Sony Ericsson Adopts New Nomenclature System

Sony Ericsson Adopts New Nomenclature System

If you've been wondering about the unusual model numbers of some of Sony Ericsson's latest products it is because, as announced today, they are using a new nomenclature system that will implement several major changes.

For starters, the "i" -symbol will no longer be used as a suffix on any devices. In fact, the full Sony Ericsson portfolio already has eight different handsets without the "i" tag. The "a" and "c" suffixes will remain to designate model versions for the American and Chinese markets respectively.

Model names will begin with a capital letter that denoting the type of phone. "C" denotes the popular Cyber-shot series that consists of camera-centric phones. "S", which formerly denoted slider/swivel phones will now mean "Snapshot", phones that are less well equipped than the C-series. No new models have been designated S so far. "G" stands for "Generation Web" and will denote the lower end of the smart phone line while the XPERIA series will denote the upper echelon. "W" will denote the Walkman line while "R" will denote the lesser Radio series.

The number following the initial letter denotes the status of the phone as high end, mid-range or low end, with 9 being the highest. The next number is the version number, followed by a number that describes the phone's style, 0-2 is a candy bar, 3-5 slider, 6-8 clamshell, 9 other.

There is no word as to what will happen to the K, T, M, Z and P series yet but there is supposed to be a P5 announcement this summer

Sony Ericsson Adds 5 Million Songs To Mobile PlayNow Service

Sony Ericsson announced the expansion of their PlayNow arena app today at the MidemNet conference in Cannes, France. Mark Wilson of Gizmodo relayed news this afternoon that the “over-the-air”(OTA) music service has signed with 10 major record labels such as Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, EMI, and more to add 5 million music tracks to its library.

The service is also adding a new feature named TrackID to PlayNow arena, allowing users to identify songs they hear on the radio or in a coffee shop, and subsequently purchase the songs from online catalog wirelessly. They will also be able to browse charts of songs that PlayNow users have searched for. Specific searches as to one’s location will be possible.

For the mobile gamers amongst Sony Ericsson’s customer base, 250 new games have also been added to the service from companies such as EA Games, Gameloft, and THQ. This gives Play Now arena one of the largest catalogs of mobile gaming in the industry.

Residents of Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland can expect the new service in May 2008, with more European markets by the end of June. Americans and Asians will have to wait until the last half of the year to enjoy the newest perks of the service.

Sony Ericsson cuts deals with 10 music labels

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson said it had signed deals with 10 music labels to add content to its PlayNow service, which lets users download music via their mobile phones.
Sony Ericsson, owned by Ericsson and Sony Corp., said the deals added 5 million new tracks to its catalogue.
The venture said in a statement late on Sunday it had signed deals with Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, EMI, The Orchard, IODA, The PocketGroup, Hungama, X5Music, Bonnier Amigo and VidZone.
Sony Ericsson, which made the announcement at a trade show in Cannes, France, said it was negotiating further deals with regional labels.
The company introduced PlayNow in February 2004 as a way to listen to and then purchase ringtones for mobile phones. Since then, it as expanded the service, allowing full music tracks and games to be downloaded and other features. It said PlayNow was available in 32 countries.

Pink Sony Ericsson W580i, love is in the air and pink everywhere

Valentine is around the corner and AT&T is dressing up the Sony Ericsson W580i Walkman phone in pink. That’s right, this slim slider music-centric phone is all pink. It features a built-in FM radio, Shake Control to skip or shuffle tracks with the flick of our wrist, 2MP camera, Memory Stick Micro expandable memory card slot and stereo Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP.