New CNN, Skype, Mytopia and ‘On the Road’ panels introduced for the Xperia™ X1

16 February 2009

Sony Ericsson unveils latest panels for Xperia™ X1 offering further opportunities for consumers to personalise the device with the content they want most. The new panels add to those announced last week as part of the Sony Ericsson Content Awards, further enhancing the unique user experience of the Xperia™ X1 and offering yet more ways to customise their device.

Mobile World Congress, February 16, 2009 – Sony Ericsson today unveils four new panels for its Xperia™ X1 mobile phone. Available to download from mid-march March 2009, the latest panels enhance the unique user interface of the X1 that enables users to customise the handset, bringing the content and applications they want onto their active desktop.

• A new CNN panel keeps you constantly updated with the latest news, sport, or weather and a host of CNN content including access to CNN’s popular citizen journalism tool, ‘i-Report’. Browse information by category, personalise your experience or plug in your location and get instant updates for wherever you are in the world.

• A unique Skype panel brings quick access to Skype on the X1, telling you at a glance which of your friends are online. Browse easily through your contacts and call or instant message them in just a couple of clicks, or customise your handset using the evening, daylight or event based effects.

• For those who just want to have fun, a new Mytopia panel lets you play bingo and poker games with people around the world. With millions of users there is always someone online to play against or you can play by yourself. You can even collect virtual coins and improve your rank by winning live matches.

• For those always on the move, the specially developed ‘On the Road’ panel includes large touch icons and a simple layout. Offering direct access to your music playlists and tracks, navigation tools and easy to use call-handling, this panel will makes your driving convenient and entertaining wherever the road takes you.

Since its launch in Q4 2008, close to 420,000 panels have been downloaded onto X1 devices around the world with half a million unique hits for X1 panels on the Sony Ericsson Fun & Downloads service.

Catherine Cherry, Global Marketing Business Manager, Sony Ericsson commented, “We are very pleased with the success of the Xperia™ X1 and will continue to evolve the device to meet the consumer demand for a rich, individualised multimedia experience on their phones. By partnering with some of the world’s most popular content providers and applications we are giving consumers the opportunity to customise the device bringing the applications that they use most directly onto the desktop. Users can personalise the device to suite their mood and lifestyle making the mobile experience even more enjoyable and entertaining.”

“We are delighted to partner with Sony Ericsson and develop a panel that provides users with an easy way to access and experience the rich Skype internet communications experience on the XPERIA™ X1,” said Scott Durchslag, Skype’s Chief Operating Officer. “This is a further example of how we are implementing our ‘Skype everywhere’ strategy and enabling mobile phone users to access Skype wherever and whenever they want. As the world’s fastest-growing internet communications company, the valuable strategic partnerships we develop with companies like Sony Ericsson will further fuel our rapid growth and improve our 400 million users’ Skype experience on the go.”

“This type of media rich, hand held experience is where the future lies in news consumption. CNN leads the way in innovative delivery of news and partnering with brands like Sony Ericsson only helps to improve the experience for our audience.” comments Mark Haviland, Marketing Director, CNN International.

Guy Ben-Artzi, CEO, Mytopia added, “The Xperia™ X1 enables us to create connected gaming experiences that aren’t possible to deliver on other phones. The Mytopia panel allows users to play live games against their friends from popular social networks like Facebook and MySpace directly from the device. With its large screen and advanced data capabilities, the X1 is a superior mobile platform for developing games and multimedia applications.”

The Xperia™ X1, announced at Mobile World Congress in 2008, brings a totally new experience to mobile phone users by introducing nine easy-to-use, interactive panels which sit on the touch screen interface of the phone. The unique user interface gives users an “always live” experience, offering the flexibility to tailor the phone’s desktop with information that is relevant to them at any given time.

The X1 comes pre-loaded with a wide range of panels including a Google search panel. Facebook and Windows Live panels are already available on www.sonyericsson.com/fun for download onto the Xperia™ X1.

Link

Xperia X1 facebook panel demo

Xperia Lancers has put up a little video on the Facebook panel on the X1.

SE adds Facebook and Microsoft Live panels to XPERIA X1

Sony Ericsson launches new exclusive panels for the Xperia™ X1 multimedia phone

25 November 2008

London, November 25, 2008 - Sony Ericsson has just launched the latest panels for its multimedia convergence phone, the Xperia™ X1, teaming up with the popular social networking site Facebook and Microsoft Windows Live. These web-centric panels come in addition to the existing connectivity panel from Dashwire, a site which allows you to sync your phone content to the web and share it to a range of popular social networking sites.

The new Facebook application built for Sony Ericsson uses the unique interface of the Xperia™ X1 to deliver an intuitive version of the site, putting images of your friends onto your phone’s desktop (standby screen) and showing their latest status updates as you touch their images. Touch through to access more Facebook features.

New functions available through the Xperia™ X1 Facebook panel include:

• An entirely new visual representation of friends’ statuses
• Simple and fast upload of photos to Facebook
• Easy access to Facebook friends list and phone numbers, with click to call capabilities.

As you touch to view different information, icons and links change to give you one touch access to the information you are likely to use - for example, touch the photo icon from your profile page to see your photos, from a friend’s profile page touch the photo icon to see their photos.

The Xperia™ X1 marks the beginning of a partnership between Sony Ericsson and Microsoft. In addition to building the X1 on the flexible, powerful Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system, which helps extend the phone's connection to Microsoft Web and PC experiences, a new Windows Live panel will help Xperia™ X1 users instantly bring their existing Windows Live contacts and features to their phone.

The Windows Live panel uses existing Windows Live ID to sync contacts held in the X1’s phonebook, and the panel will provide easy access to an intuitive Microsoft messenger interface, including Hotmail and Live Messenger, the world’s most widely used free instant messaging service. The panel will also give users access to the Windows Live Search function, which is tailored to mobile phones and can be voice activated and controlled. Other Windows Live services will be incorporated into the panel throughout the year.

“We're thrilled to partner with Sony Ericsson and deliver our Windows Mobile platform and Windows Live panel on the Xperia™ X1,” said Todd Peters, corporate vice president of marketing, Microsoft Mobile Communications Business. “460 million Windows Live users can step into the Xperia™ X1 and tap into the Microsoft experience they already use everyday."

The Dashwire panel seamlessly synchronises the X1 and the content it captures with a user's computer and the web. Dashwire's free service helps users automatically sync the contacts, text messages, photos, videos, calls, and settings from their phones to a private cloud-based account, providing them with access to their information when in front of a computer or on-the-go using their Xperia™ X1, and making it easy for users to do things like backup their contacts, send text messages from the web, and share their photos and videos with friends and social sites like Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, FriendFeed, and Bebo.

“Panels open up an exciting set of opportunities for users to interact with their personalized experiences, and for developers to help bring them to life,” said Ford Davidson, founder and CEO of Dashwire. “By building out a custom panel, we’ve enabled our users to instantly access all of their photos stored in the cloud with just a flick of their finger.”

The Facebook, Windows Live and Dashwire panels are available for free download via the device’s on-board downloader and from the Sony Ericsson website, where they join the initial panels from Sony Ericsson and Spb software. Panels can also be downloaded from the Sony Ericsson Fun & Downloads web site. Browse to www.sonyericsson.com/fun and select 'panels'.

In addition to panels developed through individual panel partners, Sony Ericsson is working with the independent developer community to encourage them to create exciting and innovative panels based on the recently released Beta software developers kit (SDK) for Windows Mobile 6.1 compatible with Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 development environment and Microsoft Windows Vista operating system. To encourage developers to work with the SDK, Sony Ericsson has dedicated a category of its 2008 Content Awards to the design of Xperia™ panels.

“Sony Ericsson is committed to building a rich and dynamic panel eco-system for the Xperia™ X1 that will really bring the power of the handset to life”, said Rikko Sakaguchi, CVP and Head of Creation and Development at Sony Ericsson. “Making the Windows Mobile SDK available for free to developers and mobile content creators will accelerate the development of new panels and applications for the Xperia™ X1, offering consumer choice and personalisation.”

Entries to the Panel Competition are invited from any developers, both companies and individuals, who develop a panel for the Xperia™ X1. The Panel Competition winner will be announced at Mobile World Congress and featured in Sony Ericsson events at the show. In addition, they will be invited to an exclusive two day workshop and presentation at the Sony Ericsson head quarters in Lund, Sweden where they will present their projects to top Sony Ericsson executives and spend one on one time with several senior Sony Ericsson directors to discuss new joint business ventures.

To find out how to enter the panel competition which has been extended until January 30th, 2009, please visit www.sonyericsson.com/contentawards

Link

XPERIA X1a coming December 7

According to an leaked inventory screen shot from somebody at Best Buy, the Sony Ericsson X1a is coming to the USA retailer on December 7 and will retail for $799.99 unlocked.

Link

XPERIA X1 unboxing and walkthrough videos

Unboxing:




Walkthroughs:

New XPERIA X1 unboxing video, comparison to HTC Touch Pro

XPERIA X1 unboxing

Fosfor.com has put up some unboxing pics of the XPERIA X1











Link

New XPERIA X1 Demo

Sam Oakley from Xperiancers has put up a walkthrough video of the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1. This is not the final version, but it is very close. Final version should hit shops next week.

New XPERIA X1 videos

Rog over at SE Community has poster new videos showcasing different functions of the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1. Enjoy.

Xperia X1 Google Maps & GPS possibilities


Xperia X1 Musicplayer


Xperia X1 Internet Browsing


Xperia X1 Illumination possibilities


Xperia X1 Camera UI


Xperia X1 1 panels

XPERIA X1 Webcast video

From InExperia, we have a video of the September 15 webcast. I broke it into 3 parts for easy viewing. We see some demos and how the phone operates. Looks like SE did a good job with the panels.

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3

X1 Customisable Panel User Interface

XPERIA X1 coming Sept 30

Sony Ericsson has formally announced the release date of the X1, Sept 30 in parts of Europe.

Sony Ericsson announces launch dates for Xperia™ X1

10 September 2008

London, UK – 10 September 2008 – Sony Ericsson today announces 30 September 2008 as the official launch date for the highly anticipated Xperia™ X1 – initially available to consumers in the UK, Germany and Sweden. The handset will be available in other markets across Europe, Asia and Latin America throughout Q4 2008.

APAC

• Indonesia, Singapore, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam

Western Europe

• Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Netherlands, Austria, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Portugal

Central Europe

• Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic

Middle East

• UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait

Africa

• South Africa

Latin America

• Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia

Availability dates for North America, China, Australia and Russia along with other countries not mentioned above will be announced by local markets in the coming months.

Webcast
To start the countdown to the launch of Xperia™ X1, Sony Ericsson will host a live global webcast on September 15 at 13:00 GMT + 1, offering viewers the first in-depth demonstration of the handset. The web cast will also premiere the first episode of an alternative reality thriller Johnny X. To register to view the web cast and Q&A session with Xperia™ X1 Senior Product Manager Magnus J Andersson, please visit: www.sonyericsson.com/premiere.

“We are extremely pleased with the innovation and new user experience we have created for consumers on the Xperia™ X1,” said Rikko Sakaguchi CVP and Head of Creation and Development at Sony Ericsson. “The in-depth demonstration on the web cast will showcase how this handset is truly unique. The nine panel eco system puts the user in total control of the primary experiences available on the phone and allows consumers to personalise the panel interface to suit their needs and lifestyle. The Xperia™ X1 has the highest quality screen on the market, four-way navigation keys and optical joy stick to give a stressless browsing experience and, with its super fast processor and network speed the Xperia™ X1 really bridges the gap between personal, entertainment and work mobile needs.”

Johnny X Alternative Reality Thriller
Johnny X is about a young man with amnesia desperately piecing together his identity. The webisodic thriller comprises of nine episodes, created to demonstrate the rich, immersive and experiential elements of the Xperia™ X1.

The storyline follows Johnny X on his mission to rediscover his identity. As he finds out more about his lost life in a race against time, he updates his Xperia™ X1 with new content to piece together his personality and identity, reflecting how the phone can be personalized to suit users’ individual lifestyle and needs. Will Johnny X find out who he really is before it’s too late?

“Producing the Johnny X thriller has given us an engaging platform to demonstrate all the capabilities and features a user can experience with the Xperia™ X1 phone,” said Lennard Hoornik, Head of Marketing at Sony Ericsson. “The panel interface is a perfect way to reflect your personality and can be tailored and changed to suit your exact needs at any given time. No two Xperia™ X1 will ever have the same combination of panels on the phone; we are all individuals and deserve to have a phone that reflects that. ”

Over a three week period, one new episode of Johnny X will be posted online at www.sonyericsson.com/Johnnyx every Monday, Wednesday and Friday starting on Monday, September 22. Check out the trailer for the series at www.whoisjohnny-x.com

Global Launch
The official global launch of the Xperia™ X1 will take place at Tent London as part of London Design Week between September 18 – 21st. Journalists are invited to attend the official Tent London opening party on Friday evening 19 September 2008 to see the Xperia™ X1 and meet with Sony Ericsson spokespeople. To register, please email: sonyericsson@bm.com

Tent London is one of the most comprehensive and diverse design events of the year. It is a multi-disciplinary event in an exciting location that will appeal equally to designers, media and consumers - embracing art to architecture, vintage to contemporary and raw talent to established trend-setters.

Open to general public from 18-21st September, from 10am, with admission prices starting at:

• Public & Students £7.50 in advance £10.00 on the door
• Child (under 16) £5.00
• Child (under 5) FREE

For advance ticket purchases, visit: www.tentlondon.co.uk
Address: Circa at Tent London, The Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London, E1

Xperia™
The Xperia™ X1 is the first product under Sony Ericsson’s new premium sub-brand Xperia™. Designed to meet consumers’ needs for a converged entertainment and mobile web communication experience, the Xperia™ X1 is an extremely stylish handset encased in a real stainless steel body, with a striking arc-slider design, supported by a powerful multimedia ecosystem.

Consumers can access a world of experiences by tapping on one of the unique customisable panels on the three-inch high resolution touch-widescreen. Windows Mobile® lets you choose from a dynamic range of activities anytime and anywhere; from enjoying your music, watching a video, checking email, shopping online or working with Windows Mobile Office on-the-move. The full QWERTY keyboard and quality metal casing completes this premium handset. For more information please visit: www.sonyericsson.com/x1

About Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson is a top global industry player with sales of over 100 million phones in 2007. Diversity is one of the core strengths of the company, with operations in over 80 countries including manufacturing in China and R&D sites in China, Europe, India, Japan and North America. Sony Ericsson was established as a 50:50 joint venture by Sony and Ericsson in October 2001, with global corporate functions located in London.

FOR MEDIA INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Sony Ericsson Corporate Communications & PR
Merran Wrigley: +44 7887-628358
General Press: +44 208 762 5858
E-mail: press.global@SonyEricsson.com

Sony Ericsson XperiaTM X1 – At A Glance

Camera

• Auto focus
• 3.2 megapixel camera
• Photo light
• Video recording

Music

• Bluetooth™ stereo (A2DP)
• Media player
• Music tones
• Windows Media Player™ Mobile
• 3D games
• FM radio
• Java
• Video streaming
• Video viewing

Internet

• Internet Explorer Mobile
• Opera 9.5 browser
• RSS feeds

Communication and Messaging

• Polyphonic ringtones
• Speakerphone
• Vibrating alert
• Video calling
• Email
• Picture messaging (MMS)
• Predictive text input
• Text messaging (SMS)

Design

• Xperia™ panels
• Optical Joystick navigation
• Navigation key
• Picture wallpaper
• Touch navigation

Organiser

• Alarm clock
• Calculator
• Calendar
• Document editors
• Document readers
• Flight mode
• Handwriting recognition
• Notes
• Phone book
• Tasks
• Touchscreen

Connectivity

• aGPS
• Bluetooth™ technology
• Modem
• Synchronisation
• USB support
• WLAN

Windows® Mobile® Operating System 6.1

• Microsoft® Outlook Mobile: email, contacts, calendar, tasks
• Microsoft® Office Mobile: Word, Excel, PowerPoint
• Internet Explorer® Mobile
• Windows Media Player™ Mobile
• Windows Live™
• Exchange ActiveSync®
• Utility Applications: file explorer, calculator, pictures & video, notes

Facts and Figures

• Size: 110 x 53 x 16.7 mm
• Weight: 158 grams

• Available colours: Solid Black and Steel Silver

• Main screen: 65,536 color TFT
• Resolution: 800 X 480 pixels
• Size: 3 inches

• Memory
• Phone memory: up to 400 MB
• microSD™ memory card support

Availability and Versions
Networks

• UMTS 900/1900/2100
• UMTS 850/1900/2100
• EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
• HSUPA/HSDPA

Link

Sony Ericsson releases SDK for Xperia X1 Panel Interface, panel download service in the works

Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X1 panel interface puts the user at the heart of the mobile experience

03 September 2008 New Sony Ericsson Software Developers Kit (SDK) brings the Xperia™ X1 eco-system to life by offering mobile users choice and customisation

London, UK — 3 September 2008— Sony Ericsson today published its Software Developer Kit (SDK) for Xperia™ X1 and invited developers and content creators to capitalize on the opportunities offered by developing mobile content for the phone. Whether it is music, photography, email or instant messaging, gaming, social networking or video applications, developers can now create a host of unique multi-media entertainment and content for the Xperia™ X1 for consumers to enjoy.

Xperia™ X1 brings a totally new experience to mobile phone users by introducing nine easy-to-use, interactive panels which sit on the touch screen interface of the phone.

Developers can use the Windows Mobile SDK, free of charge, to produce a wide variety of panels to meet the consumer’s demand for a rich, individualised multimedia experience on their phone. Users of the Xperia™ X1 will be spoilt for choice as they personalize their handset with panel applications to suit their mood and lifestyle. Whether it is a search engine, advanced calendar or social networking application, music or film catalogue, sports or news related content, the panels enable you to access any information – quickly and directly – with a simple tap on the 3” super high resolution touch screen.

“Sony Ericsson is committed to providing its customers with rich, open content environment to make their mobile experience more enjoyable and entertaining,” said Rikko Sakaguchi , CVP and Head of Creation and Development at Sony Ericsson. “Making the Windows Mobile SDK available for free to developers and mobile content creators will accelerate the development of new panels and applications for the Xperia™ X1, offering consumer choice and personalisation.
The Xperia™ X1 will offer the richest mobile user experience, putting the world at the fingertips of the user.”

Entertain yourself:

• Customise your Xperia™ X1 panels so you are a touch away from your favourite content – music, film, TV, sports
• Or, be the envy of your friends by watching TV or film clips in DVD quality on the three-inch high resolution touch-widescreen
• Get picture happy on the 3.2 megapixel camera and show the images in crystal clear clarity on the 800 X 480 pixels screen
• Access the latest 3D mobile games by simply touching a favourite gaming panel you have selected

Make your personal life a little easier:

• Access all your contacts and calendar entries wherever you are, as the Xperia™ X1 can automatically sync with your PC making sure you never miss a birthday, anniversary or meeting
• Search or book a holiday in your lunch hour by going online via a travel panel
• Add your local supermarket website and do your weekly food shop in just a few taps on the bus on the way home
• Read the latest restaurants reviews, look up cinema listings, call a friend or reply to personal email on the move using the full QWERTY keyboard
• Find that bar, restaurant or hotel using Assisted GPS and Goggle Maps™ for mobile when you’re on vacation or a business trip

Work on the move:

• Windows Mobile™ 6.1 makes working on the move easier with easy access to work emails and Microsoft® Office Mobile applications, such as Excel, Word and PowerPoint
• Always stay up-to-date with colleagues and important appointments by syncing the handset to Microsoft Outlook on your work PC

“The X1’s panels are a simple but immersive way of interacting with content, services and applications that will delight and engage consumers,” said Todd Peters, corporate vice president, Mobile Communications Marketing Group, Microsoft Corp. “Sony Ericsson’s X1 is a fantastic demonstration of how to harness the power of Windows Mobile to connect people to the things they care about most.”

Xperia™ X1
The Xperia™ X1 is the first product under Sony Ericsson’s new premium sub-brand Xperia™. Designed to meet consumers’ needs for a converged entertainment and mobile web communication experience, the Xperia™ X1 is an extremely stylish handset, with a striking arc-slider design, encased in real stainless steel, supported by a powerful panel multimedia ecosystem.

The Xperia™X1 can be personalised through its nine panel user interface to suit the user’s moods and lifestyle. Users can access content quickly and directly through the touch screen, easily switching between applications by touching one of the unique customisable panels.

Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X1 – A new era in mobile convergence

• Unique arc slider with 3.0” WVGA display and finger touch navigation
• Customisable panels
• Wide pitch easy-to-use QWERTY keyboard
• Four way navigation keys and optical joy stick for stressless browsing
• 3.2 megapixel camera
• DVD quality video and 3D Gaming capabilities
• Windows Mobile® capabilities such as Microsoft® Outlook Mobile, Internet Explorer® Mobile and Microsoft® Office Mobile: World, Excel, Powerpoint

Distribution information
The Sony Ericsson SDK for Windows Mobile™ 6.1 will be made available for easy download on the Sony Ericsson Developer World website: www.sonyericsson.com/developer.

Click on http://www.sonyericsson.com/x1panelvideo/ to see a video of Ramanath Bhat, Application and Product Planning for the Xperia™ X1, talk about the phone’s unique panel interface and the benefits of publishing the Windows Mobile SDK for Xperia™ X1.

Press Release

Pavel Zentrich (Sony Ericsson Russia): something about Walkmans, UIQ, Sagem and Xperia...

Smape has a put up a interview with Pavel Zentrich from SE Russia. Some key notes from the interview

• Dedicate audio chips seem unnecessary for SE, especially with the Clear Audio Experience Technology
• Walkman phones will probably never get built in 3.5 mm headphone jacks. The adapter route seems a lot more logical to SE especially in terms of answering the phone while listening to music. Plus all Walkphones come bundled with an adapter so it is at no extra cost to the consumer.
• The X1 will be the only XPERIA phone this year. Next year we will see more high end devices and possibly a more affordable candybar XPERIA phone.

Link

Cellulare-Magazine.it hands on video preview of XPERIA X1

Cellulare-Magazine.it has posted a nice video preview of the upcoming Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1.