There's a mild chance that Sony Ericsson CEO
Hideki Komiyama has been hitting the sauce just a wee bit too hard of late, but we're guessing it's mostly just an inability to comprehend his own company's
situation. As SE pushes out
awful report after
awful report, the company's head honcho has just revealed that it'll be some time yet before it hops on the
Android bandwagon -- as if it really has time on its side. In an interview with
Reuters, he stated: "[Going Android] does require a lot of evaluation, as well as a lot of testing, a lot of acceptance from a consumer viewpoint, and there is still some time to go." He did confess that "looking ahead," he viewed it as an "important operating system," but he definitely gave no indication that we'd see an Android-based SE handset in the near future. Which is strange, really, considering that we'd
already heard it would produce one during this calender year...
posted April 17th 2009 4:48PM
Dear Sony,
RIP
because... after all... no mobile manufacturer can ever succeed without jumping on to the Android bandwagon right away.
Get real guys. How many non-eggheads go around looking specifically for an android phone.
Android is a good platform that show great promise and has an eager development community. All key ingredients... but at this time having an android handset in one's mobile portfolio won't make or break a company.
When it comes to S-E they have bigger problems to contend with... at least until the divorce.
Android doesn't mean instant success. Granted SE needs help, but implementing new OS software can't be easy if they already have other problems.
Not having the iPhone, for example, didn't kill Verizon, etc but of course it would be nice if they did have it. Android is no different, nice to have but not the ultimate answer just a very cool one.
The heart of the phone (hardware) is still most important. Take the HTC Touch Pro 2, even with WM6.1 it would be a very cool phone, of course updates makes it cooler, but having WM7 on my old Razer would be pointless. There is a balance that needs to be achieved and I think SE is far behind for other reasons and it is not Android.
M
Best comment on Sony ever. Thanks, made my day brighter :)
@BigDaddyM Youre wrong; the software is more important. I agree, the TouchPro2 has the best form factor, an I love the OmniaHD, looks amazing, but I would take a palm
pre or even an iPhone or G1 over them. And that's what most people I talk to think.
I also understand their position. They make truly spectacular, robust dumb phones and people who buy their smart phones do so for the value added in other features as well as call and audio quality. I think for them to dedicate staff to developing a fully rounded platform for Android might be very expensive with little to no payout for quite some time. It makes sense.
@simon
Doesn't mean instant failure, but it seems like Android would be an easy way to boost their current phones since they are in the alliance anyways. In the normal situation, they have time to wait around, but in their current situation, they need to make a splash to drive sales up again.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of their lineup, I own a SE right now, but having a good platform like Android would push me to buy another one, or I'll just move to other companies willing to offer it, like HTC.
Dear Ron,
Sony Ericsson is actually "Sony Ericsson".
Geez
Now this is a disappointment. I'm sure I wasn't the only one looking forward to an Android Xperia..
The Experia unfortunately turned out to be an unmitigated disaster, it's the only phone that managed to make win mobile even worse than it is.
One of my collegues got one and for the lasts 5 months I assisted to the daily troubles he had with that thing while my HTC touch HD and Samsung Omnia , while sometimes temperamental never had any particular problem.
Most of no-brands , mongolian made, clone phones have far less design mistakes, glitches and building problems than the Experia.
The ridicolous lip around the touch screen makes it impossible to activate any function with an icon near the edges, the responsiveness of the screen is comical : either doesn't work or it works too much, it sports the only physical k-board much worse than a virtual one and the slide mechanism to open it starts to squeak like a rusty hinge after just a few months or even to get stuck, locking the touch screen cause it to power off, its metal casing is worse than the cheapest plastic: the solderings open up under minimal stress and pressing a finger on its surfaces it feels like a can of Coke.
You should talk to him about it : his Experia stories are quite intertraining if you are a shadenfraude loving kind of guy.
He has been trying to sell it for the last month but unfortunately he finds no takers even though he's asking less than half than the listed price, which is unfortunate because he promised to buy whichever of my two phones I choose to sell him (I have'nt made up my mind yet).
Android phones so far have been merely lukewarm successes at best. The interface is ugly, and the software is still early, it really isn't up there with the Pre or iPhone at the moment. Conceptually the Android is great, its free, its open, and it hold a lot of promise.
I'd rather see an SE phone using the new Palm OS like the Pre. After all, Sony does have a history with Palm.
@ Temple
Yeah, I miss my old Clie and I've been thinking about the history that S (not S-E) has with Palm...
Because they gonna break up with Sony Ericsson that's why. Probably cause sony wanted to release its own kind of OS.
Didn't Nokia's CEO also say something stupid like that they had no plans for releasing an Android device because Android doesn't have millions of lines of code yet? Clearly, the bug guys aren't getting it.
why would Nokia release an Android device?
Agh! That should have been "big guys", not "bug guys".
Sony = Fail. What, is Windows Mobile too cutting edge and revolutionary to set aside?
Lol... I was thinking about this phone and upskirting today at school. I thought it'd be funny to see a guy trying to get an upskirt shot and then the phone goes off. haha.
what is wrong with you?
Not only do I not understand what you're saying, I don't think anyone really cares about your statement either.
I',m just fine with another Symbian phone!
Android is like the iphone, just too limited.
Symbian rulez, YEAH!
Android isn't limited, its new and doesn't have many programs yet. Give it some time.
Symbian Foundation OS might be great (S60 is great) but good software is only half of the problem. You also need good hardware.
@shinigami: N82,N85-8GB, N86, N96, N97, the E series, Samsung innov8, i1170. If they are not good hardware I don't know what you are talking about.
Dang, how could I ever forget the N85.
I have to agree- Nokia has some great hardware. I have a Nokia N82-1 in the US right now and absolutely love it (despite the lack of NA 3G).
I'm thinking of picking up an E55 when they come out, but I don't really want a step down in camera
iPhone Apps list from P.A.C Man in 3...2...1...
They don't need android, they have Symbian. I mean just look at the Idou, if they get the thing out fast it's gonna be awesome!
Imagine iPhone os on a Sony ,.yikes
Android overated like a mutha !!!
Only on 1 handset in USA , weak aviously no one missing android .,.LOL!!!!
Sony needs to make a decent mid range touch phone with a 3" capacitive screen, walkman abilities, cybershot 3.2 mp cam or 5mp cam and 3.5 mm jack. Does not matter what OS it runs on, trust me those specs would hit the sweet spot. This is what Nokia did with the 5800 and see what they accomplished. SE has the brands, WM, CS etc. but they are just putting 'em on phones with crap 2" screens and dumb sliders and flips. People are bored and want touch phones now, dumb touch phones. Give it to them Sony and see your profits go up again.
Is this so tough to figure out ? or are people at sony being paid to keep phone specs down ? sheesh, idiots.
thats basically the new X series Walkman, i wish they put a phone and camera in one version then it would be real competitor to iPhone/itouch... there's an idea Sony.
Android sounds like a good idea on paper but the digger you deep, the more you realize that it's a half-baked pipe dream.
That phone has a 12.1 megapixel camera.
Mind=blown
i don't see why SE needs an android based phone, imo their current UI is incredibly functional already and works great even on their lower end phones.
They arent selling enough phones...
If it takes that long to swing stuff around they better start now, ask rather whether consumers are accepting the current lineup of now at large?
Android is ugly, not mainstream enough, nice but needs work, and Google doesn't care. 6 months after it's release and only one phone out.
From his comments there isnt a question why the company is getting their arses handed to them vs the iPhone. They are in denial that they need to do something better.
This guys is too lazy and not aggressive enough which = poor sales.
The Sony Xperia is way too late and not enough tech. They need to stop skimping on features! With nice features on a model line and other features crap.
They just need to bust out with an Unlocked Sony Ericsson ,Android OS, 12MP phone, 32GB flash memory, touchscreen and their own app store! WTF how hard is that? Copy their business model and profit, they are like snails.
PS if Nokia you're reading take some notes too because you're in the same boat.
This is not a fucking story. Besides, why the hell should Sony even do the Android? Huh. Why the hell should they get caught using Google's phone OS where they will have to pay them motherfuckers, eventually, royalties. This is the shit that happened with MS and the pc vendors. Now them clowns can't even get from under MS's nuts. Poor bastards.
Bet they wish they had it like Apple.
They need to work better with the Windows Mobile team, especially when WM7 comes around. The Xperia would be great, if Sony kinda better understood how WinMo works.
Just another sigh that Sony Ericsson is out of touch with the way the market is going. I do love SE phones, especially their Cybershot ones, although I wish they're cheaper.
I really don't understand this. Here's the recipe for a great SE phone:
1. Hardware. Less is more! Make a clean phone with a 3.2" capacitive touch screen.
2. Good operating system. WM is at the moment a piece of crap and 6.5 doesn't seem to change much. So what we are left with is Symbian and Android. Since the Symbian Foundation seem to have their "first" release way into the future there's just Android left. The big problem with Android is the UI. There's a simple solution to that. A ten minute drive from SE headquarters in Lund you can find TAT (The Astonishing Tribe). Just hire them to skin Android and ship the phone!
A side note here... I'ts funny to me that a lot of people refer to Sony Ericsson as just Sony. In fact, the company is much more Ericsson than Sony...