Sony Ericsson boosts communication, entertainment focus

MANILA, Philippines - Sony Ericsson will continue to conduct its business with a very strong focus on communications and entertainment that has been evident in the products that it already rolled out and will still announce this year.

Speaking during the opening of the recent Sony Ericsson Expo 2010 tradeshow, Dennis Manzano, country general manager of Sony Ericsson, said a combined communications and entertainment experience is something that more and more people expect to have in their mobile phones.

“Our concept drills down to communications and entertainment that amuse us in our daily lives. Communication has evolved... and with entertainment they are now both embedded and ready to be used in our mobile phones,” said Manzano.

Sony Ericsson’s communications and entertainment focus is well-anchored, so to speak, to its mother company Sony Corp.’s music and video strengths that helped Sony Ericsson launch its Cybershot line of handsets since 2001 as well as the popular Walkman phones.

Now, Sony Ericsson’s communication- and entertainment-rich handsets include the flagship Xperia X10 smartphone and its small but just as mean versions, the X10 Mini and the X10 Mini Pro.

The general availability of these devices, particularly the X10 Mini Pro, were one of the highlights of the recent first Sony Ericsson Expo 2010 tradeshow where the company also showcased its HD videophones called Vivaz and Vivaz Pro, and the all-new Sony Ericsson Spiro and Zylo Walkman phones.

“During the first half of the year we introduced the Vivaz range and the new Xperia additions, complemented by Sony Ericsson’s own applications, the Timescape and Mediascape, that help organize related content in one place for easy access. Still to be announced are the entry-level Xperia X8 and the first full touch-screen Walkman phone called Yendo,” said Manzano.

Experience Xperia

Sony Ericsson’s flagship Xperia X10 has an 8.1-megapixel camera and four-inch screen for multimedia creation and viewing. The X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro, currently the world’s smallest Android smartphones, have a 2.55-inch scratch-resistant TFT touch screen supporting over 16 million colors. 

Their five-megapixel camera for stills and video comes with auto focus, geo tagging, photo and video light and the Sony Ericsson album application, a feature that organizes image files.

Their user experience platform was specifically designed for a smaller form factor with a one-hand touch experience. Users can quickly access their most used and favorite applications through a unique and customizable four-corner user interface.

The petite Xperia models are admittedly going to appeal more to the female set, although Manzano said there are also male consumers who prefer small phones like the X10 Mini or the X10 Mini Pro.

Of course, there are other models available such as the new Sony Ericsson Vivaz and Vivaz pro. These sister products share HD video capabilities, with the Vivaz pro having an additional QWERTY keyboard and a 5.1-megapixel camera, while the Vivaz has an 8.1-megapixel camera.

Both phones feature the new design philosophy “human curvature,” which was first introduced with the Xperia X10. This design, which Manzano said will become a consistent feature of Sony Ericsson’s portfolio, is inspired by the shape of the human body for easier handling and better aesthetic.

During the expo, Sony Ericsson also unveiled its new Spiro and Zylo Walkman phones that both offer quality music experience. Spiro bears the iconic Sony Ericsson Walkman music player, Bluetooth stereo, FM radio and 3.5-mm jack. 

Zylo offers high-quality sound with clear audio experience and plays in high definition FLAC format, the best sound quality ever on a mobile phone. Both phones also have TrackID, which can identify a music track’s artist, song title and album title by accessing an online music database.

Coming up...

Want a smartphone like the Xperia X10 but can’t afford it just quite yet? Take heart, Sony Ericsson will soon announce this quarter an affordable model, the Xperia X8.

To be priced probably at less than P15,000, the Xperia X8 is the company’s way to reach a broader audience that are becoming more enthusiastic to own their first smartphone.

“Phone buyers are driven by what they need in a phone and their knowledge of technology, so when they buy a new unit, they tend to upgrade to models with more features. There are now features such as e-mail and social networking apps that used to be present only in smartphones but are now offered in regular handsets. What a lot of consumers do is they start by upgrading to a touch-screen handset then they move up to a full smartphone,” explained Manzano.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 promises to be a multimedia device with games, music and online applications. It will have a three-inch screen, a 3.2-megapixel camera and video recording functionality. It will come in different colors: white, dark blue/white, aqua blue/white, pink/white, and silver/white.

Yendo, the first full-touch Walkman phone, will also debut this quarter to round up Sony Ericsson’s communication and entertainment offering this year. 

Yendo will allow quick access to the Touch Walkman player and Touch TrackID and will have MediaGo application for transferring music from a PC to a mobile phone. Yendo will also have support for Facebook and Twitter access.