Global roll out of new software

In late September we announced the rollout of Android 2.3.4 in the Nordic Countries. Today, we’re happy to share the news that the upgrade is starting to roll out all over the rest of the world. Since the Nordic release we have made some additional changes which means that this update is actually new also for the Nordic consumers.

The phones that will get the software update are: Xperia™ arc, Xperia™ PLAY, Xperia™ neo, Xperia™ mini, Xperia™ mini pro, Xperia™  pro, Xperia™ ray, Xperia™ active, Xperia™ neo V, Xperia™ arc S and the Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman™. The update will be available for all unlocked phones and most operator variants but there will be local deviations.  There are also some deviations on feature upgrade depending on phone model. Google Talk video chat will only be available for phones with front facing camera. Xperia™ PLAY will not get 3D panorama sweep but it will get HD video recording and the other goodies below.

The highlights of the update are:

• Google Talk with Video Chat for smartphones with front-facing cameras
• Updated Facebook inside Xperia™ functionality for enhanced like, share and discover abilities. We have talked about Facebook  inside Xperia™ on previous posts.
• Xperia™ smartphones introducing world’s first 3D Sweep Panorama functionality powered by Sony.
• 16x video zoom
• The software upgrade will enable consumers to turn their Xperia™  smartphone into a mini-mobile PC by connecting USB peripherals (mouse, keyboard or game controller) to Sony Ericsson LiveDock™ multimedia station. Connect the smartphone to a TV via HDMI to get a big screen experience.
• Gesture input – text input by swiping the finger from one letter to the next
• WiFi DLNA
• Screen capture – allows the user to share a screen grab from anywhere in the phone.

It’s quite a lot to grasp all at once. That’s why we are making next week an Update Marathon, going through one of the features more in depth every day. Stay tuned:-) Meanwhile, you can check out the video from the guys at Developer World.



By Martina Johansson

Trying out the Xperia pro.

So, one of the best phones I have tried out this year is the Xperia pro.
Announced at Mobile World Congress, the Xperia pro is launching worldwide now in October.

The slide out QWERTY keyboard on the Xperia pro is really comfortable and the usability is great. Actually,  the Xperia pro’s keyboard is so good, the phone scored 1^st place in fastest and most accurate typing tests done by an independent test house. 

The Xperia pro also comes with a 3.7″  touch screen, so whenever you use the slide out keyboard, you have the whole screen free to read and preview emails, comments or chat messages.

The pro has another great function: Smart Keyboard. It actually predicts what you want to do in many situations.  For example, sliding out the keyboard while reading an email triggers the phone to asks me if I want to reply, reply all or forward the email (Please note that this function does not work in Gmail).

Another thing I loved on the pro  is the Type & Send widget: you can start typing and then send a message directly from your home screen to wherever you want, email, social networks, SMS, etc. Here is a video that explains the function.

Other things that I really liked about the pro were:

• Camera quality: 8.1 MP, Exmor R sensor, HD video recording, 3D Sweep Panorama.
• Business readiness: Great phone for work, it has McAffe Mobile Security installed and excellent synchronization possibilities using Microsoft(R) Exchange ActiveSync, Gmail and other email services. Not only for your email but for contacts, calendars too. Further, with the preinstalled full version of Office Suite Pro you can create, read and edit office documents anywhere.
• HDMI output, you can use your phone not only to show off your videos and photos, but as as a tool to share presentations or play games from your phone on a HDMI enabled TV or projector.
• ANT+ technology
• It’s got a green conscience: Greenheart credentials!

 What do you think of the Xperia pro!


By Cristina Porter

The beautiful Xperia™ ray - Design & Inspiration.

The beautiful Xperia™ ray is now available

I am now spending my days with a gorgeous Xperia™ ray in black and gold by my side and my precious Xperia™ arc is now resting on the shelf.  If you are curious about the design of Xperia™ ray, check out the video here to see where Lead Designer Shigeaki Suzuki and Colour & Material Designer Linda Lissola found inspiration to make Xperia™ ray the beauty it is.



Xperia™ ray was announced at CommunicAsia back in June and is now available in most markets. Check with your retailer or local Sony Ericsson support to find out details about your local market. You can also try our online support: http://talk.sonyericsson.com

This nicely designed Xperia™  Android phone  is 9.4 mm thin and has a stylish aluminium frame giving the phone a very solid feeling. Being used to Xperia™ arc I really appreciate that Xperia™ ray comes with Sony’s Exmor R™ camera sensor for mobile which lets me take good photos in low light conditions. It also has HD video recording and a crisp 3.3′ Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA® Engine. With Facebook inside Xperia™ it’s easy to share images and I can see my Facebook images direclty in the phones gallery, inlcuding all the comments and likes from my friends.

I must admit that it took me a couple of days to get used to a smaller screen after having used Xperia™ arc for a long time but now it feels like the ultimate form factor of a phone. I have one in gold but it also comes in white, black and pink. Which colour would you pick?

Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini

Specification:
Size 88.0 × 52.0 × 16.0 mm / 3.5 × 2.0 × 0.6 inches

Weight 94.0 g / 3.3 oz

Screen 320 x 480 pixels (HVGA) / 16,777,216 color TFT

Available colours Black , White , Blue , Dark Pink

Memory RAM: 512MB
                       Phone memory up to 320MB
Memory card slot: microSD™, up to 32GB

                             Actual free memory may vary due to phone pre-configuration

Battery performance

Battery performance may vary depending on network conditions and configuration, and phone usage.

Networks	Talk time (up to)	Standby time (up to)	Video call (up to)
GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900	4 hours 30 min	340 hours
UMTS/HSPA 900/2100	4 hours 30 min	340 hours
UMTS HSPA 800/1900/2100	4 hours 30 min	340 hours
Note that UMTS/HSPA network compatibility varies per location. A Standby time specification is an industry standard. The only intention is to allow comparison of different mobile phones under the same circumstances. Factors including - but not limited to - network, settings, location, movement, signal strength and cell traffic strongly effect standby power consumption. Standby time specifications of different mobile phones can therefore be compared only in a controlled laboratory environment. When any mobile phone is used in real life - i.e., under circumstances for which the mobile phone is intended - the actual standby time could be considerably lower and will be strongly dependent on the factors mentioned above.
Music listening time: 25 hours

GreenHeart™

Eco-smart packaging

The phone is packed in a smaller, lighter box to reduce the environmental effects of transport and preserve precious natural resources.

GreenHeart™ headset

An eco-friendly headset, partly produced from recycled plastics.

GreenHeart™ charger

The charger complies with the Energy Star level V and has a standby power-loss that is less than 30mW. This means less power consumption.

E-manual

Save on paper usage. The printed manual is replaced with an electronic version in the phone.

Camera

Aperture f/2.6

Allows more light to reach the image sensor.

Video stabiliser

Avoid bluriness caused by slight hand movements.

Video record

Record video clip

Video light

More light when shooting video.

Touch focus

Touch the screen to set the focus area.

Smile detection

Let the camera automatically snap the shot when your subject flashes a smile.

Picture blogging

A function that lets you take a picture and send it straight to a live blog

Red-eye reduction

Use it when taking people photos using flash.

Image stabiliser

Avoid blurriness caused by slight hand movements.

HD video recording (720p)

Record High Definition video with a simple touch of a button.

Geo-tagging

Have your photo tagged with information on where it was taken.

Flash / light type - LED

When lighting conditions are poor, your picture can still be good.

Face recognition

Your phone automatically recognises up to five faces in your picture.

Face detection

Your phone automatically sets the focus on the faces in your pictures.

Digital Zoom - up to 8x

Get close to your subject.

Auto focus

Automatic focus for optimal clarity.

Camera - 5 megapixel

Capture and share special moments.

Web

Web browser - WebKit

Full Internet browser with support for standard protocols, images and video.

Pan & zoom

View web pages as you like - get a quick overview or zoom in on details.

Google Voice Search

Use your voice to search the web or to quickly launch a call to a friend.

Google™ search

Find what you’re after with the Google™ search function.

Bookmarks

Quick access to your favourite Web sites.

Android™ Market

Get apps and games - download straight to your phone.

Entertainment

YouTube™

View your favourite YouTube™ videos, or upload your own - access is easy via the YouTube™ application.

Video streaming

Realtime video streaming, e.g. live cam

Radio - FM radio with RDS

Radio entertainment round the clock.

Motion gaming

Gaming gets physical - turn, swing, move your phone to control the action.

Media Browser

Media content in one place for fast and easy access.

3D games

Enjoy quality games with full color and depth.

Connectivity

Wisepilot™ turn-by-turn navigation

Get live instructions for how to find your way to your destination - and have fun en route. Free trial version included. The service may not be available in every market. For more information, visit www.sonyericsson.wisepilot.com.

WiFi™

Utilise high-speed Internet at Wi-Fi™ hotspots at airports and other facilities.

USB mass storage

Connect and move items between computer and phone.

Synchronisation - Exchange ActiveSync®

Stay seamlessly synchronised with your Microsoft® Exchange email server.

Synchronisation - Exchange ActiveSync® via Moxier client

Stay seamlessly synchronised with your Microsoft® Exchange email server.

Synchronisation via Sony Ericsson Sync

Synchronise your phone contacts, calendar, tasks, bookmarks and notes* via the Sony Ericsson website. Sony Ericsson Sync is based on SyncML. * Synchronisation items may differ depending on the device.

Synchronisation via Google Sync

Use your Google account to synchronise the contacts in your phone.

Synchronisation via Facebook™

Match your Facebook™ friends with your phone contacts.

NeoReader® barcode scanner

Use the camera to scan barcodes and access web content with ease.

Modem

GSM internet dial-up support

Micro USB support

Connect to your PC and other devices.

Google Maps™

Find your way to your destination.

Google Latitude™

See where your friends are - and share your own location with them.

DLNA Certified™

Connect wirelessly to other devices.

Bluetooth™ technology

Connect wirelessly to other Bluetooth™ devices.

aGPS

Use GPS-powered location-based services.

3.5 mm audio jack

Share your music via the extra jack. Use any headphones with a standard-sized 3.5 mm connector.

Messaging

Text messaging (SMS)

Send text greetings anywhere in the world.

Sound recorder

A mini recording device in your phone that lets you record voice messages or other sounds

Predictive text input

Fast and easy text messaging.

Picture messaging (MMS)

Colourful multimedia messaging.

Instant messaging

Online chat. On the move.

Google Mail™

Gmail for mobile lets you send and receive e-mail wherever you are.

Email:

Built-in email client with inbox, outbox, compose, send and other functions

Conversations

Say it via chat-style text messaging.

Communication

Vibrating Alert

The phone vibrates and you can feel when a call comes in

Twitter™ - Timescape™ integration

Let the world know how you feel and what you think - say it with a tweet.

Speaker phone

Loudspeaker suitable for using the phone as an office handsfree

Sony Ericsson Timescape™

All your communication with one person in one place.

Noise shield

Filter out the sounds around and make yourself heard.

Google Talk™

Chat-style communication with friends and family.

Facebook™ application

Stay in touch with your friends on Facebook™ through your phone.

Design

Wallpaper animation

Animated wallpaper – moving background pictures. In standby, your display wallpaper has a pleasing graphic pattern with smooth movement and colour blending.

Touchscreen

Intuitive navigation – just touch the screen.

Reality display with Mobile BRAVIA® Engine

Crystal-clear colours and crisp images.

Picture wallpaper

Background picture on-screen when the phone is in standby mode

Keyboard - Onscreen 12-key

Text input made easy.

Keyboard - Onscreen QWERTY

Text input made easy.

Four corner home screen - customisable icons

Quick access to favourite functions via four icons in the corners of the home screen.

Auto rotate

Switch from vertical to horizontal mode by rotating the phone. Whatever you're viewing will rotate to suit.

Organiser

Phone book

The information you need to keep in touch with friends and family.

Infinite button

Just one press to all about your friends or all the artist info you need.

Google Calendar™

Create, add and edit events. Set up reminders and mobile notifications.

Flight mode

Disable the radio receivers and transmitters in your phone so you can safely use other functions.

Document readers

Edit documents in popular formats.

Document editors

Edit documents in popular formats.

Calendar

Store appointment information and set reminders.

Calculator

Full-function calculator when you need it.

Alarm clock

Set your phone alarm clock to ring at the time of your choice.

Disclaimer

The YouTube™ application is not available in all markets.