Hasta La Gadget!

Do you recognize this handset? Neither do we, and that’s kind of the point. We’re looking at a never-before seen Sony Ericsson smartphone running Android — neither the Anzu / X12 nor the PlayStation Phone — and if we’re not terribly mistaken, that’s the company’s translucent Timescape UI on top. Oh, and it seems to be attached to Vodafone Germany, for whatever that’s worth. What’s more, the picture itself only tells half the story, as the other half is where it came from — a Picasa account filled to the brim with 8 megapixel test shots from a pair of camera phones. It’s hard to say whether either the Sony Ericsson “LT15i” or the “MT15i” are the device we’re actually looking at here, but the brethren have now fired off over 150 images testing out these camera modules. Rumor has it that both are running Gingerbread and that this one’s internal codename is “Hallon,” but honestly we’re more interested in that huge camera module on the front. HD video chat, perhaps? Find a full-frontal picture after the break, and plenty more at our source links.

[Thanks, Brenton]

Continue reading Sony Ericsson mystery handset leaks out, provides juicy rumor material

Sony Ericsson mystery handset leaks out, provides juicy rumor material originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Dec 2010 00:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Pocketnow  |  Picasa (1), Picasa (2)  | Email this | Comments

We’ve been hoodwinked by trademark filing and domain registrations before (cough, BlackPad and SurfBook) so we wouldn’t say this is anywhere near definite, but we just caught wind of a Sony Ericsson EU trademark registration for “Xperia Play,” and SE PR firm Jung Relations has registered a variety of Xperia Play domain names, including XperiaPlay.com, .net, and .org. Yes, that certainly sounds like a promising name for the PlayStation Phone (although not quite as promising as, you know, “PlayStation Phone,”) but honestly we wouldn’t bet on anything at this point. We’ve got a feeling we’ll either find out either at CES or at MWC in February — hold on tight.

Update: Turns out SE also registered Xperia Arc, Xperia Duo, and Xperia Neo, so now our interest is definitely piqued. And our hopes are totally shatter-able.

Sony Ericsson PlayStation Phone to be called ‘Xperia Play’? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Dec 2010 10:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Pocketnow, Unofficial Xperia X10 Blog  |  OHIM – Trademark search  | Email this | Comments

Google’s really been big today on emphasizing that Gingerbread is better than ever for game development, and that’s already bearing itself out thanks to a page culled from the Android 2.3 SDK where we see a handful of new keycodes in the system clearly targeted for gaming: L1, L2, R1, R2, Select, Start, and so on. Does it have anything to do with the Sony Ericsson Zeus Z1 and all the PlayStation phone noise, though? We imagine it lays some of the groundwork, but all told, it’s hard to say — after all, PlayStation famously uses shapes for its primary controls, and we wouldn’t be surprised if Sony were working on a separate development environment of some sort for PlayStation-branded titles rather than letting it all flow through the official Android SDK proper. We also don’t yet know whether Sony Ericsson’s gaming efforts are coming in the Gingerbread or the Honeycomb timeframe (though we’re definitely expecting news next February at MWC), but one way or another, game devs should find it a little easier now to map the controls they need.

Android 2.3 definitely supports game controls, may (or may not) be PlayStation-related originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Dec 2010 19:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Android Central  |  Android Developers  | Email this | Comments

Wow guys, we just spotted a new video of the PlayStation Phone, codenamed Zeus Z1, and this time we get a long, loving look at the entire device — a refreshing contrast to last time’s blurry tease. In addition to appreciating just how fat this phone is, and just how real it is, you can clearly see a “PlayStation” icon, which should hopefully put to rest any doubts that this phone will actually play PlayStation games. Check out a close-up of the icon after the break. Oh, and by the way, there’s no audio on the video, your computer is not broken.

[Thanks, Sha]

Update: There’s another video! Check out a brief look at the PlayStation app after the break…

Continue reading PlayStation Phone ‘Zeus Z1’ caught on video again, this time you can actually see it (update)

PlayStation Phone ‘Zeus Z1’ caught on video again, this time you can actually see it (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 18:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  xxmajstor (YouTube), (2)  | Email this | Comments

This isn’t the first time that Sony Ericsson’s dabbled in the field of spy-like Bluetooth wrist accessories, but as we all know, extortionate prices and limited functionality meant these old timers never really took off. But now, things may be different: SE’s freshly baked LiveView promises to offer a generous set of features — alongside your Android 2.x device — while going a little easier on your wallet. It sure sounds tasty, but before you grab your virtual shopping cart, be double sure to read our full review first… right after the break.

Continue reading Sony Ericsson LiveView review

Sony Ericsson LiveView review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Dec 2010 15:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments