Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) braved the flood of Nokia news today to announce the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X2, the company’s successor to its range-topping XPERIA X1. So, naturally, one lucky chap from a far off land managed to put hands on the device and posted his impressions today. According to the broken Google (NSDQ: GOOG) translation from Danijel’s post on All About Phones, the XPERIA X2 (codename: Vulcan) takes the X1’s already high-end materials and styling to the next level. From the slightly curved backside to the improved keys on the slightly angled slide-out QWERTY keyboard, the X2’s ergonomics have been improved to complement the updated design.
The X2’s edges are smoother, the fit is tighter and the flush touchscreen is apparently much improved over the XPERIA X1. From what we gather, Danijel says that the keyboard keys on the X2 are spaced close together and don’t require as much effort to click – which makes for a better typing experience. And, with the X2’s boosted specs, the Panel UI really shines.
Check out the full gallery of hands-on pics at All About Phones.
Next stop? Android-powered Sony Ericsson XPERIA X3!
Hooah, looks like HTC isn’t the only one brining out the big guns in trying to blunt Nokia World hype. Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) has outed their XPERIA X2, and though just a little expected, the 8.1 megapixel camera and refined XPERIA style certainly buys its way into the limelight.
Screen: 3.2″, 800 x 480 pixel, 65,536 color touchscreen
Battery life: 10 hours talk, 500 hours standby on GSM; 6 hours talk, 640 standby on 3G
Like the Touch2, the X2 will also be running Windows Mobile 6.5, only using a new 3D panel user interface of which we’ve seen a little bit already. Every Windows Mobile smartphone maker has picked up the habit of re-skinning the Windows Mobile homescreen with custom UIs (user interfaces). HTC’s TouchFLO 3D UI is arguably the best, but Sony Ericsson’s Panel UI is arguably the most innovative – it gives you multiple independently configurable homescreens from which to choose. The idea is to tailor your homescreen to the specific task at hand (work, home, gym, car, video playback, etc.).
Can’t wait to get the X2 in your grubby mitts? It’ll be available in “select markets” in early fourth quarter. This holiday shopping season will be fun times!
It’s easy to create a super badass mobile phone when you’re working in the world of rainbows and wishes conceptual devices. Take this Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) XPERIA X5 Concept for example. Esato user tob!s created the XPERIA X5 (codename: Nadine) Concept as the successor to the Android-powered Sony Ericsson XPERIA X3. Nevermind that the X3 is still just a rumor and we have yet to see the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X2 (Vulcan) go live.
As far as concepts go, this one is pretty tame. The XPERIA X5 Nadine is spec’d out with a futuristic QWERTY slider, 3.5-inch touchscreen, 12-megapixel camera (with auto-focus and Xenon flash), HD video recording and access to Sony Ericsson’s App Store – all features that could possibly make an appearance in an XPERIA smartphone a year or so down the line. tob!s even took the time to Photoshop a few different color variants – Chrome Silver, Ocean Blue and Sunny Orange.
Low-end music slider Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) W205 is now available in two additional colors: Sakura Pink and Windy Blue. Again we haven’t caught this information from Sony Ericsson, but from SEMC blog, which follows the Swedish-Japanese company like no other site does.
The newly colored W205 Walkman phones will be available in select markets only, so if you’re interested you should check your local Sony Ericsson website.
Specs wise, the W205 comes with a 1.8-inch 128×160 pixels screen, Walkman 2.0 software, 1.3 megapixel camera, and Memory Stick Micro (M2) slot. It measures 92×47x16.4 mm, and has a weight of 96 grams.
The European Imaging and Sound Association, which brings together 50 special interest magazines from 19 countries across Europe, announced the EISA Awards 2009-2010 winners and named the Sony Ericsson W995 as “Best European Music phone 2009-2010.” In selecting the winning products, EISA looks for advanced technology, desirable features, good design and ergonomics and value-for-money, while also taking in to account the latest requirements of the consumer marketplace.
Those not familiar with the Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE)’s Walkman phone should know that it comes with a 2.6-inch QVGA screen, Walkman 4.0 player, 8.1-megapixel camera, WiFi, GPS, accelerometer, HSPA. It’s certainly a capable device, and I appreciate all the efforts Sony Ericsson has put in its Walkman software, but it’s still not an iPod. In that sense, the best music phone is definitely iPhone, or at least me think so.
Anyway, I’m only hoping this award will help the Swedish-Japanese handset maker get some additional sales which it definitely needs…
It’s been a long time (at least in the mobile world) since the Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) XPERIA X1, the company’s flagship smartphone, was launched. And, we’ve been hearing about the X1’s successor, the aptly named Sony Ericsson XPERIA X2, for quite some time. Today, we’re hearing that Sony Ericsson might just be preparing to announce the anticipated XPERIA X2 at some sort of press event that has yet to be announced.
SEMCblog has confirmation that Sony Ericsson will be announcing something next week. The XPERIA X2 (codename: Vulcan) is at the top of the list of possible launch candidates. If true, we could very well see the X2 being unveiled as the new Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional smartphone with an 8.1-megapixel camera (with autofocus), touchscreen, slide-out QWERTY keyboard and some hefty on-board memory stores.
Of course, rumors are rumors, so don’t hold your breath.
You know how everything goes around apps these days. In that sense, every handset maker and platform builder wants to attract as many developers as possible to its platform to offer end-users a better experience. Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) is no exception and in that sense, they said they’ll extend their sorta, kinda powerful mobile Java platform to the entry-level 3G phones.
The idea is logical – by making more phones run applications, a single app could be used by millions, something every developer would appreciate — or that’s at least the theory, which we see doesn’t always work, like that’s the case of Symbian.
Anyway, the company hopes that this move will especially be important for those developers which want to make apps for the ever-growing Chinese market. We’re not sure whether this can fly, but we’re certainly happy to see a major handset maker thinking about the application offering for the end-users.
When it comes to fashion phones, Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) should dump its designers, or at least many people think so. Take a look at their latest device – Jalou. It’s touted as a fashion phone, but quite a few guys and gals find it fairly ugly. To be fair, no one has seen it in the real world and got a chance to play with it, but from the official photos we’ve seen, it’s kinda, sorta… you know where this goes. Anyway, the device is at the FCC, meaning we could see it hitting some U.S. operator’s portfolio (T-Mobile (NYSE: DT)?) in the near future. Moreover, the special edition of this clamshell could end up in your “local” D&G store. We’ll see…
Imagine a world where your mobile phone is more than just a cellphone. That world would have you using your handset to take pictures and video, send messages to loved ones on the other side of the globe and listen to music. In fact, with the growing popularity if smartphones, this kind of “converged world” is starting to become a reality. But, there are still hurdles to be overcome. Take, for example, the sad state of mobile music consumption in the US. Forrester’s new report shows that demand for mobile music has doubled in the past year, which is good, but that only amounts to 10% of American adults using their mobile phones to listen to music.
American attitudes towards mobile phones seems to lag behind the UK and populated China. In the UK, 27% of Brits listen to music on their handsets at least once a month. Population centers in China see an astounding 70% of their adult population using the handset for music. While those outside the US are more inclined to embrace the “converged world,” Americans are apparently still holding on to their dedicated music players.
It’s clear that adoption of mobile music has a ways to go. As it stands today, 60% of American mobile phone owners indicated that they wouldn’t be buying music through their handsets anytime soon. The gap between availability and consumption of mobile music is closing, but slower than we would have thought.
Bert Nordberg (pictured above), who is currently the Executive Vice President of the Ericsson Group and Head of Ericsson’s Silicon Valley headquarters, will switching things up a bit by becoming the Co-President of Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) on September 1st. He’ll be learning the ropes with current Sony Ericsson President Hideki (Dick) Komiyama for a month and a half, after which Bert will become the sole President of Sony Ericsson on October 15th. It doesn’t stop there, current Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer will become Chairman of the Board of Sony Ericsson on the 15th of October, replacing Carl-Henric Svanberg, CEO of Ericsson. What does this all mean for Sony Ericsson? Hopefully, now with Howard Stringer poking around, they’ll bring devices to market that are both physically lust worthy and technically capable as well. It wasn’t that long ago that Sony licensed the Palm (NSDQ: PALM) OS and made an awesome lineup of PDAs under the CLIÉ brand name which won the hearts of geeks all over the world. Can he and Bert bring back those days of innovation? I’m crossing my fingers.
Weight: 155.0 gr
It’s easy to create a super badass mobile phone when you’re working in the world of 
It’s been a long time (at least in the mobile world) since the Sony Ericsson (
