May 18

Xperia X10 Mini unboxed, dwarfed by its own peripherals (video)

Posted in: Sony Ericsson, SonyEricsson, Today's Chili, video
Sony Ericsson wasn’t kidding when they called this one the Xperia X10 Mini. We must admit, it’s a cute little guy — if you’d like to see for yourself, we have the company’s own unboxing video for you after the break. This is one of the very first consumer samples that’s become available, and there will be some differences between what you see here and whatever lands in the UK and US, for instance. While a USB cable, charger, and stereo headset will come standard depending on market and carrier, extras — including remote headset, powered stereo speakers, and additional back covers besides the standard black or white — will differ accordingly. What are you waiting for? Hop past the break to see for yourself.

[Thanks, Ernst]

Continue reading Xperia X10 Mini unboxed, dwarfed by its own peripherals (video)

Xperia X10 Mini unboxed, dwarfed by its own peripherals (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 May 2010 14:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 13

Sony posts another huge annual loss, but PS3 sales are up

Posted in: 3d tv, financial, playstation 3, Playstation3, ps3, psp, sony, Sony Ericsson, SonyEricsson, Today's Chili

Sony just posted its yearly results today, and while a ¥40.8 billion ($439 million) loss is never a good thing, it’s at least a marked improvement from last year’s staggering $1 billion drop into the red, which was the company’s first loss in 14 years. LCD TVs and cameras were Sony’s big electronics sellers, while PS3 sales went up to 13 million from 10.1 million last year — and hey, Sony’s console actually became profitable at the end of the year as production costs have gone down. Now for the bad news: PSP sales were down to 9.9m from 14.4 last year, with game sales dropping to 44.4m from 50.3m units, while PS2 hardware went down to 7.2m from 7.7m units and PS2 software fell sharply from 83.5m units to 35.7m units. That’s not completely unexpected, as the PS2 can’t last forever and the PSP is getting long in the tooth, but it means that Sony faces some serious pressure to hit its target of 15m PS3s sold this year to pick up the slack and help it hit its goal of posting a ¥50 billion ($541 million) profit next year. Let’s hope that Move controller lives up to the hype, right? Sony’s also counting on 3D to help it get there, and wonder of wonders, it also expects Sony Ericsson to hit profitability, so that X10 mini pro had better be a big improvement over the Xperia X10. We’ll see if Sir Howard can keep all these various ships going in the right direction while still keeping the rest of Sony’s diverse operations (like its profitable life insurance business) in line — it should be an interesting year.

Sony posts another huge annual loss, but PS3 sales are up originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 May 2010 17:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 05

Sony Ericsson X10 family to get Android 2.1 in ‘Q4 2010’

Posted in: Android, AndroidOs, breaking news, BreakingNews, firmware, Software, Sony Ericsson, SonyEricsson, Today's Chili, update, upgrade, xperia

The Xperia X10, one of the big mindshare-grabbing devices of the smartphone world, made us wait a cool six months between its November announcement and wide retail availability in April. One of the secret hopes while all that waiting was going on was that perhaps SE would surprise us and upgrade the dusty old Android 1.6 base installation to a fresh and creamy Eclair (2.1) or even a frosty Froyo (2.2) treat shortly after launch. Time to lay those dreams to rest, dear friends, as Sony Ericsson has come with an official schedule for upgrading the firmware on the Xperia X10 and its X10 mini and X10 mini pro siblings, which places the Android 2.1 delivery in the fourth quarter of 2010 — and knowing the company that probably means closer to Christmas than Halloween. All we can say is you’d better really like that UX platform a great deal, because it’ll be the only thing you’ll be seeing for quite a while on Sony Ericsson’s Googlephones.

Sony Ericsson X10 family to get Android 2.1 in ‘Q4 2010’ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 May 2010 08:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 03

Xperia X10 Mini coming to Vodafone soon?

Posted in: Sony Ericsson, SonyEricsson, Today's Chili, vodafone, xperia
Weight: 88 grams. Talk time: 4 hours. Pictures and video: right here. We told you everything there was to know about Sony Ericsson’s diminutive Xperia X10 mini during Mobile World Congress, but we didn’t know when and where it might arrive. According to the image at right, the answers are “soon” and “Vodafone,” respectively; Cool Smartphone tells us the pic was plucked from Vodafone’s May catalog. Assuming it’s the real deal, expect Robyn to land on European branches this summer for an undisclosed price, and appear in teenybopper music videos next fall.

Xperia X10 Mini coming to Vodafone soon? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 May 2010 04:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 30

Caption Contest: Justin Bieber is an eenie meenie miney mo lova… of the Sony Dash

Posted in: sony, Sony Ericsson, SonyEricsson, Today's Chili, video

Here’s a little inside baseball on why yours truly typically works alone at night: when in control, I give writers some, erm, creative mandates. Such as watching an entire Justin Bieber / Sean Kingston music video to contribute to this caption contest… but not telling them when exactly the Sony Dash and Sony Ericsson X10 make their respective cameos. Blatant abuse of authority? Probably, but as we sow, so shall you reap. The unfortunately US-only music video (and a picture of Kingston totally geeking out on subpar smartphone technology) after the break.

Nilay: “Is there a widget that alerts me when I’m not a trending topic?”
Ross: “You don’t need to roll the dice… there’s already a widget for that.”
Chris: “It’s small, fits in any decor, and makes a great gift for mom. The Sony Dash also appears in the video.”
Joanna: “The stars, err, prepubescent boys are just like us: they’d rather play with tech than party.”
Richard Lai: “This Sony Dash should make.believe I’ve reached puberty.”
Sean H: “Not trying to rewind… I’ve just got to turn down the color temperature, it’s ruining my tan.”
Sam: “Meh, by the time I reach puberty this thing is going to be obsolete.”
Tim: “I’m glad you’re not a real Chumby. This way I’m still the cuddliest thing in the room.”
Thomas: “Who the hell is Justin Bieber?”
Paul: “And I was like baby, baby, baby ohhh, baby, baby… oh, were we supposed to come up with something funny here?

[Thanks, Kristopher Piersiak]

Continue reading Caption Contest: Justin Bieber is an eenie meenie miney mo lova… of the Sony Dash

Caption Contest: Justin Bieber is an eenie meenie miney mo lova… of the Sony Dash originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Apr 2010 08:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 16

Sony Ericsson X10 can do multitouch after all, will get Android 2.1 in September?

Posted in: Android, ericsson, multitouch, sony, Sony Ericsson, SonyEricsson, Today's Chili, update, upgrade, xperia

So, was all that hubbub for nothing? British retailer mobiles.co.uk — a wholly-owned subsidiary of giant Carphone Warehouse, for what it’s worth — is claiming a “man on the inside” as saying that the X10 actually can do multitouch after all, despite word from a Sony Ericsson product manager to the contrary. In fact, not only can it do multitouch, but it will do multitouch through a software update in the second half of the year, the source goes on to say. This all ties in nicely with the dude’s claim that the X10 will see an official update to Android 2.1 in September, a window that dovetails rather nicely with Sony Ericsson’s official line of 2H 2010. Of course, by the time September rolls around, we can only assume that Froyo will be alive and well, so the ultimate question of relevancy for Sony Ericsson’s very first Android venture remains to be answered.

Sony Ericsson X10 can do multitouch after all, will get Android 2.1 in September? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 14:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 16

Sony Ericsson posts surprise profit from unsurprising handsets

Posted in: earnings, financials, sales, Sony Ericsson, SonyEricsson, Today's Chili

Can it be, did Sony Ericsson just post its first quarterly profit since Q2 2008? Make.Believe it: the fantastically handsome crew from Stockholm is reporting a Q1 2010 net profit of €21 million, besting analysts who were expecting a €128 million loss. Importantly, SE managed to bump the average handset selling price to €134 on 10.5 million sold compared to the 14.5 million sold at an average of €120 a year prior thanks, in part, to the launch of its uneven X10 and buggy Vivaz. For those keeping track, that drops Sony Ericsson’s share of global handset sales down from 5% last quarter to around 4% currently. So yeah, slashing head count and closing facilities has earned Sony Ericsson a short-term win on Wall Street. Remains to be seen, however, if they’re now spread too thin to continue juggling Symbian, Windows Mobile, and Android with expectations for even more Sony Ericsson supported OSes in the future.

Sony Ericsson posts surprise profit from unsurprising handsets originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 04:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 14

Magnificent wormhole to 2009 spontaneously opens in Sony Style store, expels Satio, closes

Posted in: ericsson, sony, Sony Ericsson, SonyEricsson, Today's Chili

Hey, if you want to pay $650 for a phone announced in February of last year, don’t let us stop you — just don’t get too close to the blinding light. Alternatively, you can use the same wormhole to travel to circa-October 2009 London and buy a retail unit, then take another wormhole to December 2009 where you’ll be offered some firmware to make it not suck. The choice is yours.

Magnificent wormhole to 2009 spontaneously opens in Sony Style store, expels Satio, closes originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Apr 2010 16:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 06

Sony Ericsson Vivaz review

Posted in: Features, review, Sony Ericsson, SonyEricsson, symbian, Today's Chili

Sony Ericsson’s no stranger to phones with decent cameras, and the Vivaz with European 3G frequencies aims to be one of them; after all these months we’ve finally got hold of this S60 device, which is the first phone capable of continuous autofocus on 720p video recording courtesy of its speedy 720MHz Cortex A8 and PowerVR GPU. Compared to its predecessor, the Vivaz bears a similar button layout and GUI to the Satio‘s, but lacks a front-facing camera, Fast Port (replaced by a micro-USB port and 3.5mm headphone jack), and a slide cover for the camera. The resistive touchscreen (sigh, more on that later) has been downsized from 3.5 inches to 3.2 inches but retains a similar resolution (640 x 360), while the camera sensor is also scaled down from 12.1 megapixels to a more sensible 8.1, possibly for the sake of picture quality and component cost. But enough with the comparison — let’s get cracking with the review.

Gallery: Sony Ericsson Vivaz review

Continue reading Sony Ericsson Vivaz review

Sony Ericsson Vivaz review originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Apr 2010 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 28

Xperia X10 multitouch issue is hardware-related?

Posted in: Android, multitouch, Sony Ericsson, SonyEricsson, Today's Chili, xperia

Sony Ericsson’s flagship Android smartphone, the Xperia X10, has been plagued by laggy performance since we first laid eyes on it, but that won’t always be the case; the company has confirmed repeatedly that upgrades (including a newer Android OS version) will come. However, it now seems that multitouch is not in the cards. “There’s no multitouch in X10 – and I also can confirm that it’s not only related to [software] but also to [hardware],” said product manager Rikard Skogberg at the official company blog. If true, that means the X10 won’t get multitouch even when rooted, much less a Nexus One or Milestone-like level of native, official multitouch support. But remember, Sony Ericsson has fancy UI quirks of its own — though you may never pinch-to-zoom on an X10, at least you can enjoy reticulating Splines.

[Thanks, Björn R.]

Xperia X10 multitouch issue is hardware-related? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 28 Mar 2010 23:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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