Sony Ericsson's Zylo slider earns FCC approval

There's nothing quite like the harsh lighting of an FCC approval lab to call out a phone's true colors -- if a handset can look good here, it can look good pretty much anywhere. Needless to say, Sony Ericsson's Zylo isn't looking quite as slick and put-together here as it does in the company's own press shots; if we had to guess, countless engineers have smudged it up and beat the heck out of it moving it from machine to machine while taking radiation measurements by the time it made it to the camera. Anyhow, the version we're seeing here is quadband GSM plus UMTS bands I and VIII, which works out to 900 / 2100; in other words, there's not a snowball's chance you'll be using it for high-speed data stateside. Not a huge loss, we figure.

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Sony Ericsson 'Shakira' is a lower-cost X10 alternative?

Call it the Legend to HTC's Desire, if you will, but we're hearing that Sony Ericsson may have another Android device in the works that would slot in beneath the high-end Xperia X10. The phone -- allegedly codenamed "Shakira" -- is said to have a 3-inch display, but otherwise, we don't have any details; the tipster says that it could be running either Android 1.6 or 2.1, and with Sony Ericsson's custom skin in full effect, it's impossible to tell from this shot. Of course, the SE community has a legendary reputation for creating unbelievably convincing mockups, so we can't rule this real until the day it's announced; then again, it stands to reason that they'd want to make something cheaper than an X10 and less of a novelty gadget than the X10 mini. Stay tuned, folks.

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Sony Ericsson's Zylo and Spiro offer music, weird names on the cheap

As many smartphone operating systems as Sony Ericsson is actively supporting simultaneously (three, at our latest count), its featurephone business continues to solider on, too -- after all, there's that whole Walkman brand to pimp, right? The latest models to break cover -- the oddly named Spiro and Zylo sliders -- were announced this week with the promise of bringing high-end music capability at an "affordable entry point," and considering the specs, we don't doubt that the company will be able to meet that goal. Starting at the lower end of the range, the Spiro offers a 2 megapixel camera along with a 2.2-inch QVGA display; the Zylo ups the ante with a 3.2 megapixel shooter with geotagging, a 2.6-inch display, 3G, and some advanced audio capabilities. Both models will hit "selected markets" early in the third quarter; follow the break for some promo video of both models in action.



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Sony Ericsson Vivaz available on Vodafone, Satio looks on with envy

If you don't have a need for a physical keyboard -- or you're just not willing to wait long enough for the Vivaz Pro to come to market -- then you might want to take a gander at Sony Ericsson's plain-Jane Vivaz now that it's available from Vodafone in the UK. The Symbian-powered slate features a 3.2-inch WVGA display, 8.1 megapixel still camera, and 720p video capture with continuous autofocus -- a truly unique feature for a cameraphone at any price. As is usually the case with these guys, you're able to score the Vivaz for a big, fat naught on contract as long as you're willing to pony up at least £30 (about $46) a month on your plan.



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Xperia X10 Mini coming to Vodafone soon?

Weight: 88 grams. Talk time: 4 hours. Pictures and video: right here. We told you everything there was to know about Sony Ericsson's diminutive Xperia X10 mini during Mobile World Congress, but we didn't know when and where it might arrive. According to the image at right, the answers are "soon" and "Vodafone," respectively; Cool Smartphone tells us the pic was plucked from Vodafone's May catalog. Assuming it's the real deal, expect Robyn to land on European branches this summer for an undisclosed price, and appear in teenybopper music videos next fall.

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Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 finally arrives in UK, T-Mobile will deliver it within 10 days

At long last, the protracted wait for Sony Ericsson's first Android phone is coming to an end. T-Mobile's web store has this morning added the Xperia X10 to its stable of mobile devices, though it requests 10 days' worth of patience before getting the handsets out to their impatient new owners. Pricing is surprisingly higher than that associated with the HTC Desire -- the £15 per month two-year contract that nets you the Nexus One clone for £129 ($194) requires a steeper £191 ($287) for the X10. Mind you, with that delivery delay dragging you into April, you might want to hold out a tiny bit longer to see what propositions Vodafone may have in store for prospective purchasers of the X10.

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Sony Ericsson answers your nagging X10 questions, 'newer version' of Android will come

While we all continue to twiddle our thumbs in anticipation of the X10's general availability, Dutch site Tweakers took some time out with Sony Ericsson's Jacob Sten Harold de Kort to get a few pressing questions from the community answered. It's quite a test -- de Kort fielded over 80 questions in all -- and there were a few big takeaways that should be of interest to anyone who's got even glancing interest in putting this thing in their pocket in the next few months. First off, it's still scheduled to launch with Android 1.6 Donut, but his words along with a post over on SE's official Product Blog give us hope that we'll be seeing 2.0, 2.1, or something even fresher down the road (to quote the post's headline, the phone "will be upgradeable"). 1.6 doesn't support multitouch in the framework, and indeed, de Kort confirms that the X10 will be a unitouch device, though it's not clear whether that could change with a newer firmware or if there's a hardware issue involved. As for pricing, we can expect this to launch for €599 (about $817) -- in Holland, anyhow, where it's on track to hit shelves before the end of the quarter. The subsidized pricing should hopefully be a tad less heart-stopping.

[Thanks, Len B. and Moody]

Update: The questions were actually fielded by Harold de Kort, marketing manager for Sony Ericsson in the Netherlands, not Jacob Sten. Thanks, domipost!

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Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 gets its Vodafone spotlight at long last

There'd been some drama not long ago on news that Vodafone was scrubbing its exclusive launch of Sony Ericsson's troubled Xperia X2, but it turns out they still wanted a crack at the thing after all -- just not in the UK, apparently, where it had originally been listed as "coming soon." Instead, it's Voda's Spanish outpost that's taking a crack at the phone, which features WinMo 6.5 (you might recall that this thing was announced way back around the time of 6.5's release) alongside a WVGA AMOLED display, 8.1 megapixel camera, and full QWERTY keyboard -- not bad on paper. Of course, at the €700 ($957) they're charging sans contract, you're probably going to want to sign your name on the dotted line if you plan on picking it up.

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Sony Ericsson's eco-loving Naite now available from Sony Style

Following availability on Rogers by just a handful of days, Sony Ericsson is now talking up availability of the simple Naite candybar down south of the border -- but it's not through a carrier this time. Instead, you'll need to stroll into your local Sony Style store (or order online) to get it unlocked and unsubsidized. Oftentimes that's a brutal situation financially, but seeing how the Naite is a rather low-end device, these guys are charging just $159 for the privilege of using a device touting a case made of 50 percent post-consumer recycled plastic and an ultra-eco charger. It's available right now -- a good backup phone, perhaps?

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Sony Ericsson promises Satio software update 'just around the corner'

Following a December firmware boost, users of Sony Ericsson's much-maligned Satio should start gearing up for another significant update that -- at a glance, anyway -- brings some pretty awesome new features to the table. On top of a promise that it'll "rectify some issues, [and] optimize performance even further," Sony Ericsson's high-end Symbian set gets WVGA video recording (though VGA remains the default), integrated picture uploads to Facebook and videos to YouTube, DLNA support, sundry "UI improvements," and firmware integration of the Facebook app that's already available on PlayNow. Not bad for a phone that Sony Ericsson could've easily abandoned in favor of support for the Vivaz -- but probably not enough to totally shake the phone's tarnished rep this far into the game.

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