Known as a leader in providing high-tech phones with entertainment features, Sony Ericsson reveals its new luxurious face with C901 Mocha Gold phone.

A limited edition, exclusive to the Middle East, the new phone is the most chic and opulent fashion accessory of this fall.

While it is designed beautifully on the outside with a 24 carat gold trim layered over a rich brown exterior, the technology within is equally smart, sophisticated and feature-packed. Inspired by the luxurious and lavish lifestyles of the stars, C901 Mocha Gold is a must-have for those who enjoy sophistication and love to indulge themselves in designer creations.

Commenting on this limited edition phone, Mr. Mohamad Salama, Head of Marketing, Sony Ericsson, MENA says,

‘This model features a 5.1megapixel camera with smile shutter, smart contrast, face detection and photofix. Not just that, it also includes Xenon flash, the new trend in mobile phones.’

Xenon flash is a replacement for the photoflash LED used in other camera phones, and is very handy as it produces good indoor images even without very bright lighting. With the instant sharing feature, users can enjoy sharing games, videos, music and much more on the spot.

‘Wireless printing is another interesting feature that Sony Ericsson has included in this Mocha Gold limited edition. Users can literally print from anywhere. No more hassles of carrying plugs and laptops around or getting the operating system to identify the printer. It works by launching the application, selecting a photo, and then a print command is sent to the printer via the Wi-Fi network.’ Mr. Salama added.

The C901 Middle East exclusive includes other features like video stabilizer & recording, red-eye reduction, as well as video and picture blogging capabilities.

Only With Se-Lifestyle

The show, which features a presenter talking to celebrities while wearing his underwear (quizzing in his pants), was designed as free downloadable show for mobile phones via http://pockettvshow.mobi.

It has also been extended to YouTube, where SE tells us it has been a big hit since its inception from 4 June.

at the “Sony Ericsson” logo over the LCD! Oh wait, thats not all.. How about the “Walkman” logo placed over the navigation keys Pretty untempting   Here’s more, on the back of this “Sony Ericsson C908 or Walkman phone” *cough* you will find a clear Cybershot logo !

Now, did we hear of clone-slaughter?

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SE-LIFESTYLE

Certain phones just keep on getting better day by day.  Fanklub published fresh snaps of the lovely sliver lime Sony Ericsson C901 cybershot Greenheart. Worth watching

[View with PicLens]

Regards

SE_LifeStyle

Two lovely colours of Sony Ericsson C903 that stole our hearts and were spotted during a routine check at its official Israel site.

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Sony Ericsson’s flagship phones have been returning at an alarming rate over the past year.

Four out of 10 handets have been reported as faulty for some models, and the C905 is its most recent casualty.

In 2008, mass recalls on flagship devices, the K850i, W910i and C902, prompted operators to seek considerable compensation from Sony Ericsson.

Retail chiefs and store staff have said they are losing confidence in the manufacturer, amid concerns that selling Sony Ericsson devices will result in phones being returned by angry customers.

In March, Mobile reported that software freezing and speaker faults on the eight-megapixel camera device, the C905, were responsible for returns as high as 30% in some areas.

In April, when the figure of returned handsets grew to four out of 10, retailers and operators said they would take a more rigorous stance on the manufacturer’s product range in 2009, and would not be afraid to refuse flagship handsets if there were doubts on quality.

It has been a baptism of fire for Sony Ericsson’s new UK managing director, Nathan Vautier, who is gallantly tackling the issue head-on.

Mobile: Why did the returns get so bad?
Vautier: That’s a very interesting question. We have looked at where we are now, and going forward, and also at where the handsets are designed – it has been a painful learning experience. No one launches a product without wanting it to be a success. We have always tried to make quality items.
 
Fundamentally, we do have issues. But we are doing everything we can to resolve them. The feedback on customer service has been good.

What is being done to combat the problem?
There are two things from a quality perspective. It is important to accept that we have had some unacceptable issues over quality on some products in the UK, and have gone from being one of the strongest manufacturers to a much weaker position. We are taking this very seriously in both the longer term and the shorter term.

In the UK, there are a number of things we have stepped up due to added pressure. We are working with our operators and their chosen service partners [service centres] and we have an average turnaround time of three to four days.

The first line of support is the operator, plus there is a dedicated call centre for specialised products such as Cyber-shot, and we are building the team more and more.

What changes have you made?
We have implemented ‘Fota’ over the flash software [which refreshes the phone], and is one of the best means for solving problems quickly, as users can do it themselves.

Locally, there are dedicated account managers for each service area [specific service centres]. We are also working closely with the field team. We have received a lot of feedback from dealers who believe we haven’t been supportive, and we’re trying to get to the bottom of it.

Lastly, we have stepped up our presence on forums and blog sites to get feedback more quickly from end users, and we are proactively scanning key sites, as well as beefing up training in stores.

What kind of timescale are you working on?
It’s a gradual thing. Hardware needs to be designed, so it is around the longer term. We need to start with research and development (R&D), sourcing our components and taking quality to the next level – how to give it to the end user.

With operators selling 24 month contracts it is increasingly the case that we need to do more. Our own customer service and call centres are geared up and upsized for the kind of support that we will offer.

The key message is two things. We are taking this very seriously. In the short term it will be software, and in the longer term hardware. We are restructuring to focus core teams on specific areas.

Have there been any senior level changes on the back of this?
I’m not going to comment on that, but there has been a huge change in how we work and more importantly, big process changes – such as R&D, design, and which components we use. We are now talking to people about 2010 – there is a continual improvement in products that we bring to the market.

What assurances have you taken?
We have a more in-depth relationship with key customers on hardware and software, and testing on what might go wrong. We need the right level of durability and components before we make products available, and elements of the phone, such as the camera, are tested vigorously.

What is being done about problems with the C905 specifically?
We are working through feedback on the C905 so I can’t comment specifically, but it’s the core product for users globally and locally.

We are always working throughout the lifespan of a product – we have put things in place this year and last year in terms of both hardware and software – but I’m unable to comment further.

 
Busy people who missed out on their favorite hit movies or television series can watch these anytime and anywhere with the use of their Satio phone.
 
“Currently, we offer blockbuster movies, music videos and games. Basically, we have the option for the consumers to choose from a library to download three free of charge,” Ishizuka said.
 
Peter Ang, Sony Ericsson’s Vice President, Marketing Asia Pacific Region said that the Satio can get access to the internet through WIFI and 3G network.
 
“You can access to the internet very easily just one click and you can get into that,” he said.
 
Ang added that Satio will be made available in the early part of the fourth quarter in the home region.
 
Sony Ericsson Product Planner Maiko Ishida said that experiences and lessons learned from consumers’ feedback from the walkman and cyber-shot phones have been combined into the Satio.
 
“We have gathered all of the entertainment unlimited experiences that we have gained from the past cyber-shot phone. So, face detection, yes it’s there. Smile detector and the panorama, Bestpic, its all there. Everything that we have gained from the previous cyber-shot is in here,” said Ishida.
 
Ishida demonstrated to the press some of the features of the touchscreen phone. She also showed photos she personally took using her 12.1 megapixel Satio.
 
“So we have worked very closely [with Sony] to get the quality of the pictures. We also have this Xenon flash which allows you to take very bright pictures,” she said.
 
The Satio, she said, is based on an open platform, Symbian, allowing its users “great freedom to download zillions of applications”.
 
Satio is also the first Sony Ericsson phone to offer ninth High Definition (nHD) gaming that gives its users the best in mobile High Definition TV.
 
The Satio phone which will be available in three colors—black, silver and Bordeaux –also comes bundled with an expandable 8-gig card to store more movies.
 
The Satio also comes with the popular Asphalt Road and Prince of Persia games available in nHD format; a choice of three movie titles from a selection of more than 50 blockbuster movies; and a pick of three music videos from a library of up to 300.
 
The extensive content library of downloadable games, movies, music videos and latest tracks are exclusive for Asia Pacific consumers only.

With CyberShot branding, it’s no surprise that Sony Ericsson are pushing the C510’s imaging capabilities before anything else. The 12.5mm-thick body hides a 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera with an dual-LED flash, and onto that the company have heaped Smile Shutter and Face Detection. These work reasonably well, but there’s more delay than we’d like in-between hitting the dedicated shutter release button and the shot actually taking. As for the LED flash, it suffers the usual problem of having a very narrow sweet-spot: it’s all too easy to get too close, and wash out the subject, or be too far away and not have enough light.

Once taken, photos can be viewed in portrait or landscape orientation, with the C510 flipping between them automatically, and Sony Ericsson load a few editing tools – including an automatic correction for light balance, brightness and contrast – to tweak shots on-device. These can sometimes eke a little more crispness out of a frame, but aren’t really comparable with even the most basic of Photoshop fondling. Happily the 2.2-inch QVGA 320 x 240 display does a decent job of displaying both images and video, the latter of which is recorded at 30fps.

There are a clutch of photo tools on offer, including a panorama mode which helps you line up your panned shots with translucent edge-previews, but it’s undermined by only working in VGA mode. Similarly, attempt to zoom in and the C510 won’t allow it, unless you’re down to just VGA quality. Internal storage is 100MB, with a Memory Stick Micro M2 slot taking cards up to 8GB.

Sony Ericsson preload Google Maps onto the C510, but with no true GPS it’s not something you’d want to rely on for everyday navigation. The C510 instead uses cell-tower triangulation to pinpoint your position, something that works better in densely-populated areas as they tend to have more active towers. Don’t expect accuracy to more than a few streets, however.

More successful is the YouTube client, and though you wouldn’t choose it over a desktop computer were one available, it’s certainly good enough for a casual distraction while out and about. The C510’s UMTS/HSPA 2100MHz support makes for speedy viewing, and the browser and RSS have neat integration with the phone’s homepage, new RSS feeds popping up in a discrete ticker.

Media playback is unchanged from most other non-smartphone Sony Ericsson handsets, with sound quality through the supplied headphones a little better than the average set. That’s good, because the company insists on using its own proprietary connector, rather than offering a standard 3.5mm headphone jack. Album art shows up and the TrackID song-title identification service is a neat addition, albeit one you may not actually use all that often, but Sony Ericsson’s confusing and sluggish PC sync software lets the side down.

Call quality, happily, is clear and strong, both through the earpiece and the speakerphone, and the C510 proved tenacious with a signal. The chassis feels sturdy and well put together, with little creaking or flex, and though the blue LED lighting might edge toward cliché it does stay just on the right side of tasteful. Battery life is quoted at 400hrs of standby or 10hrs of GSM talktime (or 4hrs 3G talktime); regular camera use will impact that the most, but if long battery life and ease of use are your top priorities then the C510 should appeal.

Overall, the C510 is a serviceable handset and slots neatly in among the ranks of budget devices. Its appearance – soberly well-judged, rather than glamorous or over-designed – make it a sensible choice, though the specifications don’t particularly stand out in the crowd and the CyberShot branding promises, perhaps, more than it can deliver.