Many analysts and market watchers were expecting a strong Q2 earnings report from Sony Ericsson today, but the company took them by surprise, posting a net loss of some €50 million (about $70.5 million), compared with a net gain of €12 million (around $17 million) at the same time last year. The manufacturer also sold only 7.6 million phones during the quarter, marking a 31 percent year-on-year decrease, while overall revenue fell from €1.76 billion (about $2.5 billion) last year to €1.19 billion (almost $1.7 billion) during Q2 2011. CEO Bert Nordberg attributed much of the decline to the Japanese earthquake, which disrupted the venture’s supply chain, resulting in the loss of around 1.5 million devices. The report comes after Sony Ericsson launched a widespread cost-cutting campaign and re-focused its efforts on smartphone production, which comprised more than 70 percent of all sales during Q2, compared with just 40 percent at the end of last year.

SOURCE via Yahoo!News

Been jumping around because your company is switching from the dreadful and boring BlackBerry Bold, to the brand new iPhone 4? Well, there’s good news for your account manager. Apple’s just announced the Volume Purchase Program, enabling businesses to procure applications from the US App Store en-masse.

Upon registering with Cupertino, corporate overlords can then access a web-form to acquire and sling apps to their plebeian employees at will. And for those needing custom corporate-only software? Well fear not, as it looks like bespoke B2B applications — even ones built by third parties — will soon be distributed via the same mechanism.

SOURCE via Mac Rumors

The white iPhone 4 has landed gracefully few months ago amidst lots of critics, and all of a sudden having a white iPhone 4 is no longer exclusive. But don’t worry, as we’ve got one white iPhone 4 along with diamonds, crystals and pearls… of course!

Known for its ridiculous custom mobile devices, Gresso may force you to refinance your house and hock a kidney to afford its latest creation, the Lady Blanche. A solid diamond-coated mineral glass backing, three independent Swiss clocks and pearl dials replace the usual body on this iced-out iPhone.

If the $30k diamond model is a bit out of your price range, the much more affordable Swarovski crystal version will only set you back 7,000 bones. Release details are unclear at this point, but when they drop you better act fast — only 150 of these gems will be available. Heck, if you have that kind of cash lying around, just get the salesman to throw in one of these for your iPad, too.

SOURCE via Gresso

The next time you head out for a leisurely Sunday drive along the autobahn at speed of 300km/h, you might wanna take a minute to consult Google Maps’ live traffic feature, now available in Germany and 12 other nations across Europe.

Announced earlier this week, the new addition offers regularly updated coverage of all highways and major thoroughfares in countries like Spain, the Netherlands and Switzerland, while bringing more detailed street-level data to users in the UK.

Europe’s road warriors will also be able to use a legend to learn about traffic patterns at specific times or days of the week, making it even easier for you to micro-manage your summer getaway to the Swiss Alps.

SOURCE via Google

Apple has just pushed a new version of iOS, 4.3.4 (4.2.9 for the Verizon CDMA iPhone), and it looks to have “fixed” the PDF exploit that has been so notoriously exploited lately. In a summary of what’s changed, Apple indicates that a fix has been applied that will prevent “arbitrary code execution” when viewing a “maliciously crafted PDF”. In simple terms, adios jailbreakers, find another hole.

SOURCE via Mac Rumors

Been too long since your last MeeGo fix? All the Nokia N9 hype and suddenly it’s quiet again in Camp Nokia. Foursquare’s stepping in to hold you over with a video of the popular location-based service on Nokia’s upcoming N9. While waiting to get your grubby paws all over Elop’s miscarriage, indulge yourself in an updated S40 app, which now includes tighter Ovi Maps integration and the heretofore omitted “Explore” function. The inclusions, the company reckons, will help those in emerging markets like South America and Asia grow its ten million over-sharing user base. Glimpses of both can be seen beyond the fold, as-well as Foursquare’s CEO, Naveen Selvadurai musing on all things Finnish.

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Finally, Google has made Android 3.2 official, and the AI is out! It’s boosting the API level to 13 and releasing the SDK into the wild in one fell swoop. The new build brings along optimizations for a “wider range of tablets,” as well as “compatibility zoom for fixed-sized apps,” media sync from SD card (huzzah!) and an extended screen support API. Head on down to the links below for a closer look, and expect to see this rolling out to [insert your favorite Android tablet here] in due time.

SOURCE via Android Developers