I’m really sorry to see companies like Sony Ericsson or Motorola fighting desperately for their survival. Today we hear that Sony Ericsson is in big trouble. According to its CFO has confirmed that the company needs to rais 100 million euros by the end of the fiscal year to keep afloat. Here’s an idea Sony Ericsson, design a hot phone, like, I don’t know, Palm did? It will surely raise that money for you. At least Moto has been playing with our minds earlier this year and we’re waiting for some hot phones this year. What do you guys think about this Sony Ericsson predicament?

via Engadget

Tags: Motorola, Motorola, Palm, Palm, Sony Ericsson, Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson has been made aware of an online email campaign claiming that Ericsson will give away a free laptop computer to users who forward the promotional information. The same campaign includes a photograph of the Sony Ericsson logo and mentions an Ericsson contact name and email number.

Sony Ericsson confirms that this email campaign is a hoax. In addition, Sony Ericsson confirms that the Ericsson contact name does not exist.

All competitions and promotions involving Sony Ericsson are run through official channels such as Sony Ericsson’s website or Sony Ericsson’s partners’ websites. Please be wary of any competition or promotion that appears to come from outside of Sony Ericsson or Sony Ericsson’s partners official channels. Examples of these include via spam emails or SMS.

Source

Tags: Sony, Sony Ericsson

Do you love to take pictures of yourself with your mobile phone? Well if you are, here is something you can check out. All you have to do is take a picture of yourself, smile and upload the raw image at the Sony Ericsson site and you get a chance to receive an unspecified selection of Sony Ericsson goodies.

Contestants in the Sony Ericsson Smile Hunt must upload unretouched images of smiles, captured using camera phones only. The images must have been taken during 2009, and Sony Ericsson will award prizes to three individuals - a Judges Winner, People’s Winner, and Smile Ambassador winner. The People’s Winner will be selected via global public voting on Sony Ericsson’s website, and the winner will receive an unspecified selection of Sony Ericsson products.

Selection for the Judges Winner is rather more complex, with three entries being considered from each eligible country, as nominated by local competition organizers or their media partners if applicable, or by the number of public votes received in countries with no media partner.

From the many dozens of nominees, one winner will then be selected by a panel of five judges. In no particular order, the judges are Sony Ericsson’s senior designer Martin Wezowski, Reuters UK & Ireland Chief of Photography David Viggers, and three well-known photographers - Tony Briggs, Liu Heung Shing and Angela Boatwright.

(Source) Imaging Resource

Tags: ambassador, boatwright, camera phones, Cell Phones, competition organizers, eligible country, goodies, hunt contest, imaging resource, liu heung shing, media partner, media partners, public votes, raw image, reuters, smiles, Sony Ericsson, Sony Ericsson, tony briggs, uk ireland, unretouched images

Sony Ericsson mobile phone owners are going to get some help when it comes to personalizing their phones thanks to the new Themes Creator 4.0. The new program includes a wide range of attractive features, enabling customers to design their ideal ‘signature style’ directly on their mobile phone’s desktop.

Moreover, the Themes Creator also enables mobile phone users to choose from dynamic and intuitive animations that are based on Adobe Flash technology, and which will vary according to the time of the day, will change as soon as the season changes, and are even able to change colors when the battery is low on power.

Tags: adobe flash, animations, attractive features, Cell Phones, flash technology, free offers, mobile phone owners, mobile phone users, Mobile Software, power source, season changes, signature style, Sony, Sony Ericsson, sony ericsson mobile, sony ericsson mobile phone, splashes of color, time of the day

Everyone that loves playing games on their phones must have fantasized about a future PlayStation phone. We’ve had a PlayStation phone rumor before and Sony Ericsson has denied it. Now the rumor has resurfaced and we definitely have to check it out. According to a Financial Times story in which Sony Ericsson’s president Hideki Komiyama talks about the company’s plans for the future, the PlayStation could happen. That’s what the man said, “could happen” which means Sony Ericsson is probably considering a bunch of ideas hoping to turn their business into a profitable one.

via FT

Tags: Financial Times, Mobile News, Phone, playstation, Sony Ericsson, Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson’s W518a has just been approved by the FCC and it’s going to arrive soon in the USA from AT&T. We don’t have exact dates for you but the phone should be available in the following months. The W518a is a GPS-version of the Sony Ericsson W508 and it will feature a QVGA display, external music-dedicated keys and a 3.2 megapixel camera. We’ll be waiting for some prices with those final arrival dates.

via FCC

Tags: At&T, At&T, fcc, GPS, Mobile News, Sony Ericsson, Sony Ericsson, W518a, Walkman

Despite its current financial problems, Sony Ericsson still has some tricks up its sleeve. The W995 phone has been announced in February but it has just recently hit the FCC. One of the most important feature of the W995 is that 8 megapixel shooter. The W995 will not only play all that music for you but it will also help you take some amazing pictures. Other specs include 8GB of internal memory, 2.6-inch QVGA scratch-resistant screen, aGPS, WiFi, stereo speakers and Walkman player 4.0. The phone has HSPA support but it lacks 850/1800/1900 MHz WCDMA bands needed for the North American markets. Will Sony Ericsson launch this baby only in Europe?

via FCC

Tags: fcc, Sony Ericsson, Sony Ericsson, W995

T-Mobile has a new Sony Ericsson phone scheduled to be released soon. It’s the C905 which has just been approved by the FCC. T-Mobile will sell it as the CS8, which means its the version for T-Mobile’s GSM and AWS 3G bands. The phone should arrive later this year so both AT&T and T-Mo subscribers will be able to enjoy that same phone. Question is, who will be the first one to launch it?

via Engadget

Tags: At&T, At&T, C905, CS8, fcc, Mobile News, Sony Ericsson, T-Mobile, T-Mobile

Sony Ericsson may be laying off another potential 2,000 workers some time soon in an effort to restore profitability at the troubled mobile phone maker. The move to axe 2,000 staff and contractors in 2009 from the 10,000-strong workforce follows hard on the heels of last year’s removal of 2,000 jobs. It underlines how Dick Komiyama, Sony Ericsson’s president, is developing a reputation as an aggressive cost-cutter.

The handset maker owned by Japan’s Sony and Sweden’s Ericsson on Friday reported a net loss of €293m ($381m) for the first three months of 2009, because consumers are buying fewer mobile phones in the global recession.

Mr Komiyama last year set out plans to reduce Sony Ericsson’s annual operating expenses by €480m, partly by cutting 2,000 jobs, or 17 per cent of the workforce. All the world’s leading handset makers are braced for falling sales in 2009, but Sony Ericsson is feeling more pain than larger rivals such as Nokia, Samsung and LG.

Sony Ericsson is experiencing a deeper unit sales decline than Nokia partly because it does not make cheap mobiles. Consumers are “trading down” to low-priced mobiles . Sony Ericsson is also suffering because it has a weak range of smartphones – mobiles that double up as mini computers – compared with traditional rivals and new entrants such as Apple.

Sony Ericsson reported revenue of €1.7bn for the three months to March 31, down 36 per cent on the same period last year. The net loss of €293m compared with a net profit of €133m in the first quarter of 2008.

(Source) FT.com

Tags: axe 2, Business, Cell Phones, consumers, decline, dick, First Quarter, first three months, global recession, handset makers, hard on the heels, mini computers, mobile phone maker, mobile phones, net profit, operating expenses, profitability, reputation, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Sony Ericsson, traditional rivals, workforce

Sony Ericsson has announced awful results for the first quarter of the year. Unlike Nokia, which still managed to have a profit in Q1, Sony Ericsson netted a 358 Euros loss. Despite all that no new hot phone is coming from the company anytime soon. In fact, Sony Ericsson’s CEO, Hideki Komiyama said that they are not ready for an Android handset anytime soon. That’s weird, especially since Android is kind of hot right now. Here’s what he said about it:

[Going Android] does require a lot of evaluation, as well as a lot of testing, a lot of acceptance from a consumer viewpoint, and there is still some time to go.

So what are those big execs at Sony Ericsson waiting for?

Tags: Android, Google, Mobile News, Nokia, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Sony Ericsson

Remember the Sony Ericsson S312 we told you about a while ago? Well, if you are looking a bit more seriously on making it yours when it’s released, here’s a promo by Sony Ericsson to convince you that you are making the right decision.  Although it is a low-end cell phone with not many features to write home about, it does seem awesome in terms of looks.  Watch the video below to find out for yourself.

(more…)

Tags: Cell Phones, S312, SnapShot, Sony Ericsson, video

A new phone is about to enter the Japanese market. The iida comes from AU KDDI and it is a totally new brand made for those fashion-conscious customers. The G9 is a slider phone which comes from Sony Ericsson actually and here’s what you can expect from it:

• Built-in 1Seg TV tuner
• Stainless steel body with titanium coating
• CDMA 1X and GSM network compatible
• 3-inch touchscreen display at 480 x 854 resolution
• 3.2-megapixel camera with autofocus
• microSD memory card slot
• Bluetooth connectivity
• GPS navigation support

The slider will be available in August but the price has not been revealed yet.

via Electronista

Tags: AU KDDI, g9, iida, Other Brands, Sony Ericsson, Sony Ericssson

T-Mobile is prepared to offer more phones in the following months. The most interesting handsets so far are the HTC Snap and the Touch Pro2 or the Wing II which will arrive in July: the Snap on the 1st while the Wing II will make its appearance on the 22nd. So far nothing is certain but all we need is a rumor to start dreaming about our favorite phones anyway.

Besides these two beauties, T-Mobile has other surprises for you. The Sony Ericsson “CS8?” which could be the C905 is set to arrive on June 24. The Sidekick Blade is scheduled to arrive on May 13. Last but not least, we have a few Samsung cell phones: T469 and T559 will arrive on July 15, T749 on July 22, T659 on August 19.

We’ll be digging for more details since we don’t have all the facts about some of the models here and we’ll get back to you with the updates.

via Tmo News

Tags: HTC, HTC, Samsung, SNAP, Sony Ericsson, Sony Ericsson, T-Mobile, T-Mobile, Wing II

The Idou from Sony Ericsson might not be the must-have phone you were waiting for but we have a rumored date for it. The Idou should go on sale in October which means you will get plenty of time to adjust your budget for it. That impressive camera will definitely cost you an extra buck or two.

The phone will offer you a 3.5-inch touchscreen, a 12 megapixel camera, GPS and probably more smartphone-like features. According to Sony Ericsson officials the phone will ship “sometime in the second half of the year” but nobody is confirming the October launch date.

via mobil.se

Tags: 12 megapixel, Idou, Mobile News, Sony Ericsson, Sony Ericsson, touchscreen

If music ain’t your thing, Sony Ericsson has just announced another cell phone, the S312, another low-ender in its S class of handsets.  There is not much to write home about, but for a entry level cell phone, the S312 does seem pretty loaded.  Buyers will find Bluetooth, FM radio, a 2-inch TFT display, a speakerphone, and GSM/GPRS/EDGE/900/1800 connectivity.  The music player included is also capable of TrackID akin to the W205 and there’s a M2 slot for further expansion.  A 2-megapixel camera with a dedicated camera key is also thrown in along with the ability to snap pictures “horizontally,” which as you know is possible on any cameraphone out there.

The Sony Ericsson S312 will make its way to the market in the second quarter of 2009 for a price that is yet to be announced.

(more…)

Tags: Cell Phones, S312, Sony Ericsson

For someone looking for top-of-the-line music quality within their budget, the W205 from Sony Ericsson should seem pretty alluring.  With support for GSM/GPRS 900/1800 and GSM/GPRS 850/1900 (W205a), this newest member’s forte may not be blazing fast speeds but to be a good Walkman phone, and it seems like it is, with all the usual Walkman-only features including TrackID, which can identify the number you liked and recorded on its FM radio.  Other than that, we have a 1.3 megapixel camera, a 1.8-inch display, speakerphone, Bluetooth, up to 2GB expansion via an M2 slot, and Opera Mini for web browsing.  The W205 can keep you entertained for up to 13 hours 30 mins or up to 9 hours of talktime on a single charge.

The W205 Walkman phone will be available starting this third quarter in a unique color of Ambient Black for an unknown price, but we are sure it won’t be high enough to burn through anyone’s pockets.

(more…)

Tags: Cell Phones, Sony Ericsson, W205, Walkman

ZTE is one of the largest telecommunication equipment makers in China and that seems to be good enough to make ZTE the 5th largest handset maker in the world. The position was formerly held my Motorola but this will all change this year. Nokia, Samsung, LG and Sony Ericsson will lead the pack with ZTE and Motorola following. It looks like ZTE has shipped 45 million phones in 2008 and it seems ready to surpass Motorola in the first quarter of 2009. ZTE might also be able to leave Sony Ericsson behind which isn’t doing that good momentarily.

via DigiTimes

Tags: LG, LG, Mobile News, Motorola, Motorola, Nokia, Nokia, Other Brands, Samsung, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Sony Ericsson, ZTE

Sony Ericsson has announced the T707 and Maria Sharapova has been called in to help with the official thing since she is already the Sony Ericsson ambassador. The phone will surprise you with those “unique pulsating notification and light effects” which you’ll spot immediately on the external screen. The flip phone also has gesture control capabilities and themes capable of changing automatically.

Here are the features you can expect from the T707:

• 2.2 inch TFT internal display with 240 x 320 pixels and 262K colors
• Quad band GSM connectivity
• UMTS/HSDPA 2100 connectivity
• UMTS/HSDPA 850/1900/2100 connectivity for the NAM version
• Google Maps
• NetFront HTML browser
• Email, Exchange ActiveSync
• Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP
• YouTube access
• Media Player
• FM radio with RDS
• 3.2 MP camera with video recording and geotagging
• 100MB of internal memory
• Memory Stick Micro card support, up to 16GB
• 93 x 50 x 14.1 mm (3.7 x 2.0 x 0.6 inches)
• 95 grams (3.4 ounces)
• color versions: Mysterious Black, Lucid Blue and Spring Rose

The phone will be available in the second quarter of 2009 for an undisclosed price.

Tags: Maria Sharapova, Mobile News, Sony Ericsson, Sony Ericsson, T707

Virgin Mobile France has decided to launch a special edition Sony Ericsson F305 dedicated to the FIFA 2009 game. Besides the game that’s already installed on the memory of the F305 slider, 50 other titles are stored on a 1GB M2 card coming with the F305 slider. You can get the special edition bundle for 1 Euro with a plan or 129 Euros with a pre-pay plan. Anyone fancy a game of FIFA 2009?

via Virgin Mobile France

Tags: f305, FIFA, Mobile News, Sony Ericsson, Sony Ericsson, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Mobile France

Not long ago we told you how people say Ericsson is interested in leaving Sony for good and Sony is trying to come up with the funds required to buyout its partner. It looks like that was all a rumor as s Ericsson isn’t going anywhere. A new report from Dow Jones is confirming that Ericsson “has no plans to abandon its joint venture Sony Ericsson.” I guess we don’t need more confirmation than that. Although Sony might indeed be thinking differently about the whole issue.

via WSJ

Tags: Ericsson, Sony, Sony, Sony Ericsson