Sony has made a filing with the US Patent and Trademark office for Xperia Sola. ‘Sola,’ which can mean ‘alone’ or ‘only,’ could be be a new device, or it could be a revelation as to what the ‘S’ stands for in its recently unveiled Xperia S , Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) smartphone. The filing, which was made on January 30, covers mobile phones as well as accessories.
Sony has quietly released Bridge for Mac, a software utility that makes it easier for Mac users to to sync its Xperia line of smartphones. Mac users have long been overlooked by Sony, with its syncing software for smartphones and other devices previously limited to Windows machines only. The software will allow users to sync music, movies, podcasts and playlists across from iTunes, much like DoubleTwist for Android, as well as photos from iPhoto.
More details from AT&T's escaped roadmap have shown in two leaks Wednesday afternoon. The new BGR tips point to a new, $410 Sony tablet known as the Crystal. While it could be something new, it's most likely to be the long-delayed Tablet P (S2), a dual-screened Android tablet with HSPA+ 3G.
Sony's promised Android 4.0 update for tablets could be more comprehensive if a news tip reflects reality. Both the Tablet S and Tablet P were expected by The Verge to get the OS update in the spring. The two would get some "really cool unique bits" along with the underlying speed and interface changes, a source said, although what those were hadn't been mentioned.
The PlayStation Certified program will soon get a number of new titles, according to a number of new ESRB ratings. Thus far, the program, which was designed to bring legacy PlayStation games to PlayStation Certified devices such as tablets and smartphones, only offered a few PS1 titles. The Entertainment Software Rating Board names a number of other PSP titles that will be made available on Certified Devices.
Sony started off the week by unveiling a new camera sensor that may be a clue as to both Sony and Apple plans. The backside-illuminated CMOS sensor stacks the pixel layer over the signal chip, shrinking the overall size. Image quality also benefits: with the two layers formed independently, and the pixel layer not having to compete for space with an analog logic chip, both the pixels and the signal chip layer can each be focused more on their respective tasks.
One of the phones spotted in a Sony 2012 roadmap may have been caught live. The ST25i seen by Xperia Blog, better known by its Kumquat nickname, has the same squared-off Iconic Identity of the Xperia ion, Xperia S, and LT22i Nypon but has a smaller display. Based on icon sizes and earlier rumors, the phone would have a roughly 3.5-inch, 480x854 display.
Sony’s forthcoming Xperia S and Xperia Ion phones will support both GLONASS and GPS, the result of using the latest generation Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets. According to Sony’s Magnus Persson, existing Xperia phones that use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S2 or S3 chipsets also offer support for the Russian equivalent to GPS. By using both systems in tandem, Sony’s Xperia smartphones can get a position lock in half the time it would normally take using GPS only.
The lid has been lifted on what looks like most of Sony’s smartphone roadmap for 2012. A list of model codenames has leaked out of a Sony sales report for the Indian market. However, of the three codenames that have previously been spotted (Kumquat, Nypon, Pepper), and which appear set for an April release, another eight have not yet been sighted until now.
Sony Japan has just released a teaser video touting a new Dot Switch feature or technology. It may be related to smartphones interacting with home entertainment gear such as TVs and receivers. Dot Switch is being dubbed as "new entertainment from Sony" in the clip.
At a special event ahead of CES, AT&T has announced that it is set to launch six new LTE devices early this year. The offerings include Samsung's Galaxy Note, Galaxy S II Skyrocket HD and Exhilarate; Pantech's Element and Burst; and Sony's Xperia ion. The Note, a 5.3-inch device that fits somewhere between smartphones and tablets, was the subject of several recent leaks.
One of Sony Ericsson's rarely mentioned other 2012 smartphones was leaked in earnest on Saturday with photos and detailse. The MT27i, or Pepper, is expected by XperiaBlog to be a direct sequel to the Xperia neo V with a much more squared-off look that's consistent with the Nozomi and likely other models. Performance may be the biggest leap, as it should jump from its single-core chip to a dual-core 1GHz chip, most likely the ST-Ericsson NovaThor U8500.
Sony Ericsson Germany is teasing an upcoming Xperia smartphone it will bring to CES through its Facebook page in Germany. Unlike the already expected Nozomi, this phone has an off-center rear camera, so there could be two new Xperias getting official reveals in Las Vegas next week. The new handset could be the LT28at leaked earlier through a Bluetooth SIG listing.
The Sony Ericsson Nozomi smartphone that's expected to be made official at CES has been benchmarked and the results shared by ITProPortal. The test confirmed some specs of the device, including its 720x1280 touchscreen and dual-core, 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset. A 12-megapixel camera is also confirmed, as is 1GB of RAM and 8GB of integrated storage space.
Sony Ericsson posted a clearer teaser of its smartphone plans for CES. Posting what could be small photos of the device itself, it suggested a very strong camera photos with a dedicated button and HD video recording. A look at the camera app shows a familiar interface relative to earlier Sony Ericsson Android phones like the Xperia arc.
Sony Ericsson has filed to establish trademark protection for the term "Xperia ION", hinting at the company's upcoming branding. Although the US Patent and Trademark Office documents do not shed light on a specific product, the filing was tied to the cellphone market and is expected to be used for one of the company's flagship devices.
OnLive on Thursday night brought its live play Android app (free, Android Market) to Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play. The already gaming-oriented phone can stream games and get full access to the physical gamepad, making it a much better fit for console and general action games. Gamers can now skip playing the touch-optimized adaptations if they prefer the hardware feel.
Sony Ericsson's codenamed LT28at phone, possibly a cousin of the Nozomi, has had some of its details escape through a Bluetooth SIG listing and photos. The phone will center on a 4.55-inch, 720p screen but also carry one of the first 13-megapixel cameras on a phone in the US. It should run on both HSPA and LTE, a strong sign that it's likely destined for AT&T or at the least a carrier like Rogers in Canada.
Sony Ericsson has, for the first time in its history, publicly released an alpha ROM of firmware for its phones. Android 4.0.1 for the Xperia arc, Xperia neo V, and Xperia ray is meant for experienced developers who know it might not work as an everyday OS. Some major features, such as phone calls and data, don't work at all.
Sony Ericsson is reportedly reworking its Xperia Play gaming handset, after the original version is believed to have achieved lackluster sales numbers earlier in the year. The second-generation model is said to be named "Xperia Play 4G," suggesting a 4G radio will be one of the primary upgrades, however further details remain unclear.
Sony Ericsson's upcoming flagship phone, the Nozomi, has now been spotted once more in photos shared by GSM Arena. It is expected to be officially launched at CES, where it will likely carry a different name, likely to be Xperia Arc HD. The photos reveal that the battery probably isn't user-removable and that it uses a micro SIM card slot like the iPhone 4S or the Motorola Droid RAZR.
Regional carrier C Spire is now offering the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play smartphone. Its version is similar to that on Verizon and centers on a slide-out gamepad to let it play ports of older PlayStation games and newer titles. It continues to center on a four-inch, 480x854 display and a 1GHz single-core Snapdragon.
Sony Ericsson's North America President Paul Hamnett in an interview Monday (video below) teased plans for smartphones at CES. Although the full integration with Sony wouldn't show for some time, he hinted that there would be "signs by CES" in January of what Sony's complete control would mean. Among those would include PlayStation certification on "most" of Sony's phones in the future.
Sony Ericsson has announced that its recent software updates for 2011 Xperia handsets bring support for WebGL. The company claims to be the first to support the WebGL standard in the stock Android browser, enabling users to take advantage of interactive 3D graphics without switching to third-party apps.
LG on its Facebook page revealed which of its smartphones will be the first to get an official update to Android 4.0. They include the Optimus 2X and Optimus Black, the Optimus 3D, and the Optimus LTE. More details on the upgrade, including a schedule, will be announced in December. LG will also evaluate other smartphones in time.
Verizon Wireless has just brought out holiday pricing and a number of new devices in time for Thanksgiving and the Black Friday holiday rish. It will get a new, red HTC Droid Incredible 2 and offer Motorola's 4G LTE-equipped Motorola Xoom tablet for $200 on contract. Both will be available online on November 24, 25, and 28, and in-store on November 25 only. The phone will be free with a new two-year contract, but only after a $50 mail-in rebate. The Xoom LTE will require a two-year contract with at least a $30 monthly plan for 2GB of data.
The leaked Sony Ericsson Xperia HD, sometimes known as the Nozomi, may be officially unveiled at the CES expo on January 10, a source told PhoneArena. The unnamed informant also said the purportedly leaked image of the handset was actually that of a different, lower-spec model, though didn't provide any more details. Nozomi is known to be just a codename.
Sony Ericsson on Tuesday began offering its Xperia arc S and Xperia neo V smartphones in the US as unlocked devices. The former costs $450 while the latter is priced at $350. The arc S gets a 1.4GHz Snapdragon processor and runs on Android 2.3.
Sony Ericsson made a pledge Tuesday that all of its 2011 Xperia phones, and the Live with Walkman, would be getting Android 4.0. The company planned to adapt its custom interface to the new OS regardless of size, ranging from the Xperia minis through to the Xperia arc S. It didn't yet have timing.
Sony is now offering developers a chance to sign up for consideration on joining its closed beta PlayStation Suite SDK. With it, they will have the ability to develop games for the upcoming PS Vita and Android devices that aren't Sony-branded. The SDK uses the C# programming language and will run on a C# virtual machine.
Sony Ericsson's Nozomi has been given its first live outing in an iAndroid sighting that has since gone down. The phone, now thought to be called the Xperia Arc HD, earns its name from the very sharp 4.3-inch, 720p screen that will put it on par with the HTC Rezound and other rivals. Also seen were a dual-core 1.5GHz processor, likely a Snapdragon, that was enough to get a moderately fast 1,800-point Quadrant benchmark score.
Sony Ericsson recently unveiled a slew of updates for its Xperia line of smartphones. All eligible Xperia hardware worldwide, as well as the Live with Walkman, will now get a software update to Android 2.3.4, which will bring with it a Swype-like gesture input for text. It will make texting faster, though takes some practice, as users don't have to lift a finger to enter words.
Sony Ericsson has announced that it will introduce software upgrades for its current range of Xperia handsets. The company has said that Android 4.0 will be developed for its 2011 smartphone line, although was not prepared to enter into official timeframes. The information first came to light in a post on the company’s official Holland blog.
Sony Ericsson signalled Monday it was at last getting close to a launch for the Xperia pro. The work-grade Android phone is now due to ship this month, about eight months after we tried it in Barcelona. Exact carriers and prices haven't been identified.
A deeper investigation into the iPhone 4S' camera has confirmed Sir Howard Stringer's claim that Sony was supplying next-generation iPhone cameras. Chipworks used an infrared microscope to check the normally hidden chip markings and found a conspicuous "Sony" on the image sensor. X-rays also show that the sensor layout itself is different and that it's not just a direct upgrade to the earlier OmniVision sensor.
Sony Ericsson on Friday bounced back from its spring loss with much better results and a new strategy. The company returned from its earlier loss to a rare break-even performance and also saw the average price of a phone surge $10 to $166. Over 80 percent of its sales were now smartphones, and it now planned for its entire line to be smartphones sometime during 2012.
Sony Ericsson is on the verge of splitting up as Sony hopes to get a more Apple-like control of its phones, insiders disclosed Thursday. Under the terms slipped to the WSJ, Sony would buy Ericsson's 50 percent stake. Little is known other than that the Ericsson share could be worth as much as $1.7 billion and that Ericsson's mobile-focused patents might be involved.
Sony late Friday brought the Xperia ray to the US without waiting. The Android 2.3 smartphone is officially available in the country for $425 through stores like Newegg, but without being locked into a any carrier. It carries AT&T-native 3G and should work in Canada as well; T-Mobile owners can use it if they don't mind losing 3G.
Skype has released a new version of its VoIP chat client for Android phones. Skype 2.5 (free, Market) adds video chat support for 14 Android devices, including the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (T-Mobile version), Acer Iconia Tablet (A500), Motorola Photon and Motorola Xoom. As with the latest client for Mac and iOS, Skype 2.5 for Android brings ads to the free version. Ads are not shown to users with Skype Credit or a subscription.
AT&T on Thursday set out launch details for its promised version of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play. Now called the Xperia Play 4G, it expands on the original both with 14.4Mbps HSPA (technically 3G) and the inclusion of Sony Ericsson's own DK300 media dock and a music cable for RCA-equipped speakers. Gamers also get a better game loadout on the PlayStation phone, which brings in Dungeon Defenders, The Sims 3 and Tower Bloxx to existing titles like Crash Bandicoot, Madden NFL 11 and Gameloft titles.
Sony Ericsson's flagship smartphone for 2012, the Nozomi, may have been detailed through a rumor with unusually detailed specifications. It may have one of the highest-resolution screens to date with a 720p (1280x720) resolution fitting into a 4.3-inch screen not much bigger than that on the Xperia arc S. Accordingly, it would run the Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android and could achieve Retina Display-level graphics while scrapping hardware navigation buttons.
Sony Ericsson used the start of IFA to bring out a rare mid-cycle revamp of a key smartphone. The Xperia arc S upgrades to a faster 1.4GHz Snapdragon processor. Although still single-core, the chip is estimated to give the slim Android 2.3 phone a 25 percent overall speed boost, including the camera start up and web rendering.
Sony on Wednesday confirmed a long-expected update to its Reader e-book hardware. The Reader Wi-Fi, or PRS-T1, borrows much of its influence from the Xperia smartphone line, down to an 0.35-inch thickness and a lighter six-ounce weight dictated by a switch from aluminum to plastic. The design runs on a much newer, E Ink-made six-inch Pearl screen and now supports multi-touch for zoom as well as page turns through swipes.
Sony Ericsson on Thursday announced details on a new upcoming smartphone, the Xperia neo V. At the same time, it will release the Android 2.3.4 operating system update for all 2011 Xperia smartphones in October. The update will also bring with it Facebook improvements, with a faster, easier and more intuitive interface.
Sony on Monday, August 1 will begin the phased roll-out of its Qriocity service for Xperia smartphones. At first, the Xperia mini and Xperia mini pro will get access. Available content to rent or buy will include movies and TV shows from NBC and its partner Universal, Paramount, Sony, Fox, and Warner Bros., in addition to local and more independent studios.
After some delays, Sony Ericsson on Tuesday posted an Android 2.3 update for the Xperia X10. The upgrade so far has to go over a wired link using Sony Ericsson's own desktop software. It's not clear that every carrier's variant will work, and it may rely on having an X10 with Sony Ericsson's stock OS.
Sony Ericsson has shipped its mid-tier Xperia Mini Pro to the FCC for approval. Its version looks to be the international model and doesn't have North American 3G but could now be used in the US. The second generation Android 2.3 slider was officially launched in May to launch this summer.
Sony Ericsson on Friday at least temporarily returned to a decline after it posted a loss of 50 million euros ($70.7 million) for the spring. It blamed the Tohoku-area Japanese earthquake for disrupting supply and preventing it from shipping almost 1.5 million phones. Most of the impact was early on in the spring, but the company has had to recover and ended up dropping its shipments from 8.1 million phones to 7.6 million where it would have climbed back up.
A clearer press shot and more details have leaked about the forthcoming Sony Ericsson Xperia duo, dual-core superphone. The phone is expected to be Sony Ericsson’s first dual-core smartphone, which is said to be clocked at 1.4GHz. The processor is also expected to be paired with 1.5GB of RAM, making it one of the most powerful smartphones yet.
AT&T at a media event Tuesday confirmed that it would carry Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play. Its version will support 21Mbps HSPA+ 3G and will come in an optional dark, AT&T-hued blue along with the regular black. The carrier hasn't said if it will customize the game loadout.
