Sony Ericsson launches new Xperia™ smartphones on the latest version of the Android™ platform

In an attempt to strengthen its presence on the African smartphone market, Sony Ericsson has just announced the availability of the Xperia™ arc, Xperia™ neo V, Xperia™ ray, Xperia™ mini, Xperia™ mini pro, Xperia™ pro and Xperia™ active devices.

It appears that the Xperia Arc will be available from Safaricom with a 3 month data bundle that is yet to be announced. This comes barely a few weeks since it launched the same product range in South Africa. Given the fact that the battle front between all the mobile service providers is shaping up on Data, safaricom’s partnership very strategic and they stand to win big time. Personally I have been a big Sony Ericson fun and I am very delighted to see their flagship Experia Arc launch in the Kenyan market. The pricing was not stated but hey this is a high end smart phone so it my guess is that it will not be costing anything below Kshs: 50,000/= but let’s wait and see how Safaricom is going be selling given the fact that they have a bargaining advantage. I had a chance of feeling the phone and boy oh boy, this is a must have and by saying the phone I mean Sony Ericson arc. Its connectivity is just but on point.

Sony Ericsson Xperia™ arc at a glance

Camera

·         8.1 megapixel camera

·         Up to 2.46x smart zoom

·         Aperture f/2.4

·         Auto focus

·         Face detection

·         Flash/LED

·         Geo tagging

·         Image stabilizer

·         Noise suppression

·         Send to web

·         Smile detection

·         Sony Exmor R™ for mobile CMOS sensor

·         Touch Focus

·         Touch capture

·         Video light

·         Video recording, HD 720p

Music

·         Album art

·         Bluetooth™ stereo (A2DP)

·         Media player

·         Music tones (MP3/AAC)

·         PlayNow™ service*

·         TrackID™ music recognition application

·         * This service may not be available in every market

Web

·         Bookmarks

·         Google™ search

·         NeoReader™ barcode scanner

·         Pan & zoom

·         Web browser (WebKit)

Communication

·         Call list

·         Conference calls

·         Facebook™ application*

·         Sony Ericsson Timescape™

·         Speakerphone

·         Vibrating alert

·         * This service may not be available in every market

Messaging

·         Conversations

·         Email

·         Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync®

·         Instant messaging

·         Picture messaging (MMS)

·         Predictive text input

·         Sound recorder

·         Text messaging (SMS)

Design

·         Auto rotate

·         Keyboards (onscreen, QWERTY)

·         Picture wallpaper

·         Reality display

·         Sony Mobile BRAVIA® Engine

·         Touchscreen

·         Wallpaper animation

Entertainment
* This service may not be available in every market

·         3D games

·         Media browser

·         Motion gaming

·         Radio (FM)

·         Video streaming

·         Video viewing

·         YouTube™ *

Organiser

·         Android™ OS

·         Alarm clock

·         Calculator

·         Calendar

·         Document readers

·         Flight mode

·         Infinite button

·         Phone book

Connectivity

·         3.5 mm audio jack

·         aGPS

·         Bluetooth™ technology

·         Google Maps™

·         HDMI

·         Modem

·         DLNA

·         USB mass storage

·         USB support

·         Wi-Fi™

·         Wisepilot™ turn-by-turn navigation *

·         * This service may not be available in every market

Google™ services*
* These services may not be available in every market

·         Android Market™ Client

·         Gmail™

·         Google Calendar™

·         Google Gallery 3D™

·         Google Latitude™

·         Google Maps™ with Street View

·         Google Media Uploader

·         Google Music Player™

·         Google Phone-top Search

·         Google Search widget

·         Google Sync™

·         Google Talk™

·         Google Voice Search

·         Set-up Wizard

·         YouTube™

Screen

·         Sony Mobile Bravia Engine

·         16,777,216 colour TFT

·         Capacitive multi-touch

·         4.2 inches

·         854 x 480 pixels (FWVGA)

·         Shatter proof sheet on scratch-resistant mineral glass

Accessories

·         In-Box:

·         Sony Ericsson Xperia™ arc

·         Battery (1500mAh)

·         Stereo portable handsfree

·         Micro USB cable for charging, synchronisation and file transfer

·         User documentation

Facts

·         Size: 125 x 63 x 8.7 mm

·         Weight: 117 grams

·         Phone memory: Up to 512 MB

·         Memory card support: up to 32 GB

·         Memory card included: microSD™ 8 GB

·         Operating system: Google™ Android 2.3

·         Processor: 1 GHz Qualcomm

Availability and versions

·         Networks

·         UMTS HSPA 900, 2100

·         GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900

·         UMTS HSPA 800, 850, 1900, 2100

·         GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900

Colour

·         Midnight Blue

·         Misty Silver

In addition to the launch Sony Ericsson revealed four new entertaining phones

·         Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman™ - Android smartphone to share and discover a world of entertainment

·         Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman™ delivers  best of music entertainment, including Zappin™- a new fun way to search your songs

·         Sony Ericsson txt pro is designed for messaging and social networking, supported by friends application

·         Sony Ericsson txt integrates full QWERTY keyboard

Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman™ is an Android smartphone that delivers a unique social music experience. A dedicated Walkman™ hardware button provides instant access to the music player and consumers can also like, share and discover content through a deep Facebook™ integration.

With attractive curved design, a glossy finish and a mineral glass display, the phone has a 3.2” screen and a powerful 1Ghz processor. A front facing camera is enabled for Skype video calling, while a 5MP AF camera can capture 720p HD video recording. Sony’s xLOUD™ enhances audio output, while the latest Android platform for smartphones (Gingerbread 2.3) provides access to over 250,000 applications on the Android Market™.

      

The Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman™ phone offers an entertaining music experience and provides a new and fun way to listen to music. It comes with a Zappin™ key to make it even easier and more fun to search for your favourite song. Simply press the Zappin™ key to preview the chorus of the next track and decide whether it is a favourite you want to listen to. A karaoke function also enables the vocal track from any song to be lowered instantly so you can sing along with your favourite tune.     

The look and feel of the phone can be personalized with different exchangeable colour bands that come with the phone.

The Sony Ericsson txt pro combines a 3” touch screen with a 3.2 megapixel camera and full slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Its integrated friends application enables users to add their five best friends to see at a glance updates from their Facebook™ and Twitter™ feeds.

Sony Ericsson today also unveils Sony Ericsson txt, an entertaining messaging phone. A sister phone to Sony Ericsson txt pro, Sony Ericsson txt has a full view QWERTY keyboard and a SMS shortcut key. The phone also features a “friends” application that enables users to see Facebook™ and Twitter™ updates at a glance from their top five friends.

Sony Ericsson txt is Wi-Fi™ enabled and comes equipped with a 3.2mp camera with video recording. The phone feels comfortable in the hand with a rounded back.

Patricia Wand, Head of Marketing in Market Unit Africa, Sony Ericsson said: “Sony Ericsson txt is the perfect phone for easy and fast messaging on the move. We wanted to give consumers that prefer a full view QWERTY keyboard an entry point into the world of Sony Ericsson.”

PRESS RELEASE

August 30, 2011, Nairobi, Kenya – Sony Ericsson today unveils the new Xperia™ range of  smartphones with cutting edge Sony technology and an exceptional multimedia experience  Doing so Sony Ericsson continues to develop its business operation in Africa.

All Xperia™ phones will be launched on the latest version of the Android™ platform providing access to Google Mobile Services and over 250.000 applications available on the Android market. Xperia™ smartphones add best in class entertainment on top of smartphone fundamentals such as apps, maps, email and fast internet to create the most entertaining experience.

Facebook inside Xperia™, a feature just announced for the Xperia™ family, provides a unique social media integration. It integrates social connections throughout the phone. By making Facebook immediately accessible from the most used areas of the phone such as the picture gallery, music player, phonebook and calendar, Sony Ericsson is enabling people to share and comment more easily than ever before through the new range of Xperia™ smartphones.  

Jorgen Berg, Head of Market Unit Africa at Sony Ericsson said, “We want to be a leader in Android and perform strongly in Africa. Introducing the latest Xperia™ range of phones, we are offering innovative Android choices combining state-of-the-art Sony technology with breathtaking design to entertain and wow consumers. All on the latest Android™ release”.

Xperia™ arc is the first in the new generation of Xperia smartphones with the stunning design language that Sony Ericsson has become known for. Super slim and light, Xperia™ arc is just 8.7mm at its thinnest part and has an extra wide 4.2” multi-touch screen. Created from premium materials and with a stunning arc body, this smartphone is sleek, strong and designed to fit perfectly in the user’s hand.

The best of Sony technology is inside Xperia™ arc.  The Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA® Engine delivers exceptional visual brilliance and a crystal clear image which enhances the overall entertainment experience. Furthermore, Sony’s award-winning Exmor R™ for mobile sensor with the f/2.4 lens enables the capture of high quality, bright pictures and HD videos even in low light. All pictures and videos can be shared in HD on your living room TV via the built in HDMI-connector.

Xperia™ arc has been awarded the EISA “European Camera phone of the year 2011 -2012” award.

Xperia™ neo V builds on the success of the Xperia™ neo launched earlier this year in selected markets. Xperia™ neo V takes the latest Android software and the best of Sony entertainment experiences, including Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA® Engine, to more markets. A beautiful smartphone with perfect ergonomics, packed with features like Google Talk with Video Chat, 3D sweep panorama and enhanced Facebook inside Xperia™ functionality.

Sony Ericsson Xperia™ ray is a sleek, beautiful and stylish smartphone with aluminium frame. With a 3.3” screen and running on the latest Android platform for smartphones, the phone packs in a powerful 1Ghz processor, Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA® Engine, a 8.1mp camera with Exmor R™ for mobile and HD video functionality. To add to a full set of specifications, the phone incorporates a front facing camera and a scratch resistant screen with excellent resolution and brightness as well as integrated touch keys. 

Patricia Wand, Head of Marketing for Market Unit Africa, Sony Ericsson said: “We expect Xperia™ ray to appeal to consumers who are looking for a combination of beautiful design and a rich feature set. We are able to deliver this in a unique way with a combination of premium materials and multimedia features provided by Sony.”

Building on the success of the original X10 mini series, Sony Ericsson continues to amaze with next generation of the minis. Beautifully designed, Xperia™ mini and Xperia™ mini pro both integrate best-in-class imaging and display technology from Sony, including Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA Engine and HD video recording (720p). 

The products offer a full multimedia entertainment experience. Xperia™ mini and Xperia™ mini pro each have a 3” scratch-resistant, multi-touch glass screen. The improved user interface allows up to 16 apps displayed on the home screen and an easy to use one hand touch operation.

Xperia™ mini pro brings the optimized slide-out keyboard with smart functionality first seen on the Xperia™ pro to a compact smartphone.

Xperia™ mini    

Xperia™ mini is the world smallest HD video recording smartphone yet and has been awarded the EISA “European Green SMART Phone 2011-2012” award.

          

To appeal more to business people and messaging pros, Sony Ericsson launches Xperia™ pro with business features such as McAfee Security Suite and Moxier out of the box.

The product combines an optimized slide-out keyboard with smart functions to create a fast messaging experience. Featuring an ergonomically crafted keyboard, Sony Ericsson has focused on integrating the hardware with clever messaging functions for a perfect user experience. Xperia™ pro introduces the subtle but fast Type & Send functionality eliminating the need to open a dedicated app for each type of message. The best of Sony technology once again features in Xperia™ pro. The Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA® Engine delivers exceptional visual brilliance and a crystal clear image which enhances the overall entertainment experience.

For consumers with an active lifestyle Xperia™ active is the perfect handset. It has a compact design combined with a number of innovative hardware features including a 3” screen, a powerful 1Ghz processor and a 5mp camera. It is also dustproof and water resistant and uniquely incorporates wet finger tracking.

This smartphone features the four corner user interface and comes pre-loaded with sports apps such as iMapMyFitness that enable users to easily track their fitness levels. By using the built-in GPS, barometer and compass in combination with the on-screen heart rate & pulse monitor (enabled by ANT+ wireless networking technology) users can easily monitor their day to day performance.

With seven new Xperia models launching by the end of this year, Sony Ericsson continues to bring unique entertainment experiences to the consumers, enabling them to access to the worlds of both Android and Sony – all integrated into beautiful and easy-to-use devices.