ericsson

Release dates surface for Moto Droid X2; Sony Ericsson Xperia Play

A little red birdie has passed on possible release dates for some of Verizon Wireless's most-anticipated smartphones. And since that birdie gave us reliable information before (mainly, the HTC Incredible 2's April 28 debut), we're inclined to believe that the following dates will hold up. So here's what we know.

The HTC Trophy is scheduled to arrive May 12. Verizon promised late least year that it was bringing Windows Phone 7 to its handset stable, but the carrier has yet to show us the goods despite earlier false alarms. Bonnie Cha has reviewed the unlocked GSM version … Read more

Final pricing confirmed for Rogers' Xperia Arc and Xperia Play

Canadian carrier Rogers might be a week from delivering the one-two punch that is the Xperia Play and Xperia Arc, but that doesn't mean the tech press will stop digging up details.

As we learned last week, the carrier is accepting preorders for both handsets with as little as $50 down at local Best Buy stores. At the time, pricing was rumored, but not confirmed, to be 99 Canadian dollars ($103) with a three-year commitment. Tech blog MobileSyrup has obtained a couple of internal Rogers documents, verifying the three-year pricing as well providing other options.

As previously reported, the $… Read more

Sony Ericsson announces W8 Walkman phone

Using just a post on its Web site, Sony Ericsson unceremoniously unveiled its next Android-powered phone today, the W8 Walkman. Looking nearly identical to last summer's Xperia X8, the smartphone features a 3-inch touch screen, a 3.2-megapixel camera, and a 600MHz processor.

The W8 Walkman runs Android 2.1 with Sony Ericsson's custom Timescape UI so it should be able to run most games and applications. Virtually indistinguishable from the Xperia X8, both offer Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth support as well. I might expect apps centered around music and media playback, but the Sony Ericsson blog mentions … Read more

Sony Ericsson profits slump, but Android helps

Sony Ericsson saw its profits cut in half during the first quarter, but the company managed to stay in the black despite a drop in shipments and a blow to its supply chain from the Japanese earthquake.

For the quarter ended March 31, the mobile phone maker reported net income of 11 million euros ($15.7 million), down from 21 million euros in the year-ago quarter. Despite the drop, results beat the average of analysts' estimates, which had called for a loss of 27.1 million euros, according to Bloomberg. Sales fell 19 percent to 1.145 billion euros from … Read more

Rogers taking preorders for Xperia Play, Arc

Our Canadian readers will be happy to learn that Rogers has begun taking orders for the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc and Xperia Play. According to recent reports, both Android 2.3-powered handsets are expected to arrive later this month on April 28.

Pricing is consistent other high-end Rogers smartphones at 99.99 Candadian dollars ($103) with a 3-year commitment or 549.99 Canadian dollars ($571) outright. Effective today, interested customers also can go to their local Best Buy and preorder either phone with a $50 down payment.

As a refresher, the sleek Xperia Arc features a 4.2-inch super LCD … Read more

Android Atlas Weekly 44: What the heck is a tablet book? (Podcast)

We go hands-on with the weirdest Android phone yet, as Justin Eckhouse and Antuan Goodwin finally decide whether the Kyocera Echo is cool. Sprint delivers ringtones, HTC streams movies, and a tablet winner is declared, all that and more on this week's edition of Android Atlas Weekly.

Stories

Sony Ericsson delivers exclusive Android Market channel http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_7-20053628-251.html

HTC enters the movie streaming business with HTC Watch http://androidandme.com/2011/04/news/htc-enters-the-movie-streaming-business-with-htc-watch/

Sprint … Read more

Sony Ericsson delivers exclusive Android Market channel

Sony Ericsson announced today that it has started its own channel in the Android Market. Designed specifically to work on Sony Ericsson products, the channel replaces the "My Apps" link found on the landing page of the market. According to Sony Ericsson's blog, this spot will be used to offer exclusive content in the form of games and apps that best enhance the experience for the company's devices.

Starting off, Sony Ericsson is offering plug-ins for itsTimescape and camera application, but the eventual plan is to provide other developers a platform to promote their efforts. Users … Read more

Xperia Play misses United States in initial release

Sony Ericsson announced via its blog today that the Xperia Play has gone on sale in 11 markets around the world. The United States, however, is not among them.

While the "PlayStation Phone" is available today in countries such as Germany, Switzerland, and Russia, Verizon Wireless customers in the United States will have to wait a couple of weeks at least. At CTIA last month, Sony Ericsson said the device will launch by early next month, though a recently leaked Verizon document predicts an April 14 arrival. That fits with a recent admission by Sony Ericsson that six … Read more

Verizon's spring plans confirm Android details

A newly leaked Verizon road map has landed online, shedding light on the carrier's releases over the next few months. Phandroid has posted a list of upcoming devices and their respective launch dates, and as one might expect, there is plenty of Android to go around.

Assuming these dates hold, the next Android phone to arrive should be the Casio Commando on April 7. As Android Central points out, it will likely be the C771 first unearthed in late 2010. Bowing that same day will be the 4G LTE-ready Samsung Charge. Expected to carry the Droid branding when it … Read more

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 to get Gingerbread

Sony Ericsson has backtracked a bit on plans for its Xperia X10 smartphone, saying today that it will release an update to the Android operating system.

Toward the end of the second quarter or the beginning of the third quarter, Android 2.3 Gingerbread will be coming to the Android 2.1-equipped Xperia X10, the company announced on its blog. The update will be available to customers when they connect their devices to a computer, which means over-the-air updates are out.

Sony Ericsson previously said that it would not update the smartphone beyond Android 2.1 Eclair. Consumer demand, however, … Read more