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Press conferences are over

As at many a convention, press conferences are a staple of Mobile World Congress (MWC). Tens of companies have them, but Samsung, Nokia, Microsoft and Sony Ericsson tend to make the biggest push. And now that I've been to three shows in Barcelona, I have to lodge a couple of complaints. I don't think I'm being overly fussy here--really, I'm actually pretty easy to please (see last paragraph)--but I do have some advice for my friends in Korea, Finland, and London.

I may be in the minority here, but I'm at a press event … Read more

Sony Ericsson's Vivaz says, 'Oh, shiny!'

BARCELONA, Spain--Sony Ericsson spilled the beans on its new Vivaz three weeks before Mobile World Congress, but the device was a big part of the company's presence at the show, not least because it begat the new Vivaz Pro. And since MWC gave us our first chance to check out the device, we tracked it down at Sony Ericsson's crowded booth to give it the photo and video treatment.

On the outside, it's an attractive device with a shiny finish in moon silver, galaxy blue, cosmic black, and Venus ruby. The back side is slightly curved as … Read more

Finally, a video of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

BARCELONA, Spain--Though we came away from CES 2010 with loads of photos of the Google Android-powered Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, Sony Ericsson was stingy about video in Las Vegas. Reps wouldn't let the phone out of their sight--and not that we believe this--because they said that the slick handset wasn't in its final form.

Luckily, the company wasn't so stringent at Mobile World Congress. And really, how could it be after unveiling new Xperia X10 models? With CNET TV's Ariel Nunez I hit the Sony Ericsson booth the first morning of MWC and gave the device … Read more

Sony Ericsson says thanks but no thanks to Google Nexus One

Who says no to Google? Apparently, Sony Ericsson.

In an interview with Swedish newspaper Sydsvenskan, Sony Ericsson CEO Bert Nordberg revealed that Google first approached his company to build the Nexus One smartphone but it turned the opportunity down, making way for HTC to produce it.

Berg said Sony Ericsson wants to release phones under its own brand only and prefers to rely on its own efforts to make it in the U.S. market. Now, we can certainly admire the company's determination, but come on, Sony Ericsson, there's a time when you have to put your pride … Read more

MWC 2010: Day 1 wrap-up

Microsoft made headlines on the first day of Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona with the announcement of Windows Phone 7, its brand new mobile operating system. It will feature integration with Xbox Live and Zune, with a user interface unlike anything we've seen before. The Windows Mobile name is effectively dead.

But that's not all that debuted in Barcelona. Samsung took the opportunity to reveal its new Bada operating system with the Samsung Wave.

The Wave is slim, with a 3.3-inch AMOLED display, and features powerful features like Wi-Fi, a 1GHz processor, GPS, a 5-megapixel camera, … Read more

Shrinking the Xperia X10

BARCELONA, Spain--Sony Ericsson's Xperia X10 has barely hit the streets, but the company already is introducing new models based on the same design. At Mobile World Congress the company unveiled the X10 Mini and the X10 Mini Pro. It's all about size with these puppies. Though they retain the feature set of the Xperia X10 (with the exception of a lower-resolution camera), they deliver it in much smaller packages.

We understand what Sony Ericsson is trying to do here, but whenever you shrink a phone there are always trade-offs. And in this case, we think the trade-offs might … Read more

Sony Ericsson goes slim, sexy with the Vivaz Pro

BARCELONA, Spain--We were first on the show floor at the Mobile World Congress Monday morning to get our hands on Sony Ericsson's new Vivaz and Vivaz Pro. Even as the gates opened, the crowds were thick in Sony Ericsson's booth, which is usually the case with one of MWC's most active participants. The Vivaz

The phones hit high on the design scale. We like the reflective skin on both models and their trim, aerodynamic profiles. Sony Ericsson is big on a new trend of producing phones with curved backs. Apparently, they're supposed to mimic the shape … Read more

Sony Ericsson shows love for Android

BARCELONA, Spain--Executives from Sony Ericsson, the struggling European handset maker working hard to make a turnaround in 2010, said most of its new phones introduced this coming year will sport the Google Android operating system.

On the eve of the Mobile World Congress trade show, Sony Ericsson held a press conference here to show off its three new smartphones due out the first half of 2010. All three phones fit into an existing portfolio of devices that the company is calling the Fab Five. And two of the latest handsets will use Google Android.

The two new Android phones are … Read more

Sony Ericsson unveils revamps of Vivaz and Xperia X10

Sony Ericsson typically treats Mobile World Congress (MWC) as one of its biggest events of the year, and the 2010 show in Barcelona is no exception. The manufacturer unveiled three new handsets the night before MWC began at a packed nightclub on the Mediterranean Sea.

The Vivaz Pro is a cousin of the multimedia-centric Vivaz, which made its debut last month. On the outside it looks about the same as its predecessor, but it adds a full keyboard. Sony Ericsson is positioning the Symbian (Series 60, 5th edition) smartphone for business users, which perhaps explains the lower resolution camera (5.1-megapixels vs. 8.1-megapixels on the Vivaz).

Otherwise, the feature set is about the same. You'll find a media player, Bluetooth, a personal organizer, assisted-GPS, PC syncing, integrated social-media apps, a personal organizer, messaging and e-mail, Wi-Fi, USB mass storage, a 710MHz processor, and handwriting recognition. And we're very glad to hear that Sony Ericsson ditched its irritating proprietary connections and memory cards in favor of a 3.5mm headset jack, a Micro-USB port, and a microSD card slot.

The Xperia X10 Mini is about what it sounds like. Though the original Xperia X10 is a sight to behold, its lovely 4-inch display does make the handset a bit bulky (4.68 inches long by 2.48 inches wide by 0.5 inches deep). The Xperia X10 Mini, however, features a 2.5-inch display and measures 3.2 inches long by 1.9 inches wide by 0.62 inches deep.

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Sony Ericsson Aspen touts Windows Mobile 6.5.3, eco-friendliness

On Tuesday, Sony Ericsson announced the latest addition to its Greenheart series of eco-friendly phones, the Sony Ericsson Aspen. However, it's not the green angle that's catching people's attention (though it certainly is a plus), it's the fact that the Aspen is the first smartphone to run Windows Mobile 6.5.3.

This update to Microsoft's mobile operating system brings additional enhancements to the user interface, including more finger-friendly menus and touch controls and support for capacitive and multitouch gestures. In addition, Microsoft made improvements to the Web browser, so you should see faster page … Read more