Sony Ericsson Xperia ray lands at FCC, gets shot on camera

The Sony Ericsson Xperia ray found itself in the hands of the FCC, going through their full set of tests and more importantly for us, a full set of photographs that give us a better look at the phone.

As noted by Engadget, the device will have support for AT&T network thanks to the quad-band HSPA support but the lack of AWS band means it won’t work on the T-Mobile network.

If you have never heard of the Xperia ray, it is Sony Ericsson’s upcoming Android smartphone that wasannounced last month, having a slim 9.4mm body and just 100g weight. The device packs in a 3.3-inch TFT display with 854 x 480 resolution, 8 megapixel camera with auto-focus and LED flash and 720p video recording, 1Ghz Snapdragon processor and Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system. The phone is slated to release sometime around August for around US $555.

For now check out the images clicked by FCC.

Xperia Arc lands in the US, going for 600 bucks unlocked

After struggling a bit with their first few Android smartphones, the Xperia Arc was the first proper Android phone to come out of Sony Ericsson’s stables. Packing the latest version of Android in a sleek, curvy body with a quality 8 megapixel camera and a 4.2-inch Reality Display, the Xperia Arc was a fine all-round device.

But until now the device was not available in the US but now Sony Ericsson has come to its senses and has launched the device stateside in a SIM-free version. The unlocked Xperia Arc will set you back by $600, which is fair considering the specs of the device but if you ask us you should rather wait for theGalaxy S II, unless you have a thing for curved backs or Sony Ericsson.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro launch date pushed back to late July

Although it was announced back with the Xperia Arc, Neo and PLAY, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro is yet to see a proper launch date. Although the pre-booking for the phone began in the UK at the start of this month the actual launch of the phone has been pushed back to sometime late next month.

An online store in UK is currently accepting pre-orders for the Xperia Pro, which has been priced at £349.99 ($568) and the availability is being displayed as “late July”.

For those unaware, the Xperia Pro is virtually identical to the Xperia Neo, except for one thing. The Pro has a full sliding QWERTY keypad underneath the display. It also has a 3.7-inch, 854 x 480 display, 1GHz Snapdragon processor and 8 megapixel camera with 720p video recording and runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread. You can read about our hands-on experience with the phone here.

Sony Ericsson announces Mix Walkman and txt pro in full

Sony Ericsson's Facebook competition has come to a close - the Mix Walkman and the txt pro are now fully official. Also, the video reviews of the four finalists that got to review the phone are available for you to watch - and don't forget to vote for your favorite, they will win a big prize.

Both new Sony Ericsson phones are feature phones but they pack some compelling functionality. They have Xperia-like UI, just like the Yendo.

The Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman has the looks of the Xperia Mini but there's Walkman blood in its veins. The Zappin button is a particularly interesting feature - press it and the phone will preview the chorus of the next song. That's right, just the chorus, which is the most recognizable (and often best) part of the song.

The Mix Walkman is also a pocket karaoke machine - it can suppress the voice track of any song so that you can show off your vocal talents.

The Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman is a very compact phone (95.8 x 52.8 x 14.3mm, 88g) with a 3" WQVGA screen, 3.2MP camera and exchangeable bands to personalize the phone (they come in the box). You get Wi-Fi connectivity and microSD card slot too (for cards up to 32GB).

Xperia PLAY Experience Pack bundles a dock and some games

The E3 expo has just started and Sony Ericsson has something to show the gamers - the Xperia PLAY Experience Pack. It contains the DK300 Multimedia Dock, USB and audio cables and code for 3 three Gameloft titles.

The Experience Pack is compatible only with Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY. It contains the previously announced DK300 multimedia dock, a portable short-length USB cable, a 3.5mm male-to-male audio cable so you can connect the dock with an audio system and a game code.

The game code will allow you to download three Gameloft games of your choice from this list:

• Assassin’s Creed – Altair’s Chronicles
• Uno
• Real Football 2011
• Modern Combat 2 : Black Pegasus
• Let’s Golf! 2
• Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction
• Brothers In Arms 2: Global Front
• N.O.V.A. 2 – Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance
• Eternal Legacy

Sony Ericsson ST18i Urushi leaks again, pics galore

Sony Ericsson is preparing a new intriguing smartphone – the ST18i codenamed Urushi. It’s expected to be a smaller version of the Arc, running on the same hardware but packing a smaller 3.2-inch display.

Sony Ericsson ST18i Urushi

Today we got a batch of photos for an upcoming Sony Ericsson device – the previously leaked ST18i. According to our tipster, its codename is 'Urushi' and it runs on the same hardware as the Xperia Arc – a 1GHz Snapdragon chipset with a Scorpion CPU and an Adreno 205 GPU.

Sony Ericsson ST18i Urushi

The Urushi’s display is a 3.2-inch display with the whopping resolution of 854x480 pixels and the proprietary Bravia Mobile engine. The phone runs Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread with the typical Sony Ericsson customizations and has the same camera as the Xperia Arc - an 8 megapixel snapper with 720p recording and a LED flash.

Sony Ericsson ST18i Urushi

The handset is supposed to launch in September. We guess the official announcement should happen soon.

Sony Ericsson promises 23 more games for the Xperia PLAY

Xperia PLAY owners are probably still busy playing the load of high-quality games that launched along with the handset and here comes Sony Ericsson throwing another bunch at them. The company has just announced 23 new titles that will be made available to the PlayStation-certified phone.

Minecraft is obviously the most popular of the bunch, but the rest of the titles seem pretty intriguing too. The hugely popular indie game will be an Xperia PLAY exclusive on Android, alongside nine other titles.

The other 13 games that the Xperia PLAY owners should look forward to won’t have the exclusive status, but are all high-quality time-killers. Not to mention that many of them would probably be much more enjoyable on the PLAY with all those buttons and joysticks.

And here goes the complete list as provided by the Sony Ericsson blog:

New Android Games Exclusive on Xperia PLAY:

• Minecraft™ by Mojang
• Battlefield Bad Company 2 by Electronic Arts
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow 6 Shadow Vanguard by Gameloft
• Desert Winds by Southend Interactive
• Ruined by Bigpoint
• Icebreaker™ by NaturalMotion
• Sleepy Jack by SilverTree Media
• Cracking Sands by Polarbit
• Armageddon Squadron 2 by Polarbit
• An unnamed fighting game from Khaeon Gamestudio

New Games coming soon on Xperia PLAY:

• Pocket Legends by Spacetime Studios
• Star Legends: The Black Star Chronicles by Spacetime Studios
• Eternal Legacy by Gameloft
• Guns 'n'Glory 2 by HandyGames
• Dungeon Hunter 2 by Gameloft
• Pocket RPG by Crescent Moon Games
• D.A.R.K. developed by Gamelab
• Samurai II: Vengeance by MADFINGER Games
• Vendetta Online by Guild Software
• Order & Chaos - Gameloft
• Happy Vikings by Handy Games
• A Ball Game by Trendy Entertainment
• Lumines by Connect2Media

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 gets an update, not the one you expected

Sony Ericsson has just released another update for its Xperia X10 former flagship. It’s not the Gingerbread release everyone was hoping for, but it seems to be a pretty major one nonetheless. There are plenty of changes brought and all early adopters claim to notice a substantial improvement in performance.

The update is version number is 2.1.B.0.1 and it seems to boost screen responsiveness and general performance with the effects being most prominent in Timescape. There’s also a new baseband in the package, which reportedly benefits signal strength and in-call sound quality. Switching between 2G and 3G networks is now said to be faster and initiating a call takes shorter time.

Some have noticed a change in battery life for the better (but then others claim that it’s worse) and there’s now voice search integration just about anywhere where you can need it – search bar, browser etc.

A pretty major change is the system-wide availability of multi-touch. The X10 got official multi-touch support with its previous update, but that only worked in some of the apps.

On the visual side of things Sony Ericsson introduced minor tweaks to the notification area, dialer pad and status bar. New animations have also appeared around the interface and they seem to be smoother than before.

Hackers will be pleased to know that the rooting solution from previous ROMs is compatible with this new one, so you won’t be losing control over your system by updating.

So what are you waiting for – go check out if the update has become officially available to your area. If it hasn’t you can always follow the source link to the XDA-developers forum, where you can find instructions on how to flash it manually. Mind you, you should only do this if you really know what you are doing.

The Xperia PLAY finally available at O2 UK, white one too

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play generated a lot of hype for a phone with a single core CPU in the year 2011. We guess that has something to do with the PlayStation blood it has running in its veins. Now the phone is finally available from O2 UK, after several delays. And they've got an exclusive white color as well. The phone will cost you nothing on a contract and 430 quid if you want it commitment-free.

O2 has talked on the exclusive white PlayStation phone before, bragging about it, even though they had a significant delay of their 1 April release. Then there was the rumor that the Play will hit O2 shops in June, which finally turns out untrue as it's already online at the O2 store as we speak.

The Xperia Play comes with a single core 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, 512 MB RAM, 5 MP autofocus camera and a slide-out gaming pad. If you're interested in how this bad boy handles why not check out our full review?

Xperias with unlocked bootloaders won't get updates

When Sony Ericsson announced they will release a tool to unlock the bootloader on some of their devices, fans celebrated. One problem has come up though – once you unlock, you can’t get official software updates.

A Sony Ericsson developer has posted on the XDA-Developers forums answering some questions. He explains that Over-The-Air updates are not supported since they rely on updating a phone only from a specific firmware version – and Sony Ericsson can’t verify that your phone is using that version once you unlock the bootloader (updating from a different version will corrupt the files).

Even using the regular software update tool that can update a phone from any version is not currently supported for unlocked. They may enable that in the future, but now there are still unanswered questions as to how allowing updates for unlocked phones will affect the update procedure itself and what that would mean for Sony Ericsson repair and support centers.

Sony Ericsson considers creating recovery ROM that would allow you to put an official ROM with a locked bootloader so that you can update the phone via their software update tool. Note that even if Sony Ericsson releases such a recovery ROM your warranty may be voided even after flashing it.

Of course, once you unlock the bootloader you can always use a custom ROM to update to the latest version. But this is still an important thing to consider – once you unlock the bootloader on your Sony Ericsson Xperia device, you shouldn’t rely on official software updates from Sony Ericsson. You might have to pay for repairs if something goes wrong too.

Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY and Arc update start rolling

Sony Ericsson kept their promise and quickly released the first software update for their Xperia PLAY and Arc smartphone flagships. Right now only a few markets are able to experience the goodies of the Facebook-centered update, but more should follow soon.

Sony Ericsson didn’t specify when each of the markets will be getting the chance to experience 2.3.3 Gingerbread, but mentioned that unbranded Arcs and PLAYs around the globe will be in the first lines.

This update will bring the tighter Facebook integration introduced with the latest Xperia mini and Xperia mini pro handsets and will fix some security issues that Sony Ericsson identified.

And here are the areas that will get some improvement:

• Battery performance
• General software stability
• Wi-Fi stability
• HD Video recording performance (Xperia Arc only)
• Touch responsiveness

Sony Ericsson competition teases two new phones: txt pro and Mix

Sony Ericsson just announced a new Facebook competition searching phone reviewers among you. The most interesting thing about it is it shows two new touch feature phones - the txt pro and the Mix Walkman.

To enter the competition you have to answer a question and write in 50 words or less why you should be chosen. The question is interesting – you have to pick one of three options for the names of the two phones. And since only one answer seems reasonable, there you have it, meet the Sony Ericsson txt pro and the Mix Walkman phone.

Sony Ericsson txt pro • Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman

The Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman phone looks almost exactly like the WT18i (a China-only model), so we might be seeing similar specs. That might mean an 800MHz CPU, 3.2” HVGA screen, 3MP camera with VGA@24fps video capture.

As for the Sony Ericsson txt pro, we thought we were looking at the Xperia mini pro for a moment there but Sony Ericsson’s blog post explicitly says the two are feature phones. The txt pro and Mix look quite alike so we’d wager a guess and say they have similar specs.

Anyway, back to the Facebook competition – to participate, sign up by the end of the month and you can be one of 12 people who will receive one of the two new phones (before Sony Ericsson has fully announced their specs) and you will be asked to do a 45 second video review.

Four of the twelve videos will be selected and posted on Facebook on 7 June. The one that gets the most likes will be declared the winner on 13 June. What you’re competing for (besides some serious bragging rights) is the grand prize.

The grand prize is “a set of 10 more for their family and friends” and I think the missing word here is “phone”, most likely the same model you got to review.

If you’re interested, sign up here and you’ll know if your one of the select few by the end of the month.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play and Arc get Android 2.3.3 security update

Sony Ericsson will be rolling out an update for Android 2.3.3 on their Xperia PLAY and Xperia Arc phones. The update will fix some security issues and will come with Sony Ericsson's latest Facebook integration which was introduced with the latest Xperia Mini and Xperia Mini Pro handsets.

The fancy integration with the social network, dubbed Facebook inside Xperia, isn't new to us. It'll help Facebook become best friends with your Xperia phone by syncing the Facebook contacts, calendar and photos all together.

Unlike HTC, who are making an entire phone around the interaction with the social network, Sony Ericsson is just "enriching the experience", as Calum MacDougall, SE's Head of Web Service Partnerships, puts it.

Facebook inside Xperia, as the name suggests, is coming for all recent Xperia models, including the Xperia Neo, Xperia Mini and Xperia Mini Pro.

The Android 2.3.3 update is (hopefully!) expected next week.

Sony Ericsson Xperia mini pro to hit O2 UK this June

Sony Ericsson announced the Xperia mini and mini pro just recently and they were scheduled to hit the market in August. According to O2 though, the Xperia mini is going to launch this June in the UK.

So, in case O2 UK didn't make a big mistake, it seems the Xperia mini pro will become available quite ahead of its official release time frame making up for the delayed schedule of the Xperia PLAY launch. O2 UK has listed the phone as coming soon in June and you can bet it will go for free on a 2-year contract.

In case you've missed it, the Xperia mini pro is based on the same Snapdragon MSM8255 chipset as the Arc and Neo coming with a 1GHz Scorpion processor, Adreno 205 GPU and 512MB RAM. It features a 3-inch HVGA Reality display, 5 megapixel camera with 720p video recording, all the usual connectivity and a sliding-out QWERTY keyboard.

You can check the coming soon page on O2 UK from the source link below. It contains info on three upcoming devices - Sony Ericsson's Xperia PLAY and Xperia mini pro, as well as the Huawei G7010 feature phone.

New Sony Ericssons spotted, meet the CK15i and the ST18i

A group of new Sony Ericsson phones surfaced online and though little is known about those, we have their shots all lined up. The two most interesting members of the group are the CK15i and the ST18i.

The CK15i looks to be the first Sony Ericsson non-smartphone, non-Android device of 2011. This small touchscreen handset will apparently support a 240x400 pixel display, run on SE's A200 platform and come complete with a slide-out hardware keyboard. The only other thing we know at this time is a possible name, the Sony Ericsson Txt Pro.

The other mysterious device spotted is the ST18i. Even less is known about this model and due to the fact it sports the 'Xperia' moniker, will as a result probably run some iteration of Android. In the photos above you can see it has an 'HD' camera on the back, a front-facing camera, loud speaker grill and judging by the size of the sim slot, is a little smaller than the Sony Ericsson X8 with the looks of the Xperia Mini, but it's hard to tell. We're sure more information will trickle out soon enough and we'll be there when it does.

Sony Ericsson prepping a Cyber-shot Android smartphone?

The line of camera-centric devices with the Cyber-shot branding has been left aside in favor of Xperia's for some time now. And many Sony Ericsson fans may disagree with this policy. Well, this may all change as a blurry photo of an unknown Cyber-shot Android device has popped-up and poured oil on an old flame.

The photo is truly horrid but focusing on it, we were able to spot the standard Android Home/menu/back buttons styled as on the Xperia mini and just above them the Cyber-shot logo. Sadly the photo doesn’t come with any specs, whatsoever. It’s a touchscreen smartphone, it looks thin and probably boasts at least a 3.7” diagonal screen.

Many would argue that the Cyber-shot lineup was one of the best in the cameraphone realm.

Still, fans could be in for a treat, as this one might just be a top dog Android cameraphone. Perhaps soon Sony Ericsson could introduce dual-core processing to its droid lineup too. Well, here's hoping.

Sony Ericsson WT18i budget Walkman phone leaks in China

It looks like the Sony Ericsson Walkman line of phones is coming back to life. A new popped up out shortly after the official announcement of Sony Ericsson W8. This time, it is labeled (at least for the time being) WT18i.

Much like the W8, the specs of the device suggest that it will be a youth-oriented, budget priced handset. The processor of the device is Marvell PXA 920, clocked at 806 MHz and the HVGA screen measures 3.2". The device will have 150MB of internal memory and a microSD card slot (up to 32GB cards will be supported.

A 3 MP camera with 480p video recording will have to do for the user's photography needs, while the front-facing camera enables video-calls. This functionality will come in a compact package weighing only 110 grams.

Interestingly enough, the OS is listed as "OMS 2.5", which should be based on Android 2.2 Froyo. The OS of choice and the TD-SCDMA network support show that this particular version is China bound, but a worldwide version seems quite possible too.

There is no info on a release date or pricing yet. The homescreen on the phone in the picture shows 09-24-2011, which might be a hint by the company. We will surely let you know as soon as we find out.

Latest Sony Ericsson XPERIA phones will be Facebook phones

Sony Ericsson just announced they plan to bump up the Facebook integration on their XPERIA phones to a whole new level. Beyond the obvious single sign-on and contacts and calendar sync, Facebook will now show its face at numerous places throughout the Xperia user interface.

Some of the new features are showcased on these press images.

Sony Ericsson teases better Facebook integration

The published press shots allows us to see some new elements riddled along the updated UI of the XPERIA phones.

Sony Ericsson teases better Facebook integration

Here's the new stuff we caught so far:

• There's a Like button in the music player, so you can share the tracks you like.
• The photos shared by your friends on Facebook now have a dedicated tab in the Timescape UI.
• Facebook notifications now appear alongside your mised calls and text messages on your lockscreen.
• The Android image gallery now integrates your photo albums from Facebook besides the Picasa web albums.
• A new Media discovery widget will automatically show you the videos and music shared by your friends.
• Besides getting synced with Facebook, contacts now have new tabs full of their likes, interests, wall activity, and photos and videos.

The new Facebook integration will come standard issue on the new Xperia pro and pro mini, but it will be implemented on the entire 2011 Xperia lineup via an update sooner or later (Q2 2011 is promised).

Sony Ericsson announces the Xperia mini and mini pro

Sony Ericsson has just announced two new mini additions to the Xperia family – the Xperia mini and the Xperia mini pro, touting them as the smallest HD smartphones in the world. The two Mini devices feature Sony’s Mobile BRAVIA display engine and Sony Ericsson’s custom four-corner Android UI with Timescape.

Both the Sony Ericsson Xperia mini and Xperia mini pro get their power kick from 512MB RAM and 1GHz Snapdragon processors (QSD8255 for the Xperia mini and the MSM8255 for the Xperia mini pro). They also share the same 3-inch TFT touchscreen with a resolution of 480x320 pixels.

The two Minis brag the same 5 megapixel snapper with LED flash at the back. Plus, their cameras are capable of shooting 720p HD video.

In addition to these decent specifications, the Sony Ericsson Xperia mini measures at 88 x 52 x 16mm and weighs in at just 99 grams. The phone also comes with 320MB of internal storage expandable up to 32GB with a microSD card.

Sony Ericsson Xeria mini

As you’ve probably already guessed what makes the Sony Ericsson Xperia mini pro different is the sliding QWERTY keyboard. As a result it weighs 136 grams and packs 400MB of internal memory. But don’t worry, microSD card support is still present.

Sony Ericsson Xperia mini pro

The Mini pro has another trick up its sleeve – a scratch resistant mineral glass screen.

Both phones come in variety of colors, Black, White and Pink. The Xperia Mini has a special Blue color version, while the Mini Pro has a Turquoise one.

The Xperia mini and mini pro share the same 1200mAh battery.

The devices are expected to hit the market in August this year, but as usual, at this time it’s too early to talk about pricing.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA PLAY to finally come to O2 UK in June

The first PlayStation-certified smartphone, Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play, is finally going to make its debut on the O2 network in UK next month. The carrier was initially expected to launch the handset in April, but reportedly software bugs found at the eleventh hour pushed its release back.

Now however, we’ve got an official confirmation from the O2 blog that the issues are nearly resolved and the handset will be available in O2 UK network next month. Unfortunately pricing is still a mystery at this point, but we should be getting an update on that soon enough.

Yet, we can’t help but wonder about those alleged bugs. After all, the handset hit the shelves as planned elsewhere and we didn’t notice any deal-breaking issues when we reviewed it, which leads us to believe that the issues had something to do with the bloatware that O2 is trying to install on the handset.

In case you are not familiar with the term, we are talking about the custom carrier-branded software that normally does little more than irritate users and slow-down updates. Boy, do we hope to be wrong with our assumption here.