Phones

When it comes to keep things under wrap, Sony Ericsson might as well use one of Apple’s flagship glass stores so everybody can watch and at least get the proper info. Another leak from China points towards the next generation Sony Xperia X10 Mini Pro (Never a mouthful when it comes to Sony and their product names). This Android 2.3 machine is set to sport a

• 3-inch 320 x 480 multitouch LCD screen
• 1GHz chip processor with an Adreno 205 GPU

Though not much is known about this product, I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before we find out more. One last little interesting tidbit; when looking at the Neocore (42.5fps) and Quadrant (1,533) benchmarks of the Xperia X10 Mini Pro compared to previous Android handsets, it looks like Sony Ericsson has created quite the powerful little monster.

Sony has made it clear that for the time being, the Xperia X10 is their flagship device, and they have shown that by recently giving the device an OS update, bringing it to Android 2.1. But if you thought Sony was done with it, think again. Both the developer community and those who want to modify their Android device beyond what the manufacturer has given them have been very vocal about the fact that the Xperia X10 can handle multi-touch. Sony on the other hand has gone on record a few times and said that the device indeed cannot handle it and that the touch screen and hardware never had multi-touch in mind. Who is right? As it turns out, both companies.

I’ve made it known that Sony has been extremely slow at rolling out Android 2.1 for the Xperia X10 and its little brother, Xperia X8, being months behind other handset manufacturers. Well guess what, Sony is frustrated with the process as well. On their Facebook page, the company points towards AT&T, stating that “the technical requirements that must be met” over which Sony Ericsson has “no control” are far more rigorous than elsewhere. Sony goes on to say that it takes months for these updates to get approved, indicating that they have had Android 2.1 in the pipeline for some time and we can only assume that Android 2.3 is sitting in the pipes as well. Of course, Sony is not the only manufacturer of Android, but is one of the few which relies on AT&T to provides the platform. They can have different requirements than Verizon which is the big Android carrier. Part of this is also tied down to the fact that AT&T networks handle both Voice and Data at the same time while Verizon does not, which points to additional tweaks and checks required from AT&T to make sure all is running adequately. Hit the jump for the full Facebook post.

[Via Sony Ericsson Facebook]

Although Sony Ericsson isn’t yet a standard name for those outside of the tech world in the US, with the likes of Apple’s iPhone and Motorola’s Android dominating the news, Sony has still made big strides. The once-sinking division of Sony has now made profit for three consecutive quarters and all of this was really prior to their big Android push with the Xperia X10 and X8 models. So it would only make sense for them to expand into new platforms like Windows Phone 7, right? “Not so fast,” says Sony Ericsson France CEO Pierre Perron. During a recent interview with French newspaper Les Echos, Perron did confirm earlier rumors that Sony had indeed been in talks with Microsoft, but decided against the idea because it would “run the risk of standardizing our smartphones,” adding that (roughly translated), “we would be obliged to fight only on design and price, which we want to avoid.” Although this might be sad news for a Windows Phone 7 fan, the strategy makes sense and I’m not even touching on the so-called “standardizing” effect that Perron noted. Instead, if we look back at Sony’s history, the company has a tendency to stretch itself too thin, offering a barrage of products at every price point and every taste and thus not being able to adjust and adapt to new trends fast. Instead, if Sony takes the Apple approach and focuses on fewer products, yet more solid build and software, they can stand to achieve a much bigger flowing and thus sales which is what it’s all about at the end of the day.

[Via Les Echos]

If you’ve been eyeing the recently updated Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 lately and are in a bit of a budget crunch, does Best Buy have one hell of a deal for you. During the month of December, customers who sign a new 2 year contract (which is pretty much how everybody buys a phone now a days) will receive the Xperia X10 for free.

 “We were excited by the amount of consumer interest we received around our ‘Free Phone Fridays’ promotion in October, so we wanted to do it again only bigger,” said Shawn Score, president of Best Buy Mobile. “People want smart phones and we couldn’t think of a better way to end the year for our customers than to offer free devices every day in December.” 

Hit the jump as always for the official press release.

Sony’s recently-launched Xperia X8 is finally setting into 2010 as well with an over-the-air update to Android 2.1 which is set to give the device features including 720p recording, integrated social networking, and five customizable home pages. The one catch is that not all Xperia X8 units are gaining this functionality immediately. Instead, Sony is using their eight-digit “SI-number” (e.g. 1242-4859) to determine when the update gets pushed out. Hit the jump at the bottom to see if you qualify yet for the Android 2.1 update.

[Sony Ericsson Blog]

The leaks continue on the Sony Ericsson front and we are happy to bring them to you. Following up on the Playstation Phone leaks, we now have some pictures and specs to share for you on the codenamed Anzu. Anzu, which we believe will eventually be called the Xperia X12, is the newest from Sony Ericsson to be sporting the Android OS. Unlike previous models that have been late to the Android OS updates, the Xperia X12 is believed to be currently using the Android 2.1 build but will actually ship with Gingerbread in Q1 next year. This would make the Xperia X12 one of the first phones to be shipping with Android 2.3 and could be a nice flagship model for both Sony and Google to show the Android platform.

Notice anything else from the picture? How about the fact that this thing is damn thin! Other things we know about the phone from its current build:

• 4.3-inch display
• HDMI Out
• 1080p recording

Hit the jump for some more pictures.

[Via Xperai X10 Blog]

I’m not sure how long this deal will last, but the recently updated Xperia X10 is enjoying a new price via AT&T. Now, you can get the normally $499 (previously marked at $149) unlocked phone with a two year contract for only $99. Better yet, you will get a free Micro 8GB card as well. Again, I have to applaud Sony here. Sell them cheap via two-year and make the money back from the carrier like Apple does with the iPhone. It’s not like the iPhone 4 is really a $200 device but not many people are willing to pay $600. Same is true for Sony here. Especially with how attractive this phone is and it finally stepping in 2010 with the Android 2.1 update.

[Via SonyStyle]

Well, that didn’t take long. In Japan, Sony Ericsson is offering the Cybershot S006 cell phone to provider KDDI with a 16.1 megapixel camera we reported a little while back. Other specs include:

• Up to ISO 12800
• 1GHz Snapdragon processor
• 3.3-inch screen
• WiFi
• Bluetooth
• GPS

The phone is set to launch in spring with no announced price tag yet. Don’t expect to see this phone in the US or European market as it runs on Sony’s own internal OS and not Android, which has been their primary push. More than likely, this will stay a Japan or Asian exclusive.

[Via KDDI]