The release of the Apple iPhone 3G is likely to have a big impact in the mobile phones marketplace, this we know. It’s new pricing model, together with the inclusion of 3G give it a big advantage the original iPhone didn’t have. Well, I say it didn’t have, although people like Dan might disagree with me…
Now combine that with the news of the Symbian Foundation that I reported on here, and it indicates an intriguing future for Sony Ericsson (I’m going to look at them, because I’m a Sony junkie, as should be apparent from me gushing about them in roughly 93% of this blog).
The genesis of this blog post is unfortunately in bad news. You may remember me going on about a prototype mobile phone from Sony Ericsson called the Paris, and how it seemed to be the much-talked about P5. Well, Sony Ericsson have cancelled it. It’s not going to be released over here. Which is, to put it mildly, a bit of a downer, as it looked gorgeous, and it had some rather nice specs.
The obvious question is: is the Paris a casualty of the news of the Symbian Foundation being formed, and more specifically, of UIQ (the interface Sony Ericsson smartphones run on) getting rid of 200 staff? Are Sony Ericsson moving away from UIQ? And if they are, what are their flagship mobile phones going to be running on, from now on?
Well, first up, let’s talk about one of Sony Ericsson’s flagship mobile phones that we already know about: the Sony Ericsson C905. This looks all set to one of the popular Sony Ericsson mobile phones ever, not least because of the fact it’s rocking an eight megapixel camera (and a mind-blowingly good one, at that). Fairly obvious conclusion from all this: the Sony Ericsson C905 is their new flagship camera phone.
But how about music? When you get a flagship camera phone from Sony Ericsson, you can bet any body part you’d care to mention that a flagship Walkman phone ain’t far behind! But, do we have any indication of what a Walkman flagship might be like?
There’s some talk around various Sony Ericsson fan-sites and blogs, saying that there will be a 16Gb replacement for the Sony Ericsson W960i, and let’s face it, that’s probably a no-brainer. So, if the rumours are indeed true, we can expect to see a Sony Ericsson mobile phone with 16Gb of memory, probably a 5 megapixel camera, a massive touchscreen, and a sleek, whizzy, sexy interface. An iPhone rival, in other words.
And then, there’s another intriguing idea: in the past, when Sony Ericsson have made a top-end UIQ mobile phone, they’ve actually shared the technology between two handsets, one being a Walkman phone, the other being a top-end smartphone. First there was the double-header of M600 and W950. Then, last year, we had the double-header of P1 and W950. Is it unreasonable to expect something similar when the new top-end Walkman mobile phone is unleashed?
That question brings us neatly onto what may be the biggest indicator of the future of Sony Ericsson’s “smart” mobile phones. And it’s known by one name:
Hecaro.
What might the Sony Ericsson Hecaro be? Well, maybe this tantalising video has the answer:
Hmmmmmmm, if you look carefully, there, you’ll see TWO different mobile phones, both of which look to be rocking enormous touchscreens. Oh, and something else to note, as various sources have reported, Sony Ericsson’s product development manager basically said the mobile phones in this video ARE going to be released before the end of 2008. Could this be Hecaro and it’s top-end, 16Gb Walkman sibling? Are we about to get two new mobile phones that will not only beat the iPhone 3G, but every other single mobile phone in existence? Will Hecaro be an Xperia-branded phone?
And most intriguingly, what interface will these Sony Ericsson monster-phones run on? Since that video was shown at the JavaOne conference, does this mean we can expect a touch-based version of the operating system used in phones like the coming-soon C905 and the already-available Sony Ericsson C902? With UIQ seemingly on the ropes, it seems a distinct possibility.
And with the X1 poised to seriously kick bottom in the Windows Mobile arena, the future, despite the distinct possibility of UIQ ending up in the recycle bin of history, looks distinctly rosy!
What’s your opinion on the future of Sony Ericsson? Leave us a comment and have your say!
