Sony MWC invitation
Sony has sent out invitations to a press event they plan to hold at Mobile World Congress. The event will be held on Sunday, February 26th at 6:00pm CET.
Here’s what the company teases with, ”Find out what’s new and what’s next! Join Sony and Sony Moblile Communications at our Press Conference at Mobile World Congress.”
Care to guess what we’ll see announced at MWC? Sony Xperia U and Xperia P maybe?
Sony Xperia P
Every new phone that is brought to a market needs to collect a selection of stamps and small print before it is released. One of these stamp-companies is the Indonesian Telecoms Regulatory, which approves or denies a device for the Indonesian market. A Sony ST25i Kumquat just received its approval from the Indonesian Telecoms Regulatory body. The most interesting fact about this is that they also revealed the marketing name for the ST25i, which is from now on going to be called the Sony Xperia P.
We’re expecting to see the Sony Xperia P announced at MWC next month.
Sony Xperia U
The Indonesian equivalent of the US FCC has shed some light on what the Sony Ericsson ST25i Kumquat will be marketed as. According to a recent filing by Sony Ericsson, the ST25i will be called the Sony Ericsson Xperia U. However, since Sony Ericsson is moving away from Ericsson, our guess is that this will be simply called Sony Xperia U. MWC is most probably where we’ll see this officially announced.
Sony ST25i Kumquat
Not that long ago, an alleged Sony roadmap for 2012 leaked. The roadmap contained a wide selection of code names that we hadn’t heard before. One of those devices, the Sony LT25i Kumquat, has now leaked. The image you see above is told to be that exact device.
On the spec side of things, we’re expecting to see a dual-core 1GHz processor, 3.5-inch screen (480×854 pixels), 5-megapixel camera and Android 2.3. The device is basically a mini-Xperia S. We don’t really have other information of the Kumquat now, but we’re expecting to see it announced February at Mobile World Congress 2012.
Sony Xperia Arc HD?
It’s just a few hours after the official Resident Evil: Retribution teaser trailer was launched. The trailer is packed with Sony products, but one device comes of particular interest to me.
The phone in the image above looks a lot like the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc or Arc S, but the branding is not quite correct. There isn’t a device with just Sony branding and that look. This leads us to believe that it could be the rumored Sony Xperia Arc HD, and not the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc/Arc S that is already available.
Hit View Post to see the trailer for Resident Evil: Retribution teaser trailer.
Sony (Ericsson) Windows Phone
Sony (Ericsson) has previously stated that the company is not working on a Windows Phone product. Recent leaks of a Sony (Ericsson) design speaks otherwise, and shows a usual Sony (Ericsson) hardware design running Windows Phone. Today we got a new set of leaked Sony (Ericsson) Windows Phone images. We can’t really say if this is just an old prototype (the fact that it is running an old version of Windows Phone speaks for this), or something that the company is aiming to push to the market. If it is the latter, we could hear more of it at MWC next month.
Hit View Post to see the whole gallery.
Sony Ericsson today reported a loss of 247 million euros in the fourth quarter of 2011. In Q3 2011 the company reported a profit of 31 million euros, so the decline has been quite stunning. According to Sony Ericsson, the reasons for this huge drop comes of “intense competition”, “price erosion” and flooding in Thailand. Hopefully they’ll get their act together now when the company continues without the Ericsson name.
Hit View Post for the full press release.
Sony logo
Sony has sent out invites to a press event they’re planning to hold at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week. The company will present the latest news in the Xperia line.
We’re expecting to see at least a few models announced at the event. Earlier today we got the roadmap for Sony’s 11 smartphones they’re still planning to release this year. According to the roadmap, we’ll see the Kumquat, Nypon and Pepper released in April, so MWC is the most plausible event for the announcement.
Sony has released three pretty impressive promo videos of their Xperia acro HD and Xperia NX, both of which are going to be sold in Japan. The Xperia NX is the same as the Xperia S, while the acro HD adds a microSD card slot, TV Tuner and infrared port to the equation.
Sony Roadmap for 2012
GSM Arena got an image of what is claimed to be Sony’s smartphone roadmap for 2012. The roadmap even sheds light on Sony’s pricing strategy of the future devices. The information comes from Sony’s sales report in India, meaning the prices are for the Indian market.
The only device on the roadmap that is officially announced is the Sony Xperia S. The rest of the devices on the roadmap are still unannounced, but I’d say that at least the first three will be announced at MWC next month.
It is interesting to see a few really cheap phones in there. Sony (Ericsson) has previously only had high-end phones in their smartphone lineup.
We don’t know if all of these will run Android, or if the company’s smartphone strategy will shift to include both Android and Windows Phone. It will be interesting to hear more of their plans at MWC!
