ericsson

Sony Ericsson shows love for Android

BARCELONA, Spain--Executives from Sony Ericsson, the struggling European handset maker working hard to make a turnaround in 2010, said most of its new phones introduced this coming year will sport the Google Android operating system.

On the eve of the Mobile World Congress trade show, Sony Ericsson held a press conference here to show off its three new smartphones due out the first half of 2010. All three phones fit into an existing portfolio of devices that the company is calling the Fab Five. And two of the latest handsets will use Google Android.

The two new Android phones are … Read more

Sony Ericsson unveils revamps of Vivaz and Xperia X10

Sony Ericsson typically treats Mobile World Congress (MWC) as one of its biggest events of the year, and the 2010 show in Barcelona is no exception. The manufacturer unveiled three new handsets the night before MWC began at a packed nightclub on the Mediterranean Sea.

The Vivaz Pro is a cousin of the multimedia-centric Vivaz, which made its debut last month. On the outside it looks about the same as its predecessor, but it adds a full keyboard. Sony Ericsson is positioning the Symbian (Series 60, 5th edition) smartphone for business users, which perhaps explains the lower resolution camera (5.1-megapixels vs. 8.1-megapixels on the Vivaz).

Otherwise, the feature set is about the same. You'll find a media player, Bluetooth, a personal organizer, assisted-GPS, PC syncing, integrated social-media apps, a personal organizer, messaging and e-mail, Wi-Fi, USB mass storage, a 710MHz processor, and handwriting recognition. And we're very glad to hear that Sony Ericsson ditched its irritating proprietary connections and memory cards in favor of a 3.5mm headset jack, a Micro-USB port, and a microSD card slot.

The Xperia X10 Mini is about what it sounds like. Though the original Xperia X10 is a sight to behold, its lovely 4-inch display does make the handset a bit bulky (4.68 inches long by 2.48 inches wide by 0.5 inches deep). The Xperia X10 Mini, however, features a 2.5-inch display and measures 3.2 inches long by 1.9 inches wide by 0.62 inches deep.

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Sony Ericsson Aspen touts Windows Mobile 6.5.3, eco-friendliness

On Tuesday, Sony Ericsson announced the latest addition to its Greenheart series of eco-friendly phones, the Sony Ericsson Aspen. However, it's not the green angle that's catching people's attention (though it certainly is a plus), it's the fact that the Aspen is the first smartphone to run Windows Mobile 6.5.3.

This update to Microsoft's mobile operating system brings additional enhancements to the user interface, including more finger-friendly menus and touch controls and support for capacitive and multitouch gestures. In addition, Microsoft made improvements to the Web browser, so you should see faster page … Read more

Motorola to offer direct-to-consumer handset via Google

During last week's quarterly earnings call, Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha indicated that Moto would release at least one handset this year with the same, direct-to-consumer channel used for the Nexus One.

While Jha didn't elaborate on the handset, I imagine that Motorola will want to offer a device at least as powerful as the Nexus One, if not more. And for inspiration, we can look at the Android handsets that the company is introducing overseas.

Though the Moto's Droid and Cliq are its only Android handsets with U.S. carriers, elsewhere it has started pumping out multiple … Read more

Ericsson to trim 1,500 jobs

Ericsson it is cutting 1,500 jobs from among its 80,000 global employees, the wireless equipment maker said Monday.

The company reported on Friday a huge downturn in fourth quarter and full-year 2009 earnings. For the quarter ended December, Ericsson saw its net earnings plummet 92 percent to 314 million million kronor ($43.4 million dollars), compared with the year-ago quarter. Sales dropped 13 percent to 58.3 billion kronor from the year-ago quarter.

For all of 2009, Ericsson's earnings were down 67 percent to 3.7 billion kronor ($512 million). Annual sales survived, though, falling only 1 … Read more

Sony Ericsson to launch its first Android phone

Sony Ericsson is finally stepping into the Android smartphone market.

The company announced Thursday that it will launch its first Android smartphone in April in Japan. Sold through the large Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo, the Xperia X10--or SO-O1B as it will be known in Japan--will sport a 4-inch WVGA touchscreen and 8.1-megapixel camera. It will include both entertainment and social networking features.

The X10 is set for release in other regions, including the U.S., later this year.

Despite any hopes that the X10 might take advantage of the latest 2.0 version of Android, the phone will … Read more

Sony Ericsson's slim, multimedia Vivaz

Sony Ericsson usually sneaks in a couple of phone announcements shortly before the annual Mobile World Congress (MWC), and this year is no exception. Indeed, with Barcelona's cell phone extravaganza just three very short weeks away, the company unveiled a new multimedia handset Thursday called the Vivaz.

Though we have yet to hold the Vivaz in our hands, its slim, candy-bar design is appealing. The tapered ends give it a streamlined look, and we like the four color choices (cosmic black, moon silver, galaxy blue, and Venus ruby). Its most prominent feature is a 3.2-inch touch screen that … Read more

Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 available this spring

LAS VEGAS--We stopped by the Sony Ericsson booth at CES 2010 to catch a glimpse of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 (check out Kent German's hands-on impressions here), but we also happened to stumble upon the Xperia X2. Remember that Windows Mobile smartphone announced a while ago? Yeah, we almost forgot about it too.

We took the opportunity to ask Sony Ericsson about it and representatives quietly revealed that the Xperia X2 will be available from SonyStyle stores this spring. Company representatives didn't provide a specific release date or pricing, but hopefully, it won't be as exorbitant … Read more

Sony Ericsson phones cover all the bases

The spiffy Xperia X10 wasn't the only notable phone sitting pretty in the Sony Ericsson booth. We also checked out a few new models that range from eco-friendly to runway-worthy to just plain odd. Catch them in our Sony Ericsson CES slideshow, but read the highlights here.

Xperia Pureness Weighing in with more than a little wow factor, the Xperia Pureness has a transparent display on top of its otherwise ordinary candy bar design. It's certainly a conversation piece, but we're wondering just how it will perform in the real world.

Jalou If you're a slave … Read more

Hands-on with the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

Sony Ericsson announced its first Android phone, the Xperia X10, in London two months ago, but I had to wait for CES to get my first look at the device on this side of the Atlantic.

As you'd expect, the Sony Ericsson stand at the massive Sony Electronics booth was crowded with people wanting to get a look at the handset. And there's no wonder why--the X10 is a sight to behold. Its slim profile and clean lines hit high on the beauty scale, and I enjoyed how sturdy and comfortable it felt in my hand. Front and … Read more