Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 Sample Photos

Everybody's favorite phone Pimp, Mark Morrow AKA Bengal Boy has probably posted the first ever sample photos from Sony Ericsson's upcoming Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Uberphone, the Xperia X1. Here are the photos. The first 3 are in macro mode while the other 5 are regular. Originals as well as a few video samples can be found here.

Sony Ericsson to blend JAVA and Flash with Project Capuchin

April 30, 2008 Sony Ericsson's new Project Capuchin bridges Java ME and Flash Lite	[Back]

On April 30, 2008 Sony Ericsson announced its new Project Capuchin technology which is a Java ME API that defines a bridge between the Java ME and Adobe Flash Lite programming environments. This API makes it possible to use Flash Lite as the front end and Java ME as the back end of applications, meaning that Flash tools can be used for UI design while still having access to all the phone services available to Java ME.

Below you will find an overview of this new bridging technology, a summary of how it works and usage examples.

Sony Ericsson's Project Capuchin overview
Project Capuchin allows developers to combine the richness of both Java ME and Flash Lite by encapsulating Flash Lite content in Java ME applications making content created by Adobe Flash technology appear as Java ME applications. Project Capuchin empowers these two distinct developer communities to leverage their respective expertise to quickly and securely create highly engaging mobile content.

Project Capuchin is a bridging technology between Java ME and Flash Lite making it possible to take advantage of Flash's strengths in fast UI deployment and well established designer tools, meanwhile Java's strengths are in services, security and a well developed distribution infrastructure. Project Capuchin makes it possible to create Java applications where some or all UI components are defined in Flash Lite and where all services can be accessed through Java.

Project Capuchin is proprietary Sony Ericsson technology and will be made available for developers to use for free during the second of half of 2008.

How does Project Capuchin work?
Project Capuchin is a Java ME API which makes it possible for Java to run a Flash Lite content file (*.swf) that is shown on the display. All system events (e.g. key events) are forwarded from Java to Flash Lite and the Flash Lite player has a choice of listening to these events. In case Flash Lite wants to access some information then it is done through Java. Communication between Flash Lite and JSRs are handled through an intermediate class that works as a translator. This class listens to Flash Lite requests, transfers these to JSR calls, and sends response back to Flash Lite. Communication between Flash Lite and Java is bi-directional meaning that Flash Lite can send requests to and receive events from Java. Requests send from Flash Lite are made in an asynchronous manner.

Project Capuchin model.

Different approaches to using Project Capuchin
Project Capuchin can be used in different ways to create innovative content and here are some examples:

• Pure Flash Lite Content (Full Flash UI and services, no Java ME access):
  The simplest form of using this technology is to take pure Flash Lite content (e.g. already existing games and apps developed in Flash) and encapsulate it in MIDlet suites (*.jar) using Sony Ericsson's soon-to-be-available packaging tools. The benefit of this approach is that this Flash Lite content will be treated in the same manner as Java content, thus will use the same distribution infrastructure and system capabilities as Java ME content.
  
  
• Java MIDlet using Project Capuchin as UI presentation layer (full Flash UI, Java Services):
  More advanced use of Project Capuchin is to let Flash Lite handle the entire presentation layer and use Java as a service provider which feeds the presentation layer with necessary data.
  
  
• Java MIDlet using Project Capuchin for some UI components (Java UI and Flash UI, Java Services):
  In some cases such as 3D games, it is not feasible to use Flash Lite as a full presentation layer yet this should be handled using suitable Java technology (e.g. Mascot API, JSR 184 or JSR 239). In these cases, Project Capuchin could be used for presentation of some UI components, for example menus in 3D games.
  

More information, documentation and tools support will be made available on Developer World over the next few months.

Link

New info on Shiho and Patty

Goldenface over at Esato has given some new dirt on Sony Ericsson's upcoming phones. Most interesting is information about Patty, a Walkman phone with a great autofocus camera module as well as PhotoFlash like the C902. Patty, along with Shiho are running the new SE platform, A300 which brings WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1 to the table. Early specs for Patty are

• Slim, Walkman, candybar form factor
• A300 platform
• 5MP Autofocus Camera with PhotoFlash
• Bluetooth 2.1
• Wi-Fi

Sony Ericsson Release Schedule for 2008

Thanks to SE-World, we now have Sony Ericsson's tentative release schedule for the rest of 2008. Looks like we will have storms of new phones in May and September. Most interesting in this time line is September with 4 unannounced High End phones (Alicia, Ying, An, and most famous Paris). Looks like Nokia N-Series might have a run for its money come this fall. The most anticipated Cybershot Flagship Shiho has a release date of sometime in Q4. It will most likely be released sometime in October/November just like the K850i of 1 year earlier. Click on the Image to see it full sized.

Sony Ericsson Announces G502 and Z780

As predicted, Sony Ericsson along with the Q1 2008 results announced the Z780 and G502 today. Each is a mid tier, 2MP fixed focus, HSDPA enabled mobile phone. The candybar G502 is targeted toward Europe while the clamshell Z780's intended market is North and Latin America. Quick Specs

G502
- Triband GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900/1800/1900 and UMTS/HSDPA 2100
- 2.0" QVGA 262k color screen
- 2.0MP fixed focus camera with 4x digital zoom
- Google Maps built-in
- Email setup wizard
- Support Exchange ActiveSync
- RSS Desktop
- Champagne Black and Brilliant Hazel colors
- Release in Q2 2008



Z780
- QuadBand GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS/HSDPA 850/1900/2100
- 2.2" QVGA 262k color screen
- 2.0MP fixed focus camera with 2.5x digital zoom
- aGPS
- Google Maps built-in
- Email Setup Wizard
- Support for Exchange ActiveSync
- RSS Desktop
- Grand Onyx and Amethyst Silver colors
- Release in Q2 2008


Press Release

G502 Emelie and Z780i announcement April 23

Lots of rumblings over at SE about the Q1 results presentation.
Will we see the Z780i and G502 announced then? Will we get
confirmation of the May announcement featuring Paris and Beibei?
In less then 12 hours we will know.....

Preliminary Emelie/G502 specs

- Triband GSM + EDGE
- Available in Brilliant Hazel and Champagne Black
- 2 inch QVGA 260K color screen
- HSDPA
- Exchange Activesync support
- Google maps built in
- Netfront web browser
- 2 Megapixel non-AF camera with 4x digital zoom
- Bluetooth 2.0

- USB 2.0
- 109x46x13.5 mm
- 83.5 grams
- 32 MB built in memory
- M2 support

Next announcement?

So When is the next announcement? We should get info on April 23, 2008. Last year on the Q1 2007 Business Update webcast which was presented on April 20 , we got the May 8 date which is when the P1i was announced. This year it is on April 23. So one must assume a May 6 or 13 product announcement from SE. Could we finally have Paris and Beibei announced then?

My First Post

Hi everybody, just wanted to welcome everybody to my new blog. I am a big fan of Sony Ericsson phones so I decided I would start a blog about it. I will update the blog whenever there is any information worth mentioning this includes important press releases, product announcements, and rumors. I hope everybody enjoys this blog.