobile, Teleca AB, and Toshiba. When the Open Handset Alliance was announced a year ago, it launched with 34 partners, including T-Mobile, HTC (maker of the G1 Android), Qualcomm, Intel, Samsung, Motorola, Sprint Nextel, and NTT Docomo. Nokia, AT&T, and Verizon are still sitting on the sidelines. Their loss. → Read More
Head over to MobiltyToday as they examine, in gory detail, what they’re calling “The ultimate Windows Mobile phone anyone can ask for… ” My only question is this: what if I never asked for a WinMo phone from Sony Ericsson? What if I asked for the charm and power of a UIQ-powered P800, my first and favorite smartphone? What if asked for a logical addition to the S-E family instead of some weird HTC-designed monstrosity? What if I asked for some S-E phones on these shores? I’m happy they’re trying, but this ain’t the direction they should be taking if they want to hit the big time. → Read More
At long last, Sony Ericsson has announced U.S availability of the Xperia X1. Because it’s definitely the best day to send people to the mall, they’ll be launching the handset on Black Friday (November 28th). With a Black Friday launch date, at least it’ll come in at a bargain price, right? Try $800 bucks. As of right now, the X1 is only planned to be up for sale as an unlocked handset through Sony Style stores and authorized Sony retailers, with preorders beginning November 13th. Sorry, Sony Ericsson – the X1 is a gorgeous piece that I’ve been gushing about for months, but I think I’ll skip this one so I can, you know, afford food. [Via Phonescoop] → Read More
Just a few days ago, the above shot of a supposed XPERIA concept device started floating around. Though its authenticity can’t be confirmed, we certainly hope it’s fake – or, at most, a concept never intended to leave the labs. Besides being a damned nice looking piece of hardware, much of the XPERIA X1‘s appeal stems from its full, landscape QWERTY keyboard. In this concept, the keyboard slides out vertically, keeping the phone in portrait mode. No thanks. As a portrait slider requires just about the same amount of hardware and sliding mechanics as a landscape slider, it’s not as if it makes the phone any less bulky. What it does do, however, is take a nice, roomy keyboard and cramp it down, removing a big chunk of what made the X1 worthwhile. → Read More
Looking to develop your big idea for the mobile world, but just not vibing with the iPhone or the Android platform? Sony Ericsson wants you to come hang out in their camp for a bit. Along with adding an XPERIA category to the 2008 Sony Ericsson Content Awards, they’ve released a new Windows Mobile SDK to the public. Amongst other things, the new SDK adds drastically improved support for the XPERIA X1. Sure, your audience may be a bit smaller than with Apple or Google, and the handset itself isn’t widely available yet, but.. uh.. erm.. it’s a good looking device? The key features of the new SDK: Compatibility with Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 – with predefined templates for greatest ease of use Windows Vista OS support (adding to its support for Windows XP) Built-in true Xperia X1 phone device emulator – allowing developers to run, test and debug panels locally on a desktop without phone hardware Key mapping support in the device emulator If you’re plannin’ on putting something together for the X1, you best get to crackin: you’ve only got 38 days left in the Content Contest. → Read More
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