Live from Sony Ericsson's MWC press conference
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Feb 15th 2009 12:40PM
posted Feb 15th 2009 12:40PM
7:49PM That's a wrap!
7:48PM 3.5 inch display on that Idou, so says an answer to a question. Good stuff.
7:47PM That's it! Question and answer time. Our question: "Yo, seems like you guys aren't too attached to those Idou's... we've got euros. Lots of them."
7:45PM To be clear, "Idou" is Sony Ericsson's internal project name for the phone -- as usual, we'd expect a letter followed by three numbers when this sucker goes on sale.
7:43PM Idou's nice, but not groundbreaking -- from the quick video, it certainly feels like a me-too product. We'll see.
7:41PM They promise to announce "one more product" before the summer that takes advantage of the "entertainment unlimited" mantra. Those teases!
7:40PM Now we get "just a glimpse" of a product coming in the second half of the year via an edgy, somewhat frightening video: Idou! It's got a TWELVE POINT FRICKIN' ONE megapixel camera, full touchscreen, and "full media consumption," whatever that means. The dudes on stage have 'em, but they're not announcing it under a "full commercial name" until later -- before the summer, so they say.
7:37PM Next topic: "entertainment unlimited." Sounds like they're serious about making real cameras out of Cyber-shot phones, real PMPs out of Walkman phones, and so on. 'Bout time!
7:36PM We take that back! They've announced PlayNow Movies, which allow for movie purchases and downloads through the PC.
7:34PM They're talking up the PlayNow services now, which the W995 naturally supports. Nothing new here, though.
7:33PM Sounds like you can share media straight from your W995 to your PS3 over WiFi... easy way to get stuff to your TV.
7:33PM The W995 uses Sony's MediaGo software as a central clearing house for transferring media. Doesn't look like it's anything special so far.
7:31PM 2.6 inch screen, stereo sound, serious gaming capabilities (or so it seems).
7:30PM As the W letter suggests, it's a Walkman phone. Doesn't appear to be running anything other than SE's proprietary OS.
7:30PM Looks like they're putting a focus on movies and music with this bad boy. "True video powers."
7:29PM Very traditional SE industrial design with this one. Looks pretty ordinary, all told.
7:29PM 8.1 megapixel...
7:29PM It's a slider...
7:28PM W995!
7:28PM "Communication, entertainment... two words, one meaning. Sony Ericsson is THE communication entertainment brand."
7:27PM "We make people smile. We need to do more of that going forward, and we also need to be one step ahead. That is what today we're going to show you."
7:26PM "Three key things we'd like to discuss with our customers this week: we would like to make sure that we secure the customer base that we have, we need to find new opportunities, and we need to sustain our brand positioning as Sony Ericsson." We suppose there's no break-up in the cards, then?
7:25PM "We had some downturn in the economy... Sony Ericsson is trying to find its way back upstairs."
7:24PM Leonard and Steve seem pretty fired up here. We take that as a good sign.
7:24PM "It's a very, very exciting day for Sony Ericsson."
7:24PM Steve Walker and Leonard Hoornik are taking the stage.
7:23PM It's starting!
7:23PM Music's getting louder -- we take it that's a sign that SE's execs have finally finished off the 20 euro martinis, or the presser is about to get started. We're hoping it's the latter.
7:19PM It's moving again! Down to four minutes. Can you feel the excitement building?
7:14PM You know, it hasn't moved from 10 minutes in like... 10 minutes. Hmm.
7:01PM Very rave-y in here. Champagne flowing, DJs spinning, but no new hardware -- yet.
6:53PM Oooh, a countdown timer suggesting something magical's going to happen in about 25 minutes! Yay!
6:50PM So far we've nabbed shots of the C903 and W395 -- but the lighting is ridiculous. C'mon, Sony Ericsson, juice the lights, why don't ya? We can only work so much aperture magic.
6:44PM Lots of clubby music going down, and a few models on display -- but nothing big. We're waiting (hoping) for someone to start getting down to business.
First
wtf how come when I said "first" my comment got deleted and this guy gets to revel in the fame and glory? :( heart broken post valentines day, thanks a lot!
haters...
btw i like how lowest rank is almost faded out into oblivion. props for that engadget!
Ooh...I hope some news on the future of the Xperia line.
I don't know what to expect, but hopefully they'll have some cool handsets for Canada soon. Damn Telus with no cool Sony Ericssons!
Join the club. Only carrier that sells SE is AT&T (which I have thankfully) But they won't evn take up Xperia. Which bummed me out!
For now no Xperia, but Symbian Foundation device "IDOU" - touchscreen, 12 MP announced.
Aww =( But hmm, that sounds pretty good. As long as Skyfire can run on it, I will except any tech superior phone they offer!
It would be nice if it were fast and ran Symbian (UIQ 3.3).
Also, Skyfire runs only on Symbian S60 (Nokias) and not Symbian v9.1 (UIQ).
only one word,
IDOU!!!!!!!
http://semcblog.com/2009/02/15/sony-ericsson-unveiled-idou/
Finaly something sexy from SE.
+ it's a Symbian ( Yes, some of us prefer it over WM or Android :) )
Im so sick of my iPhone, I hope they realease something relatively affordable (sigh) that I simply cannot resist.
what don't you like about your iphone
Sony Ericsson announces W995 multimedia powerhouse
http://blog.se-nse.net/sony-ericsson-announces-w995-multimedia-powerhouse/
Ooh...shiny toys!
OH EM GEE....25mins could not come sooner!
When's HTC's press conference, that's what i want to see. Don't get me wrong i like Sony Ericsson but they don't seem to be coming out with anything that revolutionary lately.
I agree. With the recent Xperia flop and having waited one full year for that phone, I've lost alot of faith in Sony Ericsson.
What is the point of even having EngadgetMobile if you beat them to the punch every time?
I believe they keep EngadgetMobile going so they can post reminders about its birthday on the front page of Engadget.
I need my phone fix...gimme gimme gimme!
But yes, I await HTC, Samsung, and SE. Amazingly...even LG. Nokia is meh right now. I love them. But I need a definite "Skyfire" phone. And the Symbian version has been said to be pretty buggy =(
Please X1 price drop?
When is Sony Ericsson ever going to jump in the world of more complication than what they are showing, show more complex things, multi-tasking multiple apps, more involvement, not just a little thing you carry along. That is my question
...a me too product? 12.1 megapixels, wvga screen and sony camera sensor are me too features?
"me too product" should be banned from the phrasebook of every tech writer.
Seriously, is Engadget a "me too tech blog" because it does the same thing as Gizmodo or Ars?
What the.... that's it?! Half an hour?
that
was
pathetic
Not groundbreaking? How many 12.1 camera phones with flash are there that also have full media capabilities, video recording too? How big is the screen? It seems like when ever there are new phones announced, screen size is missing. So its 16:9 aspect ratio, how big is the screen, can you get the dimentions. Thanks! Great coverage!!!!
@Chris Ziegler
You guys are fast ! Well done !
OMG SO SEXY!!! Err.... I must be the only one who wished it was windows mobile.
Idou...kind of reminds me of the ID of the Clie's...which is not a bad thing.
Sony has a pretty dismal track record of killing their own innovations...over-reliance on proprietary tech, over pricing, inconsistent implementation, etc. It'll be interesting to see if they are at all capable anymore of carrying anything through to success (PS3 may be an exception...bluray is definitely not).
Reminds me of the LG viewty. Almost the same styling, buttons below the face and the buttons at the side seem all too familiar. Maybe, not an iphone killer but a viewty killer.
I agree.
But yes, I await HTC, Samsung, and SE. Amazingly...even LG. Nokia is meh right now. I love them. http://www.vxcb.com Nice post.