Sony Ericsson mystery handset leaks out, provides juicy rumor material

Do you recognize this handset? Neither do we, and that's kind of the point. We're looking at a never-before seen Sony Ericsson smartphone running Android -- neither the Anzu / X12 nor the PlayStation Phone -- and if we're not terribly mistaken, that's the company's translucent Timescape UI on top. Oh, and it seems to be attached to Vodafone Germany, for whatever that's worth. What's more, the picture itself only tells half the story, as the other half is where it came from -- a Picasa account filled to the brim with 8 megapixel test shots from a pair of camera phones. It's hard to say whether either the Sony Ericsson "LT15i" or the "MT15i" are the device we're actually looking at here, but the brethren have now fired off over 150 images testing out these camera modules. Rumor has it that both are running Gingerbread and that this one's internal codename is "Hallon," but honestly we're more interested in that huge camera module on the front. HD video chat, perhaps?  

Find a full-frontal picture after the break.........

REVIEW:SONY ERICSSON HAZEL

PhoneArena reviews the Sony Ericsson Hazel. As part of the Greenheart initiative, the Sony Ericsson Hazel is a handset for the users that care about the environment. It is a slider made of recycled plastic, comes without a paper user manual and with an enery-efficient charger. Other specs include 5MP camera, GPS and microSD slot.

PlayStation Phone 'Zeus Z1' caught on video again, this time you can actually see it

 The Sony Ericsson PlayStation Phone “Zeus Z1″ got once again caught on video. 

PICTURES SONY ERICSSON HAZEL

Sony Ericsson Hazel Pictures – As part of the Greenheart initiative, the Sony Ericsson Hazel is a handset for the users that care about the environment. It is a slider made of recycled plastic, comes without a paper user manual and with an enery-efficient charger. Other specs include 5MP camera, GPS and microSD slot.

SONY ERICSSON ASPEN - HANDS ON REVIEW

The Sony Ericsson Aspen is the first smartphone, officially said to run Windows Mobile 6.5.3. It belongs to the GeenHeart family, which houses other eco-friendly handsets by the manufacturer. In addition, it adds a personalized homescreen that you can use on the 2.4-inch touch-sensitive display. A front-facing QWERTY keyboard will be on board to assist your messaging needs, along with many other features.

SONY ERICSSON X10 FAMILY WILL GET ANDROID 2.1 IN Q4

Sony Ericsson just went out with that the Sony Ericsson X10 family ( X10, X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro) will get the Android 2.1 OS in Q4 2010. The upgrade will be made available to consumers through the update service at sonyericsson.com. Some examples of user benefits that will be included in the UXP upgrade for Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 in Q4 2010 are:

• Upgrade to Android OS version 2.1
• HD video recording as per the same execution as Sony Ericsson Vivaz
• Wireless home connectivity via DLNA
• Improvements to signature applications Timescape and Mediascape to make them even smarter and richer

SONY ERICSSON VIVAZ PRO INTRODUCTION

Daniel Sandblom from Sony Ericsson gives a short introduction to the Vivaz pro. The Sony Ericsson Vivaz pro is almost identical to the Vivaz but has some key differences. First of, it features a side-sliding QWERTY keyboard for the texting crowd out there and second, it has a 5-megapixel camera, as opposed to 8MP. Fortunately, it has kept its ability to shoot HD resolution videos.

Sony Ericsson’s move to streamline its portfolio and focus on high end handsets has paid off

Sony Ericsson’s move to streamline its portfolio and focus on high end handsets has paid off, seeing the company return to profitability in the first quarter.A resolution of a royalty dispute also helped margins, the company said.
The handset manufacturer earned £18m during the first quarter, after losing £257m in the same period last year and £147m in the fourth quarter. The results confounded analyst predictions. A mean forecast in a Reuters poll of 27 analysts had been for a £138m loss.
The move has seen a fall in revenue which dropped 19% to £1.23bn. The company shipped 10.5 million phones, 27.5% lower than the first quarter of 2009. The company said its strategy of streamlining of its portfolio to focus on higher-priced phones was behind the fall.

However the strategy appears to be paying off with average selling prices improving rising to £117 compared to £105 in both the fourth quarter and the first quarter of 2009. Restructuring charges have also fallen to just £2.63m of restructuring charges, compared to £131m in the fourth quarter.
Sony Ericsson president Bert Nordberg, who joined the manufacturer last October, attributed the lift in average selling prices to the launch of the Xperia X10 and the Vivaz smartphones. Both models have been well received globally, he said. Increases in both gross and operating margins show that we are on the right track to build the correct cost structure for our business organization and strategy.
Gross margins rose to 31%, compared to 8% in the prior-year period and 23% in the fourth quarter of 2009. Operating margins were 1%, compared to -21% in the previous year period and -10% in the fourth quarter. Market share fell by a percentage point to 4%.
Sony Ericsson also announced that Bill Glaser, former head of Sony Group’s risk office, is replacing Ulf Lija as chief financial officer. Lija will return to Ericsson.