Sony and Ericsson’s decade-long partnership may have humbled Kim Kardashian, but dwindling market share and an over-reliance on feature phones signalled the end of the affair. Ericsson will have until “mid 2012″ to clear its things from the spare room before the electronics giant begins a new solo venture. The revitalized enterprise will leverage its parent company’s brand strength, R&D and content (since it owns a massive chunk of the entertainment industry) and in comments made to Times of India, company Vice President Kristian Tear said there would be a “fierce” advertising push to restore the company’s reputation as a major player worldwide — before taking a Pilates class to try and fit back into its bachelor pad.
Why Sony chose to sit on this one, we have no idea, but the company just revealed that its software update for the 2011 lineup of Xperia phones – which was released last month – also adds browser support for WebGL. This means that if you’re holding an Xperia Arc, Mini, Neo, Play, Ray… or any other of its most recent handsets, then there’s a good chance you’re wielding one of the first Android phones to support this modern graphics platform. Designed to bring advanced visuals and gaming to the web, the API holds roots in JavaScript and has been used to develop everything from Angry Birds to far-out music videos. Sony Ericsson first previewed its WebGL efforts back in February, and after all these months, its official arrival is a welcome one, indeed.
The Ice Cream Sandwich announcements keep dribbling in this morning, with the latest morsel coming from Sony Ericsson Italy. In a Facebook post published last week, the company’s Italian outpost confirmed that its Xperia line will receive an upgrade to Android 4.0 sometime next year. Head of marketing Maurizio de Palma clarified this declaration in a follow-up post, adding that the update should “arrive by March.” That’s certainly more specific than anything the company has announced thus far, though we’ll obviously have to wait and see whether this timeline holds up.
Last month, Sony (no more Sony Ericsson, huhue…) hinted, via Facebook, that Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich would soon be making its way to its entire lineup of Xperia handsets. Today, this forthcoming upgrade has become officially official, though details remain equally fuzzy. “We can today confirm that we plan to upgrade the entire 2011 Xperia portfolio to the next version of Android known as Android 4.0 or Ice Cream Sandwich,” the company wrote in a blog post this morning. “We are working on merging our current Xperia experience with the new features in Android 4.0.” The update will encompass all Xperia Arc, Play and Pro handsets, as well as the company’s Live with Walkman device, though we’ll have to wait a little longer for details on release and availability.
Hello, PlayStation Certification! Looks like the Xperia Play is getting a bit of company in Japan, where Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Arc and Acro are getting that coveted seal of approval. Updates are actually rolling out across a number of SE phones on NTT DoCoMo, enabling dozens upon dozens of new games to be tailored (and available) for the Arc and Acro in particular. Hit the source link for the official word, and if you aren’t camped out in the Land of the Rising Sun, hang tight — we get the feeling Sony proper is going to be pushing this initiative a lot harder than it has been thus far.
Sony is getting tired of sitting idly in sixth place in the battle for cellphone supremacy. Sure, there have been a few noteworthy devices from the company’s joint venture with Ericsson (i.e. the Arc), but for the most part it has struggled since its inception in 2001 to run with the alpha dogs. The Japanese manufacturer’s new strategy involves buying out Ericsson’s stake in the company and having its tablet, smartphone and handheld gaming units work closely together to develop future products.
According to the Wall Street Journal, a deal for the Stockholm company’s half of the venture is nearing completion. Some difficulties remain, such as properly valuing the company and settling on a price for Ericsson’s roughly $1.3 to $1.7 billion worth of mobile technology patents, but a deal is expected to be reached sooner rather than later. And maybe, just maybe, the new found flexibility will allow Sony handsets to keep pace with the Samsungs and Apples of the world.
Current Sony Ericsson CEO Bert Nordberg wasn’t leading the company back when Apple introduced the first iPhone in 2007, but he still has some opinions about how it should have reacted to the phone’s debut.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal today, Nordberg said, “it’s safe to say that Sony Ericsson should have taken the iPhone more seriously when it arrived in 2007.” He has nothing but praise for the company’s commitment to Android, however, saying that “our Android strategy has been successful and the best choice we could have made,” and that he “wouldn’t feel comfortable investing in a platform that isn’t as good as the one that we currently use.”
That last bit was in response to a question about Windows Phone, and it may sound like a complete slam if not for the fact that he went on to admit he is “quite curious” it. Exactly what that means isn’t clear, but it sounds like the door still at least isn’t completely shut for the OS it once toyed around with. Hit the source link below for the full interview.
To the joy and delight of babysitters everywhere, Sony announced a boatload of new noise-cancelling headphones and earbuds to keep you sane in loud situations. Leading the pack is the $200, on-ear active / passive MDR-NC200D headphones, which have a 40mm driver in each ear, a built-in 22-hour battery and has a unique folding design.
For $150, users wanting portability can cop the smaller in-ear MDR-NC100Ds, which have a lower price tag and 13.5mm drivers. Both headphones feature Sony’s “Artificial Intelligence Noise-Cancelling” technology, which claims to automatically reduce ambient noise by around 98.2 percent — because you know, precision matters.
Also launching today are two new smartphone headsets — the $40 in-ear DR-EX14VP and the $60 DR-XB23VP earbuds — with connectivity to Android, iPhone and BlackBerry phones, as well as Sony Ericsson, Nokia and other phones thanks to an included compatibility cord. Pulling up the rear are the new iPhone control headsets — the $60 DR-XB22iP in-ear silicone hybrids, the $40 DR-EX61iP earbuds and the $150 “over-the-head” DR-ZX701iP.
Currently accepting pre-orders, the headphones will be available for purchase sometime in October — just in time to tune out the doorbell this Halloween.
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.
It’s no big surprise that Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X10 has some Android 2.3-filled days to look forward to. At long last, the handset maker is finally delivering its promise and is offering up a few extra details about the inevitable upgrade, now set for early-August. The company has addressed some user concerns regarding changes to functionality that will come with the upgrade, assuring users that new version of the software will keep the phone’s camera UI intact and will feature newer functionality like the company’s Facebook Inside Xperia feature. Catch the Gingerbready video below, which unfortunately makes surviving the summer on a lesser build no less painless.
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