Hasta La Gadget!

There’s nothing typical about Sony Ericsson’s Pureness handset so why should details about its launch differ? Brand Republic, a magazine focused on advertising, quotes Sony Ericsson’s director of marketing, Cathy Davies, saying that the low-spec’d (said to lack GPS, camera, WiFi, and gasp, a touchscreen) candybar with translucent display will go on sale in November for £530 at Selfridges and “design museum shops.” And if it wasn’t already clear (get it?), SE says that it’s positioning the device as “an iconic niche product, not mass-market.” In other words, Harrods shoppers need not apply.

[Via Techradar and Pocket-lint]

Filed under: Cellphones

Sony Ericsson’s £530 Pureness is ‘iconic’ not ironic originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s not like we didn’t know this already, but Sony Ericsson has now officially confirmed an October UK release for its latest pair of handsets. The half-Swedish, half-Welsh mobile empire has set the seventh day of the tenth month of whatever year this is as the date for a nice little corporate get-together and unveiling of whatever little details haven’t been seen or pored over by now. The Aino slider hopes to capture fans with its slender looks and PS3 Remote Play skills, while the Satio (formerly known as the Idou, pictured) works the multimedia phone crowd with a 12.1 megapixel cam and a 3.5-inch 16:9 display. The latter was recently handled by Engadget Spanish, who found it underwhelming and somewhat sluggish — but rest assured, we’ll be getting a lot more fingerprints on these touchscreen devices in the coming weeks.

Continue reading Sony Ericsson Aino and Satio hitting the UK on October 7

Filed under: Cellphones

Sony Ericsson Aino and Satio hitting the UK on October 7 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Sep 2009 05:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Xperia Pureness — the phone formerly known as Kiki — reared its head today, mostly in the form of press shots of stylish people who demand stylish handsets. Don’t have any tech details yet, but we do know that it’s a fine example of Sony Ericsson’s new “brand direction,” which — as we heard yesterday — can be summed up succinctly (and a bit nauseously) as “make.believe.” Right. What we do know, however, is that it will be officially launched in November 2009 “through selected retail distribution channels in key cities around the world,” that the company wants us to approach this as “a work of art rather than technology,” and that the company hoped to “sculpt an object of design that reflected the purity of water and a sense of calmness when not in use.” Just what we needed! We’re sure Frank Lloyd Wright would approve — you know, if only he hadn’t died fifty years ago. See for yourself in the video after the break.

[Via Mobile Bulgaria, thanks Reggie]

Continue reading Video: Xperia Pureness (codename Kiki) announced

Filed under: Cellphones

Video: Xperia Pureness (codename Kiki) announced originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here it is, folks. Sony Ericsson’s newly official XPERIA X2 in the flesh. It’s got a flashy (gimmicky?) home screen, along with a view for “snacking” on bubbled-up information. Lots of buzzwords, but we’ll need more time hands-on to know how we feel. The hardware? It’s still a heavy beast, but perhaps just a bit more loving in this incarnation. We don’t love the resistive touchscreen one bit. After a strong caveat that what we’re looking at is preproduction software, a Sony Ericsson rep admitted that Windows Mobile 6.5 isn’t all it could be — though we’re unsure why Sony Ericsson didn’t throw a bit more hardware at the problem, Toshiba style. Still, the interface breaks down to stylus-friendly Windows Mobile-isms with just a few taps, and none of the “wow” of the floating Sony Ericsson home screen seemed to excuse any of the UI lag it introduces. Again, early software, but the X1 didn’t exactly rise above its preproduction jankiness.

Update: Video is after the break!

Continue reading Sony Ericsson XPERIA X2 first hands-on (with video!)

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X2 first hands-on (with video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s out with the old, in with the new over at Sony Ericsson as it tries to revamp both its image and its lineup in the face of stiff competition, weak financials, and an unfocused platform strategy. President Hideki Komiyama (pictured left) intends to retire at the end of the year, and stepping up to fill his shoes will be the current head of Ericsson Silicon Valley, Bert Nordberg (right). To get the dude up to speed, he’ll become co-president as of September 1 and take over sole control of the operation on October 15. Speaking of October 15, that’s also the date that Sir Howard Stringer — yes, the one and only chairman and CEO of Sony — will take over the chairmanship of Sony Ericsson’s executive board from outgoing Ericsson CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg. Whether this signals a power shift in the joint venture from Ericsson to Sony is unclear, but they’ve specifically mentioned in a press conference today to announce the moves that they need to “address [their] smartphone weakness” — and yes, we’d agree. Do exactly that, Bert Nordberg.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Sony Ericsson selects next president, appoints Howard Stringer chairman of the board originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 03:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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