Filed under: Cellphones

So what do you think they take pictures of in an FCC lab when they’ve got an 8-megapixel cameraphone handy? Oh, come on — you know the technicians lucky enough to fiddle with fresh gadget after delicious, fresh gadget as they burn through specific absorption rate paperwork engage in a little extracurricular activity from time to time. Our guess, honestly, is that they probably snap that scary apparatus that looks like a human head made out of gelatin and MMS it to their daughter with a message like “look what I found in the ditch, honey!” Of course, that prank only works once before little Julie figures out what daddy’s up to, then all hell breaks loose as she tips off the gadget blogs that there’s an unannounced Sony Ericsson on the way. Yeah, the C905. Thanks, Julie.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Now that Sony Ericsson’s mighty X1 has earned the FCC’s love and affection, you won’t be an outlaw for using one in the States — but unfortunately, you won’t be a speed demon everywhere, either. The version that just nabbed approval here is the X1i, and anyone familiar with Sony Ericsson’s naming scheme can tell you that an “i” means a phone’s not really meant for North American consumption; in this case, we’re lucky to squeak by with UMTS Band II support, which means we’ll theoretically be able to pick up some of AT&T’s 1900MHz signal. On 850, though, you’ll be stuck with EDGE. Of course, a true global launch has been in the cards for the X1 from day one, and we’re not worried that we won’t see a more 3G-rife model getting torn down by the feds — this just ain’t it.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Digital Cameras

It’s a beautiful autumn day, and you’re out in the wooded path beyond the railroad tracks just taking it all in and killing some time. Hey, what’s that? Why, it’s the cutest bunny rabbit you’ve ever seen! Time to pull out that 8-megapixel C905 and… oh, this sucks, you actually have to press a button to zoom in and out! Screw this noise — you’re a visionary photographer, not a manual laborer. Happily, Sony Ericsson feels your pain, and a new patent application reveals that they’re hard at work on a system to control your cameraphone’s zoom level simply by moving it back and forth. Just get the phone closer to the subject, and boom, welcome to telephoto city, population one. We’re still totally cool with the old-fashioned way of capturing Pulitzer-winning shots, but we’re happy that someone’s thinking of this type of stuff so we don’t have to — that’d be work.

[Via Unwired View]

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Filed under: Laptops, Wireless

Laptops with built-in WWAN modems aren’t anything new, but there’s a hodgepodge of hardware and services available — a situaton the GSM Association is trying to simplify with the new Mobile Broadband standardization initiative. Sure, it’s mostly an excuse to get another sticker on your gear, but companies like Microsoft, Dell, Lenovo, ASUS, Toshiba, Qualcomm and a bunch of carriers are on board to ensure that Mobile Broadband-certified machines will be ready and able to connect in some 91 countries around the world — and what’s more, they’re committed to spending a cool billion dollars in the next year promoting MB as a “compelling alternative” to WiFi and WiMAX. That should be an interesting dilemma for the carriers that also run hotspot networks, but we’ve got a feeling everyone’s happy as long as the sub fees keep rolling in.

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Filed under: Cellphones

Perhaps a nod to Samsung’s corny candybars and Nokia’s wild Earth-friendly hardware, Sony Ericsson has unveiled its GreenHeart concept, a never-destined-for-production handset that incorporates a bunch of green technologies that it’d like to bring to market over the coming years. Most of the GreenHeart’s ideas are totally logical and could be executed today — online user manuals, bioplastic and recycled plastic materials, and a charger that draws just 3.5mW in trickle mode, just to name a few — but the company is shopping around the whole lot of it to customers and “selected partners” to determine which eco-concepts should be implemented for production and in what order. Unfortunately, Sony Ericsson isn’t seeing fit to show any pictures of the GreenHeart right now, which we take to mean it looks like a tree.

[Via Unwired View]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Feel that heat, Touch Pro? That’s right — the Great QWERTY Smartphone War of 2008 is officially gearing up for kickoff now that Sony Ericsson has announced a firm date for the first handful of lucky countries to be scoop up the mighty XPERIA X1. Sweden, Germany, and the UK will be the inaugural launch sites come September 30, with no fewer than 32 more on tap in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America for the fourth quarter of the year. North America, China, Australia, and Russia are also listed as committed launch regions, though dates for those will be announced “in the coming months” — scary verbiage considering that they weren’t even willing to slap the Q4 label there. 2009’s a long way off yet, and if there’s a Touch Pro in front of us… well, let’s just say that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, if you catch our drift.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio

Why the long face, Sony Ericsson? Is it the fact that your revenue and market share are in the crapper? Do Sir Howie’s words have you a bit on edge? Oh, wait, wait, don’t tell us — we know what it is! You just spent all this time, money, and elbow grease prepping your PlayNow Arena music purchase service for launch, and you’re just a little worried that Nokia might upstage you with its fancy (though questionably-profitable) Comes With Music initiative. It looks like you might already be looking into patching that up, though, if a Financial Times report is spot-on that has you announcing your own unlimited download service later this month. Word on the street is that you already have deals locked up with EMI, Sony BMG (no shocker there), Warner, and a handful of indies, but Universal’s holding out on you. Nokia was able to get Universal on board, so odds are you’ll be able to, too — or at least you better be able to if you want to make a serious play at the big boys.

[Via mocoNews]

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Filed under: Cellphones

The well-scooped TM506 from Sony Ericsson is now on sale, marking the first time that T-Mobile has openly and proudly admitted that a handset in its lineup can actually support 3G — despite the fact that they’ve had such gear for over a year now. Why the big secret? Until now, T-Mobile’s 3G network has been undergoing pretty much the softest soft launch in mobile history, and only now are enough markets starting to come on board to make the whole thing worthwhile. For what it’s worth, every previous 3G handset on the carrier has merely rocked UMTS, so the TM506 becomes its first HSDPA-equipped piece while also offering up a 2-megapixel cam, TeleNav navigation, and stereo Bluetooth. As of this writing it’s still showing “Coming Soon” on the site, but we’re hearing that it’ll be available today for $79.99 after rebate on contract.

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Filed under: Cellphones

Rumors of the XPERIA X1 being delayed to 2009 have been floating around forever, and the chatter’s only gotten louder at IFA — to the point where Sony Ericsson’s been forced into damage-control mode for a second time, telling Reuters that “there is absolutely no delay” and that the company’s first WinMo phone is “on target” to “roll out in Q4. That’s not quite the “second half of 2008″ SE’s been saying since the X1 was announced, but it’s still in the window — and given the half-baked nature of the devices we got to play with at IFA, we’d say taking a little extra time to get things right isn’t the worst idea in the world, even it means missing that rumored October Vodafone release date.

[Via WM Power User]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

The uncertainty of trying to predict exactly when — and where — Sony Ericsson’s beastly X1 would launch has come to be one of the more entertaining dramas in the mobile world this year, but it looks like Vodafone’s ready to shut down the rumor mill. The Windows Mobile superphone has now been slapped with an “expected” launch date in October for Voda’s UK audience, which means we can probably expect it in at least a few other European locales in the same timeframe. Americans (of both the South and North variety), Asians, Africans, Australians, and Antarcticans, though — well, there’s no telling where you guys stand at the moment, so hang tight.

[Via CoolSmartPhone]

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Filed under: Cellphones

Press shots are often beautiful, but the problem with ‘em is that they’re usually about as real as Joan Rivers’ face — not the best way to get a real impression of what a device looks and acts like in the flesh. GSM Helpdesk scored some hands-on time today with the full range of Sony Ericsson’s new wares, and the headliner of the bunch, the mighty 8.1 megapixel C905, is looking ready for battle. Not literal battle, of course, but battle in the marketplace with a whole host of feature phones being released this year from its top rivals — particularly important at a time when market share is falling. The 2.4-inch display is apparently “clear” and plenty impressive for managing your extensive photo library, and we’re digging the curvy styling; UIQ would’ve been nice, but we suppose the dumbphone set deserves killer cameras too. Also pictured are the low-end J132 and K330, the S302 (which with a 2 megapixel camera, may not be worthy of the name “Snapshot”), and the F305 gaming phone. We’d had high hopes for the F305 — as we do for pretty much anything that can be shaken to control games — but the live shots here are leaving us a little underwhelmed. Maybe the white version will do it justice?

Read - C905, S302
Read - F305
Read - J132, K330

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Filed under: Cellphones

Paris who? Sony Ericsson’s let yet another one slip out of its fingers before the official announcement, this time around a killer slider said to be the Cyber-shot C905, codenamed “Shiho.” If the rumors pan out, it’s got one heck of a rap sheet, too, starting off with an 8.1 — yes, eight point flippin’ one — megapixel camera with both xenon and LED flashes (for still and video capture, respectively), GPS, TV out, DLNA certification, and HSDPA in your choice of European and American flavors. The screen’s apparently just QVGA, but in light of everything else we’re hearing, we might just be willing to let that slide. It’ll apparently be announced on the 17th of the month in gold, silver, and black for a fourth quarter release. Wowza!

[Thanks, Adrian]

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Filed under: Wireless

As WiMax-powered 4G networks remain the stuff of holding companies and litigation, a group of providers have gotten together to form an (evil?) alliance that they say will help speed up both development and deployment. In other words, they want Qualcomm on board, which holds the juiciest 4G patents. The Open Patent Alliance (OPA) includes Intel, the recently-formed Clearwire, Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Samsung, and Sprint. Similar to the Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, NextWave Wireless, Nokia Siemens Networks, Sony Ericsson coalition that is backing Long Term Evolution, this WiMAX group looks poised to take on Qualcomm with some serious collective patents, boardroom politics, and investor cash. Meanwhile, Qualcomm is sitting in the corner saying, “We already have 4G, and it’s very nice.” This should be interesting. Stay tuned.

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Filed under: Cellphones

Apparently not content to let Nokia Siemens have the upgraded mobile broadband spotlight to itself today, Ericsson has now announced that it’s set to demonstrate what it’s touting as the “world-first end-to-end HSPA Evolution technology” at CTIA next week. That, the company says, should allow for speeds up to an impressive 42 Mbps, a feat made apparently possible by a combination of higher order modulation technology (64QAM) and 2×2 Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) antenna technology. As for the actual demonstration, Ericsson is only going so far as to say that it’ll be conducted with an unspecified “handheld form-factor device” that’s based on the Ericsson Mobile Platforms access technology. Other details are unsurprisingly pretty light at the moment, but we’re betting Ericsson will have plenty more to say about it when they actually light things up at CTIA.

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Filed under: Wireless

While it hardly comes as much of a surprise, Ericsson Chief Marketing Officer Johan Bergendahl is now predicting nothing short of the demise of WiFi hotspots, and he’s saying that they’ll be replaced by — you guessed it — mobile broadband. Speaking at a conference in Stockholm, Bergendahl said that “hot spots at places like Starbucks are becoming the telephone boxes of the broadband era,” and that “in a few years, [HSPA] will be as common as Wi-Fi is today.” Leading to that widespread use, he says, is ever-decreasing prices for mobile broadband subscriptions, and the fact that HSPA is being built into more and more laptops. Of course, if other companies have their way, WiFi hotspots could become a thing of the past simply because entire cities would effectively be one huge hotspot, although we’d gladly take both options.

[Image courtesy of IDG.no]

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Filed under: Cellphones

What the heck is going on here? Despite the overwhelming popularity of gizmo-heavy mobile devices in Japan, working with megacarrier NTT DoCoMo must be a losing proposition for many of its manufacturing partners, because just days after Mitsubishi’s announcement of its withdrawal, a fresh Nikkei report indicates that Sony Ericsson is raising the white flag as well to divert attention and resources to less saturated and more profitable markets. Apparently, DoCoMo will bear the brunt of the downsizing, while Sony Ericsson’s partnership with KDDI — a CDMA carrier — will continue. [Warning: subscription required]

Update: It turns out that Sony Ericsson intends to continue working with DoCoMo by initially delivering new models through mid ‘08, at which point it will start buying handsets from other manufacturers and rebranding them. In other countries this would be truly egregious, but as our Japanese bureau points out, DoCoMo lays out very strict requirements for each of its lines that would probably make it difficult to distinguish a true Sony Ericsson model from a rebranded model sourced from, say, Sharp or Toshiba.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

So it seems the X1 being shown off at CeBIT following its MWC debut last month is equipped with a particularly curious panel in its software load. Anyone care to take a guess? No cheating and looking at the one we’ve circled now. Yeah, okay, it’s that big AT&T logo front and center, which makes an appearance in several of PHONE Magazine’s shots of the interface. We’d like to believe that means that AT&T is a lock to pick up one of the hottest Windows Mobile devices ever manufactured, and indeed, it probably does — its 3G radio is certainly ripe for the job — but it’s entirely possible to think that Sony Ericsson is still in the process of selling carriers on the device, and is simply trying to get ‘em to crack a smile by loading their logo. Keep your fingers crossed, ladies and gentlemen.

[Thanks, Jake]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

A table of release dates dug up on Sony Ericsson’s own site suggests something powerfully depressing, which is that the XPERIA X1 has been pushed all the way out to February 10, 2009 (notice that the date is in European format — we’d just give up now if it were actually October 2, 2009). While the presence of the page on the company’s very own domain is pretty damning evidence, we’re still holding out hope that it’s a typo or an oversight; late Q2 of ‘08 was mentioned at MWC, and we really don’t see how it’s possible to push out a phone nearly three-quarters of a year just weeks after its initial announcement. Please tell us we’re right on this one, Sony Ericsson. Please.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Filed under: Cellphones

This is a phone we’ve seen in the wild on a couple occasions, but we had one detail dead wrong: the model number. It turns out that Sony Ericsson’s newest Z series flip is actually the Z770, not the Z660 we’d heard before. The company is billing the Z770 as a phone fit for people who need access to the internet (web and email, specifically) but aren’t necessarily interested in stepping up to a full-fledged smartphone, featuring “easy” email setup, zoom / pan features in the web browser along with an actual mouse pointer (anyone familiar with S60’s browser will get the idea here), and integrated support for Exchange ActiveSync. The GSM / EDGE 900 / 1800 / 1900, HSDPA 2100 handset will hit shelves in the second quarter in Vogue Red, Graphite Black, and Exquisite Gold.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Digital Cameras

So that rumored K820 has turned out to be the C902, and that waterproof model? Not so much waterproof — just “splash and dust resistant” — and it’s the C702. Starting on the bottom, the 3.2 megapixel C702 touts one-handed camera use for those spur-of-the-moment shots when you’re doing something, like, totally extreme that would necessitate the use of a splash resistant phone to begin with. GPS also finds its way on board, and Sony Ericsson is bundling Google Maps for Mobile (good call) to get the mapping done. Moving up, the C902 is a 5 megapixel beast with autofocus, face detection, a generous flash, and 160MB of storage before you add anything on with the Memory Stick Micro slot. Both models feature Cyber-shot branding and will be available in the second quarter; they’ll come in two versions — one with UMTS 2100 and one rocking quadband EDGE alone. Look for the C702 in Speed Black and Cyan Blue, while the C902 will do its thing in Swift Black and Luscious Red (pictured).

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