Probably the most anticipated phone from Sony Ericsson for years has been the new Xperia X10, and now it has a baby brother and sister in the form of the X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro. The only differences between the two are that the Pro has a slide out qwerty keypad, is slightly larger, and is available in Black and red rather than all the other colours for the regular mini shown below. First hands on tests show this phone is fast and pretty much good to go (click here for a hands on test video). These two touch screen Android phones feature Sony Ericsson’s new signature application Timescape™ which brings all communication together in one place so users can see at a glance text messages, missed calls, and Facebook™ and Twitter updates, without having to open lots of different applications.  The interactive music player also uses an “infinite button” to pull together all music content from the music store and YouTube™ – a smart way to search for new tracks from a favourite artist. The phones will be available for release in the second quarter of this year. Personally I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these. If they live up to the hype the X10 range will be the phones that secure Sony Ericsson’s future as one of the world’s top handset manufacturers.   Main Specs:

• Android 1.6 operating system, with 600MHz Qualcomm MSM7227 processor
• 5mp camera.
• 4 Custom corner shortcut keys
• 2.5-inch QVGA touchscreen
• WiFi, Bluetooth (A2DP),
• Micro USB connector and 3.5mm headphone jack
• Sony Ericsson Timescape™, Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync®,
• A-GPS, Android Market™, Google Talk™, Google Voice Search™
• 128mb built in memory, 2GB microSD™ memory card inc in box

For the full Sony Ericsson press release click here 

         Sony Ericsson very kindly lent me their new Entertainment Unlimited branded phone called the Aino over the festive season and so I thought I would finally share with you my thoughts on it. To make things simple I have broken it down into my likes and dislikes. Likes: Firstly the Aino has a fab 3” hi-res touch screen, when the slider is closed the touch screen works very well allowing you to easily browse pictures, music, movies or radio. The keyboard and user interface are up the usual easy and logical to use Sony Ericsson standards. The phone also comes with a nice built in 8GB  Micro SD card, great Bluetooth headphones (great speakerphone too) and a very neat charging dock. It was also very easy to connect up to my laptop and sync all the contacts as well as working great as a mobile modem (wireless or wired took only a few minutes to set up). I didn’t get a chance to try out the Playstation 3 remote play feature, I’m more of an Xbox chap, but this feature allows you to stream music and films stored on your PS3 wirelessly to your Aino anywhere in the world !. Finally the Aino is also remarkably durable, after a couple of months heavy use it doesn’t even have a scratch on it.  Dislikes: The only slight problem with this phone is that the touch screen is for some reason deactivated when you slide out the keypad. Every person I showed it to tried to use the touch screen to navigate from around the menu, including me the first time. I guess once you know though you soon forget about it, but still think its a bit odd. The only other problem was when I first had the phone the software was very buggy, however after a week I updated it and now it’s been behaving nicely. Overall: A great phone if you want to get a touch screen / number keypad smart cellphone. The camera works well (see pics above) and as an entertainment unlimited phone I can honestly say its lives up to its name. More apps are constantly being released and the phone comes pre-loaded with facebook, Google maps and a nice selection of games. For full stats see below: Aino Touch Phone Specs

• 3 inch widescreen 16:9 touch screen and slide out Keypad
• 8.1 megapixel camera with Photo flash and intuitive touch focus, Video VGA 25fps
• Bluetooth™ stereo A2DP portable headphones included with docking base for phone/headphones
• 55MB Phone memory and 8GB MicroSD memory card included
• Remote Play for PLAYSTATION®3, Exchange ActiveSync®
• A-GPS with Google Maps™
• 3G HSDPA, Wi-Fi, (Quad-band GPRS/EDGE and tri-band HSDPA)
• Talk Time: 13 hours, Standby time: 380 hours
• Dimensions: 104 x 50 x 15.5 mm, Weight: 134.0g
• PlayNow™ arena and Track id, Built in Step Counter and GPS tracker
• DLNA Certified™ (connect wirelessly to other electronic devices via Wi-Fi. i.e: See your photos on your TV)
• Media Go: Transfer your files from PC to phone wirelessly & automatically when docked (using Wi-Fi)

Sony Ericsson’s global Hopper Invasion campaign is well underway and thought it about time to give you an update on it (I first wrote about it here). The campaign promotes their new Entertainment Unlimited range of phones, namely the Satio, Aino and Yari. It all started a few months ago with a teaser site allowing people to create their own personalised online hoppers and a promo video showing 500 hoppers being let loose in Barcelona. They then did an online flash mob by taking over the yahoo.co.uk site for an afternoon using the personalised hoppers created by users online. (click here to see that) Next they created a fun interactive concept using twitter (with a unique hashtag), a warehouse full of deflated hoppers hooked up to pumps, and a dedicated website showing live video feeds from the warehouse. The general idea is that each time anyone on twitter types #pumpt the tweet is picked up at the warehouse and a hopper is given a burst of air in real time, all visible on the hopper website. The warehouse will stop pumping up hoppers on the 6th December and in the meantime Sony Ericsson are asking participants to tweet ideas for what to do with them. They will then pick the best one and make it happen. So far its becoming a great success, over 240,000 online hoppers have been created, and after just 7 days over 400 hoppers in the warehouse have been pumped up, and the #pumpt hash tag has been a trending topic on twitter. To follow the Hopper campaign on twitter click here, or to see the hopper live feed click here. (They also have nice Facebook and Picasa profiles set up)

   Recently the legends over at Sony Ericsson let me try out their new C903 Cyber-shot camera phone. The phone itself is pretty impressive, 5MP camera with Xenon flash and smile shutter, aGPS, and a host of other features (will list them below).  The unit I was sent is a polished white with cool blue lights that come on when the camera function is engaged, its looks great and as soon as I started to show it to friends one thing became clear, girls in particular loved the look and feel of this handset. So as I’m a nice chap I decided to lend it to a good friend Candice Heyns, who just so happens to be one of Cape Town’s great socialites, DJ, model, and manager of local hit band The Dirty Skirts. Below is a gallery of some of the pictures taken by Candice from the C903 on her travels around Cape Town and from a recent Dirty Skirts concert. C903 key stats

• 5MP Cyber-shot camera, Xenon Flash, Smile detection / Shutter, Best pic,
• aGPS, Bluetooth A2DP (stereo music streaming),
• 3G 7.2Mbps enabled
• Geo-tagging for pictures, TrackID, media player, Mega Bass
• Exchange ActiveSync®, YouTube player,
• 3D games, Motion gaming (think Wii like controls)
• 400 hours standby battery life, 10 hours talk time
• video calling, Slider phone,
• 130mb built in memory, expandable to 16GB with Memory Stick Micro™

  Yesterday Sony Ericsson announced their latest upcoming flagship phone called the X10,  based on the Google Android OS system. The phone runs the Android 1.6 OS and has been integrated with Sony Ericsson’s New UX (User Experience) platform. It’s the first SE phone to feature the soon to be standardised Micro USB connector socket for charging and data transfer as well the a great piece of custom software called Timescape™. Timescape™ aggregates all your contacts individual social web feeds like twitter, Facebook, emails and texts into one easy to read space and organises the data with time stamps showing the individuals latest updates first. This is an epic time saving device and one I have been yearning for from SE for ages. It also features clever face recognition software that can automatically tag pictures with the relevant persons names and save them as contact pictures amongst other thing.  The phone will be available in most markets including South Africa in the 1st part of next year, some say possibly as early as January. I could go on about this phone for pages but will leave you with the key stats below. X10 key features

• Available in Sensuous Black or Luster White.
• Touch focus 8.1 megapixel camera with LED light and flash
• A-GPS with Google Maps™
• 3.5 mm audio jack and Micro USB connector for data/charging
• Access to the Google Android Market™
• Google Talk™ and Google Voice Search™
• 4.0 inch, 262,144 colour TFT capacitive touch screen (scratch resistant)
• Android 1.6 OS
• 8GB memory with a new Qualcomm Snapdragon 1GHz processor
• Wifi & Bluetooth 2.0
• Sony Ericsson Timescape™ manages all your communication with one person in one place. Browse through your conversations the bright way to check out your Facebook™, Twitter™, photos, emails, and texts all in one go
• Sony Ericsson Mediascape is the smart way to get all the music, photos and videos you want from your favourite friends and artists. It accesses content from everywhere – your phone, YouTube™, PlayNow™ – and presents everything for you

Intelligence capabilities, integrated into Mediascape and Timescape™, can automatically recognise connections between contacts, content and media. By recommending alternative ways to communicate or guiding to new media experiences, consumers can discover more in a truly open way. For example:

• Pressing the new “infinite button” guides you through the connected world, aggregating all your interactions with one person into one view
• Intelligent face recognition features recognise up to five faces in any picture, automatically connecting them with your social phonebook and all other related communications with that person.

I want one now ! For more info click here

Recently there has been a lot of rumours floating around for Sony Ericsson’s first Android based touch phone, code named Rachael (or possibly X3 or even X10?). Yesterday this teaser site was released and seems to relate to project Rachael in its source code. Details are thin but I have added some pics below of spy shots of the phone and some as yet unconfirmed specs. I want one. Sony Ericsson Rachael Specs:

• 16 GB internal memory
• Wi-Fi, and 7.2Mbps HSDPA 3G data, Bluetooth 2.0
• A-GPS
• GSM Quad-band
• 8MP autofocus camera
• 3.5mm Headphone socket
• Mini USB jack (for charging and media)
• Micro SD / Micro SDHC Memory Slot
• Android 2.0 SE customised touch Operating System
• Li-Polymer Battery
• Processor: Snapdragon 1 GHz Processor with dedicated 3D graphics
• 4″ capacitive WVGA touch screen

  Just happened to check out the Sony Ericsson website while looking for some new apps for my W995 and noticed they have just done a huge great revamp. Normally I don’t chat about new websites too much but I really loved playing around this site and so thought I would share it with you. The main home page features movable 3D tiles that provide shortcuts to latest products / news, and a tab bar at the top with links to the main sections of the site (Phones/Accessories, PlayNow, Support, Community). My main highlights are as follow:

• All content can be easily shared via simple social media sharing “AddThis” buttons
• Sony Ericsson community driven developer creations are encouraged and supported well
• Page content is nicely spaced out and main points/features jump out the page (See pics above)
• Site load time is fast
• The community labs page shows latest  Alpha and beta apps all available for download
• Phone support and updates are quick and easy to find
• PlayNow Store has been massively revamped and extra content such as music, Themes, ringtones and games are all easy to browse, preview and buy

Check it out for yourself at http://www.sonyericsson.com

Recently I stumbled across this new viral site from Sony Ericsson. Details are thin but from what I can see the general vibe is to get you to sign in, personalise a colourful hopper, name it, and then wait for an email with further instructions at a later date. (The email is still pending). What I do know is that this is part of Sony Ericsson’s new Entertainment Unlimited and Make. Believe branding and the coloured Hoppers certainly fit in with the new Logo colours.

When signing up they tell you “Be part of the world’s first ever online flash mob” so I’m wondering how they will use these personalised hoppers online?, maybe ask everyone to change their various profile pictures to the hopper on a specific date? Either way I’m intrigued and hope it works out for them. So far they have just under 2000 personalised hoppers made up and a short video of 500 hoppers being let loose in Barcelona !

To sign up and see for yourself go to: http://www.sonyericsson.com/hopperinvasion also Sony Ericsson South Africa have started up a twitter account that will no doubt keep us informed on this and other SE related goings on. Follow @sonyericssonsa

P.S. the Sony Ericsson W995 I’m still using just won an EISA award for best music phone ! I cant bring myself to send it back so sorry if anyone from Sony Ericsson reads this but you will have to come physically beat me for it if you want it back !

    My first phone was a Ericsson GF788 (what a stunning name for a phone !). Time and tech has moved on a fair bit since then as I found out with the new Sony Ericsson W995. The new W995 is not just a Walkman phone but also a decent Cyber-shot type camera, portable GPS unit, internet browser and video player to name but a few. Ok so its not an iPhone killer but then again the battery lasts for more than a minute, you don’t need to sell your children to get one, and it does a great job of handling phone calls and keeping reception, which is after all what phones are for. Sony Ericsson has done a grand job here, probably the best non-smart phone on the market in my mind. Have a look at the pictures above to see the phone and some of the photos I took with the 8.1mp camera, pretty stunning. The W995 also comes with a great set of headphones and a 3.5mm jack. Shortcut keys for media, camera and Walkman functions are all ergonomically placed. The battery lasts at least 3 days even with heavy call/music use (Tip: Turn the screen brightness to minimum if you have a SE phone and the battery lasts a lot longer). From getting the phone out the box, to copying all my contacts across, took under 5 minutes with the software and cables provided with the phone. The software works with iSync for Mac and has a custom programme for PC users.(If you have an existing SE phone you can just copy all your contacts across via Bluetooth, from the contacts advanced options menu) Loves: 8 Gig memory included, Camera, Phone size / durability, Walkman sound, Battery life, screen size and ease of use, Wi-Fi Dislikes: Cant play more video file formats yet, camera lens not protected, I don’t own one yet. Hot as: Hades   Key Features:

• Brushed metal body parts
• Quad-band GSM, dual-band HSDPA
• 2.6" 256K-colour TFT display of QVGA resolution
• 8.1 megapixel camera with autofocus, LED flash, geo-tagging, face detection
• WQVGA video recording at 30fps
• Built-in GPS with A-GPS functionality
• Wi-Fi with DLNA support
• Bluetooth (with A2DP) and USB v2.0
• Accelerometer sensor
• 118MB of internal memory and M2 memory expansion (8GB card included)
• Stereo speakers
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• Kickstand
• Walkman 4.0 music player with Shake control and SensMe
• FM radio with RDS
• Multi-tasking support
• Smart dialling
• Comfortable keypad, nice sliding mechanism

(Just a quick one, Sony Ericsson sent me the phone for review. This post is not paid for etc etc)

Not sure how I missed this one but thanks to the fabulous guys and girls at Cherryflava I can now share it with you. Sony Ericsson have been proud sponsors of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) since 2005 and have held several fantastic unique tennis PR stunts around the world.

This latest stunt involved them taking over the longest street in Canada (Yonge Street in Toronto) for an impromptu flash mob style game of tennis. The event was to celebrate the start of the Rogers Cup and saw two of the brightest stars of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic play against each other on the street.

Previous stunts have seen Sony Ericsson plan WTA tennis PR events on car rooftops in Miami, in a metro station in Madrid, and on a desert island in the Arabian Sea in Doha.

On another note, thanks to Sony Ericsson I have been using a new W995 for the last week or so and I must say it has to be the best non smart phone around (Think, WiFi, 8mp camera, GPS, Walkman phone etc etc, will write up more later).

To see how it all went down check out the video below.

  To help publicise the release of the new Smile Shutter technology being released in Sony Ericsson’s new C903 and W995 phones they have created a few 30 sec funny radio spots. Just click on the links below to have a listen. Ride Me Kiss Me Lick Me Smile Shutter basically used face detection technology and allows the phone to sense a smile automatically. So when your taking a picture it will capture that special moment for you a bit easier. The C903 and W995 have been the latest core Sony Ericsson phones to be released in South Africa. Basic specs below: C903 core specs

• 2.4” screen 262,144-colour TFT
• 3G HSDPA, Quad band, Bluetooth
• 5 Megapixel camera with TV out
• aGPS with Google maps
• Camera Face and smile detection
• 105MB built in memory (Expandable with Memory Stick Micro)

W995 core specs

• 2.6” screen, 256K TFT
• 3G HSDPA, Quad band, WiFi, Bluetooth
• 8.1 megapixel camera with Face and smile detection
• DLNA sharing
• aGPS with Google maps and Wayfinder navigation
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• Sony Ericsson Clear Stereo, shake control and mood playlists
• 118MB internal memory + included 8GB memory Stick Micro

Personally the W995 would be my phone of choice till the new Satio and Aino (yes that’s really what its called) touch screen phones are released. The radio ads have been made by local agency PenQuin.

According to Dave Hilton, UK marketing director at Sony Ericsson there is “clearly a desire to freshen up our advertising”. One of the ideas is to add several more colour options to its logo, which traditionally has been a silver and green sphere since 2001. New colours will include pink, blue, orange and purple. The new logo colours will only be part of the companies latest, biggest yet £8m ad campaign to promote its upcoming Entertainment Unlimited phone and service offerings, namely the Satio, Aino and Yari handsets as well as its PlayNow music- and film-download service. Their last big branding makeover was the incredibly successful “ I Love* Sony Ericsson”, where the Love* was the Sony Ericsson logo (see fun example below). That campaign helped to increase Sony Ericsson’s market share by 15% as well as increasing profits by over 100% in 6 months and was done by the Wolff Olins agency. Sony Ericsson UK is also currently finalising a campaign due to launch next month, which will offer consumers who buy certain handsets the opportunity to win tickets to next year’s football World Cup, which takes place here in South Africa. Hat tip: Marketing Magazine