On Monday Sony Ericsson opens their music and game venture PlayNow Arena. Then one million tunes will be available for download and copy with no technical restrictions.

With start of Monday, Sony Ericsson users in the nordic countries will get access to Sony Ericsson’s music store. Then over one million tunes will be available for download and the whole range will be DRM free. In other words one will be able to copy the tunes to and from the computer, the mobile phone and other media players. Sony Ericsson is aiming to offer over five million tunes shortly but will not give an exact time frame for this.

After a tune has been bought it can be downloaded both to the mobile and the computer. The mobile version of the tunes are in the AAC+ format with a bit rate of 48 kbps and a size of between 1 and 1.5 mega bytes. When downloading to the computer one gets an MP3 file instead with a bit rate of 320 kbps. If downloading directly to the mobil one pays 1.26 EUR per tune in the form of a premium SMS. If downloading to the computer one can choose to pay either same sum with premium SMS or 0.94 EUR per tune with a credit card.

Sony Ericsson does not offer any streaming service so all music one wants to listen to must be downloaded, however there is a possibility to test play 30 seconds of the tunes. The data cost to download to the mobile entirely depends on the type of operator subscription one have.

Sony Ericsson has intensively worked on their collaboration partners within the music industry to get a deal allowing sales without DRM protection.
- All big music companies with the exception of Universal are with us, says Martin Blomkvist, content manager at Sony Ericsson, to Mobil.

Apart from music, PlayNow Arena also contains wall papers, ring signals and themes, but the other big part in Sony Ericsson’s venture consists of games.

At launch 250 games will be available for 25 of Sony Ericsson’s mobile phones. Some games will be for free, but remaining will cost 4.19 EUR and upwards. PlayNow Arena is adapted for all Sony Ericsson’s Walkman phones and all that have a built-in MP3 player from K800 and forward.

When it comes to the music range there is nothing that prohibits anyone to buy music and play it on one’s mobile phone, irrespective of manufacture

Sony Ericsson, one of the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturers, has appointed public relations and social media specialist Wolfstar to advise it on its global social media communications strategy.

The global campaign will initially include online monitoring and evaluation of Sony Ericsson’s online brand reputation, as well as establishing relationships with online customers and influencers. Wolfstar will also be counselling Sony Ericsson on developing social media outreach programmes to support the brand and products.

The account will be lead by Wolfstar managing director Stuart Bruce, who said: “This is a global programme that is looking to develop a social media communications strategy that can be implemented across all of Sony Ericsson’s international market units to help them develop consumer thought leadership online.”

Wolfstar reports to Global Communications and Public Relations at Sony Ericsson. Merran Wrigley, VP, Head of External Communications, Global Communications and PR said: “Wolfstar not only demonstrated a great understanding of social media, but this was under pinned by a good grounding in traditional corporate communications and a passion for our brand.”

he Sony Ericsson W980 has just been awarded with the EISA award for Best European Music Phone. EISA is an assiocation of 50 special interest magazines from a total of 19 countries – each year they select an array of EISA award winners in lots of different categories, and this year, the Sony Ericsson W980 won as the best music phone. Here’s the official EISA comment:

Who could resist this piano-black Walkman-series phone? It’s a quad-band handset loaded with 8 GB of internal memory, a 3.2 Megapixel camera, an FM tuner, Bluetooth stereo, and a music player that operates even with the phone flip-lid closed. Opened out, the handset reveals its 2.2-inch QVGA display with 262k colors and stunning picture quality. One incredibly valuable innovation is the built-in FM radio transmitter. This broadcasts phone-based music playback to a standard car radio, even transferring artist and track details via RDS. The music player handles a wide variety of audio file formats, and automatically sorts tracks according to a range of criteria.

State run telecom giants, BSNL are planning to introduce 3g in India by June 2009.Swedish based Ericsson are supposedly providing the equipment. 3g services which have been elduding indian phones for more than 3 years after 3g hit the market. The government are trying their best to rub off the fiasco and provide quality support to the Indians as soon as possible. A spectrum auction is in for grabs soon involving the top players from around the world.

Read more here

 
 
Good news for Sony Ericsson fans.The Sony Ericsson Xperia will release on the 30th of September, according to a new listing on Play. This is SE’s first entry into the Windows Arena and they plan to make it big. No pricing details available as yet.

Read more here.

Recently, in a press conference, Arun ‘SE’thi, newly appointed head of Sony Ericsson india had a few words about Sony Ericsson’s progess in the near future. SE has reportedly gone back to its parent concern Sony and asked them to rope in more of their brands in the mobiledepartment. The Bravia brand, widely used by Sony in its TV range is shortly to be seen in European and Indian markets.Be marked, the Bravia brand has already seen light in the Japan market, where SE plays a hand in providing handsets to DoCoMo.

Arun Sethi also went on to say that SE will target a 25% market share in India with their manufacturing plants churning out more than 10 million handsets in a couple of years.

A few quotes to go along with it.

“In Japan if you see we have already integrated the brand Bravia in the handset business and with the time we will do that in India too,”

We are aware of people’s need to be connected. The people is rural India will be using our AM phones so we know that there are special needs there and we know how to fulfill

Sony Ericsson expects India to contribute almost 25 per cent of the global handset business over the next two years.

To do that Sony is ramping up its manufacturing facility in India to churn out almost 10 million handsets a year, most of which will be low cost, in line with the rural thrust of many mobile operators.

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Live pics of the stylish new T700 release.Check them out here

Sony Ericsson expanded their portfolio by announcing the stylish new SE T700 today. The T series, which promises on providing a style statement with top notch products. The T700 is a successor to the successful T650.

Here’s the Press release

Shine with the new Sony Ericsson T700, a phone with slim elegance that will help you stand out from the crowd. This flawless phone combines timeless design and premium features for the mainstream market. Snap a great shot with the 3.2 megapixel camera and share it with your friends on your blog or web page. Boogie to the beat from the exquisite sound of the built-in stereo speakers, or through your phone’s colour-matched headset.

Be the envy of your friends with the T700. Building on the heritage of the style icon Sony Ericsson T610, the T700 has the robust set of must-have features that you’d expect from a Sony Ericsson phone – but with the slim elegance that takes centre stage in a premium handset. At just 10mm thin this phone has a timeless yet fresh Sony Ericsson design and is complete with a 3.2megapixel camera and self-portrait mirror – ideal for those who are always well groomed and take pride in their appearance and possessions.

“Become a real head turner with the T700” said Sven Totté, Head of Marketing for the design category at Sony Ericsson. “Sleek and shiny, the slim elegance of the T700 gives users a premium experience at a mid-range price point – perfect for the design conscious. Everyone who bought and adored the iconic T610 will be keen to get their hands on the new T700.”

The T700 is the quick way to add more emotion when you’re in motion. Download film clips and view in vivid colours thanks to the 2” TFT display.

Could a real Sony PlayStation Phone be just around the corner?

According a recent patent filing by the electronics giant, the answer could be a resounding yes. The word on the street about a proposed PSP phone says that the most likely form factor will be a slightly modified version of the existing PSP. This most recent patent filing falls right into that line of thought.

The patent describes a device that features “digital tactile pixels” that are touch-sensitive and give feedback via vibration. This could refer to a full touchscreen display not unlike the iPhone and HTC Touch Diamond, or it could refer to something as simple as the haptic feedback on the MOTOROKR E8. My hope is that it’s the former rather than the latter.

Submitted by Sony Computer Entertainment, the patent makes no mention of Ericsson. It also goes on to mention game playing, music playing, and web browsing. Naturally, phone call play into the mix as well. We just hope that it’s not the third incarnation of the Mylo.

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications announces today that Anil Sethi has been appointed to the newly created position of President and Region Head of Sony Ericsson India with immediate effect.

Anil joins Sony Ericsson after almost 8 years with Sony Canada in Toronto, where his most recent position was Senior Vice President of Broadcast & Business Solutions and Systems Integration. Prior to this role, he completed a number of high profile international assignments within the Sony Group including, senior business and commercial roles in Europe, India, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. During this time Anil established and managed Sony’s first production facility in India and was closely involved in setting up the Sony Gulf regional operations, with its hub office in Dubai, and the Sony India organisation, headquartered in Delhi.

Commenting on Anil’s appointment, Sony Ericsson President Dick Komiyama said, “Today’s appointment underlines the growing strategic importance of India for Sony Ericsson. We are continuing to build our operations in this market – last year we established a manufacturing presence through partners and opened our own R&D unit in Chennai – and one of Anil’s focus areas going forward will be to drive our growth plan in India.”

“I am delighted to return to India and bring home my international business experience. The Indian marketplace is exciting and of strategic importance to Sony Ericsson. Our manufacturing presence and R&D in India is a reflection of our commitment to this great country and its growing consumer base.” said Anil.

Press Release