While some might say that it is far too early for Sony Ericsson to be making such claims, it is not unfounded of the Swedish Japanese joint venture to keep pressing forward despite tough times. Even Bert Nordberg, CEO of the company, has stated that he believes that SE is still on track this year when he was asked to comment about the reported major losses of the company last 2009.
Nathan Vautier of Sony Ericsson also recognizes the fact that 2009 was a tough year. Though as he would put it, it was a “tough transition period”; it is a transition that costs over 800 Million.
2010 is going to be even tougher. As Nathan has already described the year, it will definitely be turbulent. New devices and mobile platforms are coming out, T-Mobile and Orange are merging and there will be major changes in the mobile industry in terms of spectrum reframing as well as the new Digital Bill.
For Sony Ericsson however, 2010 will be a year of promise. They already have a fine lineup so mobile phones that are coming out this year. The XPERIA X10 and the Vivaz feature the Google Android and the Symbian 5th OS. They also have a Greenheart phone that uses the WinMo 6.5.3 OS.
Adding to this already impressive lineup are last year’s Elm and Hazel Greenheart devices as well as three new smart phones: the X10 Mini, X10 Mini Pro and the Vivaz Pro. For those unfamiliar, the Pro line of devices comes with slide out QWERTY keyboards. The Minis are bite sized version of the X10 while the Vivaz Pro is a near duplicate of the Vivaz except that it uses a 5 mega pixel camera instead of 8 mega pixels.
Get to know more about Nathan Vautier and Sony Ericsson at Mobile Today UK.
Archive for February, 2010
2010: Good for Sony Ericsson
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010Windows Phone 7 Device Coming Soon
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
Coming soon – as in later this October; and if you want it, it looks like good old PC manufacturer Asus will be providing the hardware for the new Windows Phone 7 phone.
Odd naming scheme aside, the big question here really does not lie with who the manufacturer will be. We have already confirmed that regardless of the manufacturer, WP7 will be running on Qualcomm technology. So we can expect the mobile phone to be fast and efficient. The actual consideration is whether people should want Windows Phone 7.
For anyone who has been using a smart phone for quite some time now, regardless of operating system, there has always been one constant; every mobile phone feels like a miniaturized computer. Even Microsoft is guilty of this; their first foray into the mobile gadget industry is with Pocket PCs. Google’s Android, the Apple iPhone OS, BlackBerry OS, Palm OS, Maemo and even the new Bada gives a very computer-esque feel.
Windows Phone 7 is meant to change all of that.
Last week, during the Mobile World Congress, MS presented their current work in progress. The OS, despite being many months away from completion, showed more than just new features, it promised serious change. WP7 is not an upgrade to the previous WinMo series; it is an entirely new mobile platform. The mantra behind the new design is that “the phone is not a PC” –and it is not. The new interface looks very much like a highly stylized science fiction UI with the large panning screens and the new tiles system.
Of course, WP7 will have to bring more to the table than a great UI, Bing, Zune or even Xbox Live Interface. It will need plenty of app support, maximizing of hardware and more; we will see in October if Asus and Microsoft can pull this off.
Read more about the Asus and WP7 connection at GSM Arena.
Comparative Sausage Study
Monday, February 22nd, 2010
This winter, Koreans turned to sausages in order to deal with the cold hard winter weather.
Sausages are the perfect tool to use when it is too cold to take off your gloves and your capacitive touch screen smart phone is too stubborn to accept touch commands without actual skin contact.
It appears that sausage skins behave pretty much like our own skins and are useful for tapping at the unresponsive screen on your mobile phone. This big discovery was made by Korean mobile phone enthusiasts who must have had enough bad experiences with frostbite to start looking for stylus alternatives on capacitive touch screen phones.
Before we begin with any sausage jokes, imagine how cold it must have been that taking off gloves is a big deal.
With global warming getting stronger, the weather has become more and more inhospitable –changing little by little each year. Summers are indeed getting hotter and the winters are getting significantly colder. Because world governments are taking forever to solve this (or even learn of it in the first place); we must do what we can to adapt to the changing world.
This is why we must turn to sausages to save the day.
Now that you are aware that you need to be armed with sausages for winter, here’s a quick guide to the various sausages available in the UK (there are plenty, so you need to know which one suits your needs):
Frankfurters are perfect, they are light and easy to control. But use short ones since longer franks give less control and make it harder to press hard. Pepperamis are the most portable since they are available in small pieces, but are too hard in consistency making light taps hard to execute. Blood pudding is bulky and heavy, but still gets great control on touch screen devices.
See the video demonstration of various sausages being used as capacitive touch screen stylus at Times Online UK.
XPERIA X10 Ready for March
Monday, February 22nd, 2010
Sony Ericsson’s future is looking pretty bright these days.
Last year ended with a major letdown for the Japanese Swedish joint venture as the company announced losses of over 800 Million in 2009. It is a significantly large number, and many are expecting to see the company aim for a last ditch effort this year.
Still, regardless of their previous performance, SE is looking stronger than ever. They started the year ranking in second place at Green Peace’s list of the greenest electronics manufacturers in the world and they are continuously pursuing the goal of making the Greenheart requirements a standard for all their products. The SE Aspen is looking ready with the new Windows Mobile 6.5.3 operating system.
At the same time, SE is continuing to create some of the most anticipated smart phones for 2010. They will be starting March with their very first Android smart phone, the XPERIA X10 and two variants of the device; the X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro. The XPERIA X10 is a powerful smart phone that uses a combination of the Google Android 1.6 Donut operating system (with updates soon to come) and the new Timescape and Mediascape user interface.
It will be running on a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU delivering plenty of processing power to the device. The screen will be a significantly large 4 inch TFT touch screen. This phone is expected to arrive this March.
The X10 Mini is a bit sized variation of the XPERIA X10. It will still be using the Android user interface and will come with trimmed down features. The X10 Pro on the other hand will come with the exact same specs as the Mini but with the addition of a physical QWERTY keyboard.
Get to know more about the specs and capabilities of the XPERIA X10 at Stuff TV.
Confirmed: UK to Get HTC Desire
Monday, February 22nd, 2010
The phone that was originally announced as the HTC Bravo will be getting to UK shores thanks to 3 Mobile. The UK based mobile virtual network operator made the announcement right after a fluke from Amazon Germany prematurely showed the retail price for the Snapdragon (419 Euros). The page for the HTC Desire on Amazon.de has already been taken down. It is expected that the HTC Legend will also be offered by the online store.
HTC’s Desire smart phone is one of the most anticipated devices this year. With the Google phone Nexus One available only through online purchase for Google’s US based online store, the HTC Desire’s local availability makes it significantly easier to purchase –especially for people who prefer to buy in brick and mortar stores.
Specs are the main reason why this phone is being considered as a true alternative to the Google Nexus One. The Desire comes with a spiffy touch screen form pretty mush similar to the Google Phone and hardware to match. It has a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, a 3.7 inch AMOLED capacitive touch screen display and a 5 mega pixel camera. The only difference here is that the Desire also has the ability to record videos in 720p D1 quality. Also, the smart phone will be using HTC’s Sense user interface.
The Desire will not be the only Android smart phone from HTC that is coming. Plenty of rumors are now saying that the HTC Legend is also heading to the UK. The smart phone has already been confirmed on Netherland’s KPN website to be available in March. This device is the successor to the HTC Hero and will come with a 600 MHz Qualcomm processor, a 3.2 inch AMOLED touch screen display and a 5 mega pixel camera.
Get more info on the HTC Desire at Tech Radar.
MWC: Free Apps from BBC
Friday, February 19th, 2010
It has been a long time in the making, but the BBC is finally bringing some official apps to mobile phones for users to be able to access the latest and most reliable news on this side of the world.
The BBC has been online for over a decade but before last Sunday, they have not released an official BBC app. This has led to independent developers creating custom apps to access BBC feeds and new updates. This has been a much demanded feature since the news network is one of the most reliable sources of news and information. Over a million users rely on the website for news and that number continues to grow.
Erik Huggers, Director of Future Media and Technology decided that it is high time that the BBC addresses the need for a license free application for mobile phones. He made this announcement during the Mobile World Congress held at Barcelona, Spain last weekend.
There are two apps for the BBC. One centered on BBC News and the other offers BBC Sports. It is a smart move since plenty of users might only need one access or the other, allowing for the control of news content to show only what is needed.
BBC News will offer both coverage of both local and worldwide events; comments and user feedback will also be available but not to the same degree as with rival news network, CNN. The user interface for the app uses a familiar carousel interface that is pretty easy to use.
BBC Sports on the other hand will be starting off with a bang with its coverage of the World Cup in Africa. Video and text content will both be available along with live commentaries and blogs from the BBC.
Get to know more about the new BBC applications for mobile phones at the Guardian UK.
HTC’s New Smart Phones
Friday, February 19th, 2010
HTC is most certainly busy this 2010. They already created the Nexus One and now, they are focusing on their own series of devices.
MWC was definitely a big event for the Taiwanese company as they got to show off three new mobile devices for their line. One missing phone however, is the HTC Scorpion. Right now, we are all ears for any news regarding this upcoming super phone but HTC has been keeping a very tight lid on the details. All we know for know that that the device will be using a new processor running at 1.5 GHz (which, according to most rumors, is pointing to the new Dual Core Snapdragon processor –the new Atom can run just as fast, but given HTC’s close ties with Qualcomm, this is most likely a Snapdragon chip).
Anyway, the new phones shown at the Mobile World Congress are the HTC Desire and the HTC Legend. For those who are not familiar with the Desire, this device was originally named the HTC Bravo and it served as a basis for the Nexus One (and yes, if you do not want to order the Nexus One online, you will not do wrong by buying the Desire). This phone comes with a 3.7 inch AMOLED touch screen, a 5 mega pixel camera and a 1GHz Snapdragon Processor.
Speaking of Android smart phones, the HTC Hero is getting a successor, the HTC Legend. The Legend comes with a 3.2 inch AMOLED touch screen, a 5 mega pixel camera and a 600 MHz Qualcomm processor.
Rounding up the list is the new HTC HD Mini which uses the recently released Windows Mobile 6.5.3 operating system and watered down specs of the HTC HD2.
Get more information and details on the HTC HD Mini at Mobile Choice UK.
Android Phones at the MWC
Friday, February 19th, 2010
Many new Android smart phones debuted at the Mobile World Congress last Sunday. Here’s a quick view of some top picks straight from Barcelona, Spain.
Leading the charge of Android handsets is the HTC Desire. This phone originally appeared as the HTC Bravo and sported many of the hardware specs that people would later attribute to the Nexus One. No surprise there as HTC also made the Google phone. The Desire packs a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, an impressive 5 mega pixel camera that can take D1 quality videos at 720p and a nice 3.7 inch AMOLED capacitive display.
The Desire is not the only Android phone in HTC’s lineup. The new HTC Legend was also present at the MWC where it showed off that impeccable finish on its aluminum casing. The device is considered to be the successor to the award winning HTC Hero Android smart phone. HTC’s Legend runs on a 600 MHz processor and comes with a 3.2 inch AMOLED touch screen display. Both the Desire and the Legend are expected to be released sometime this March.
HTC was not the only company with Android smart phones; Sony Ericsson has its XPERIA X10 waiting to be unleashed, along with a couple of other small surprises. By small surprises, we mean literally. SE unveiled the X10 Mini and the X10 Mini Pro Android smart phones. These two devices are clearly for the low to mid price tag range, a market sector that the X10 cannot possibly compete in. The Mini Pro comes with the exact same specs as the Mini, but it will have a slide out QWERTY keyboard. SE also had another “Pro” device in the form of the Vivaz Pro which was the keyboard loaded edition of the Symbian smart phone.
Read more about the Android smart phones at MWC at Know Your Mobile.
All New OS: Windows Phone 7
Thursday, February 18th, 2010
It carries much of the old name, but there is much more to the new Microsoft mobile platform than a new name.
For anyone who got to catch the onstage presentation of Steve Ballmer and his crew, Windows Phone 7 changes the way we look at mobile phones. Originally, it was hard to imagine any other mobile operating system looking flashier and more unique than the iPhone OS. PC World even said that the new look makes the Android OS look like a desktop system.
Yep, there are plenty of great new changes in Windows Phone 7, and the new user interface is just the beginning.
WP7 separates mobile phone functions into 6 different menus (if menus would be the appropriate word). Each menu is much larger than the display screen and users get to pan around to show only the specific information needed. Each menu is seeded with fully customizable tiles that allows you to change and alter content as you see fit (imagine widgets, but able to do so much more).
There are six menus all in all. The first is people; this is a giant mix and match of your contacts, friends list, social networking tools, updates, messages and more. Sounds messy on paper, but quite the fun experience when on a mobile phone
Games will give you access to the new Xbox Live Games service on your WP7 phone. So far no game demos or title lineup is available, so we have yet to comment on how “fun” this might be. At least the XBL accounts are accessible allowing current XBL users to access their avatar and gamer profile on the phone.
Zune will also be used for media functionality. The music and video menu gives you all the media content at the touch of the screen.
Read more about Windows Phone 7 at Gizmodo.
Sony Ericsson Introduces New Phones at MWC
Thursday, February 18th, 2010
The Mobile World Congress at Barcelona, Spain was a major event for the mobile phone industry. Sunday saw the dozens of brand new mobile phones applications, and telecommunication technologies revealed in a single event.
Sony Ericsson, currently the fourth largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world, unveiled several new devices as well as showcasing some of their already confirmed 2010 lineup. Still coming this March is two of the joint venture’s high end smart phones, the SE XPERIA X10 and the SE Vivaz. The XPERIA X10 is the first Android phone from the Swedish Japanese venture and it packs a large 4 inch touch screen display and a Snapdragon processor. The Vivaz is a Symbian smart phone loaded with an 8 mega pixel camera with the ability to record videos in 720p HD quality.
It was already announced late last year and this January that variations of the Vivaz and the XPERIA X10 would be released, but no one expected the new devices to be present at the MWC.
The Vivaz Pro was originally announced as the SE Kanna. This smart phone looks almost exactly like the Vivaz; the only difference between the two devices is that the Kanna would have a slide out QWERTY keyboard. The Vivaz Pro carries this very same element, though one small detail has changed, the Pro uses a 5 mega pixel camera instead of 8 mega pixels, but it still retains the 720p HD video recording.
The XPERIA X10 on the other hand will have an X10 Mini version. The device will be almost half the size of the original phone, and with watered down specs. Many expect this device as SE’s product for the low to mid price range market. The X10 Mini Pro is a keyboard edition of the Mini.
Read more about the Vivaz Pro at Stuff TV.