By thorsten
22nd June 2011.
12:26
Nice! I was looking for some new headphones to my arc. When do you release the livesound headset?
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Just now over in Singapore some of my colleagues are showing three new phones and two new smart extras, all of them will be available in selected markets from Q3 this year.
For the full press releases for all this with full specifications etc head over to the Sony Ericsson Press Room
The first two phones are the new additions to the XperiaTM family of smartphones:
XperiaTM ray

XperiaTM ray is a fully fledged Android smartphone on the latest Android platform for smartphones, a.k.a. Gingerbread. It also features the 8.1 MP Exmor RTM camera and the Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA® engine as known from e.g. XperiaTM arc. What’s special about it though is its size and design. I’ve been using one for a few days internally now and it really is a special kind of smartphone. It’s sleek and beautifully designed and its more narrow form factor almost remind me of the feel of the successful models W880 and W890. Despite its slim (9.4mm) and small footprint it has a FWVGA display, i.e. same 854×480 resolution as e.g. XperiaTM arc, but in a 3.3 inch display size which give an amazing feeling of high resolution and clarity. It also has a very elegant blackness to the display which makes it nearly invisible when in standby, making it blend into the black glass front perfectly. The slimness, lightness and more narrow form factor really makes it slip into my jeans pockets perfectly. It’s also built around an internal aluminum frame that comes out on the edges as side lines. This gives an extremely solid feeling to it. Despite its sleek form factor it still packs the same 1500 mAh battery as XperiaTM neo so there shouldn’t be any compromise on battery life either. For me personally this could very well be the perfect form factor in a smartphone!
Here’s a video showing some of the thoughts behind the design of XperiaTM ray:
XperiaTM active

XperiaTM active is also a different kind of smartphone compared to the earlier phones in the Xperia family. While it packs a full feature set of Android Gingerbread, a 3 inch 320×480 Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA® engine and a 5MP camera with HD-video recording etc it also is dustproof and water resistant. The resistance to dust and water meets the standard of IP67 which is described like this:
“According to International Protection Rating. IP67 implies that when the phone is correctly mounted to maintain its dust and water resistant qualities, there is no ingress of dust (digit 6) and that ingress of water (digit 7) in harmful quantity shall not be possible if the device is dropped in fresh water under up to 1 m of submersion for a duration of maximum 30 minutes.”
You can find more information in the IP rating standard here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_rating
What this really means is that XperiaTM active is the smartphone that you don’t have to be as careful with as previous ones. You can use it for an active live, out running in the rain etc without being worried that your phone will be damaged from it. If you’re not the active type there are of course also lots of other situations where a more resistant phone comes in handy, me being a lucky father of two little girls can definitely see a case for it besides exercising in the rain ![]()
The scratch resistant screen also uniquely incorporates wet finger tracking, to ensure the phone works perfectly when either the screen or your fingers are wet.
Besides that it also is a beautiful smartphone which really gives a feeling of sturdyness to it even though it has basically the same form factor as the previously announced XperiaTM mini.
Remember, most of our phones, including XperiaTM active, also features ANT+ which makes it possible for you to connect a compliant heart rate monitor directly to your phone to monitor your heart rate in lots of different exercise applications out there.
Here’s a video of XperiaTM active:
We’re also announcing a new feature phone over in Singapore:
Sony Ericsson txt
The Sony Ericsson txt is a feature phone with features inspired by XperiaTM at an affordable price. As a sister phone to the previously announced Sony Ericsson txt pro it gives you excellent support for messaging on the go with a full QWERTY keyboard and incorporates an SMS shortcut key for quick and easy messaging. It also comes with an embedded “friends” application that lets you instantly follow Facebook and twitter updates from your selected top five friends. It comes with Wi-Fi, a 2.6 inch screen and a 3.2 MP camera.
Last but not least my friends over at Extras haven’t been lazy either. We’re announcing two new Smart Extras that further build on extending the proposition of our XperiaTM smartphones through accessories that enable new functionality.
LiveDockTM
The first Smart ExtraTM out in Singapore is the LiveDockTM multimedia station. It gives you the ability to seamlessly integrate your Xperia smartphone into your home. Simply connect your phone to the docking station and it will launch your specified application automatically for you. If you own more than one LiveDockTM you can even set them to launch different applications, e.g. a world clock at your desk at work and perhaps a photo gallery for slideshows, kind of like a digital photo frame, at home.
LiveSoundTM
The LiveSoundTM hi-fi headset gives an excellent sound experience combined with a stylish tangle-free design. It also has LiveKeyTM control which gives you the possibility to access applications in your phone directly with a simple push of a button on your headset. As an example you can start your sports app by pressing the LiveKeyTM control. Pressa again during your workout to get information such as heart rate or distance covered. All this keeping your phone in your pocket. It’s built on a new generation of speaker drivers which combines a decrease in physical size with a breakthrough in audio quality. For me personally the new softer ear buds (that come in different sizes) gives a perfect fit and the flat tangle-free cord is a brilliant enhancement.
By thorsten
22nd June 2011.
12:26
Nice! I was looking for some new headphones to my arc. When do you release the livesound headset?
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By Mikael Berg
22nd June 2011.
12:44
Hi,
seeing the picture of the dock gives me one question. Why is Landscape View disabled on the home screens when I rotate my phone? Most apps and setting menus seem to work in landscape mode. It would be a blast if the home screens, too, could be displayed in landscape view (much like it seems to be in the dock). Especially this would be useful on phones like Xperia PLAY and Pro where you rotate your phone upon sliding.
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By Mikael
22nd June 2011.
12:51
Also, your wide range of qwerty phones in 2011 will probably be pretty confusing for consumers…
- Sony Ericsson Xperia pro
- Sony Ericssonn Xperia mini pro
- Sony Ericsson txt pro
- Sony Ericsson txt
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By Jose
22nd June 2011.
13:01
What OS runs on txt? Is the screen touch-sensitive?
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By ups
22nd June 2011.
13:07
Also.. a Dock where you have to connect extra cables to the phone? Big No No!
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By Rickard
22nd June 2011.
13:27
When will we see the SE Duo with Dual-Core? Thats what I want to see!
The Ray looks cool!
//Rickard, Umeå, Sweden
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By motanu
22nd June 2011.
13:32
XPERIA RAy – price release please, very nice piece
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By Anthony
22nd June 2011.
13:34
Wow..these phones are AWESOME!!!
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By T-Jo
22nd June 2011.
13:36
I’m interested in the Ray, but I just fear you’ll stop support after 6 months like you did with your current mid-end phones.
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By Dhruva Choksi
22nd June 2011.
13:38
Awesome, Threesome to the Family ! Gr8 !! Waiting to get ma hands onto them !!!
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By Nick
22nd June 2011.
13:49
http://www.viddler.com/explore/engadget/videos/2895/
Mr.Rikard please look closer to this OS, I think it’ll have promising future
I know it have some difficulties when SE deals business with Nokia in the past, but give a try for this promising alternative OS
BTW, XPERIA ray is drop dead gorgeous, I must say it another awe-inspiring design from SE
P.S. Please make text re-flow as built-in web browser feature when use pinch-to-zoom, it rather inconvenient when you do pinch-to-zoom and still need to press zoom text button to make it re-flow to fit to screen.
Cheers!
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From Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray, Xperia Active and TXT announced (video) » Unwired View
22nd June 2011.
14:00
[...] Sony Ericsson Tweet Follow Us on: [...]
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By Georgi
22nd June 2011.
14:05
We need more hardware-qwerty phones!
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By Craig
22nd June 2011.
14:29
I have had an Arc for 2 weeks now and love it (upgraded from a SGS1. Slightly better performance (and yes my SGS was rooted – it was a snail prior to this) but best of all is the overall look and built in sony apps that make this phone special. I will be recommending the Ray to my GF.
Thanks Sony – great phones….
Craig
PS: ups – what are they supposed to do telepathically send the power from powerpoint to phone ??? seriously…
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By Stefan Alm
22nd June 2011.
14:31
If the Arc didnt existed, I would definitely god out and buy the xperia ray at day 1… it just looks fantastic…
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By nur
22nd June 2011.
14:53
xperia ray! woww.. smart looking.
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By Márcio
22nd June 2011.
15:18
Will the LiveDock work with Xperia X10?
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By Vincent
22nd June 2011.
15:23
It is very disappointed the performance cannot be upgraded by duo core
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By Vincent
22nd June 2011.
15:24
I cannot find any reason I will change to Ray from ARC. Duo Core please
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By Steve
22nd June 2011.
15:26
@ups some people just whinge for the sake of whinging, right?!
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