Sony Ericsson is in the middle of a global tour to explain its app store strategy to a handpicked group of tier one developers.

The 15 location roadshow has been conceived to accelerate the creation of compelling apps for Sony Ericsson devices – with generous rewards offered in return.

In this exclusive interview, ME asked Christopher David, head of developer and partner engagement at Sony Ericsson, about all things app.

What’s the scope of this developer tour?

The roadshow is going to 15 locations including Nordics, Brazil, Asia, West and East Coast US, France, Germany and more. We plan to meet between 20 and 50 developers at each, and they’ll be the premier developers in their locations.

What are you looking to achieve?

Our mantra is accessibility. We’ll keep the barrier low with no submission fee or membership cost. We want to make the platform a one stop shop as far as possible. More specifically, we want to define a hero programme for the very best partners.

The aim is to build a business together, one with genuine rewards built in. We’re not looking for dozens of Sudoko games, but for apps that enhance the Sony Ericsson mobile experience. So there will be tangible benefits for our partners to include access to tools, distribution, marketing and position.

Give me an example.

Well, we would look to offer a ‘five days to portal’ promise.

What’s the backstory for the Sony Ericsson app store? You haven’t been as vocal as Nokia or Apple, for example.

We’ve been running an app store of sorts since 2002 when we launched Fun And Downloads and subsequently PlayNow. But obviously that was run on a selective basis.

So in the summer, we opened up the app marketplace to developers, and formed a partnership with Getjar too. The store is live in 69 countries, and accessible in 240m devices.

What is the process for developers looking to join in?

If they have an idea they want to nurture, they can submit concepts to Sony Ericsson Labs for incubation and comment by the community. Alternatively, they can go through submit.sonyericsson.com. We aim for a 30 day period from submission to the channel.

And the payments?

Time to money is very very important. We work on a 70:30 rev share and when the developer share reaches 500 euros they get paid automatically every 30 days.

How many apps are live now?

We have around 150 apps live with 400 in the pipeline. So far 90 per cent of apps have been approved. There’s the technical side: Does it launch? Does it fill the screen? Does it use touch where applicable and so on. But we’re also looking at products that enhance the proposition. And we’ve been pleasantly surprised by the high standard in this respect.

150 doesn’t seem like many in the light of Apple’s 75,000.

Well, as I said, we’re going for quality over quantity – and don’t forget we have GetJar for the long tail.

In the past, Sony Ericsson has been very amenable to operator concerns about what could be perceived as competitive services. Now that you’re ramping up your app store, does that remain the case?

Any phone can run PlayNow and Arena, but in major territories we’re looking at ways to integrate operator services with our own. We’ll make sure there’s always a channel that makes the best apps for Sony Ericsson available to Sony Ericsson users.

Mmm. What does that mean in practice? An operator store with a link to a Sony Ericsson channel?

Yes, obviously that’s one option – hypothetically.

With a rev share for the operator?

Hypothetically.

Finally, what’s the endgame with all of this? Apps can never generate the kind of revenues that hardware sales do, yet there’s huge effort and investment in services. Ultimately, what’s it all for?

Are we looking at massive profits from apps? Currently, no. But what we’re working towards are solutions that knit together a group of elements to deliver great consumer experiences – the hardware, OS, middleware, user interface and so on.

We know we can’t generate the best ideas solely from within our organisation, so we’re reaching out to developers.

And we’re doing it now because there’s a new era beginning at Sony Ericsson. The portfolio is very exciting, starting with the Xperia X2, Satio and Aino. But beyond that we have some genuinely exciting new devices to come.

Using clever tech the application uses metadata to detect players laughter and other forms of emotional expression during a game via microphone and camera.

According to the patent it will be used to detect a players “laugh”, “frown”, “yawn”, “applaud” or boo’s and other such outward emotions projected by gamers bodies.

The bizarre plans indicate that it could be used to measure a players reaction to what’s in front of them in order to keep them more entertained, which would come in particularly handy during incredibly long cutscenes *cough*Metal Gear Solid 4 *cough*.

If it does come to fruition it looks like Sony could find a way to implement it into the PlayStation Eye camera for PS3, which also has a microphone.

Sony’s not exactly new to emotion detecting tech. The company’s Sony Ericsson C905 mobile touts face detection to capture now commonly found on a range of cameras.

The latest report by Gartner, the technology research company, says demand for brands such as the Apple iPhone and RIM’s BlackBerry will continue to rise over the next few years.

Carolina Milanesi, Gartner research director says touchscreen and qwerty keyboard devices remained a major driver for replacement sales.

Banner Ad “Given the higher margins, smartphones offer the biggest opportunity for manufacturers. It is the fastest-growing market segment and the most resistant to declining ASPs [average selling price],” she says.

Gartner has revealed that worldwide mobile phone sales totalled 286.1 million units in the second quarter, a 6.1% fall from the second quarter of last year.

In contrast, smartphone sales surpassed 40 million units, which was a 27% rise from the same period last year, representing the fastest-growing segment of the mobile-devices market.

Milanesi says that while Nokia has maintained its leadership position, its portfolio remains heavily skewed toward low-end devices.

“The right high-end product and an increased focus on services and content are vital for Nokia if it wants to both revamp its brand and please investors with a more promising outlook in ASPs and margins,” she says.

The Gartner report says that while Motorola’s sales of 15.9 million units were slightly better than expected, its presence has increasingly concentrated on the Americas, and it has lost most of its share of the Western European market.

Motorola’s rivals and consumers are now awaiting the launch of its new Android-based products planned for the fourth quarter of the year.

In Sony Ericsson’s case, Gartner points out that its market share dropped 2.8 percentage points year-on-year in the second quarter of 2009 but its volume dropped a whopping 41%. Gartner has attributed its poor performance to its uncompetitive range of handsets.

“Sony Ericsson has neglected to exploit key trends such as qwerty products for messaging and e-mail, internet browsing and navigation,” Milanesi says.

“If it wants to build the presence of its three new products announced this quarter in the channel and capture Christmas sales, the products need to come to market early in the fourth quarter of 2009.”

Bert Nordberg, the head of Silicon Valley at Ericsson, the wireless equipment maker, will take up the role of co-president of the Swedish-Japanese telecoms group in September, midway through a major turnaround programme.

Hideki “Dick” Komiyama, Sony Ericsson’s president would retire at the end of the year, the company said.

Sir Howard Stringer, the Sony president responsible for a sweeping cost-cutting exercise at the loss-making Japanese company, has been appointed chairman of the board, taking over the role from Carl-Henric Svanberg, the president and chief executive of Ericsson, on October 15.

In July, Sony Ericsson posted a loss of $213 million (£130 million) after four consecutive quarters of losses due to falling sales of mobile phone handsets, compared with a $6 million profit for the previous year.

Mr Svanberg said: “In the two years he has been at Sony Ericsson, Dick Komiyama has made some very important changes to their organisation and laid the foundation for the company’s turnaround.

“Bert Nordberg has a strong track record in the area of business realignment and was instrumental in the transformation of Ericsson in the years 2002-2003. I am confident he will be able to build upon the foundation Dick has created and lead the final stages of Sony Ericsson’s transformation.”

Nokia, the world’s biggest mobile phone manufacturer, said last month that the market was bottoming out, despite a 66 per cent fall in second-quarter profits compared with the previous year.

How ever the game is available for those who live in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Although other countries will be launched aswell. There are Four language’s present which are English,Danish,Norweigen and swedish, so come on and enjoy the New Game of football by sony ericsson. And Enjoy, Btw this game is addictive. I also love the sound effect’s and you need to registeer aswell. Its  AMAZING:D.

The website to the game is: http://www.sekickoff.com/

Also if you would like to check more information out the sony ericsson insider’s webiste you can, how ever its only in swedish im afraid, the UK or other countries except Denmark,Norway and Sweden are able to see information about Sony Ericsson’s Kickoff.

The website as follows : http://www.sonyericsson.com/retail/index.aspx?locale=se-sv

The offical launch of this campaignto the public and will be on the 12th of August.

Stay Tuned for more information.

Most people keep their phones about their person. Right now, your phone’s probably in your pocket. It is, isn’t it?

Even if you’ve got your handset within your grasp, sometimes the idea of being able to check your watch for calls rather than rummaging around in your pocket to see who’s calling is a pleasant one.

You might be in a meeting, where the slightly impatient-looking watch move is still far better than the downright rude grasp for your phone. Or perhaps you’re in a cinema, where the tiny bit of luminescence from a watch display won’t win you those hate-filled looks that a room-illuminating phone screen would.

At the top of the range model in Sony Ericsson’s Bluetooth watch series is the MBW-200.

You’d never guess the metal-strapped watch was Bluetooth-enabled without delving into its menus or scrutinising the couple of millimetres of extra girth it has around its back.

Although it took us a while to figure out to sync the MBW-200 to the phone, primarily down to our stubborn insistence on not reading the manual, after figuring out exactly which button to press, it worked like a dream. The watch automatically searches for the nearest device so, as long as that’s your phone, all you have to do is confirm a few pop-up requests on the phone itself.

Once duly sync’d, calls and texts will cause a light vibration in the watch, and the caller’s number or name, if they’re in your phone book, will appear in the one-line LCD display. Not only is this a great application of Bluetooth functionality, but it’s certain to impress your friends too.

This would be enough to justify the MBW-200s existence, but you can also control your phone’s music player from the watch’s buttons too. The three buttons to the left of the watch’s face take on these duties. The middle one acts as a play/stop button, while the others boast dual functions. Quick taps on them change the volume on your phone while more prolonged presses change tracks.

The most impressive factor of the watch is that it manages to include all these features without ever doing so conspicuously. Aside from the small OLED display, the MBW-200 looks and feels much like a standard high quality, tasteful mens’ watch. Well, that and the fact that Sony Ericsson is written on the fascia.

Thanks to the power-draining Bluetooth features, the battery in the watch won’t last anywhere near as long as a normal watch- with a claimed 7 days of constant use- but charging it is easy enough. The MBW-200 comes supplied with a clip that attaches at one end to a pair of connectors under the watch, and a standard Sony Ericsson charger at the other. Unless you’re the kind of person that literally never takes off their watch, it shouldn’t pose a problem.

Impressed as we were with the MBW-200s Bluetooth functionality, at £199.99 it’s up against a lot of quality watches from several names that are much more renowned in the watch world than Sony Ericsson- Tissot and Rotary to name but two. Wisely, Sony Ericsson has made the designs of the three MBW-200 variants attractive but relatively unassuming.

The metal-strapped Contemporary, which we looked at, has a largely unadorned face, apart from its surface pattern. The black, leather-strapped Evening Classic is arguably even simpler. We’re a little less convinced by the italic font used on the women’s version, the Sparkling Allure, though.

The MBW-200 is arguably a lot more useful than your normal watch. It’s a remote for your media player, and a discreet way to keep up with your phone. We can imagine it quickly becoming indispensable for anyone that gets on with its Bluetooth features.

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