Just wanted to let you know that I have started a new project, and that this unfortunately means I won’t be posting content on USEB anymore. For full details, please refer to the introduction post over at my new website:

http://se-blog.com/introducing-a-new-beginning/

I’m in a bit of a rush, but just wanted to let you know. Hope you’ll understand.

Cheers and thanks for everything,

Michell.

Here’s the press release, if you interested in reading old news. Oh, and you’ll have to go there for pictures as well. I didn’t bother adding them – I’m sure you all know how the aforementioned handsets look. Play around in Paint a bit, and you’ll have the T715. At least, that’s what I think the designer did.

BUT, since we’re such nice fellows, we’ve included a photo and the demo video, which has a rather nice track this time around (and would have suited a Walkman phone better, frankly). Here they are:

]]> http://blog.se-nse.net/t715-has-been-announced-big-deal/feed/ 28 http://blog.se-nse.net/introduction-sony-ericsson-yari/ http://blog.se-nse.net/introduction-sony-ericsson-yari/#comments Thu, 28 May 2009 18:15:41 +0000 Michell http://blog.se-nse.net/?p=5766 Sony Ericsson announced the Sony Ericsson Yari today. The Yari is the first phone to feature the Walkman v4 player, which introduces interchangable themes (or styles as Sony Ericsson prefers to call them).

Sony Ericsson wants to target this phone as a ‘fun’ phone with motion games and gesture controls. It’ll also have the Media application menu and support the most recent features, including SensMe, Shake control, TrackID and Clear Audio. It’ll also have direct access to PlayNow Arena with the new movies offering.

The camera resolution is 5 megapixels and the camera supports auto focus. It’ll also have a flash and feature geo-tagging, smile shutter, photo fix and face recognition.

The TFT screen is 2.4 inches large and sports a 240 x 320 pixels resolution. It’s capable of showing up to 262.144 colours.

It’ll support A-GPS, Bluetooth, DLNA, PictBridge and USB transfers. It’ll come with Google Maps for navigational purposes.

It supports quad-band GSM and EDGE, as well as UMTS and HSDPA. It’ll be available in Q4 in Achromatic Black and Cranberry White.

Press release after the break.

Press release:

Challenge your friends to the newest invention in mobile phone gaming. Yari debuts Gesture gaming – forget about pushing buttons, with Gesture gaming you make the moves in front of the screen to get right in the middle of the action!

London, UK – May 28, 2009 – Today Sony Ericsson launches Yari the ultimate phone for mobile fun, whether it’s gaming you’re after or multimedia action.  Nothing to hold, nothing to twist – except your body – gesture gaming technology gives users a unique gaming experience no matter where they are.  With a variety of games to choose from, whether you want to keep fit and stay in shape or just want to beat your best score at tennis or boxing, Yari brings you fun wherever you are.

And with Yari there’s always a new game to play.  In addition to gesture games, there is a mix of pre loaded motion and standard games.  Yari introduces a games carousel that allows you to access all your games from your desktop and to browse downloadable content on PlayNow™ arena.  You can view content by category and choose to browse free or premium content – so no matter your preferences there’s one to suit you.

“Yari is the industry’s first mobile phone with gesture gaming outside of the Japanese market,” said Catherine Cherry, Market Business Manager at Sony Ericsson.  “It’s time to move like you’ve never moved on a mobile phone before! With Gesture gaming you move your body to play instead of pressing buttons on the phone, giving you a fun experience that even helps you keep fit.  If you’ve exhausted yourself with the games there are loads of other multimedia features to enjoy.  Snap your friends with the five megapixel camera or chill out to your favourite tunes with the state-of-the art music player”.

Yari
Twist, tilt, turn, smash – gesture gaming is here

• Gesture and motion gaming for action on and off the screen
• A/B buttons – gaming shortcut keys
• Gaming carousel gives direct access to your games from the desktop
• State-of-the art music player and stereo speakers for easy listening
• Music call – one button press to share your favourite tracks while you talk
• 5.0 mega pixel camera – easily upload images to your web album
• Send your location by SMS

To enhance your gaming experience Yari comes complete with the EC500 phone stand.  The phone stand is small and portable and comes with an integrated keyring which makes it easy to carry thereby ensuring that you never miss an opportunity to play to your heart’s content.  To pump up the volume while on the move use the Outdoor Wireless Speaker MS500 – small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, and so light it can be taken anywhere and everywhere.

Yari supports GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS/HSDPA 900/2100. Yari will be available in selected markets from early Q4 in the colours Achromatic Black and Cranberry White.

Today’s the day Idou finally gets a name… a third second one, at least. A final one. The Satio. That’s how we’ll be referring to it from now on (like it or not).
The Satio will be Sony Ericsson’s flagship for 2009. It’s the first of a brand new line of phones, namely the Entertainment Unlimited brand. As a flagship and unlike a Sony Ericsson phone, it features some pretty advanced tech. The highlight, of course, its the mind-boggling 12.1 megapixel camera with a xenon flash, an active lens cover, touch focus, face detection, the self-explanatory Smile Shutter technology, Smart Contrast, Photo fix, BestPic (which lets you take 9 photos in rapid succession), Geo-tagging, red-eye reduction, 12x digital zoom and Web Albums. VGA recording at 30fps is included as well. But this is all related to the back of the phone, so to say.

The front is graced by a large 3.5 inch touchscreen, capable of showing up to 16 million colours and with a rather unuausl 640×360 resolution (16:9). The UI of the Satio features 5 standby panels, which you can switch in an instant. The phone itself runs on Symbian S60 5th edition, which means that there’ll be lots of apps available for the phone once launched.

As a true Walkman – Cyber-shot merger, the Satio has also been endowed with the Clear Bass and Clear Stereo sound enhancement technologies, which further improve the audio output. Speaking of which, you can also use Bluetooth A2DP-equipped headphones to listen to your music. The tracks themselves can be stored on a MicroSD memory card, as those are the ones the phone supports (unlike the usual M2). TrackID – Sony Ericsson’ excellent music recognition service - is also included. The obligatory FM radio with RDS is there too.

Furthermore, on the entertainment side the Satio supports “HD” and 3D games, both Java and, supposedly, non-Java. A Facebook and a YouTube application also come preloaded with the phone.

In terms of connectivity, the phone supports quad-band GPRS/EDGE and tri-band HSDPA. A Wi-Fi and a GPS module reside within the phone’s housing as well. Naturally, Google maps and turn-by-turn navigation come along with the aGPS feature.

The Satio’s dimensions are quite adequate, too, measuring 112×55x13.3 mm and weighing 126 grams. What’s cool is that the phone also comes with a charging stand and an 8 gigabyte MicroSD card. Woot!

The Satio is supposed to come out in the beginning of the fourth quarter in the colours Black, Silver and Bordeaux.

Press release:

Get the ultimate multimedia experience with Satio. Feast your eyes on movies, TV-series’ and video clips thanks to the 3.5 inch screen and crystal clear 16:9 widescreen format – just like watching them live. A friend pulling a funny pose? Snap them with the amazing 12.1 megapixel camera and share the picture with friends.

London, UK – May 28, 2009 – Sony Ericsson today announced Satio which provides you access to all your media in one place – just tap directly into your favourite features with the five standby panels and you’re ready to go.  First introduced in Barcelona as the ‘Idou’, Satio puts the future of mobile entertainment in the palm of your hand. You can watch your favourite movies on the bus or catch up with your TV shows while on your lunch break thanks to Satio.

“With Satio you can enjoy any form of entertainment anytime, anywhere. Whether its music or movies you will never be more than a tap away from your favourite tracks or shows,” said Fredrik Mansson, Market Business Manager at Sony Ericsson.  “Just tap directly into your favourite videos and music with the unique full touch media menu, standby panels and music player.  Snapping perfect pictures also just got so simple thanks to the 12.1 megapixel camera, intuitive touch focus and Xenon flash.  Share them with your nearest and dearest via your social networking site, produce huge prints and you can even comment directly on your images.”

Download exciting music, movies and games from PlayNow™ arena to personalise your entertainment experience on Satio and enjoy them in crystal clear 16:9 widescreen format.  PlayNow™ arena provides a full range of mobile entertainment available by dual download to both your PC and mobile phone with specially developed ring tones and music tones and DRM-free music tracks and TrackID™ charts from around the world.

Satio
Visual communication like never before

• True 16:9, 3.5 inch widescreen – feast your eyes on movies
• Express yourself through images – 12.1 megapixel camera, intuitive touch focus, Xenon flash and face and smile detection
• Web albums with messages – talk through pictures and share your experiences
• Intuitive full touch media menu – tap directly into your favourites, from web pages to pictures and media files
• Symbian Foundation operating system – thousands of applications available online
• Music player – play your tunes loud and proud

To make your listening experience even better team Satio with the smallest headset on the market, the Wireless Stereo Headphones HBH-IS800 to listen in crystal clear sound.  Alternatively, maximise your mobile video experience with the Video Viewing Stand IM920.

Satio supports GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS/HSDPA 850/900/2100. Satio will be available in selected markets from early Q4 in the colours; Black, Silver and Bordeaux.

Sony Ericsson’s Entertainment Unlimited family just got a little bit bigger. The touch-screened Aino has been announced. Unlike the Satio, this little bugger (speaking figuratively and rather contradictory to the truth) is not a smartphone. It runs on a modified version of Sony Ericsson’s feature phone OS. But despite that, it still manages to pack quite a punch. It’s got an 8 megapixel camera with photo flash, Touch focus, Face and Smile detection, Smart contrast, Geo-tagging, BestPic and other software niceties.

The front, apparently, is dominated by a large 3 inch display, capable of showing up to 16 million colours and with the odd 240:432 resolution. Sony Ericsson have also done their best to spice up the interface, by providing a brand new auto-rotate-enabled Media menu and new interface graphics. The touchscreen only works in the Media and Camera menu for now though.

Speaking of media, the Aino has Sony’s Clear Bass and Clear Stereo Sound enhancement technologies. Audio quality shouldn’t be a problem this way. The mood-recognition-based SensMe filter is also in the music player of the phone. Naturally, A2DP Bluetooth is included as well, so that you can listen to your music via a wireless headset. The stereo speakers are also a very welcome feature. FM radio is there too.

Of course, The Aino also supports Java apps and 3D games (it even has a YouTube, Walkmate, Tracker, Facebook and a Hyves application on-board), but what’s really interesting here is that it also supports a feature, familiar to PSP owners- namely Remote play. This allows the user to connect to his PS3 from anywhere around the globe, as long as he has a connection to the Interenet that can handle the data traffic. Al lthe content on your PS3 at your fingertips – anywhere. Customers from Italy, France, Spain, Germany and Great Britain can also use the PlayTV option, which allows them to play, pause and record TV using their Aino. pretty neat, huh?

Amidst the relatively bulky dimensions of the phone – 104×50x15.5 mm – we find another unusual feature – and alphanumeric keypad hidden beneath the surface. And yes, it slides vertically. Kind of awkward, I know. Oh, it’s also a tad heavy – 134 grams. But they had fo fit all these features somewhere.

On the connectivity side, the Aino supports quad-band GPRS/EDGE and tri-band HSDPA. Wi-Fi and GPS are there as well. Expectedly, Google maps ships with the phone too.

The Aino should ship the beginning of the fourth quarter this year in the colours Obsidian Black and Luminous White.

Press release:

Keep up to date with the latest videos and music on Aino. Media Go™ helps you transfer, play and organise all your music, photos, videos and podcasts from your PC simply and effortlessly to enjoy directly on Aino via Wi-Fi™. No more wires, no more searching – always the latest fun.

London, UK – May 28, 2009 – Sony Ericsson today showcases Aino.  Get the best of two worlds with the keypad combined with an intuitive touch UI in media mode.  An intuitive media browser gives users a clear overview and one touch direct access to their content.

Control your PLAYSTATION®3 and access its media content on your Aino anywhere, anytime using Remote Play with PLAYSTATION®3.  Remote Play with PLAYSTATION®3, initially developed for PSP, enables users to control and access media content on PLAYSTATION®3 from their phone.  This can be done via a local network between PLAYSTATION®3 and Aino in your home or via the internet from anywhere in the world.  For TV lovers in Italy, France, Spain, Germany and in the UK users can also enjoy the PlayTV™ service on PLAYSTATION®3 via the Aino.  Watch, pause and record live TV from a huge range of free channels via Aino on the go.

Aino also introduces Media Home, an application that pulls media content from Media Go™ on your PC over Wi-Fi™ to your phone automatically.  Users just insert their Aino into its charging stand and it automatically synchronizes with all the latest media content on their PC.  You are always ready to go with the latest content on your phone.

“Sony Ericsson has established itself as THE Communication Entertainment brand and Aino highlights our commitment to bringing the latest communication technology to the market in fun and innovative ways for consumers to enjoy,” said Alexandre Cardon, Market Business Manager at Sony Ericsson. “Media Home and Remote Play with PLAYSTATION®3 are key steps in broadening the entertainment experiences users can enjoy on their Sony Ericsson phone and gives a taste of our vision of the future.”

Watch movies on the crystal clear 3 inch screen and listen to music in superb quality and with increased freedom – thanks to the stylish Wireless Stereo Headphone MH100 and matching Charging Stand EC100 included with Aino.  This powerful phone offers a full range of exciting features to support the entertainment experiences on the phones such as; an 8.1 megapixel camera, Photo flash and Clear audio experience.

Aino
Sound and vision set free

• The best of both worlds: traditional keypad and touch UI in media mode
• Media Home and Media Go™ – simple to take your content with you
• Remote Play with PLAYSTATION®3 – control and access your PLAYSTATION®3  media content from your mobile phone
• 3 inch 16 million colour screen – surf the web in widescreen
• Clear audio experience – listen to music in superb quality
• Design matched Wireless Stereo Headphone MH100 and Charging Stand EC100

Aino supports GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS/HSPA 850/1900/2100. Aino will be available in selected markets from early Q4 in the colours Obsidian Black and Luminous White.

Sony Ericsson will have to perform another cost savings program, which will include a further reduction in employees of approximately 2,000 people.

They’re hoping it’ll be completed in mid 2010.

Also announced today was the next Entertainment Unlimited announcement date. This will be on May 28, and based on what Sony Ericsson wrote in the press release, it will not be about Idou, but a new product.

You can read the entire press release yourself over at Sony Ericsson’s press lounge.

On behalf of the entire se-nse and USEB team, I’d like to wish you and your family a Happy Easter! Have a good one

Our large review of the upcoming Sony Ericsson W995 is finally online! Believe it or not, we started work on this review back in February, but because I’ve been rather busy we’ve not been able to publish it until now. Our review is based on prototype units running very early firmware versions. This means that some features either did not work or were missing, and our review will reflect this. Some sections of the review are rather short compared to our usual standards because of the prototype firmware, but we will naturally update the review with our thoughts of the retail version when it hits the stores in 2½ months.

I have yet to include screenshots in the review, but they’ll come soon. There are quite a few images to upload, and I thought you’d rather have the review without all the pictures early on. Many of the screenshots will be similar to the ones from the C510 and C905 review, so you can just check them out, if you want. In short, the W995 is Sony Ericsson’s best feature phone to date.

READ THE REVIEW OF THE SONY ERICSSON W995 RIGHT HERE!!

… hardly anything interesting though. It’s a pretty standard clamshell phone with a female design. The T707 was designed alongside with Sony Ericsson’s brand ambassador, Maria Sharapova (go figure). The special features, so to speak, of this phone are the ‘eye-catching light effects’, changing themes, and gesture control.

Other than that, it’s a pretty standard A2 feature phone. It features a 3.2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, PlayNow, YouTube, Media, Google Maps, geo-tagging, a 2.2-inch TFT display, quad-band GSM/EDGE and single-band UMTS/HSDPA (tri-band for the T707a).

It will be available in three colours – Mysterious Black, Spring Rose and Lucid Blue (what happened to the rest??). It weighs 95 grams and measures 93 x 50 x 14.1 millimetres. The battery is good for 400 hours of standby life or up to 10 hours of talk time.