Dearest readers

I want to wish you all a HAPPY NEW 2008 YEAR and best of luck. I hope new 2008 year will be much more productive as for us as for Sony Ericsson!

Cheers!!!

There were some rumors from non official sources, that Sony Ericsson has stopped production of the long awaited successor to M600 - Sony Ericsson M61o, but it has showed up once again.


If you remember, not long so ago, a prototype example has been leaked and spotted on German E-bay on sale for 1000EUR.

2 days ago, I got a pretty cool e-mail with happy holiday wishes from Sony Ericsson. The e-mail contains link to a nice little site where you can create your own snow globe and send it to your friends and family with your warmest Christmas wishes.

You can choose one of the three landscape modes. After decorating it and adding your message your personal snow globe is ready :) Naturally then you can send it to your friends or even get it on your Sony Ericsson mobile phone.

I think this is a very beau gesture from Sony Ericsson :)

So if you didn't get this e-mail and want to create your own snow globe click here and check it out ;)

Here is mine :D

The Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog has published first live picture of the Sony Ericsson Z660.
The picture contains only surface view and there's nothing really to look at, but at least we have a real picture of this device and at least now we have something to wait for from Sony Ericsson :D


Source

Not so long ago new rumors started to appear on the Internet about Sony Ericsson's new ultra-slim clamshell device Sony Ericsson Z660.

According to those rumors, Sony Ericsson has been working on a new clamshell device, which would be made in a metal and its thickness would be quite small, somewhere in a region of 14 mm.

The phone would be equipped with a 2mp camera and would be intended to work in the networks of the third generation.

Besides of the rumors, we have a spy picture too. How much is that a spy pic I don't know. It's more like a screenshot from AD, but the rumors
state otherwise.

How many people have damaged their handsets by dropping them in the water? Many, I think. This is quite a problem, for example when we are going to the sea. There is always a peril to drop your phone in the sea and damage it. I'm not even talking about expensive handsets, some people don't even take expensive devices with them because of the fear of damaging it. On another note, did you ever want shoot someone or something (for example, a fish, or maybe a shark :) underwater? Yes, I bet many people do :)


So as it turns out, Sony Ericsson decided to fight with problems like these and has filed a patent of the waterproof mobile phone housing. It’s not just waterproof, the phone will be capable of underwater image capturing.

Patent abstract:

A housing may include a first portion that includes a window configured to allow a lens to capture images viewed through the window, and a first mating surface. The housing may include a second portion that includes a second mating surface adapted to mate with the first mating surface to form a watertight seal, at least one button to provide a signal to a terminal supported in the second portion, and a receiving surface on an inner surface of the second portion adapted to receive an insert, where the insert is adapted to be removeably coupled to the receiving surface on a first side and to receive the terminal via a second side.

On December 18, 2007, Sony Ericsson revealed the winners of its first-ever Content Awards in a virtual ceremony hosted on the company's website www.sonyericsson.com/contentawards. Nominated in the categories of Gaming, Imaging, Productive Mobility, Music & Audio and Themes & Graphics, the winners were chosen by a jury of content industry professionals and judged on ease-of-use, entertainment factor, mobile innovation, functionality and audio performance. Sony Ericsson also announced the winner of a "Special Recognition Award" honoring a content creator who made the best use of the functionality within the company's mobile phones.

The winners of the 2007 Sony Ericsson Content Awards are:

Gaming RealNetworks Mobile Games Studio Mr.Goodliving – "Playman Extreme Running"	Imaging BitCycle – "Pull Face Image Manipulator"
The judges' motivation: Playman Extreme Running is a really cool, fun game that's easy to play. It takes a strong and unique gaming brand even further. It's well constructed and designed, and it's living proof of the mobile phone's capabilities as a gaming platform.	The judges' motivation: Pull Face Image Manipulator is easy to understand and fun to use. The instant gratification that you get clearly takes the entertainment value to a higher level. It'll make you smile continuously while using it.
Productive Mobility Opera – "Opera Mini 4.0"	Themes & Graphics Metronize/Clavitones – "The Geeks themes and graphics"
The judges' motivation: The sophisticated and smart features of Opera 4.0 Mini take the mobile internet browsing to a whole new level. A superior mobile web experience.	The judges' motivation: The Geeks is both high-quality and well thought through. It's proof that thinking outside the box can achieve amazing results in the mobile graphics arena.
Music & Audio Gracenote – "Track ID"
The judges' motivation: Based on innovative thinking, Track ID™ is the service that delivers right there, right when you need it. It's well integrated into the mobile phone, easy to use and amazingly accurate.

Sony Ericsson Special Recognition Award - best use of the functionality available in Sony Ericsson's phones

Vringo - "Video ring signals"

The judges' motivation: Vringo is a rich and deep application that makes extremely good use of the capabilities available in Sony Ericsson Mobile phones – from voice, video, camera and buddy lists. And with its community features, it adds a new dimension to the consumer experience.

"We are excited to present the 2007 Sony Ericsson Content Award winners," said Ulf Wretling, Head of Sony Ericsson Developer World and Communications.

"Looking at all the award nominees has been extremely interesting and the excellent work that we have seen proves that the third-party content industry is thriving and full of innovation and drive. Today a mobile phone is more than just a communications tool; it is a multifunctional lifestyle device. In working with the most creative and innovative third-party content creators in the world, Sony Ericsson continues to give consumers unparalleled access to a broad variety of engaging and user-friendly content. We look forward to hosting next year's awards and seeing the continued mobile innovations."

Ulf Wretling, Head of Sony Ericsson Developer World and Communications, welcoming visitors to the online ceremony on the Content Awards website.

Ulf Wretling was also interviewed by Richard Bloor from SymbianOne.com and you can read more about Sony Ericsson's motivation behind the Content Awards here>>

Roger Entner, Senior Vice President of IAG Research and Content Award jury member within the Productive Mobility category added, "I had the opportunity to review and experience first-hand the innovative achievements that the nominees had to offer. Each and every product exemplifies the telecommunications landscape of the future, and I enjoyed the opportunity to participate in these awards."

Content animations, videos and more
The Content Awards website is now showing an online awards ceremony revealing the winners in each category and you will also find descriptions, animations, videos and the jury's thoughts on all of this year's winners. Visit www.sonyericsson.com/contentawards

This year's winners, and many of the nominees, have been chosen to be preloaded on selected Sony Ericsson phones. In addition, these applications are available through the company's popular PlayNow™ download service, as well as the online retail channels Fun & Downloads and the Sony Ericsson Application Shop.

Source

A couple of days ago, anonymous reader of our blog, commented interesting link of the Sony Ericsson's spy photo in the article about Sony Ericsson K530c. Unfortunately there was not anything but link of the photo, no comment about its name or specifications.

But at least we have a photo of the Sony Ericsson device, which wasn't released yet, so let's consider it.

Unfortunately the photo has poor quality, portrayal is too much blurry for image recognition. Housing of the device looks like the housing of Sony Ericsson W910, which was released not so long ago. So it may be as Walkman branded as well as other member of the Sony Ericsson's mobile phone series.

What can we say about its specifications? I think nothing but huge display (Maybe touchscreen) and 3G capabilities.

Of course my opinion stays same as I've already noted in the previous post. I can't believe in it's authenticity until I see it at least with a good quality. But in spite of this, I think it's featuring much more realistic look than the spy pic of the Sony Ericsson P5 posted in the previous article.

Anyway, no matter if it's real or not, thank you anonymous reader for this picture :)

Not so long ago a spy picture of the most awaited smartphone Sony Ericsson P5 has been leaked on the Internet. People are talking different things, some think that this is it! Yet, other people think that this is just a fake, probably a Photoshop work.

I can't believe this is a real picture until see it at least with a good quality. Why do you guys always take spy pics with such a poor quality? And what kind of camera are you using? What kind of meaning has taking pictures like this, if you can't even prove authenticity of those pictures?

I do not know your opinion, but I can't see anything proving its authenticity.

Of course it would be great if it's real, but in my opinion it's yet another fake.

Sony Ericsson's new handset Sony Ericsson K530c has been approved by the FCC. Not much official info is known about this phone but, externally it has no difference from Sony Ericsson K530i released in June of this year and. I guess in functionality K530c will be just like Sony Ericsson K530i... except of the 3G of course. K530c doesn't have 3G capabilities, as the other K530 does, which makes it only a tri-band 900/1800/1900 GSM phone.

Sony Ericsson K530c is for Chinese users, but it is expected to hit the US market pretty soon, probably by the beginning of 2008. There are no details about its price, but since the K530i model costs about $300, we should expect K530c to retail for a bit less than that.

Past couple of days new rumors and conceptual works of Sony Ericsson's one of the most awaited gaming handset - PlayStation Phone have hit the internet.

However, Sony Ericsson hasn't even announced this handset yet. I said announced? There wasn't even serious talk about integration of this brand in handsets and I guess there will be nothing about the PSPhone in the nearest future. But in spite of this, people are still actively talking and writing about this device and making some concepts, and to be honest, some of them are really stylish and cool.

This concept is made by muhummad-oli from esato.

In addition to the a pleasant appearance, this concept has a dual slider form-factor with a huge display combined with sufficiently convenient navigation for gameplay.

Another well done job is from sealover.

With this concept he offers brand new and little bit unusual form-factor for a mobile phone with a huge display.

All those nice concepts are good, but all this activity was crowned with a shot of UK's Stuff Magazine article, which is featuring sufficiently realistic looking PlayStation branded handset.

I don't know if it is a real PSPhone or just a good looking fake, but there are considerably different opinions about this screen shot. I can say only thing: It's too good to be true :)



The fact is that there is nothing about PSPhone from official sources. I don't think that Sony Ericsson is going to introduce or announce anything in this year, so we have only to wait and see.

From time to time, there are new more or less revolutionary inventions that make using, managing and navigating of mobile devices more convenient and fun.

As of today, almost all kinds of navigation options are available, from simple numeric keypads, to QWERTY keyboards, to voice controls to touch screens. Possibilities seem to be endless.

As you are well aware, Sony Ericsson offers all of those technologies. Time has come for something really new and different. It's a gestures time.

According to a new patent application, it looks like that Sony Ericsson is going to integrate gestures in its devices more widely than before (For example Sony Ericsson W380).

The patent is about a new gesture technology, where a user can input commands by simply gesturing in front of the camera lens and the phone would then be able to decode certain actions and react accordingly.

For example, with pointing your finger up you could send an order to your phone for turning on a music player, or with pointing your thumb to the right fast forward that music and do more things like that, without even touching your phone.

Of course, for now it's just a patent application, which sounds really cool. In my opinion, it would be a huge addition to the other patented innovations, and I really hope that Sony Ericsson will bring to life all of those novelties in the nearest future.

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Source

Some basic general secret codes that every Sony Ericsson user must know:

IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number: *#06#

Sony Ericsson Secret Menu (Software version, Service info, Service tests): >*<<*<*

Reset Language: <0000>

Information about SIMLOCK: <**<
Enter to phone menu without SIM: After Wrong PIN: press NO: * *04*0000*0000*0000#

View last dialed numbers: 0#

View SIM numbers: On main display type a number and press #

Legend:
< - Left arrow (Button, joystick or jogdial)
> - Right arrow (Button, joystick or jogdial)
* - Asterisk
# - Sharp

Warning! Try these codes at your own risk! We don't accept any complaints.

P.S. Those codes are generally suitable for most the Sony Ericsson models, but there is still some chance that some of these codes may not work in your mobile.

Sony Ericsson K850 in black housing. In my opinion, it's obviously more stylish than the two other standard colors, don't you agree?

We have compiled a nice collection of some of the latest pictures of the Sony Ericsson concepts from various sources.

Click on thumbnails for a full-size view:

London, UK – November 27, 2007 – Sony Ericsson today announced the launch of its inaugural Sony Ericsson Content Awards. Designed to recognize the outstanding achievements of its existing content development partners, the 2007 Awards underscore the company’s commitment to forge and strengthen its relationships with the global, third-party mobile content creation community. Winners of the 2007 Content Awards will be announced in an official online ceremony on December 18, 2007.

“Sony Ericsson enables consumers to download third-party content without any limitations or restrictions,” said Ulf Wretling, Head of Sony Ericsson Developer World and Communications. “Our global development partners have done and continue to do outstanding work in advancing the experiences that consumers have on their phones. The creation of the content awards is an excellent platform to celebrate these innovators.”

The launch of the Sony Ericsson Content Awards reflects the evolution of mobile phones from being purely a communication tool to an integrated mobile lifestyle device open to third-party content. As Wretling added, “Today’s phones have the power and functionality that enables consumers to be highly productive and entertained on the go. From mobile business applications to 3D gaming and digital music, never before have consumers been able to enjoy such robust and intuitive mobile experiences.”

The 2007 Content Awards celebrate achievements of mobile content developers in five focus areas: Gaming, Imaging, Productive Mobility, Music and Audio, Themes and Graphics. A jury of content industry experts will judge the nominees in the following categories based on ease of use, entertainment factor, innovation, look and feel, and audio performance.

The nominees for the 2007 program are:

Gaming
Fishlabs – “Deep”
EA Mobile – “Fight Night Round 3”
Mr Goodliving – “Playman Extreme Running”
I-Play – “3D The Fast and The Furious Fugitive”
Digital Chocolate – “Brick Breaker Revolution”
Imaging
Warelex – “Mobiola Webcamera”
Vitamin – “Vitamins SlideShow Wallpaper”
BitCycle – “Slide Show Viewer 2”
BitCycle – “Autocam”
BitCycle – “Pull Face Image Manipulator”
Vringo – “Video ring signals”
Productive Mobility
Mobile Nordic – “118 Adressboken”
Opera – “Opera Mini 4.0”
AccuWeather – “AccuWeather”
Fring – “Fring”
Mobispine –“Mobispine”
Music & Audio
Vitamin – “Music Quiz”
Vitamin – “Album Art Wallpaper”
Grace Note – “Track ID”
Kara OK – “Lyric Show”
EMDO – “DropMe”
Themes & Graphics
Lawton & Yeo – “Themes for S500”
USTwo – “Themes for W950”
Cybercom – “Premium generic Themes on Fun & Downloads”
Metronize/Clavitones – “The Geeks themes and graphics”
Vitamin SE Media – ”Contour Tracer”
Beginning today, people can learn more about the 2007 Content Awards by visiting

http://www.sonyericsson.com/contentawards. In addition to profiles of all the nominees and judges, visitors can view additional background information on the awards, including content creator bios and interviews with Sony Ericsson’s executives.

Many of the applications nominated for the 2007 Content Awards are preloaded on select Sony Ericsson phones and are also available through retail channels such as PlayNow™, Fun & Downloads, and Application Shop.

A while ago, Sony Ericsson has patented Dual-Sliding technology. It features a full-QWERTY keyboard layout as well as a numeric keypad.

FYI, Dual-Sliding mechanism is not a novelty and has already been used by several manufacturers, like Pantech (PN-810; C810), Samsung (SGH-F520) ...

For me, it's quite dexterous and would be great if Sony Ericsson could implement this concept into its devices in the nearest future. If we look at Sony Ericsson's last innovations and patented technologies, they are preparing something really good, or at least I hope so :)

Abstract from their patent application:

A mobile terminal that allows sliding between housing in two directions. The housing may be for PDA use with and alphanumeric keypad exposed and another position may be for phone use with a numeric keypad exposed. One housing may include pins that extend from one surface and another housing may include grooves in an opposing surface to receive the pins. At least one longitudinal groove may be provided, and in one embodiment two lateral grooves are provided to accommodate two longitudinally aligned pins. An overlay may be provided that may be exposed to cover keys with numbers or navigation indications when the housings slide longitudinally and may remain hidden when the housings slide laterally with respect to each other. A casing may be provided that substantially encloses the bottom housing when in the closed position.