Sony Ericsson
Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini Awarded European Mobile Phone 2010-2011
Aug 16th
Today, Sony Ericsson announced that the Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X10 mini has been awarded “European Mobile Phone 2010-2011” by the European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA). The accolade highlights Sony Ericsson’s commitment to deliver smartphones optimised for communication and entertainment through its Sony Ericsson Xperia™ smartphones.
Editors from 50 special interest magazines across Europe singled out the popular device as their number one mobile phone, highlighting the mobile phone’s style and design features.
The official award citation from the EISA jury reads: “Xperia X10 mini from Sony Ericsson is a very small and stylish mobile phone. Nonetheless, it delivers excellent performance with a comprehensive range of features such as GPS, Wi-Fi, 3G and a 5 megapixel camera with flash. The phone runs on the Android platform and offers users the full benefits of a much larger device although its touch screen size is just 2.55-inch (6.48 cm).”
“We’re delighted Sony Ericsson has been recognised for refining the smartphone user experience,” said Timo Maassmann, Global Product Marketing Manager Sony Ericsson.
The stylish human curvature design of the Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X10 mini, combined with touch navigation optimised for compact screens, offers users the easiest way to connect and communicate with one hand. The credit card sized handset enables consumers to create an experience that is as individual as they are. The clever graphical user interface, with four customisable touch corners and intuitive navigation, opens up limitless possibilities and access to favourite applications and web links with just one touch. Consumers can build a unique mobile phone experience and download games, movies, music and more than 90.000 of free and best-selling applications at Android Market.
Nokia maintains handset market share lead, HTC cracks top ten
Aug 14th
| Company | 2Q10
Units |
2Q10 Market Share (%) | 2Q09
Units |
2Q09 Market Share (%) |
| Nokia | 111,473.8 | 34.2 | 105,413.4 | 36.8 |
| Samsung | 65,328.2 | 20.1 | 55,430.1 | 19.3 |
| LG | 29,366.7 | 9.0 | 30,497.0 | 10.7 |
| Research In Motion | 11,228.8 | 3.4 | 7,678.9 | 2.7 |
| Sony Ericsson | 11,008.5 | 3.4 | 13,574.3 | 4.7 |
| Motorola | 9,109.4 | 2.8 | 15,947.8 | 5.6 |
| Apple | 8,743.0 | 2.7 | 5,434.7 | 1.9 |
| HTC | 5,908.8 | 1.8 | 2,471.0 | 0.9 |
| ZTE | 5,545.8 | 1.7 | 3,697.9 | 1.3 |
| G’Five | 5,208.6 | 1.6 | NA | NA |
| Others | 62,635.2 | 19.30 | 45,977.2 | 16.1 |
| Total | 325,556.8 | 100.0 | 286,122.3 | 100.0 |
Nokia sold 111 million phones in the second quarter of 2010 to maintain its lead on top of the mobile phone market, at 34% market share. Based on rumours we hear in North America about Nokia’s inevitable demise, this comes as quite a shock to me, and, I’m sure, to a few of you.
RIM kept its 4th place hold on the market with 11 million handsets, and only 3.4%, but enough to keep it ahead of Apple, who sold 8.7 million iPhones last quarter for a 2.7% market share.
HTC is the big surprise here, with a 139% year-over-year increase in handsets. This is mainly due to Android’s huge proliferation in the United States, and HTC’s increased brand recognition worldwide as a favourable and reliable company.
Android, as we mentioned previously, is the number one platform in America, overtaking RIM in the last quarter. Worldwide, it still trails Symbian by a lot, and BlackBerry by a small amount, but has overtaken iOS to take third place at 10% worldwide marketshare.
Two years ago, few would have predicted that Android would become as successful and ubiquitous as it has in such a short amount of time. But here we are, two years later, and it’s a thriving brand, product, and platform.
Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Operating System in 2Q10 (Thousands of Units)
| Company | 2Q10
Units |
2Q10 Market Share (%) | 2Q09
Units |
2Q09 Market Share (%) |
| Symbian | 25,386.8 | 41.2 | 20,880.8 | 51.0 |
| Research In Motion | 11,228.8 | 18.2 | 7,782.2 | 19.0 |
| Android | 10,606.1 | 17.2 | 755.9 | 1.8 |
| iOS | 8,743.0 | 14.2 | 5,325.0 | 13.0 |
| Microsoft Windows Mobile | 3,096.4 | 5.0 | 3,829.7 | 9.3 |
| Linux | 1,503.1 | 2.4 | 1,901.1 | 4.6 |
| Other OSs | 1,084.8 | 1.8 | 497.1 | 1.2 |
| Total | 61,649.1 | 100.0 | 40,971.8 | 100.0 |
(via Gartner Research)
SE Xperia X10 Goes to AT&T Too Late, Too Bad
Aug 9th
Seriously? You haven’t even updated the device to Android 2.1 yet? This is a travesty.
Sony Ericsson announced today they are to release the Xperia X10 this week on AT&T’s network, the only network in the US in need of some great Android devices. Too bad this isn’t one of them, at least not in its current form.
We’ve had the phone in Canada since April, and I have to say, while the hardware is sexy as hell, its implementation of Android 1.6 is half-baked, buggy and slow. Almost unusably slow, especially for the hardware it’s running on.
On the surface, the device is a dream. 1GHZ Snapdragon, 512MB RAM, 8MP camera, beautiful sleek exterior, 4″ 800×480 screen. Really, really nice.
But the on-screen keyboard is terrible. The Mediascape and Timescape apps are awful, and cannot be deleted from the device. And the fact that it’s running a version of Android that has been available for more than a year is inexcusable, especially when most other devices have been updated to 2.2. SE is only claiming that the X10 will be updated to 2.1 in Q4 of this year, which could be December 31st.
So, in my opinion, avoid this puppy. AT&T customers have a much better phone in the Samsung Captivate already.
First Thoughts: Rogers Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini
Aug 1st
Holy $*@# this thing is tiny! Seriously! I can almost fit it in the coin slot of my jeans, and but for the slight thickness, it really looks like a kid’s toy. But rest assured, this is a phone, that can make calls, and runs Android. Android 1.6. On a 320×240″ screen. But it has a camera! But, but, but… I almost keep having to pull out the specs of the device to justify its existence, to say, “Yes, this is worth purchasing!” But, like its big brother, the Xperia X10, also available from Rogers, the device falls short in many ways, and I ultimately can’t recommend it unless this is exactly what you want. A tiny Android phone for your tiny hands.
The biggest drawback of the device is the size. It’s so small, it doesn’t support a full on-screen QWERTY keyboard. Instead, it uses T9, the predictive system that hopes it knows what you’re going to say but often does not. While this works for short pieces, considering whom the phone is being marketed to — namely teenage girls — the device will not satisfy even the most timid texter. It’s just too slow to select from a drop-down list of words as they appear, switching between slick-looking menus to get from letters to numbers to symbols and back.
So if you can get over that main drawback, there is a lot to like about the X10 mini. It’s really snappy, especially for a 1.6-based device. The menus transition beautifully, and the well-known Sony Ericsson animations are all over the place. The Timescape/Mediascape interface is attractive, and the former plugs into all your Twitter/Facebook/SMS to give you a low-down on your latest activity. Mediascape then takes all your media and consolidates it into one place. Very useful.
The phone’s 5MP camera with LED flash seems like overkill for the size, but like all SE phones, the quality is outstanding. As a point-and-shoot camera, the phone is perfect, and because of its size, easy to have on you at all times. The home screen supports four buttons on the corners, so you can put a shortcut to the camera there and have it available whenever you need it.
The Marketplace works as expected: your previously-purchased apps will be available once you log into your Gmail account on the phone’s first boot. Some apps, because of the screen resolution, will either not work or perform poorly. I tried a number of my regularly-used apps from my Nexus One, and most are fine, with a bit of stuttering, but some, like Touiteur, barely function. Not sure if it’s a coding problem or merely because the app is intensive and the CPU cannot keep up, but be wary of purchasing apps for the device, as they may not perform as desired.
The phone, when using it as one, looks like you’re holding a bluetooth headset to your head. But the call quality is excellent, and for all its issues, the device performs as it should. There is a 4GB microSD card included in the box from Rogers, and two additional backplates to customize the look of the device (green! pink!). Again, look at whom it is being advertised and it will make perfect sense.
The Rogers Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini is available at Rogers for $29.99 on a three-year term.
Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini available on Rogers for $29.99
Jul 22nd
Rogers is launching the Android-powered Sony Ericsson Xperia x10 mini, a very small phone trying to pack a pretty big punch. No, it’s not the more-desirable x10 mini pro, which has a slide-out landscape QWERTY keyboard, but it’s still a pretty cute little device. We hear, though, that Rogers may launch the pro version quite soon.
It’s powered by a highly modified version of Android 1.6, but most programs should work on the 320x240px screen. The rest of the specs include a 5MP camera with LED flash, WiFi, GPS and removable backplates in a variety of catchy colours (really, Sony?). A nice surprise is Rogers throwing in a 4GB microSD card now, though how much does that really cost them?
Expect the device on Rogers for $29.99 on a 3-year term and $374.99 with no contract.
Rogers Offering Xperia X10 For $99.99 To Select Clients
Apr 21st
Rogers has extended their President’s Thank You Letter offer to select clients. If you are lucky enough to have a good standing with the company, and receive one of these letters in the mail, you will be eligible to go into any Rogers Wireless store and pay $50 less than the regular population for a brand-new Xperia X10 on a three-year contract.
Depending on your HUP eligibility, the offer is available to customers who extend their contract for three years with the company, though it’s entirely dependent on your current contract allowance.
This offer is available until June 30th, so don’t miss out, and check that mail!
(Thanks to our tipster for the heads-up)
Xperia X10 Mini and Mini Pro A Reality For Rogers?
Apr 14th
According to a tipster, two new versions of the Xperia X10 series, the Xperia X10 Mini and Mini Pro, will be hitting Rogers sometime in the summer. They have lower specs than their big brother, and the Pro version has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, but at their cores, they are Android phones running the same OS as the original.
Both devices have a low resolution screen of 240×320 (QVGA) which may not translate so well to the Android interface, but we will have to wait and see. One of my favourite features of the X10 is its beautiful high-res screen, but these devices may be marketed to a younger crowd, and will likely cost much less than the $150 the X10 currently goes for.
Check out the phones at Sony Ericsson.
via (MobileSyrup)
Live, a Day Later, From the Xperia X10 Launch
Apr 13th
Last night, at the Revival Nightclub in downtown Toronto, Sony Ericsson and Rogers Wireless launched the Xperia X10 handset. It was a low-key affair, with Jay Malinowski of the Bedouin Soundclash performing a solo set after some introductions from various key players in both companies.
At its core, the event was about showing off the phone, and I have to say that, despite its older Android OS (it runs 1.6) the real winner is the screen on the phone, which is 4″ of beautiful, bright, accurate colour reproduction. I loved looking at it, especially next to my Nexus One, which, frankly, pales in comparison next to the Sony Ericsson handset.
The other notable features of the phone are the social and media integration skins, that go over the stock Android platform, Timescape and Mediascape respectively.
Timescape is basically a one-stop shop for all your social media aggregation as well as a summary of all your latest call/email/SMS activity. It’s very well designed, but the system bogs down when you have too much going on, as the app is quite intensive. Its psuedo-3D interface was obviously designed for looks over functionality, and when you have too many tweets in your timeline, or too many emails, flicking through your various messages slows right to a crawl.
The app is also limited by the fact that you cannot reply directly to events from inside the app; for example, if you see a tweet that you would like to reply to, it opens up Twitter’s mobile site in the browser. It’s quite a clumsy solution, and I hope this gets improved upon in the next release.
Mediascape is a similar design to Timescape but simpler: it, as suggested, aggregates all your media into one place. Music, video, etc., much like, umm, any capable media player.
The skin can be disabled fairly easily, and what’s left is a nicely-themed Android phone with a gorgeous screen and a decided lack of hardware multitouch. You’ve probably heard this already if you’ve been at all interested in the Xperia X10, but it will never support multitouch, as it is a hardware limitation. That is a huge disappointment and probably the thing that would keep me from using the phone as my Daily Driver. I rely on multitouch for everything from the browser to maps to pictures, and the phone feels less… intuitive… without it.
That being said, the design is gorgeous: it has a smooth, rounded back with an 8MP camera with LED flash that gets bright. There are three physical buttons at the bottom of the device: Home, Back, and Menu; a volume rocker on the left side and a dedicated camera button on the right side.
The 1GHZ Snapdragon processor really helps the phone feel smooth and snappy, and the Rogers rep claimed four solid hours of battery life from the device, though whether that is real-world usage or not remains to be seen.
Another nice addition to the phone, and something that will save you $100 in the long run, is that Rogers is shipping a 16GB MicroSD card with the device, meaning that for $50 less than an iPhone 3GS, you are getting the same amount of storage space with a faster processor and a beautiful 4-inch screen. Your call.
I look forward to testing out the device further when we get a demo from Rogers, but until then, check out their site for information.
Full Rogers Price Plans for Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Revealed
Apr 9th
We have been following the news on Sony Ericson’s hot, new Android 1.6-powered handset for quite a while now and with Rogers announcing preorders recently we can definitely feel the impending launch. We had already learned that the Xperia X10 would be available on Rogers for $149.99 with a 3-year contract and off-contract it would ring in at a whopping $549.99.
Mobile Syrup has gotten their hands on a new spec sheet that breaks down the full pricing plan. As expected trying to do this deal without signing your life over to Rogers for three years doesn’t make things cheap. Buying the Xperia X10 with a 2-year contract will set you back $449.99 wile the MTM/1-year contract is going to be just $50 dollars more at $499.99. Even if you can get over this initial buy-in price you still have a $45 minimum voice and data plan to cough up for.
The good news is that Rogers will be bundling a 16GB microSD card in with the phone so you won’t have to worry about plunking down even more cash just to get all your music on the device. Though the Xperia X10 will be running Android 1.6 at launch, it has been promised that it will see an update (likely to 2.1) in the future, though no specific date is given. Hit the ‘more’ button for the full spec sheet.
Finally! Rogers Announces Xperia X10 Preorders
Apr 5th
This seemed almost inevitable. In the wake of Best Buy beating them to the punch with Online preorder yesterday, Rogers has officially posted a preorder page of their own for the forthcoming device launch. To sweeten the deal, before April 15th, with every order on a 3-year voice and data term, Rogers is throwing in a Bluetooth headset and a chance to win tickets to FIFA World Cup.
Sound good? Go ahead and place your order!
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