Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro
At around this time last year Sony Ericsson launched its debut Android OS-based smart-phone called the Xperia X10 and has, just this week, announced two new and much smaller versions of the X10 named the X10 Mini, and the X10 Mini Pro and were unveiled for inspection and initial reactions at the Mobile World Congress trade-show in Barcelona. The two new devices, the X10 Mini and Mini Pro, are fairly dwarfed by the earlier X10 and initially Sony Ericsson representatives were somewhat wary of being able to provide the excellent fast and smooth running of applications that were found on the X10's capacitive touchscreen and software on such small devices as the new X10 Mini and Mini Pro. In fact they stated that the company must, to this end, modify the phone's interfaces a little with shortcuts located in all four corners of the device’s 2.5-inch QVGA touchscreen displays that are highly customisable.
Underneath the user modifications is still Google's Android operating system and it runs extremely well on its 600 MHz processor - especially considering the small size of the screens. The devices will have access to the Android Marketplace for apps and this has rapidly become a serious competitor to Apple's AppStore. Many mobile phone enthusiasts feel that it will be fascinating to see how things develop on this score given the competitiveness of each.
One immediate difference between the new devices comes with the keyboard. The X10 Mini has a rather dainty on-screen keyboard, and the first impression is that users with rather larger than average digits may well stumble over the keyboard and make rapid messaging and e-mailing somewhat irksome. To this end Sony Ericsson put their thinking into the Xperia X10 Mini Pro which features an integral hardware keyboard. This does, however, make the Mini Pro device a good deal thicker and heavier than the X10 mini and would definitely make it rather cumbersome to take on regular travels and trips.
Both devices are GSM phones featuring 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth as well as a GPS receiver, making widespread connectivity easy and pain-free. Both phones also come with a microSD memory cards slot, enabling the user to bulk up on memory storage capacity for those extra photos and videos along with information sharing across social networks. They both also come with an integral 5 megapixel camera - very useful with a flash, affording good performance in most lighting conditions. There will also be an FM radio for listeners who enjoy tuning in from time to time. The X10 Mini specifications stand at a height of 3.3 inches, with a width of 2 inches and a thickness of 0.6 inches while weighing in at 88 grams. Meanwhile, the X10 Mini Pro will be 3.5 inches tall, 2 inches wide and 0.7 inches thick, weighing in at a more portly 120 grams.
It is thought that, with current release dates for the devices still somewhat vague, Sony Ericsson may perform some tweaking with regards to the operating system for the devices and their Timescape facility will be mooted as a central feature that would allow users to access all of their communications with their mobile contacts from one place. It would also allow simple and easy access to the device's history as well as social networking applications like Facebook, Twitter and instant messaging. As for colours the Mini Pro will initially come in just red and black, whilst the Mini will be available in black, red, pearl white, pink, lime and silver, affording far more choice for the fashion conscious. Despite current obfuscation, release date is likely to be some time in the second quarter of this year.
Vodafone Getting the X10
These past few days have been all about the Apple iPad, and it comes as to no surprise as Steve Jobs’ latest product unveiling practically is the start of a new era in digital entertainment and technology. Still, the world of mobile phones continues to move and with the next major Apple news not due until the release of the iPhone 4G, all focus shifts back to the world of Android smart phones.
The Google Android OS has been a hot topic early this year starting with the official launch and release of the Nexus One. While the Google phone suffered from low sales, it was the first of the many amazing Android device slated to be released this year.
Sony Ericsson has long confirmed that their own Android phone, the SE XPERIA X10 is slated to arrive at the end of Q1 this year. The 1GHz Snapdragon powered device will be SE’s first device that uses the Google operating system and with its launch date, it will be going up against the HTC Bravo.
Spec wise, the X10 is an impressive beast of a phone –not only for its processor. The device also comes with a 4 inch capacitive touch screen that delivers high quality visuals. The camera is an 8 mega pixel snapper with LED flash, auto focus and the SE face & smile detection software.
Vodafone has confirmed that they will be offering the device to their subscribers this coming April. It has not been announced if Vodafone will also release the Sony Ericsson Vivaz (a Symbian smart phone with 720p HD recording –formerly known as the SE Kurara) which is expected to be launched at the same time as the X10.
Read more about Vodafone UK and the upcoming launch of XPERIA X10 from Know Your Mobile.
The Sony Ericsson Vivaz: The Future Is Here
On January 21, 2010, in London, Sony Ericsson announced the second smart phone, the Sony Ericsson Vivaz, in their new family of entertainment phones. The new pioneering release introduces another video experience customers are used to. The Vivaz headed your way and into the market for the first quarter of this year, comes with a bag of tricks and surprises with their innovative high quality entertainment.
The mobile phone users will finally be able to record their spontaneous, yet precious once-in-a-lifetime moments of their experiences, within high definition quality video. This usability is just the tip of the iceberg. The Sony Ericsson Vivaz puts in heaps effort to become the standard on sharing features. The mobile phone presents HD quality video and picture capture for the users to get the best experience out of it, but the sharing is a plus, as you can capture the pictures and send them out to your friends and family.
The integrated 8.1 Megapixel camera will help the user to capture and share special moments with some expanded native features. In poor lighting conditions the flash will help you to shoot the picture in the finest possible conditions. Now the fun begins, as you capture the best moments of your life. The digital zoom goes up to 4X, and the smile detector lets the camera automatically take the shot when the people in the picture smile. Having a Sony Ericsson Vivaz in your pocket is pretty much like having an HD camera, a laptop and a telephone all-in-one. You can capture the image in high quality; the face detection offers the capability of detecting the subject's face and you can localize the snapshot with geo tagging features. The integrated image stabilizer avoids blurring, and the snapshots are ready to be sent to your personal blogs or other websites. The images and the videos can be reviewed after taking a picture in the standby panel on the 3.2 inch widescreen.
The developers of the Vivaz put a high emphasis on social networking. You can access Facebook on your phone and stay connected with your friends. Sharing plays a powerful part in the applications that come with the phone. You can film a video in HD quality and upload it to YouTube from your phone via Wi-Fi. The integrated photo upload will allow your friends to easily see your everyday moments and photos due to the integrated photo upload. Smile and upload your quality photos to Picasa where you can view and edit the pictures for your own personal amusement and style. Communication and sharing could never be easier. Users can transfer the media files between their personal computer and phone via drag and drop with the Media Go application.
The Sony Ericsson Vivaz features the 'human curvature' design, first introduced in November last year with the Xperia X10. This feature seems to be becoming a dependable part of the Sony Ericsson portfolio. The human curvature means that the Smartphone is designed to mirror a shape of the human body, which offer instantly recognizable forms. Vivaz has a 360x640 pixel and 16 million colour 16:9 HD touch screen, a 75 MB phone memory and a microSD slot supporting up to 16GB. The 107.0 x 12.5 mm size and 97.0g weight smartphone will be available in cosmic black, moon silver, galaxy blue, and venus ruby colours.
Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 is almost ready for release
Sony Ericsson are well known for their unique and attractive mobile phones. Their phones have a well known design, which is easy to navigate as well as looking attractive and also being practical. The great thing about Sony Ericsson phones is that they are designed to be used by all types of people, whether it be for important business men, or for corporate use, or personal and social use. They are available on many different payment plans, depending on which company you decide to go with.
The new phone from Sony Ericsson, the Xperia X2 combines simplicity and ease to use, with new technology which is incorporated into it. The phone features an 8 megapixel camera, which is huge for a mobile phone. Having that much quality allows you to take photographs of virtually anything, from moving images to far away land marks and sights.
The Xperia X2 uses WVGA technology to allow you to take videos and save them to the phone. Whether it is a local band you want to video, a treasured family moment of maybe a romantic time, the 8 megapixel camera will be able to capture all the quality you could ask for. On normal mobile phones, you usually have 2 to 3 letters per key. The Xperia X2 features a slide out keypad, which gives each letter of the alphabet its own individual key, saving you time and making your life easier. If you like the sound of the new phone from Sony Ericsson then simply head online to see what Xperia X2 deals become available.
Sony Ericsson Hazel shows that Eco friendly phones do exist
With more and more people beginning to believe that global warming will directly affect them in their lifetime, the opinion on the whole topic is changing, and people are starting to make a difference. Whether it be using energy efficient light bulbs, insulating your house more thoroughly or installing double glazing to help keep the heat in, there are many ways that you can help to make a difference. The new Sony Ericsson Hazel uses unique methods to cut down on the emissions it releases during the manufacturing process as well as benefiting the environment.
To start with, the new Greenheart phone is made from recycled plastic. This allows factories just to melt down and reuse old plastic rather than having to create brand new material. New plastic generates harmful emissions when made, which pollute the atmosphere. All phones come with some sort of manual to tell you how to work the phone. This can often be very thick due to it being written in many different languages. The Sony Ericsson Hazel eliminates this problem by using an E-manual installed on the phone. This is all the same information you would get in the hard copy, but it is on the phone which saves paper, in turn saving the rainforests.
As well as green fingered features, the Sony Ericsson Hazel is also a great performance phone. Featuring a 5 megapixel camera, you can snap up at any time allowing you to never miss a great photo again. Coming with a navigation program installed on the phone, you will never need to use road maps again. After inputting your current location and you destination, you will be guided road by road to your destination. The new Sony Ericsson eco-phone should be released in the next few months so keep an eye out if you want to help make a difference to the environment.
Two New GreenHeart Phones: Elm and Hazel
For the fans of GreenHeart series, Sony Ericsson has just added two new devices into the lineup: the Elm and the Hazel. These two phones are expected to arrive in 2010 and are going to be the higher-end devices in the GreenHeart series. The two phones will not only be made according to GreenHeart compliant standards (eco-friendly and low CO2 emissions), but both devices will be full 3G smart phones. Short of having touch screen displays, both the Elm and Hazel demonstrate Sony Ericsson’s visions of delivering eco-friendly devices without sacrificing style or performance.
The Elm is a straightforward candy bar phone that has a 2.2 inch 256k color screen and a battery that delivers up to 446 hours standby time on UMTS. The Hazel on the other hand is a slider phone with a 2.6 inch 16 million color display and a battery that lasts for 450 hours on UMTS standby.
The Elm is 110 x 45 x 14 mm in size and weighs 90 grams while the Hazel is 102.5 x 49.5 x 16 mm and weighs 120 grams. Both are relatively small, lightweight and easy to carry. Both devices come with a 5 mega pixel camera with auto focus capabilities and LED flash. The screens, despite being different in size, share the same resolution of 320 x 240 pixels. The internal memory is also the same for both, 280MB with micro SD card support.
The advantage of using GreenHeart devices is that Sony has made these phones with the environment in mind. The entire GreenHeart series was developed as part of Sony Ericsson’s active plan of reducing the carbon emissions of the company by 20 percent and to reduce the CO2 emissions of product lifespan by 15 percent. The effort does not stop with mobile phones; even accessories are being made to be GreenHeart compliant. Along with the Elm and the Hazel, SE also announced the VH700 GreenHeart Bluetooth headset.
It is expected you will be able to get the Sony Ericsson Elm on contract and pay as you go in the first quarter of 2010, while you will be able to pick up the Sony Ericsson Hazel on contract at some point during the second quarter.
Snapdragon Android Will Prove to be the Best Xperia Yet
Sony Ericsson has revealed a few Xperia handsets in the previous few months, from the Xperia X2 to the Xperia Pureness. The former is Sony Ericsson's new beef eating Windows Mobile phone and the Pureness, which draws inspiration from water (apparently), is raising eyebrows due to its revolutionary new transparent screen. But for those who are none too keen on the WinMo OS, and are not too interested in a gimmicky phone with a crude display, the obvious Xperia phone of interest is the Xperia X10.
The Xperia X10 was to be known as the Xperia X3, until it transpired that this name clashed with an already announced Nokia handset, but the name is not particularly important here. The X10 will be the first phone released by Sony Ericsson to make use of Google's illustrious Android operating system that has already been making waves on various other handsets such as the HTC Hero and Motorola Droid (in the USA – to be released here as the Milestone in the new year). But while there have already been a number of highly successful Android phones released during 2009, this is the first phone to combine Android with the superfast Qualcomm 1GHz Snapdragon processor that should promise to make the X10 the finest example of the Google OS to date.
While making use of Android Sony Ericsson has revamped the system with their own Nexus interface. This gives the Xperia X10 a unique feel and separates it apart from other Android phones. With a calming blue colour scheme, the Nexus UI introduces two new Sony Ericsson features that will attempt to change phone usage for good. These new features are Timescape and Mediascape.
Timescape is Sony Ericsson's take on a feature that many phone companies are now attempting to implement – the streamlining of contact data from various sources into one application. This will pool information from emails, text messages and status updates from online services such as Facebook into one easy to access contact page so that you do not need to flick through these services separately, and the whole phone experience is more person-oriented rather than service-oriented. As noted, this is a general trend among the major phone manufacturers with companies like Nokia and Motorola already introducing their own versions of the concept.
Mediascape is in principal the same idea but applied to multimedia. Through this system you will be able to access music and video from a wide variety of sources based on your personal interests or preferences. This does seem like a novel idea from Sony Ericsson, and we will have to wait and see how it pans out.
The Xperia X10 is certainly one of the most hotly anticipated phones up for release in 2010. With its Snapdragon-powered Android and more people oriented interface the Xperia X10 is sure to make as much of an impact in store when released as it has been on internet forums for the last few months.
The XPERIA Pureness Video
Sony Ericsson has been busy as of late. Their New high end mobile phones have been stealing the spotlight for quite some time now. With their last WinMo phone the X2 out there battling it out with the HTC Touch 2 and their new Android smart phone the XPERIA X10 gathering lots of fan fare, it’s a wonder Sony still has time to develop concept phones. Did we mention they also have a couple of Symbian devices underway? Yep, Sony Ericsson’s late 2009 to 2010 lineup is going be a pretty interesting bunch. With all these high end devices on the way, where does the strange looking Sony Ericsson XPERIA Pureness belong?
Unconfirmed Features
If you have not seen the uploaded video of the Pureness, then here is a quick recap of the functions that the Pureness will have. From the top, it has a clock, an organizer, an entertainment function, alarms, messaging, music playback, a calls list, the contacts, phone settings and lastly an FM radio. This little designer piece has all the makings of a generic current-generation GSM device.
What is interesting to note is that it has an “entertainment category” which is, at the very least, odd. Now, music playback and the FM radio are on separate categories, while games should just be listed as games. If we assume that a games list is listed in the entertainment category, what else is there? Unless this mobile phone is actually capable of doing more than displaying translucent whites on it the see through screen, I really doubt that it would have anything else that is actually entertaining.
Release Date
Anyway, it does not seem like Sony Ericsson wants people to make predictions and assumptions regarding this phone. The final announcements about the Pureness are not yet out but the release date is already this month.
Another quarter loss reported for Sony Ericsson
It could be the stiffening competition. It could be the economic recession. It could even be that consumers are not just into Sony Ericsson mobile devices anymore. But whatever the reason, Sony Ericsson reported a quarter’s loss of over €164m. That’s about £150m or $245m!
Japan’s Sony and Swedish company Ericsson seemed at a loss for words as well when asked to comment further on their smaller-than-expected loss. Three months prior to the report, it already marked a €213 million. For the same period of the recent report, Sony Ericsson had a loss of just €25 million.
It seems nothing healthy is going on at the mobile device manufacturers for the past year and months. It even announced job cuts in 2008. Over 2,000 of the workforce were released as well this year, totaling to 4,000 or more Sony Ericsson employees out of work.
Other than saying the company is experiencing the effects of its transformation targets, Sony Ericsson remains hopeful on fresh investments currently brewing. About what, we still don’t have any idea. But Sony Ericsson is seemingly on full throttle to see the full value of its transformation program to cut costs by middle of 2010. The cut is reportedly pegged at €880 million.
Apart from the promising fresh investment vouched by its Japanese and Swedish owners, Sony Ericsson officials predicted that their market for mobile phone handsets all over the world will be 10% less this year. That’s a big number considering they sold 1,190 million units in 2008 alone.
On the other hand, the biggest competitor of Sony Ericsson, Nokia, also reported a net loss of €913m. Such gigantic chunk lost by the Finnish company was recorded at the same time Sony Ericsson lost a little less than 10% of what Nokia has experienced due to falling sales.
More information could be read at : news.bbc.co.uk
Sony Ericsson move into designer phones with the XPERIA Pureness
All mobile phone manufacturers tend to try out something out of the blue and, at times, it will work, but there are plenty of instances where such endeavours have failed. The Sony Ericsson Xperia Pureness is another such endeavour but, to be quite honest, it seems to be a very pleasant phone and, looking at some Sony Ericsson Xperia Pureness Reviews, we feel that it has the makings of a possibly successful fashionista phone.
We’ve seen transparent phones like the LG GD900 Crystal. However, this phone was a slider which only had a transparent keypad but a normal screen. SE have gone one step further and made the screen transparent. We were quite excited when we got the phone to review as we were wondering as to how a transparent screen would be and, honestly, it was quite nice!
Yes, admittedly, the screen is monochrome, not colour, but when you have such a quirky display, does it really matter? Besides, Sony Ericsson have said that the phone is more about aesthetics and less about technology, so that explains it. The phone has none of the features that you get on a smartphone and the other highlights other than the screen itself are the music playback feature and the FM radio.
SE haven’t released a lot of details with regard to the phone. However, we have got to know that the phone will come with an optional camera attachement rather than a camera module on the phone itself. The phone should be also Bluetooth compatible and should be compatible for use with all 2G networks.
In conclusion, what we’d like to say is that this phone is meant exclusively for those who like a fashionable phone! The phone is set to be released in November 2009 for a massive 640 pounds, so better start saving now if you want to make the most of any Xperia Pureness deals.