For fans of the Sony Ericsson Greenheart phones, a new device has been added to the lineup and it is certain to fill that missing gap in the series: a business model eco-phone.
The Greenheart series from Sony Ericsson is more than just a mobile phone series; it is a standard of production quality. The mobile phone manufacturer has a strong internal policy regarding the reduction of carbon emissions and they have been consistent in the improvement of their products and production methods. Early this year, Greenpeace has named Sony Ericsson as the second greenest electronics company in the world (next to Finnish company Nokia).
Devices that carry the Greenheart logo are made from over 50% recycled plastic and use no toxic chemicals. Even the paint used in the device is water borne making it very safe for the environment. Even the packaging for the products is eco friendly; no paper and ink is used for printed manuals. Instead, manuals are digital, installed within the mobile phone. The actual packaging itself is very minimal allowing for less material to be used and better transportation options (which saves fuel).
The new device is called the Sony Ericsson Aspen and it uses the new Windows Mobile 6.5.3 operating system. The phone uses both a 2.4 inch touch screen and a portrait QWERTY keyboard. It also has a 3.2 mega pixel camera and it is expected to appear sometime around the Q2 this year. While the arrival of this device is the final lid on the XPERIA X2’s coffin (which due to delays, the device got pushed to a January release), it certainly makes for a better substitute. Speaking of which, the XPERIA panels UI will also be used in the Aspen.
For more details on the specs and features of the Sony Ericsson Aspen smart phone, go to GSM Arena.
Archive for the ‘Sony Ericsson Phones’ Category
Sony Ericsson Unveils Eco Friendly WinMo Phone
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010X10 Coming to Orange and O2?
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
Sony Ericsson has yet to formally announce when the XPERIA X10 will actually be released but two major mobile phone operators are already announcing that they will have this much delayed Snapdragon Android smart phone by March or April of this year.
Laying claim to the stake are O2 and Orange Mobile, as the two are reportedly been planning to release the X10 under their network. For O2, a place holder on their official website has been tagged as the spot for the X10 in their lineup. While exact plan details and offerings for the device are not yet released, many people are already looking forward to O2’s launch of the Android phone.
Over at the Orange Mobile UK camp, things are a little difference. The company has expressed interest in releasing many of the new high end devices coming but have not confirmed on the SE Vivaz (which is supposed to launch alongside the X10).
Originally announced as the Sony Ericsson Rachel, this Android phone was later called the XPERIA X3 before it was formally announced by Sony as the X10. The phone comes with a 4 inch TFT touch screen display with a resolution of 480 x 854 pixels. The 8 mega pixel camera comes complete with auto focus, LED flash, support for geo-tagging and even the proprietary face and smile detection software. As said, at the heart of the phone is a Qualcomm QSD8250 Snapdragon processor running at a speed of 1GHz.
Either way, Sony Ericsson is counting on the X10 to perform well. With the Swedish-Japanese joint venture taking a loss of over 800 million Euros last year, this year’s sales will certainly be a major factor in the future of the company.
For more details on the news regarding the XPERIA X10, jump to the link.
Hungry for More Android? XPERIA X10 is Coming
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
Sony Ericsson’s big hitters for 2010 are about to arrive, and it looks like the XPERIA X10 will be carrying the company flag as the device’s launch on march draws ever nearer. Good news for UK fans of the Japanese-Swedish joint venture, as Orange has dropped hints that they will be getting a special exclusive deal for the X10. As to what exactly this means still remains to be explained.
Anyway, we all know that this year will be full of high end Android devices, while early January has only seen the launch of the Nexus One (and it has been a sad launch with only 20,000 units sold in the first week), the rest of the year will see us looking forward to more Snapdragon powered handsets and then some. The XPERIA X10 will be arriving around to March along with the Sony Ericsson Vivaz (formerly the Kurara).
The launch not only signals the start of a new era for Android smart phones, but also Sony Ericsson’s new hope. The company has had a rough year with 2009 bringing about a total of 800 million Euros in losses for the company. President of SE, Bert Nordberg is confident that with their new line up for this year, the company is on the right track.
Certainly, many of us sure hope so. Sony Ericsson’s sales may have been bad and some of their devices really had problems (such as the XPERIA X2); but the company has always been on the forefront of delivering cutting edge innovation and green engineering. Greenpeace has ranked SE as the second greenest electronics manufacturer in the world.
Anyway, XPERIA X10 is certain to do well in the high-end market with its amazing specs. The device comes with a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and a 4 inch capacitive TFT touch screen. The screen resolution is 480 x 854 pixels and can display up to 65 thousand colors.
Get more details on Orange and the X10 deal from Techradar.
Sony Ericsson Vizaz Coming to T-Mobile
Monday, January 25th, 2010
Images of the Sony Ericsson Vizaz have appeared in the past few days revealing the device formerly known as the SE Kurara in its full glory. The Symbian smart phone will come packed with 720p video recording capability and all the specs listed for the Kurara.
The Vizaz will come with plenty of features in the form of applications. Web based apps such as Google Maps will make full usage of the device’s AGPS support. Thanks to the Google Map’s free navigation services, you can use this phone as your walking and driving guide. Social networking and media sharing applications are also present in the phone. There are applications for both Facebook and Twitter which would be very useful for anyone who loves to stay connected with friends. Applications for YouTube and Picasa will let you upload and share video and image files with your contacts. You can also geo-tag images before uploading.
As an HD capable phone, the Vizaz will play back a wide variety of video file formats such as WMV, Real Media, MP4 and 3GP. Naturally, the camera can take videos at 720p (1280 x 720). The 8 mega pixel snapper comes with both LED flash and auto focus as well as SE’s face and smile detection features. If the 3.2 inch TFT touch screen is a little too small of a viewing display, you can take advantage of the device’s TV-output port.
The internal memory of the phone is only 75 MB, making use of a microSD card will be crucial if you want to record HD videos –the phone can support up to 16GB microSD cards and an 8 GB card comes included with the device.
The phone will be available in four different colors, silver, red, blue and black. You can get this device this March when it gets released alongside the XPERIA X10 through T-Mobile.
Kurara Renamed as Vivaz, to Launch on Q1 of 2010
Friday, January 22nd, 2010
There has been little news of the Sony Ericsson Kurara as of late. The Symbian HD-video recording phone has been staying out of the spotlight and the last we all heard of this device is that it was going to get a second version called the Sony Ericsson Kanna. The Kanna is expected to have all the specs of the Kurara with one major addition: a QWERTY keyboard. The new slider phone is set to be launched later this year.
As for the Kurara, it seems like the only reason we have not heard of its further development was because it was already ready for launch. Sony Ericsson just recently unveiled images of the device and have also released its’ new name, the SE Vivaz.
The renamed media phone will come with all the features that were originally announced such as a 3.2 inch WVGA TFT touch screen that has a resolution of 360 x 640 pixels and can display up to 16 million colors. The phone will also have the 8 mega pixel camera with auto focus, LED flash and HD video recording at 720p.
The news that this device will be launching on time this first quarter of 2010 is very promising for Sony Ericsson. Recently, the company has been delaying one major phone release after another that it is hard to expect them to deliver the devices on time. This brave announcement that the Vivaz will arrive early may just be the sign that SE has reached that turning point.
The early release of this Symbian HD phone can also be a sign that SE is regarding its other HD competitors seriously. The recently confirmed line up of high end smart phones for 2010 include lots of devices that have 720p to 1080p video recording such as the HTC Bravo and the LG Apollo.
Sony Ericsson Vivaz
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
Sony Ericsson has just officially announced its follow up phone to the Satio. Now known as the Vivaz, some information regarding the phone had been leaked onto the internet under the name Kurara over the last few months. Like the Satio the Vivaz will be running on Symbian S60 5th Edition, although it features an 8.1 megapixel which is a step down from the Satio’s 12 megapixel camera.
While the camera’s megapixel count may not be as high as the one found on the earlier Satio it is still clear from the press release that the Vivaz is going to be an excellent camera phone. As well as features such as autofocus, image stabilisation and face detection, the camera will be capable of recording 720p HD video.
It is unclear just yet as to the nature of the screen as the press report that was inadvertently published (and then quickly unpublished) mentioned two differing specs. The 3.2″ TFT screen comes with a resolution of 640 x 360 and a colour depth of 16 million colours. Either way this should provide the Vivaz with widescreen proportions making it an ideal device for videos and fit nicely with its HD video recording capabilities.
The Vivaz will be running on an ARM Cortex A8 720MHz processor with PowerVR SGX graphics acceleration. The Vivaz is quad band GSM with GPRS, EDGE, Bluetooth, USB and 3G connectivity. Other features reportedly on board include Wi-Fi, A-GPS and a TV-Out port at VGA resolution. Internal memory is rumoured to be a mere 75MB which is nowhere near enough to store even a single HD video, but with a microSD slot and 8GB microSD card included this should be of little concern.
Rumours have circulated that Sony Ericsson had not intended to officially announce the Vivaz just yet, as they seemingly removed the press release detailing the phone’s specifications shortly after publishing it. The press release is now back online suggesting this was little more than a technical glitch. The Vivaz should hit European markets some time towards the end of the first quarter. There is no new just yet on what Sony Ericsson Vivaz deals will be available but it has been speculated to go on sale for around £400 – £500.
Sony Ericsson’s Greenheart WinMo is Coming
Friday, January 15th, 2010
It is always a great day when you can confirm another eco-friendly device is going to be launched.
When Sony Ericsson first announced that the Greenheart phones Elm and Hazel were due for this year, there were also reports that the Sony Ericsson Faith would be following. So when more details about the Elm and Hazel came up, and info on the Faith was not included, many assumed that the phone would no longer push through. Thankfully, it seems that the phone never got scrapped. SE just kept quiet about its development.
Recent leaks of the SE Faith have been circulating and quite frankly, this mobile phone is a significant improvement over the XPERIA X2 (another WinMo phone from Sony Ericsson).
The Faith will come with a 2.4 inch QVGA touch screen, a 3 mega pixel snapper and a full, portrait QWERTY keyboard. It’s a neat package and we are hoping that the phone will be compatible with later updates for the WinMo Os such as the recently released 6.5.3.
Anyway, the Faith is a part of the Greenheart series from Sony Ericsson making this a truly worthwhile investment. As you might have expected, this business model green phone comes with all the basic necessities that you would expect from a smart phone. In addition, the device is made of over 50% recycled plastic, no toxic chemicals and very minimal packaging. The Greenheart charger that comes with the device is made to ensure minimal energy loss and comes complete with a system that will remind users to unplug the device upon full charge –to ensure energy conservation.
You will not find manuals in the box either. All the instructions are located inside the mobile phone itself in digital format. By doing without having to print and ship manuals, Sony has managed to cut down on use of fuel, wood and water resources.
XPERIA X10 to Arrive by the 19th of February?
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
Could this be the big turnaround that people have been hoping to see from Sony Ericsson?
The Swedish-Japanese joint venture has had a rough since their first year together. Despite having various successes with their mobile devices, the company is going through a lot more downs than ups. Last 2009 was a perfect example too. With various SE offices closed down and one of their major devices getting pulled out of shelves it was not a far off idea that people thought that the company was heavily mismanaged.
Still, despite the setbacks, SE has continuously delivered high end devices. Now, after a long time, the company will apparently be releasing a device, days ahead of schedule.
The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 is the world’s second 1GHz Snapdragon Android phone (with the Nexus One stealing the position of first) –provided it pushes thought with the Feb 19 release date. Anyone willing to pre order the device will be able to get it at a much cheaper price of 554 Euro; the phone is expected to have a retail price tag of 610 Euro.
Oddly enough the XPERIA X2 costs at a price of 500 Euro, making the X10 a much better alternative to the much delayed WinMo device. The X10 will come with 4 inch capacitive touch screen, an 8 mega pixel snapper with auto focus capabilities as well as support for microSD cards (up to 16 GB).
Compared to the Nexus One the two devices are a good match in terms of hardware, though the X10 has a slightly larger screen and a better built in camera. No word has been given on which version of the OS X10 will have, but the Nexus One will definitely come with the Android 2.1 Flan.
New XPERIA X10 Mini Images
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
GSM Arena just uploaded a new series of images for the XPERIA Robyn and the device is looking pretty good. Size is the big factor in the images as the phone is placed right beside, and on top of the Apple iPhone. Size-wise, the Robyn is smaller than the iPhone and almost as slim. It is a big difference considering the fact that the X10 is shaping up to be a pretty huge phone –with a 4 inch capacitive touch screen, the XPERIA X10 is significantly wider than the iPhone.
This places the Robyn at a size that is possibly almost half of the X10; and in this case, the moniker X10 Mini is not too far off. While Sony Ericsson has not exactly labeled this phone as a lite version of the X10, the public perception is pretty close. The X10 will be SE’s very first Android mobile phone and the Robyn is a quick follow up, we will still have to see how much of the X10’s architecture will appear on the Robyn.
The device itself is a sleek looking mini-phone, and at some angles, you might even think that it’s a slider considering the form factor of the device. There are three buttons on the bottom of the screen, leaving an extra button whose function has yet to be seen (the other two would be the usual home and back buttons for the Android OS).
The Robyn is not the only new phone that is coming to the SE lineup this 2010. Following the SE Kurara is the new U8i Kanna. The device will have the same exact specs as its predecessor including the HD camera with 720p recording. The Kanna will also have a slide out physical keyboard. Both the Robyn and the Kanna are expected to arrive sometime later this year.
Sony and LG bring Out Lite Phones
Friday, January 8th, 2010
With the mobile community being bombarded by news updates and announcements on plenty of high end mobile devices, it’s a wonder that we still see budget-friendly devices coming our way.
Or at least we hope that these are budget friendly. The Sony Ericsson XPERIA Robyn and the LG GD880 Mini mobile phone has been confirmed (through leaks) and is expected to arrive sometime around the first half of 2010.
The Robyn is actually a smaller version of the XPERIA X10, literally. The phone will have a 2.6 inch touch screen display, a 5 mega pixel camera and of course, the Google Android operating system. Physically, it’s significantly smaller that the X10 (almost half the size). It is interesting to see a slightly mid-range device in the XPERIA line, but with the Pureness also being part of the series, perhaps Sony has decided that it will no longer be strictly composed of high-end phones.
On a side note, Sony has also managed to sneak in another new device –the SE Kanna which is a new version of the Sony Ericsson Kurara with all the same specs and with the added bonus of having its own physical keyboard.
As for LG, there is now info regarding the rumored GD880 Mini that was announced about a month ago. The details are still a little scarce, but it has been confirmed that the phone will have a 3.2 inch touch screen with a resolution of 480 x 854 pixels and a color display capability of 256 thousand colors.
It is still anyone’s guess as to why LG calls this device a Mini in the first place. The phone will also come with a 5 mega pixel camera, WiFi, Bluetooth and all the other 3G basics. No word yet on what OS the phone will be using.