sony

Sony Ericsson, once named as a key partner for Windows Phone 7 and who even had a prototype in the works, still does not have any immediate plans to use Redmond's latest OS in their phones. The one caveat is this: if the OS become big, they will jump in the game.

Speaking at Sony Ericsson’s annual Business Innovations Forum at Stanford recently, Jan Uddenfeldt, chief technology officer and head of Sony Ericsson Silicon Valley gave his latest remarks on Android and Windows Phone. According to Venture Beat:

While Android is the main focus of the company, it will still have a door open for Windows Phone 7. But it won’t be making any products if the operating system doesn’t take off, Uddenfeldt said. (It did previously manufacture phones with Windows Mobile OS.

Should we be upset? In theory, it'd be nice to have another OEM at the table, bringing some innovation and unique designs forward. However, the company to do that is not Sony Ericsson, who is doing so badly in smartphones these days, we really have nothing else to say on the matter except "good luck with Android!".

Source: Venture Beat; via MobileTechWorld

The future of Sony in the smartphone market has two major considerations for Windows Phone:

1) Will Sony make a Windows Phone 7 device?

2) Will Sony push their PlayStation platform on other mobile OSs?

The answer to the first is maybe. More specifically, Sony is keeping the door open to make a Windows Phone in the future, but as far as anyone knows, there's nothing immediately on the horizon. One reason for that is that some speculate Sony would not embrace a phone that makes the Xbox 360 its centerpiece. After all, this may seem to downplay Sony's own efforts in mobile gaming.

Sony though seems to be taking a mild mannered approach to the issue, suggesting that they are in fact, hardware/software neutral when it comes to their mobile PlayStation suite (prominently launching on Android). In a press event, SCE CEO Kaz Hirari stated:

We're focusing first on Android... There's also Windows [Phone], iOS and so forth, but we don't have the resources to make it compatible with everything from the start.

The statement is an echo of a recent meeting where Sony previously described the PlayStation suite as "hardware neutral". This seems to take out the argument that Sony won't ever do a Windows Phone either due to fears of competition in mobile gaming. In fact, we could imagine Sony doing a Windows Phone featuring Sony mobile gaming on it. But now the ball is in Microsoft's court: would they allow such a deal and partnership to go forward? This could be an interesting next few months and we'll try to grill Sony on this issue at Mobile World Congress in a few weeks.

Source: PocketGamer

Sony is the latest company to file patent complaints and litigation accusing LG Electronics of patent infringement. Sony has filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission claiming LG's phones and modems violate several proprietary technologies including photo-based caller ID.

And, as what's become a traditional companion to filing an ITC complaint, Sony has also filed a lawsuit against LG in U.S. District Court with similar claims.  The only thing missing is a counter suit by LG against Sony.  But it's early and there's not telling what will be filed tomorrow.

In it's complaint to the ITC Sony has requested that LG Electronics be barred from importing products with the contested technologies. This would include the LG Quantum. It is doubtful, with this form of litigation taking forever to be resolved, that Quantum supplies will dry up any time soon.

Source: Bloomberg Thanks goes out to Mike for the tip!

We’ve been hearing whispers about Sony-Ericsson considering Windows Phone 7 as a platform for quite some time now. Historically, SE has teased us with the X1a running Windows Mobile, but most of their smart-phones have run Symbian and (more lately) Android.

Now the aforementioned rumors are starting to gain volume (and perhaps credibility) as we have some YouTube video with what appears to be a slide presentation containing specifications and some basic renderings of both an X7 and X7 mini handset. The X7 is rumored to boast a 4.3" screen, 1.2GHz processor, and an 8.1 megapixel camera. The X7 mini supposedly sports a 3.5" screen, 1GHz processor, and a whopping 10.1 megapixel camera with a 3x optical zoom and a Xenon flash.

My biggest hurdle to believing these rumors is the simple fact that every Windows Phone 7 devices is an extension of Xbox Live. I would think that Sony would have to be pretty desperate to be in the smart-phone game to bite that particular bullet. Couple that with the rumors over at our frenemy site Android Central about the "PSP Phone" and the waters aren’t as clear as we would like.

What do you think? Would Sony-Ericsson actually put out a Windows Phone 7 device? Which of these would you go for? Let us know in the comments. YouTube video after the break.

Source: YouTube; via: PhoneArena

Let's just get this out in the open: The Sony Ericsson Aspen left us wanting. Maybe we were blinded by our desire to see a new front-facing QWERTY Windows phone with a touchscreen, just like mama (erm, Palm and others) used to make. Instead what we got was a so-so keyboard with a touchscreen-optimized operating system on a 2.4-inch diagonal screen. Even those of you with small hands would find hitting the tiny icons on the screen a little ridiculous.

Still, the name of the game with Sony Ericsson this week has been "Think small" -- at least in the physical size of its phones. And that definitely was achieved here. See what we mean after the break.

Dieter got lucky the other day and found the Sony Xperia at a local Sony Store in San Francisco, CA while attending MacWorld.  However, not everyone has a Sony Store in their neighborhood and not every Sony Store was reporting inventory.  Fear not, the Sony Xperia X1a is now available for delivery through SonyStyle.com. For the time being, ground shipping is free with the Xperia helping ease the bite of the $799 price tag a little.

I guess Captain Ahab finally hooked his whale.

[VIA:Engadget.com]

Look like cracks are appearing on some Sony Xperia X1 phones. The cracks are appearing on the silver models near the stylus well and in the battery compartment. The cracks seem to be limited to those made in Europe and a production week. A lengthy discussion is on going over at XDA Developers on this issue. In reading the XDA discussion, there doesn't seem to be any consistency in the cracking and the problem may be limited to the production week (08W44-08W46 as indicated on the Xperia's Information Sticker). Sony's response, according to the XDA discussion, ranges from replacing the Xperia to having it inspected at a service center. The response reported seems to be dictated by the user's local laws pertaining to goods and services.

The Xperia isn't alone in having cracks mysteriously appear. The Palm Treo Pro had a similar problem a while ago. Could the cracking of the Xperia be behind the month long delay with the U.S. release of this phone? Could a quality control issue be one of the reasons why Sony and HTC has parted ways? The slider on the Xperia does shift up at a slight angle, could that shift be causing too much stress on the chasis of the phone? Regardless of the "why" these cracks have made a lot of Xperia users unhappy.

[via wmpoweruser]

Our friends over at Mobile Phillipines are reporting that Sony Ericsson has launched a