Sony Ericsson's purported codenames are a source of endless amusement, because they 1) are virtually always feminine names, and 2) have zero bearing on the final product name. We'd heard that Sony Ericsson was prepping a new Cyber-shot candybar by the name of Kate, and now we're hearing that it's not Kate after all -- but really, it doesn't matter one way or another since it'll be a letter with three numbers after it by the time it launches. The important thing is that we're now seeing much better shots of the alleged 5-megapixel baddie with xenon flash, offering what'll probably be a modernized alternative to the K850. If Sony Ericsson doesn't cancel it first, that is.

[Via SEMC Blog]

Now that Sony Ericsson's mighty X1 has earned the FCC's love and affection, you won't be an outlaw for using one in the States -- but unfortunately, you won't be a speed demon everywhere, either. The version that just nabbed approval here is the X1i, and anyone familiar with Sony Ericsson's naming scheme can tell you that an "i" means a phone's not really meant for North American consumption; in this case, we're lucky to squeak by with UMTS Band II support, which means we'll theoretically be able to pick up some of AT&T's 1900MHz signal. On 850, though, you'll be stuck with EDGE. Of course, a true global launch has been in the cards for the X1 from day one, and we're not worried that we won't see a more 3G-rife model getting torn down by the feds -- this just ain't it.

If you blinked at some point over the past two years you may have missed it, but somewhere in there, Sony Ericsson had a flagship retail location in the heart of London. Actually, they still do -- it's not closed quite yet -- but it'll be gone by the end of the year, just one casualty of the manufacturer's cost-cutting measures in an effort to turn its weak financial position around. Worried about the prospects for immersing yourself in the Sony Ericsson lifestyle after the new year? Rest easy -- the company says it has no plans to get rid of its 200-plus stores in Asia.

[Via Slashphone]

It's a beautiful autumn day, and you're out in the wooded path beyond the railroad tracks just taking it all in and killing some time. Hey, what's that? Why, it's the cutest bunny rabbit you've ever seen! Time to pull out that 8-megapixel C905 and... oh, this sucks, you actually have to press a button to zoom in and out! Screw this noise -- you're a visionary photographer, not a manual laborer. Happily, Sony Ericsson feels your pain, and a new patent application reveals that they're hard at work on a system to control your cameraphone's zoom level simply by moving it back and forth. Just get the phone closer to the subject, and boom, welcome to telephoto city, population one. We're still totally cool with the old-fashioned way of capturing Pulitzer-winning shots, but we're happy that someone's thinking of this type of stuff so we don't have to -- that'd be work.

[Via Unwired View]

It looked pretty good in silver, but it's looking even better blushed, isn't it? The alleged music-focused remix of the G705 has now made its second unofficial appearance, and while exceptionally little is known about the darned thing, we can pretty much gather that it'll do HSDPA, a 3.2-megapixel cam, and GPS. Of course, Sony Ericsson has a nasty habit of canceling leaked phones that look ready to be released, so we'll be holding our collective breath right up until the moment we see a press release.

[Via Unwired View]

Now we've got a photo to go along with the announcement of Sony Ericsson's GreenHeart concept phone -- and if this is what saving the environment looks like, we approve. It looks sorta like a retooled W880, but you won't find any brushed aluminum here; instead, the GreenHeart's made with some crazy plastics that go easy on mother nature. It's bundled with a new charger that shuts off when the phone doesn't need any juice to save energy, but one thing it's not bundled with is a manual -- the guide is entirely electronic to save paper. The granola candybar isn't slated for production, but we'll see a number of technologies developed for it come about in retail models over the next few years.

[Via SEMC Blog]

Perhaps a nod to Samsung's corny candybars and Nokia's wild Earth-friendly hardware, Sony Ericsson has unveiled its GreenHeart concept, a never-destined-for-production handset that incorporates a bunch of green technologies that it'd like to bring to market over the coming years. Most of the GreenHeart's ideas are totally logical and could be executed today -- online user manuals, bioplastic and recycled plastic materials, and a charger that draws just 3.5mW in trickle mode, just to name a few -- but the company is shopping around the whole lot of it to customers and "selected partners" to determine which eco-concepts should be implemented for production and in what order. Unfortunately, Sony Ericsson isn't seeing fit to show any pictures of the GreenHeart right now, which we take to mean it looks like a tree.

[Via Unwired View]

So we've gotten a little more clarity on the situation with AT&T's next round of releases since we reported on pricing earlier today, and in a nutshell, things are looking up -- it's already mid-September, and it turns out that every single one of the phones we mentioned is scheduled to ship before the end of October. Specifically, the cheapo Samsung a637 should hit any minute now, followed by the Motorola V9x and the Nokia 6650 toward the end of this month; the Sony Ericsson W760a and Pantech C740 Matrix, meanwhile, are the stragglers of the bunch with releases planned for late October. Let's see how closely they can hold to this, shall we?

[Thanks, Kal]

It's always a good sign when rumored handsets get slapped with price tags, because that means that releases are right around the corner, too -- usually, anyhow. To that end, AT&T's latest stock information indicates that the S60-powered Nokia 6650 will run $129.99 in your choice of red or silver, as will the Sony Ericsson W760a; the Samsung a637 will be coming in for $49.99, so we're expecting some pretty low-end stuff there; the Pantech C740 "Matrix" is priced at $79.99, and finally, the Motorola V9x we found out about way back in early July is checking in at a princely $199.99. All prices are after rebate, too, so we wouldn't expect any miraculous deals on these -- at least for the first few weeks.

[Thanks, Kal]

Yes, true, it's just a handsfree for your car equipped with noise and echo reduction, but Sony Ericsson's HCB-108 has one rather astounding claim in its resume: 25 hours of talk time and "up to one month" of standby. Battery life is a good thing to concentrate on when you want your device clipped to a visor ad infinitum, we figure -- and the best part about it is that the 108 is lined up to become the cheapest car kit in the company's range. Look for it to launch in the fourth quarter in your choice of black or silver.

Feel that heat, Touch Pro? That's right -- the Great QWERTY Smartphone War of 2008 is officially gearing up for kickoff now that Sony Ericsson has announced a firm date for the first handful of lucky countries to be scoop up the mighty XPERIA X1. Sweden, Germany, and the UK will be the inaugural launch sites come September 30, with no fewer than 32 more on tap in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America for the fourth quarter of the year. North America, China, Australia, and Russia are also listed as committed launch regions, though dates for those will be announced "in the coming months" -- scary verbiage considering that they weren't even willing to slap the Q4 label there. 2009's a long way off yet, and if there's a Touch Pro in front of us... well, let's just say that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, if you catch our drift.

Why the long face, Sony Ericsson? Is it the fact that your revenue and market share are in the crapper? Do Sir Howie's words have you a bit on edge? Oh, wait, wait, don't tell us -- we know what it is! You just spent all this time, money, and elbow grease prepping your PlayNow Arena music purchase service for launch, and you're just a little worried that Nokia might upstage you with its fancy (though questionably-profitable) Comes With Music initiative. It looks like you might already be looking into patching that up, though, if a Financial Times report is spot-on that has you announcing your own unlimited download service later this month. Word on the street is that you already have deals locked up with EMI, Sony BMG (no shocker there), Warner, and a handful of indies, but Universal's holding out on you. Nokia was able to get Universal on board, so odds are you'll be able to, too -- or at least you better be able to if you want to make a serious play at the big boys.

[Via mocoNews]

The well-scooped TM506 from Sony Ericsson is now on sale, marking the first time that T-Mobile has openly and proudly admitted that a handset in its lineup can actually support 3G -- despite the fact that they've had such gear for over a year now. Why the big secret? Until now, T-Mobile's 3G network has been undergoing pretty much the softest soft launch in mobile history, and only now are enough markets starting to come on board to make the whole thing worthwhile. For what it's worth, every previous 3G handset on the carrier has merely rocked UMTS, so the TM506 becomes its first HSDPA-equipped piece while also offering up a 2-megapixel cam, TeleNav navigation, and stereo Bluetooth. As of this writing it's still showing "Coming Soon" on the site, but we're hearing that it'll be available today for $79.99 after rebate on contract.

It's no secret that Sony Ericsson is a weak point in Sony's vast portfolio right now, underperforming fellow European rival Nokia by many, many points of market share globally. CEO Howard Stringer (that's Sir Howard Stringer to you, by the way) knows it better than anybody, mentioning to German newspaper Die Welt that he's trying to figure out a way to turn the joint venture around or spin it off. He mentions that "buying out a partner is never an easy thing," but goes on to say that if they can't work with Ericsson to turn things around, SE will have to "find its own solution." Those are big words coming from a big man with his finger hovering over a big, red button at all times -- so yeah, it's probably in everyone's best interest to get that X1 shipping on the double, eh?

Rumors of the XPERIA X1 being delayed to 2009 have been floating around forever, and the chatter's only gotten louder at IFA -- to the point where Sony Ericsson's been forced into damage-control mode for a second time, telling Reuters that "there is absolutely no delay" and that the company's first WinMo phone is "on target" to "roll out in Q4." That's not quite the "second half of 2008" SE's been saying since the X1 was announced, but it's still in the window -- and given the half-baked nature of the devices we got to play with at IFA, we'd say taking a little extra time to get things right isn't the worst idea in the world, even it means missing that rumored October Vodafone release date.

[Via WM Power User]