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Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini / Mini Pro review
In a smartphone market saturated with 3.5-inch and larger displays, Sony Ericsson reckons there's still a little place for petite packages. Enter the Xperia X10 Mini (E10i) and Mini Pro (U20i) -- both direct descendants of the beastly X10 Android 1.6 handset. Apart from the Pro's slide-out keyboard, removable battery, and positioning of various features, the two Minis are otherwise internally identical -- same processor, same camera, and same screen. So can these cute baby form factors offer more than just some palm-cuddling time? Can we get a decent smartphone performance out of them? Follow us after the break to find out.%Gallery-96908%
Sony Ericsson starts taking submissions for Android version of PlayNow
Manufacturers and carriers are showing commendable restraint in avoiding totally bastardized, walled-garden versions of Android on their handsets (for the most part), but they're not avoiding it altogether -- take Sony Ericsson here, for instance. The company has announced that it's expanding the reach of its PlayNow app store to cover Android in concert with its launch of the X10, which presumably means that users will be juggling a minimum of two sources for third-party wares on this thing. Long-term, this kind of needless fragmentation seems like one of the greatest threats to Android's ability to become and remain a heavyweight player in the smartphone ring -- but then again, what do we know? It's not like these guys haven't already figured out how to dominate before with UIQ... ah, wait. Anyhoo, yeah, back to the topic at hand: devs are now invited to submit their Android apps for inclusion in the PlayNow store, so hey, you may as well -- the phone's looking to be a hottie, so it can't hurt to have your stuff featured on there, we figure. [Thanks, wimbet]
T-Mobile, Sony Ericsson bring PlayNow Plus to Netherlands
Unlimited music services have been met with generally mixed reaction around the world, but Sony Ericsson's still interested in getting down in the trenches and duking it out with Nokia for supremacy in a battle of Comes With Music versus PlayNow Plus. The company is now taking its service to Holland through a partnership with T-Mobile's local outpost, launching on the W995 slider for €9.95 a month (about $14.50) when paired with an internet plan (starting at €9.95) on a two-year deal. The good news is that they're chucking in the first six months of service for free, but the bad news is that it's not entirely clear what happens to your downloaded music when you cancel the subscription -- odds are it vanishes into thin air, but we'll stay optimistic until it launches next month and we hear the details.
Sony Ericsson expands PlayNow arena to cover apps, too
It looks like Sony Ericsson is taking a page out of Apple's book for the launch of its app store, bundling the service in with the very same platform it already uses to distribute music and movies. PlayNow arena -- which was originally designed for music distribution and whose movie rental functionality is going live this month in a handful of locales -- is now being expanded to incorporate applications as well, initially coming to 13 countries and some 38 Sony Ericsson models. Conveniently, PlayNow arena is already well-plumbed to support a variety of blling methods which should make the transition to paid apps a pretty seamless one for the company, devs, and users alike. Submissions from developers for inclusion in the store will kick off July 1, initially covering Java and Symbian before being expanded to cover "additional platforms" (Android, anyone?) later in the year; there's no word, though, on exactly when end users will be able to get in on the action.
Sony Ericsson's PlayNow Arena movie download service ready for June launch
Everybody's getting into the mobile movie sideload business -- just ask Samsung -- and following an MWC unveiling earlier this year, Sony Ericsson is gearing up to launch movie content starting next month as part of its existing PlayNow Arena service. Direct on-phone downloads over WiFi or 3G would be awesome, but as most of these services tend to operate, PlayNow Arena will require that users select and download movies on their PCs, cable up their phones, and transfer the media the old-fashioned way, at which point they'll be playable on the device for 90 days. You'll be able to select from about 15 movies at any given time with content being cycled monthly -- ridiculously meager, yes, but when you consider that the service is bundled with certain phones (up to 60 movies a year), it's hard to pitch a fit. Look for it to launch on the W995 slider in Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the UK in June; support for Sony Ericsson's newly-announced Satio and Aino (among others) is expected later in the year.
Sony Ericsson adds Yari and Aino to its multimedia line
Launch details for the Satio was the 800-pound news gorilla out of Sony Ericsson today, but slotting in right underneath that set are another couple of phones that are still very much in the higher end of the range -- the Yari and Aino. The Yari slider (pictured left) is being billed as a gaming device, featuring gesture-controlled actions in the same vein as the Wii (and for the record, that's Sony Ericsson's comparison as much as it is ours). It features a 2.4-inch display, GPS, and support for the company's PlayNow services; it'll be available in the fourth quarter for about €400 ($558) unlocked. Next up, the Aino takes some cues from the Satio with a relatively large 3-inch touchscreen -- but also tosses in a numeric slider for good measure. It's got an 8.1 megapixel cam, Sony Remote Play support, GPS, HSPA, and a scratch-resistant mineral glass display; it'll be ready to rock in the same timeframe as the Yari in black and white, though we don't have pricing stats just yet -- needless to say, it'll be more than the Yari.[Via SEMC Blog]
Sony Ericsson gets real with PlayNow Kiosk mobile entertainment service
Sony Ericsson is trying just about anything to garner revenue during these less-than-stable economic times, but we just can't imagine this one gaining any sort of traction worth gloating about. Nearly a year to the day after PlayNow Arena broke cover, SE is officially rolling out PlayNow Kiosk in the Asia Pacific region. Put as simply as possible, these kiosks will be situated in over 80 Sony Ericsson stores in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia (during the first wave of rollouts), and users wielding SE handsets can plug in to browse / download TV shows, games, ringtones and music. Details around exact content choices and pricing are still being kept under wraps, but so long as our favorite EMF tracks is on there, you'll see nothing but smiles from us.[Image courtesy of Canada]
Sony Ericsson's PlayNow Arena coming later this month?
Sony Ericsson's nebulously defined next-gen music delivery service, PlayNow Arena, looks like it's been ripening on the vine since we last heard about it and it's getting ready to launch -- or at least get shown off, anyhow. The company appears to have sent out invitations to an event at the upcoming MIDEM music conference in Cannes, where "further details" around PlayNow Arena's launch will be revealed. Oh, and light food and drink will be served, too, which is the real draw here.[Via IntoMobile]
Sony Ericsson announces plans for PlayNow Arena service
It sure looks like Sony Ericsson is keeping itself busy these days, with the company now following up word of its latest hardware with an announcement of its plans for its upcoming PlayNow Arena service. That, as you can probably guess, is an upgraded version of the company's existing PlayNow service, although it seems that it'll be a good deal more than just a music service. There will still be plenty of goodies on that front, however, including the TrackID service mentioned on those new handsets, which'll let you identify a snippet of music off the radio and then grab it straight off the PlayNow Arena service. Even more interestingly, Sony Ericsson says that Arena will be an "open multimedia platform" that "welcomes everyone," which it says will lead to an even wider range of games and other "mobile entertainment experiences." It also promises to be compatible with a "wide range" of Sony Ericsson phones, although the company isn't getting much more specific than that at the moment. Expect to hear plenty more in the coming months, however, with the service itself set to roll out in "selected markets" in the second quarter of next year.[Via LetsGoMobile]
New Sony Ericsson handsets looming?
We aren't insinuating that you should attach any level of truth to these rumors just yet, but the boards of Esato are alive with murmurs of a few new SE handsets that could be launched as early as tomorrow. Amongst the mobiles that we could hear more about (officially) in the coming day is the Cyber-shot-branded "Victoria" -- which will supposedly be 14-millimeters thick and sport a 1.9-inch QVGA screen, five color options, and a 128MB M2 card bundled in -- and the still elusive "Veronica." Additionally, we could also be treated to the W350, a Cyber-shot clamshell / Cyber-shot slider, and new "accessories" to boot. Best of all, though, is that you've just a single day left to find out if there's actually any substance to these whispers, but if it does prove true, it certainly won't be the first time.[Via PocketPicks]
The lowdown on Sony Ericsson's online music plans
Now that the dust's settling in the wake of Nokia's Loudeye acquisition, Sony Ericsson reckons it's time to get down to business on their own direct-to-phone music downloads. The service (which they've previously alluded to) will be called M-BUZZ and will use its PlayNow service -- currently focused mainly on ringtones and games -- to get content onto the Walkman phone of your choice. Actually, that's not quite true: M-BUZZ will initially be rockin' only on the W850 and W950 series; not quite the sweeping, retroactive compatibility we'd have liked to see, but with the W950's generous legroom for tunes, we do think they picked the right launch phone. Sony Ericsson's saying they'll be first focusing on "new and up-and-coming artists" out of Sony / ATV's library (read: crap they can't find any other way to sell?), but they seem to be leaving themselves the option of significantly expanding the catalog if the service takes off.
