It’s great to know that Sony Ericsson is really working hard to make its customers pleased with the company! A week back they scribbled on their blog about how hard developing a ROM is.

Now, they’re giving an option for the public to taste the ICS for the first time. But it won’t be a good news for a lot many because:

1. The ROM is available only for arc S, ray and neo V.

2. It’s just the alpha version and a couple of options are unavailable which includes basic telephony, bluetooth and wifi.

I know what you’re thinking now! “So, what’s the use of such a release?!” Good question. SE has the answer:

“Another ambition with this release is to work with all of the talented developers in the open community to get feedback on this alpha ROM. If you download and install the alpha ROM, please try out the software and go to our Ice Cream Sandwich alpha ROM survey for Xperia™ phones, to send us your feedback. It is very much appreciated – the summary of this survey will be used for future product and software strategies short term and long term. Your voice counts!”

If you want to discuss this alpha ROM initiative, please check out the Ice Cream Sandwich alpha ROM for Xperia thread on the XDA forum. Here you can discuss with other developers, and ask questions to us. We will monitor this thread and reply to any questions as soon as we can.”

This clearly sheds light to the fact that Sony Ericsson has prepared itself to take into account what the users need from their Xperias. Last year the company had a bad time; the decision to not update the 2010 Xperia handsets beyond android 2.1 resulted in a flood of criticizing comments in their blog and the facebook page. Now, this year it seems the company has made up it’s mind to give the 2011 Xperias what ever it can take. (or even more!).

Here is what they have included in ICS ROM (things are subjected to change in the final release which is rumoured to be in February or March 2012):

• New “Roboto” font.
• New “Holo” theme is supported (you are able to test apps written to make use of the Holo theme).
• Music player control from lock screen.
• Updated UI in the Settings menu.
• Updated UI in the web browser.
• Updated UI and interaction with the new messaging action bar.
• Updated UI for improved multitasking.
• Swipe to dismiss notifications, tasks and browser tabs in the Notification menu.

These are the features which are not working or either turned off:

• Google Mobile Services (GMS) apps are not included (for example, Gmail, Google Maps, etc.).
• Modem is turned off and SIM card will therefore not be recognised (this also means you can’t make any phone calls)
• Bluetooth™ is turned off.
• Wi-Fi® is turned off.
• ANT+ is turned off.
• FM-radio is turned off.

About how to install (For advanced users and those who really like to play with their phones.)

For Ordinary Users:

Source: Sony Ericsson Blog

We already talked about it here. The rumour was it will be called Xperia Duo.
Now few things changed from then.

It will be driven by snapdragon 1.5GHz(MSM8660) dual core processor, with help of 1GB RAM, although as you may notice, images shows only 691MB. It’s jet to be seen how many MB of RAM will it have. It also has a 4.3″ screen with amazing resolution of 720 by 1280, which gives 320dpi. You will have 32GB of storage for keeping your data, unfortunately without memory card option.
And all that will be powered with 1750mAh battery.

More rumours also suggest that this will be first Sony Ericsson phone to be used with micro-SIM and will have NFC. Of course, the exception being the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arco, which is released only in Japan and is their only model with an NFC chip.

All this specifications are maybe the reason they called it Nozomi, which is also used for fastest train service in Japan.
Here are few pictures of the phone itself:

Also on next picture you can see NenaMark1 results for Nozomi:

Sources:
XperiaBlog facebook page
iandroid

Four months after Mix Walkman, here comes Live. Not really a Walkman related name, but it certainly fits with the look. The newest phone from “Walkman” line, first Android-based phone from SE not Xperia branded, this phone has to be something special. Known specifications so far are: 1GHz processor, 3.2 inch capacitive screen with HVGA resolution unfortunately,  5 megapixel camera with Auto Focus and 8x digital zoom. Biggest surprise is front facing VGA camera capable of capturing 720p HD video! It has 320 MB or RAM, with tri-band 3G connection (HSPA+), or dual-band 3G, depending on model.

Software-side, it has Android Gingerbread, “Deep Facebook” integration (briefly, adds Facebook content to Photos, Phonebook, Calendar and such), Media Discovery, as seen before, that allows you to discover more music by recommendations both based on what you already listen, and what your friends on Facebook suggest. Infinite button within media player allows you to see more information from artists you are currently listening songs from. Simply, just tap the “Infinite” button and have instant access to latest albums, events, and lyrics.  Qriocity music and video content from Sony- only Sony Ericsson Android users have access to this. Millions of songs, thousands of movies, right on your fingertips! Sony’s xLOUD technology, recently integrated into newest Xperia models, enhances sound quality at high levels. And a good old TrackID to find song titles based on recordings from microphone and FM radio.

Sounds promising, but we’ll have to wait for the revelation of price to see will it be success or not.

Source: various, mostly Sony Ericsson Product Blog

Finally, an official video:

Xperia Mini and Xperia Mini Pro hit pre-order on play.com .They come at £209.99 for Mini and £239.99 for Mini Pro, SIM free and unlocked. That’s about £60 difference from X10 mini/pro but, again, the specifications are much better,so it’s considerably cheap compared to what you get. Pre order is due to release on fifth of August.

Xperia Mini on play.com Xperia Mini Pro on play.com

Sony Ericsson Xperia and Xperia Pro are Sony Ericsson’s new small factor handsets. Both sport a 3 inch screen, 1GHz Snapdragon processor and an improved UXP interface to top it all off. Like their predecessors, these great features are packed into the same credit card sized form factor and like before the Pro model additionally includes a slide-out QWERTY keyboard for easier typing.

For more details of the two new minis, see here

If you’ve been seriously disappointed in Sony Ericsson due to the delay in the Eclair Update for its Android range, then Sony Ericsson has just announced an accessory that might just cheer you up.

First things first, it is NOT an Ipod Nano; infact it seems quite similar (once attached to the watch kit) to the OLED bluetooth watchs which Sony Ericsson still produce.

As far as hardware goes, there are two buttons on the top of the screen and 4 soft keys at each end of its 128×128 1.3″ screen. Software wise, the phone only supports Android phones with Sony Ericsson LiveWare™ Manager App installed. No, not your old K850 or your cute pink Vivaz ….

There is one other catch – Android phone compatible (Android OS 2.0 and above) . So it appears we aren’t going to see this in retail shops until the Eclair update rolls out for most of the Android range, which should be around Q4. However, the accessory doesn’t seem to be limited to Sony Ericsson phones only. Oh and by the way, the X10 in the video seems to be running Eclair …

Sony Ericsson LiveView

Sony Ericsson LiveView – Product Launch Blog

Sony Ericsson LiveView – Press Release

EDIT [MikLSP]:

seems we posted this at the same time so I’ve edited a couple of bits into this post from the one I made mainly I’d like to add….this may be the coolest accessory since the brilliant CAR-100.

Sony Ericsson LiveView™ – at a glance

Music player control
Track title display

Social Networking Services
Display incoming texts
Display RSS feeds
Show phone number for incoming calls
Mute ringer for incoming phone calls
List of missed calls

Calendar reminders
Find your phone
Display time and date
Bluetooth™ technology (10m)
Micro USB connector
1,3”colour OLED display, 128×128 pixels
Size:3.5 x 3.5×1.1cm
Typical consumer battery usage time: 4 days

Compatible with the Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X10, Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X10 mini and Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X10 mini pro and most other brands on Android 2.0 and above.
Available in selected markets from Q4 2010
Colour: Black

Kit content
Sony Ericsson LiveView™
Clip
Wristband
MicroUSB charger

This update focuses on improving the general performance, speed and responsiveness of Xperia X10. For example, there are speed improvements in messaging tasks and camera UI. In addition we add a free back up and restore application so you’ll never lose your settings and information. In selected markets, PlayNow™ with premium apps and games will also be added.

Well it isn’t Android 2.1, but it definitely is something for the X10 users. Enjoy

Source-

Sony Ericsson Product Blog

Unfortunately there are still some issues that need to be straightened out including the Memory Card support. But not a bad job otherwise ….
Source/Links~

Engadget

Nokia N900 Official Page