Posted on April 1st, 2011 by Simon
Sony has not been having the best of success with the launch of the Xperia Play. The phone which was supposed to usher in a new era of gaming on the Android Marketplace has been met with quite a few delays and today we are hitting another one.
Today, O2 Wireless announced that the phone will be delayed due to “software issues.” Of what software issues they speak of we have no idea, but we’re guessing it could have something to do with carrier specific software and not the actual Gingerbread operating system found on the device. That means that the phone will be missing the April 1st launch that was originally promised by the network, can we hear an “April Fools” joke somewhere?
If that was bad enough, now Vodafone and Three have both come forward to say that they two will be missing tomorrows launch date thanks to shipping issues. If these shipping issues are related to a certain tsunami that happened in Japan a few weeks ago, we have no idea but it is safe to say that unless something happens, the earliest arrival of the Xperia Play here in the UK will be coming on the 15th of April which Orange is still on track for their launch. That is of course if Three gets its wish to sell the phone “early next week” and Vodafone claiming to have something “as soon as possible.”
On the bright side, it does give you extra time to decide if you’re willing to take the leap of faith and purchase a device that is more of a phone than a PSP rather than the other way around. Just make sure you decide quick because somehow we believe these devices will be selling pretty quickly.
Source: The Inquirer
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Filed under: PlayStation Phones
Posted on March 24th, 2011 by Simon
If you’ve been keeping up with our blog, you’re probably aware that we have done a couple of articles about the creepy ads Sony Ericsson is using to drum up support for the launch of their Xperia Play (aka the PSP Phone). We’ll be prepared to be disturbed again with a new set of ads that has everyone asking who in the world did Sony hire for their new advertisement campaign?
As many companies will tell you, one of the best ways to drum up support for your devices is to be controversial. Sony took the message right and thanks to its first set of commercials, people are starting to talk, and it cannot be too bad that there will be 50 games at launch and recently Gameloft came forward to announce it will have an Xperia Play exclusive title called BlackStab which is supposed to be some sort of RPG sword game.
In the new set of ads, a female gamer is shown playing on her Xperia Play, innocent right? Well it would be had the commercials stopped there. In the 4 part commercial we see her go from a Droid with red eyes to a hobbit trying to defeat some evil king, monster or sorcerer to discussing such topics as stabbing herself in the boobs and what not (we did not make the last one up).
Seeing this device is being marketed to a sub 35-year-old crowd, we hate to say it but these commercials are spot on and it is probably one of the reasons why the device is getting so much media attention. On the other hand, we’re beginning to wonder if Sony will eventually pull the ads like what they did to the PS3 ones.
Source: cnet
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Filed under: PlayStation
Posted on March 22nd, 2011 by Simon
While the NGP is not scheduled for release for at least another 6-7 months, the news surrounding the device continues to go on. If you recall, at the launch of the NGP (Next Generation PlayStation), Sony made its love for physical media known in no uncertain terms, which it has no love for. (as if the PSP Go should have made that any clearer).
Now Sony is going farther in terms of explaining how owners of the NGP will get their latest games. According to Andrew House, the head of Sony Computer’s Entertainment operations in Europe, every game (yes every, no exceptions) will be available for download from the Sony PlayStation Network. You might ask, will those games live on physical media as well? According to Sony the company will still maintain distribution through both mediums, both physical and non-physical, but the commitment to physical media does appear to be a lot less than that to non-physical media, i.e. downloadable content.
When the Sony PlayStation Portable was originally released almost 6 years ago (3 days from today), the company heralded the UMD as the answer to storing content for small systems. Each UMB could hold on average 1-2GB of data which was more than enough space for developers to pack whatever they wanted on the disk. Now 6 years later, the company is changing their tune and while not going completely against physical media, is curtailing their support of it heavily. Does this have to do with piracy and is the company trying to protect its partner’s profits? That could very well be the case, but as anyone knows, pirates will always be pirates whether they are ripping a CD illegally or stripping the DRM from a song/game for mass sharing on LimeWire.
Source: Electronista
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Filed under: PlayStation
Posted on August 26th, 2010 by Liam
Let’s admit it. Sony Ericsson was not exactly one of the prime Smartphone manufactures until they released a series of Android mobiles in the market. Thanks to this twist of fate, Sony Ericsson was able to prove that they deserve to be on top as well. They were able to provide several mobiles to their consumers and continuously adapt to their needs.
One device that definitely falls into this category is the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X8. Here is a quick look at this brilliant device.
Well Crafted Mobile
Sony Ericsson only wants to provide the best for their consumers. Certainly, there were problems that they needed to overcome especially when it came to comfort. For example, some users find the X10 a bit too big while the mini series was too small for most.
The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X8 seems to be the answer to that dilemma. It measures 99 x 54 x 15 mm and weighs only 104 g. No wonder it’s a perfect fit for all! The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X8 smartphone offers a nice wide touch screen that measures 3 inches with a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels. What makes the display even better is its compatibility with 16 million vibrant colours.
Connectivity
One of the important factors a consumer looks into before purchasing a mobile is the connectivity it offers. Thanks to the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X8, there is no reason to be outdated at all. It offers class 10 GPRS and EDGE connectivity. That simply means that this mobile is very much appropriate for web browsing and for social networking purposes.
It is also compatible with WIFI, therefore you will be able to access the internet while in a hotspot area. File sharing is made easier as well with the help of Bluetooth and USB functionality.
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Filed under: Sony Ericsson, xperia
Posted on July 21st, 2010 by Liam
It seems that the smart phone market really has a thing for impressively stylish phones, and with that, it is not surprising to know that the X10 Mini is now at the number three spot when you take into account that sales for both Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4U. The two independent retailers are the largest in the region and their top lists always show the best handsets available.
Of course, one might be asking, what is so special about the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini smart phone?
This device is the second Android handset that was created by Sony Ericsson. The phone follows most of the aesthetic signatures of the original XPERIA X10, but with much lower tech specs. The result is a mini-sized smart phone with all the necessary features that one would expect plus a few extras.
But do not let the Mini in the name fool you, this device is pretty much closer to a midsized handset than a competitor for Palm’s Pixi. The X10 Mini comes with a 2.6 inch 240 x 320 resolution TFT capacitive touch screen display, a 5 mega pixel camera and a Qualcomm MSM7227 600 MHz CPU. In short, this handset is pretty packed when it comes to the hardware specs and capabilities.
The style is undoubtedly Sony too. The Japanese company is well known for their extremely well made electronic devices and the products for Sony Ericsson are no exception. The XPERIA series closely follows Sony’s design aesthetics (over Ericsson’s which is a great thing), from the classic shiny black finish, the metallic buttons under the screen to the solid feel of the entire device, everything about the X10 Mini feels classy and sophisticated. This handset is only running the older Android 1.6 Donut, but it also uses a mini version of the Timescape user interface that makes the XPERIA X10 successful.
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Filed under: xperia
Posted on July 19th, 2010 by Liam
There is no doubt that Sony Ericsson was originally not doing so well. The company was in such deep negatives that it was often rumored that the joint venture would eventually close.
According to the latest reports, the company has managed to make a considerable profit this second quarter of 2010. When compared to the performance of SE last year, a 31 million Euro profit margin is significantly better than being in the red with over 200 million reasons to give up.
The big secret, as many believe, is with the new handsets that have been designed for the next generation of smart phone users. No longer is the smart phone market crowd composed of niche groups. The smart phone industry has come to include many in the general user base, this means that Sony’s multimedia based approach and focus on social networking is really paying off.
Take the XPERIA X10; the new Os comes with the Timescape and Mediascape user interfaces, providing users with plenty of ways to keep in touch with friends and family. It does not even matter much that the next Android update for SE’s devices are taking longer than expected. While other phones will be getting the newer 2.2 Android OS, the XPERIA series will have to settle for version 2.1 this coming September.
Hopefully, all the Android devices under Sony Ericsson are made compatible with the upcoming 3.0 Gingerbread launch that was supposed to come out by the end of the year.
Aside from this lineup of Android handsets (the X10, X10 Mini, X10 Mini Pro and X8), Sony Ericsson still has a couple of interesting devices that users might be interested in. The Vivaz and Vivaz Pro are Symbian smart phones that focus heavily on HD video recording. As with the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro, the Vivaz Pro also comes with a slide out QWERTY keyboard.
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Filed under: Sony Ericsson
Posted on June 18th, 2010 by Liam
Several days ago, it was rumored that there would be a new Android smart phone from Sony Ericsson that would be using the Walkman technology. This ignited a bit of excitement since it has been quite some time since the last Walkman handset came out. However, Android fans were later disappointed to know that the W150 TeaCake handset from Sony Ericsson would not be using the famous open source mobile platform –but it will be using the Walkman technology.
The initial rumors about the OS were caused by the fact that the device looked a lot like the X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro Android handsets from the same mobile phone maker. Recent updates from Sony Ericsson reveals further details about this mobile phone and its official name, the Sony Ericsson Yendo.
While we are not the only people who prefer the TeaCake name over Yendo, there are still plenty of things to be praised about with regards to this handset. The device sports a simple 2.6 inch TFT touch screen display with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. Being the first full touch Walkman mobile phone to be released, this is a pretty nice sized screen that balances overall resolution with size. As stated before, the handset looks a lot like the X10 Mini and that includes having a very compact size.
The entire handset is reported to weigh in at a very light 81 grams –that is almost half of a full sized smart phone with a physical slide out QWERTY keyboard, and this makes the Yendo the perfect device to carry around when you are doing activities like exercising where having a lightweight music player is much needed. The 2 mega pixel camera takes images at 1600 x 1200 pixels –perfect for those quick uploads to social networking sites.
Sony Ericson has also confirmed that the device would be 2G only, with support EDGE and GPRS networks.
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Filed under: Sony Ericsson
Posted on June 17th, 2010 by Liam
According to the latest update from Sony Ericsson’s product launch blog, the Android 2.1 Éclair will be available for all their devices using Android 1.6 Donut later near the latter part of the third quarter of 2010.
Sadly, this still leaves the Sony Ericsson smart phones at the very end of the Android update list. If the Google I/O conference is to be used as a reference, the end of the third quarter would be the same time that Google would be finalizing the Android 3.0 Gingerbread operating system. SE has to cooperate better with Google in order to bring a more updated version of the open source mobile platform to their mobile phones.
It has often been stated by buyers that SE’s devices are more expensive than other mobile phones with similar specifications, and with the XPERIA X10’s operating system well behind that of the HTC Desire and the Samsung Galaxy S, buyers would be inclined to get the device with a more updated Android OS.
In fact, most Android devices are now awaiting the 2.2 Froyo update, and so far there is still no confirmation that this version of the operating system would be coming any time soon for SE Android smart phones.
In any case, the models affected by this announcement includes the XPERIA X10, the X10 Mini and the X10 Mini Pro smart phones. The recently confirmed XPERIA X8 (previously the XPERIA Shakira), is set to be released at the same time that the patch for the Android 2.1 becomes available for other systems as the X8 will be pre-installed with the newer Android OS.
Sony Ericsson has also confirmed that they will soon be releasing the Cedar 2G handset (the newest Greenheart device) and the Yendo which uses the ever impressive Walkman technology. This new Walkman handset is the first full touch device of its kind to be made by the manufacturer.
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Filed under: Sony Ericsson
Posted on June 11th, 2010 by Liam
The recent images of the Sony Ericsson W150 TeaCake was part of the leak that revealed the upcoming XPERIA Shakira handset and a 5.5 inch smart phone that was reportedly also using the Android operating system. With the TeaCake’s external form closely resembling the recently launched X10 Mini (available in stores now), many people, including ourselves, believed that the new handset would indeed be using the Google open source OS.
Just a while back, a few images of the TeaCake’s user interface have been revealed and from the looks of it, the handset might not be running the Android OS at all. The screens show a custom user interface from Sony Ericsson which uses the four screen corners –not unlike the X10 Mini, but with no traces of the Android OS. While it is hard to make any confirmations based on the existing screens –the possibility of the Android on this handset has been reset from certain to probable.
It is a shame if this handset turns out to be a regular mobile phone instead of an Android device. The Walkman technology has not been employed in Sony’s smart phones and bringing it to the Android OS would have been a very exciting move for the mobile phone manufacturer. Of course, Google’s many impressive tools and features for their mobile platform would also make the handset a very versatile device to have.
In any case, it seems that for now, the only Android devices in the upcoming list from Sony Ericsson is the X10 Mini, the XPERIA Shakira and as rumored, the 5.5 inch touch screen handset device. For those who have not seen the leaks, the Shakira is a medium sized Android handset (since the X10 is large and the X10 Mini is small) while the 5.5 inch device is a tablet hybrid with a slide out QWERTY keyboard.
1 Comment »
Filed under: Sony Ericsson, W-Series
Posted on June 10th, 2010 by Liam
It’s the merging of two very impressive software technologies, Sony’s Walkman and the Google Android. Of course, the Walkman series did not start out as digital music playback software; it was a cassette player that revolutionized the portable electronics industry. But Sony has since taken a back seat in the advent of the digital music era –with many MP3 players all over, the Walkman brand no longer carries the same prestige it once has.
But while the prestige may have been lost, Sony is still on top of music playback technology and this is why it is exciting to know that the upcoming Sony Ericsson W150 TeaCake smart phone will be bringing together the Walkman name and the Google Android operating system.
Google’s open source Android mobile platform needs little in the way of introductions. The OS is considered to be one of the best available in the market –competing directly with Apple’s iPhone OS. Thanks to the Linux based open source nature of the platform, there are plenty of great apps for the device –on top of the many Google based features that are already present.
For now, the W150 is still an unconfirmed device, but with the images that have been leaked, one cannot help but hope that the handset becomes a final product. So far, the initial screens have been impressive, the device uses the frame of the X10 Mini (with a few alterations) and of course, brings in a little of that Sony branded stylishness.
With a 2.6 inch TFT capacitive touch screen display and a 5 megapixel camera, this device is slated to make for a very good mid range handset. No details yet on internal memory and what kind of processor it will be using, but if the X10 Mini is to be based upon, then it should at least have a 600MHz CPU.
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Filed under: Sony Ericsson, xperia
