Another day, another FCC filing. This time, though, the documents
on offer aren't tipping us off to the impending arrival of some
wunderphone - it's just Sony's recently outed Xperia tipo. The
diminutive 3.2-incher - set for an official Euro bow this August -
is no screamer with its 480 x 320 TFT display and lone 800MHz Snapdragon
CPU. The ICS handset's real claim to fame is its availability in
single- and dual-SIM flavors. And based on the radios outlined in the
corresponding Commission docs - GPRS/EDGE/GSM 850 and 1900; WCDMA 850
and 1900 - this modest phone could see a low-end berth on AT&T.
It was only a couple of months ago that we first crossed paths with
Sony's Xperia Neo L, and now the Ice Cream Sandwich handset is back
with a vengeance - at least in terms of exposure. As you may know,
details were revealed in abundance (read: 1GHz Snapdragon S2 CPU, 512MB
of RAM) during our first MT25i encounter, but thanks to Taiwanese site ePrice,
we're able to gander at the device posing in an array of different
angles and leaving very little to the imagination. For now, pricing still remains a mystery, though we do know Sony's 4-inch (854 x 480) Neo L is expected to hit Chinese shelves later this month.
We've got some good news for users of the Xperia Mini Pro: Sony's
now pushing out an update which will bring Android 4.0.4 to your
handset. As always, you will probably get a notification. If not, go
into settings and force a check for the update.
We are seeing more and more Android-powered smartphones these
days that come with the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update being
released, which is a good thing – after all, who does not want to have
the latest and greatest operating system version running on their
handsets? The latest candidate in line would be the Sony Xperia Mini
Pro, where you will need to have the proprietary PC Companion software
installed beforehand prior to accessing this operating system update. I
guess there has been no negative reports about this update just yet, so
those who have applied the update, how do you find it? Did it manage to
live up to your expectations?
While we're not surprised by this story considering Sony Ericsson
confirmed all 2011 phones except the Xperia Play would be getting
Android 4.0, we're no less excited.
The little bundle of joy
named the Sony Xperia Mini will be getting an upgrade to Android 4.0.
While you'll find that the corner-endowed Timescape UI will remain
intact,Android 4.0 will bring about some minimal interface and feature
changes with certain apps.
But you'll also get to take advantage
of the many apps which use the new Android 4.0 design guidelines. The
companion app for PC is all you'll need to get started, but note that
this upgrade is for unlocked, unbranded versions of the device, and that
carrier-specific versions will be updated according to the carriers'
wishes and schedule. Get started here. [via The Verge]
The Sony LT29i “Hayabusa” features a superb 13-megapixel Sony’s
camera sensor, offering an improved low-light performance and “HDR
Video” function. Measuring at only 7mm thin, the smartphone also has a
1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, a 4.55-inch HD Reality
display, a 2200mAh battery and the Google Android Ice Cream Sandwich
operating system. Word has it that Sony will release the Sony LT29i
“Hayabusa” in July 2012. We will keep you posted. [PhoneArena]
Sony's Xperia SmartWatch has only been available for one day and it's already being offered at a pretty decent discount. Expansys USA
is offering the little device for $118 compared to the $150 MSRP Sony's
asking for. Over 60 apps can be used on the device which connects to
your Android devices via Bluetooth, including Facebook, Gmail, and more. Head to Expansys if you want to get this great discount before it evaporates.
Sony has began seeding the Android 4.0 ICS update to its 2011 lineup of Xperia smartphones - right in line with the previous report.
The first handsets to get the treatment are the Xperia arc S, Xperia
neo V and Xperia ray in the hands of users in Sweden, Denmark, Iceland,
Finland and Norway.
Sony will further update on availability of the update in more markets. The rest of the Xperia lineup from last year is scheduled to get updated in late May/early June.
Hit the two source links below for the full information on how to get the update. Also: don't forget to share your experience in the comments section.
For those of you who own an Xperia smartphone from the 2011 range upwards will be pleased to hear that Sony Mobile has officially announced a software upgrade that will include an update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The Xperia arc S, Xperia neo V and Xperia ray will be the first smartphones to receive this software upgrade, and even then, it will be made available only for consumers
living in Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Finland and Norway. As for the rest
of the world, the entire rollout will take around a month to 6 weeks.
For
those who want to make the upgrade, you will first need to hook up your
Xperia smartphone to a PC or Mac, giving some love to http://www.sonymobile.com/update and follow the subsequent instructions. As for owners of the Xperia arc, Xperia PLAY, Xperia neo, Xperia mini, Xperia mini pro, Xperia pro, Xperia active and Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman, you can look forward to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich from the end of May or early June onwards.
Several Sony Xperia smartphones are being updated to Ice Cream Sandwich, the start of a new software rollout that will continue into early summer. The Xperia arc S, Xperia neo V, and Xperia ray are the first Sony
handset's to receive Android 4.0 with the update kicking off for owners
in Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, and Norway. The rollout process
will continue for 4 to 6 weeks as it spreads to more regions.
Further updates are expected for the Xperia arc, Xperia Play, Xperia neo, Xperia mini, Xperia mini pro, Xperia pro, Xperia active, and the Android-power Walkman starting in late May/ early June and moving into the summer months. Sony has shown nothing but class in their effort to get Ice Cream Sandwich to the meat of their smartphone lineup, going so far as to offer beta builds of the new software for several handsets.
Here you are Sony's top of the line Xperias, behold the Xperia P and Xperia U.
The
First model, the Xperia P is a true wonder and comes with a gorgeous
4"WhiteMagic display powered by Mobile BRAVIA Engine, a 1Ghz Dual Core
CPU, with 16GB of storage, a really capable 8Mpix Camera with HD Video
recording and capable to capture both 2D and 3D panoramic images. Easy
HDMI, DLNA, NFC, Xperia SmartTags, Android 2.3 upgradable to Android 4.0
all in a aluminum body!
The Xperia U could be compared as a
stream down version of the Xperia P, and comes with a 3.5" screen, a
1GHz Dual Core CPU, a 5Mpix Camera capable to shoot HD Video as well as
2D and 3D panoramic photos.
Sony
Ericsson has unveiled the SmartDock docking station for the Sony
Ericsson Xperia P smartphone. The SmartDock provides a pair of USB ports
and an HDMI port, allowing you to hook up the docking station to your
HDTV. If you have an HDMI-CEC compatible HDTV, you can also control the
docked Sony Ericsson Xperia P using a TV remote. Unfortunately, there is
no info on pricing at this time. [Ubergizmo]
The newly sans Ericsson Sony Mobile Communications held a press event
yesterday on the eve of Mobile World Congress here in Barcelona, and
presented two new Xperia-branded Android smartphones, the Xperia P and
Xperia U. We've already brought you all the official details, and now
it's time for the complimentary hands-on post.
The Xperia P and
Xperia U, when looked at from over a metre or so, would be virtually
indistinguishable from each other (and from the higher-end and
previously announced Xperia S) if it wasn't for the slight difference in
screen size. Sony sure has put unifying design into all of its new
devices. Unifying, recognizable, and quite different from anything else
currently on the market. So… that's good, right?
Well… yes and
no. It's interesting that Sony brought the blocky corners to the rest of
the world (meaning outside Japan – where many smartphones have the same
corner design or similar), so I appreciate it going for
recognizability. And while that will make you instantly say “hey, that's
a Sony” the problem is that you'll never know which Sony. Not for sure, anyway.
And
the branding doesn't help either. These three smartphones, which are
very similar in appearance, are differentiated in name just by one
letter. True, Sony isn't the only company doing this (see HTC, Huawei,
and to some extent Samsung which started the whole company
brand+smartphone brand+letter madness with the Galaxy S). Yet Sony's
devices are the ones which most closely resemble each other. So that
could've been done better.
The next problem here is that
spec-wise, both the Xperia P and Xperia U are okay phones. Okay, but not
‘wow', if you know what I mean. That has to come with the price point,
yet Sony keep insisting that synergies within the group will make its
phones stand out. That, in fact, was the exact thing they said back in
2001 when Sony Ericsson was formed – that Sony will step in with its
know-how in electronics and bring integrated experiences.
Now we
hear the same tune. But this time, because the Ericsson brand is gone –
this time it will actually happen. In case you're wondering, this is the
same company that Sony Ericsson was a month ago. The same people are
working there. It just changed its name because Sony acquired Ericsson's
stake in the joint venture, that's all.
Sony has also remembered
that it has movie and music studios in the group somewhere, and thinks
that people will buy Sony smartphones because they come with Music
Unlimited and Video Unlimited services.
I don't think so. But it
is in a way refreshing to see a company focused less on raw specs and
more on user experience. That said, Sony is focused on that just
theoretically for now – we'll have to wait and see if they actually
deliver something different in this regard.
And the last issue I
have with the Xperia P and Xperia U is that they run Android 2.3
Gingerbread. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich was announced in October.
HTC is launching devices running ICS in April. So why can't Sony do that
too? The new Xperias will ship in “mid-Q2″, so presumably in May. But
they'll ship with Gingerbread.
Sure, an update to ICS is
promised, but didn't Sony learn anything from the Xperia X10 debacle of
yesteryear? Or maybe that was Sony Ericsson that learnt that, and Sony
still hasn't. We'll see.
The Sony Xperia P, with its unibody
design and 4-inch screen, is the middle-market offering among the three
new Xperias. Here are some hands-on pictures:
And here's a hands-on video showing it in action:
The
Sony Xperia U is the entry-level device in the range, and thus should
be the most affordable. It comes with some interesting gimmicks too,
such as interchangeable colored bottom tips, and the ability to set a
specific notification light color. Here's the Xperia U in all its glory:
And here it is on video:
More pictures of the Sony Xperia P and Xperia U are right below this paragraph in the dedicated gallery. Enjoy!
The
only Japanese that I can read comes courtesy of Google Translate, and
from what I can tell in this translated document, NTT DoCoMo will be
offering the Sony Experia NX in Japan from today onwards. This device
sports a 4.3″ LCD display that does High Definition video playback, and
will rely on what they call a “Floating Prism” transparent material in
order to have it stand out from the rest of the crowd in terms of
design. Just to recap, the Xperia NX is actually the Japanese version of
the Xperia S, and did folks who place their pre-orders last week start
to receive them in front of your doorsteps already? We do know that the
Sony Xperia NX is going to be quite the performer, considering how the
Xperia S fared in its benchmark tests. Expect to see this puppy arrive
on Western shores sometime from the beginning of next month onwards. No
idea on how much it will cost though, but mid-range should not be the
category this falls under. [Press Release]
Expected to be released in the UK in early March, the Sony Xperia S will be cheaper than initially reported.
Retailer
Clove is currently asking £429.60 including VAT (about $676) for the
new handset, letting you choose between the black and the white
versions. What's more, if you buy the Xperia S you get £30 worth of free
accessories: 4 Xperia NFC SmartTags (valued at £20), and a £10 voucher
for any other Xperia accessory.
Clove says the new Xperia is due to arrive in the week commencing March 5.
Initial
details had it that the Sony Xperia S could've be out in the UK in
January. That didn't happen, and now we're hearing the smartphone will
not be released in February, either.
Sony has reportedly confirmed to Cool Smartphone that the handset would be launched in March and not earlier. Play.com is now saying the same thing, hoping to have the handset
in stock starting March 6. Bear in mind that this is not a delay, since
Sony never committed to a specific launch date for the Xperia S.
The
Indonesian equivalent of the US FCC has given us the retail name of the
rumored Sony Ericsson ST25i Kumquat. It's listed under the name "Sony
Ericsson Xperia U", though by the time the phone is officially unveiled,
we're sure that will have changed to just "Sony Xperia U".
That's all the new info available on the handset, but we expect to see the Sony Xperia U at the MWC in about a month. The LT26i Xperia S is also listed among the applications for certification, but we already know this one.
Anyway, you can brush up on the specs that the Sony Xperia U is expected to have in our rumor mill.
Also, with models
named Xperia S and Xperia U, we can't help but wonder if Sony is
considering a new naming scheme. We guess we'll have to wait until we
find out how the Nypon and Pepper will be called officially.
While this is not the first time we've heard of this exotic fruit name bearing handset, we haven't had the pleasure of seeing it in a clear picture yet. Until today that is. Sony Ericsson ST25i "Kumquat" has emerged in a spy photo and it looks, well, quite familiar.
The upcoming smartphone
looks a lot like the highly anticipated Sony Xperia S flagship, which
got announced at CES this year. Its specs however, have been toned down a
bit.
The device is rumored to feature a dual-core CPU, clocked at 1GHz and a 5MP snapper. The screen is reportedly in the 3.5" range, and has FWGA resolution.
Expect
to see the Sony Ericsson ST25i "Kumquat" get unveiled at MWC in
Barcelona next month under a Sony name. As always, we will be covering
it live, so expect the full scoop on the device as soon as we get it.
Sony has announced that their newly announced Xperia smartphones, the Xperia S and Xperia Ion, will come equipped with the GLONASS satellite navigation system built-in.
What's more, they have also revealed that some of their previous smartphones
on sale right now have had GLONASS support built-in since launch. These
other handsets include the Xperia arc, Xperia arc S, Xperia ray, Xperia
neo, Xperia pro, Xperia PLAY, Xperia active and Live with Walkman.
In
case you weren't aware of it, GLONASS is to Russia what GPS is to
America. Most of the phones have just GPS on-board, which restricts them
to 31 satellites but having both, GPS as well as GLONASS on-board, you
have access to 24 additional satellites, which not only speeds up
lock-on time but also ensures you get a lock-on in trickier places, such
as when you're surrounded by tall buildings.
Sony is not the
only company to have GLONASS along with GPS built-into their phones.
Apple, Nokia, Samsung and Motorola too have a few models that include
this functionality. Hopefully, more phones will include this feature in future.
It
has been a long time in the making, but Nokia has finally confirmed the
arrival of their latest and greatest OS in regards to Symbian. Nokia
took to their twitter page and said "Nokia Belle will be on the way next
week".
Another Nokia Lumia 800 Battery Update Coming in Two Weeks
Nokia
said on Twitter Wednesday that a second software update will roll out
to Lumia 800 devices over the next two weeks. It is largely expected
that the update will help fix the poor battery life that has plagued
some, but not all, Lumia 800 users.
Sony Ericsson Swallows $317 Million Pre-tax Loss as End Draws Near
Sony
Ericsson's tearful breakup continues with more woe as as the venture
had to eat a pre-tax loss of €247 million (roughly $317 million). Bosses
cited “unfavorable macro-economic conditions” and the Thai flooding as
the reasons for the loss.
In
addition to being able to view every article in mobile-friendly format,
you can save them for offline use later. You can also use your GPS to
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![Sony Xperia SmartWatch Already on Sale for $118 in the US [Deals]](http://www.wareground.com/images/400/sony_xperia_smartwatch_already_on_sale_for_118_in_the_us_deals.jpg "Sony Xperia SmartWatch Already on Sale for $118 in the US [Deals]")
![[Hands-On] Sony Xperia P and Xperia U](http://www.wareground.com/images/400/hands_on_sony_xperia_p_and_xperia_u_1.jpg "[Hands-On] Sony Xperia P and Xperia U")
