ericsson

We've been waiting to see Sony Ericsson's dual-core smartphone for quite a while now (the company has only released single-core handsets this year).

While our sister site CNET Australia talked about its supposed specs and had an image from what we are guessing to be a brochure, a kind soul in Hong Kong has leaked a picture of the handset. … Read more

Sony Ericsson brought another unlocked Android smartphone to U.S. consumers this week with the release of the Xperia Active.

Features include Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread, a 5-megapixel camera, and a scratch-resistant 3-inch display capable of tracking wet finger touches. What's more, the Xperia Active can also withstand tough weather and climate conditions including a dunking in 3 feet of water for a half hour.

Additional details cater to outdoors enthusiasts or people with active lifestyles. For example, the device offers an onscreen heart rate/pulse monitor and comes with a "Gear Kit" that features a … Read more

Cloud-based storage service Box is in a generous mood this holiday season.

The company announced new partnerships with LG and Sony Ericsson today, and effective immediately, anyone who owns an LG smartphone running Android 2.1+ will receive 50GB of free storage when signing up for an account.

The generous amount of cloud-based hosting far exceeds the 5GB of Dropbox storage that HTC recently began offering their customers and lasts the lifetime of the account. However, LG owners must sign up for an account using their handset before March 31, 2012, when it's expected that the storage will go back down to the 5GB plan. … Read more

Two Sony Ericsson Android phones made their debut in the U.S. today, although they are only available through the Sony Store.

The handset manufacturer unveiled the Xperia Arc S and the Xperia Neo V. The Arc S is $549.99 and the Neo V is $349.99, and both come unlocked.

That the two phones are hitting the U.S. shores only through Sony's stores is indicative of Sony Ericsson's recent struggles in the U.S. Smartphones that are sold without carrier support typically languish in the market or remain niche items for gadget enthusiasts.

A representative … Read more

HP is now the top-ranked tech company, according to Greenpeace's latest guide to greener electronics.

The guide's criteria has been updated to take into greater account energy use, conflict minerals, green products, and supply chain energy use.

Greenpeace released its latest rankings today, showing HP moving ahead three to the top spot. It's a big leap considering that just six years ago HP was targeted by Greenpeace as one of the worst tech companies for using fire retardant materials suspected of being hazardous. At the time, Greenpeace members stood outside of HP's headquarters and handed out … Read more

For Sony and its handset ambitions, it may be too little, too late.

The Japanese consumer electronics giant is ending its 10-year marriage with network-equipment provider Ericsson, spending $1.47 billion to buy out Ericsson's stake in Sony Ericsson, their mobile devices joint venture.

Sony's hope: that it can move faster alone to revive what was once a healthy business through a tighter integration with its other products and media content.

While many analysts agree Sony's takeover of the business is a positive, they are skeptical that it can actually turn the handset business around. Over the … Read more

YouTube may start releasing its own original content, Coldplay gives a cold shoulder to music streaming, and Sony pays Ericsson to take over the handset business.

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Two things leap to mind this morning:

1. Sony has acquired Ericsson's part of Sony Ericsson for $1.74 billion. 2. The PlayStation Vita handheld has a 3G version, and will be released in the U.S. next year.

Somehow, can Sony's full control over the mobile phone unit lead to what I've been hoping for for years--a true PlayStation phone, preferably in the form of a revamped Vita? … Read more

Sony is ending a 10-year mobile-phone joint venture with Ericsson, buying out its business partner's 50 percent stake for 1.05 billion euros, or about $1.47 billion.

Through the deal, which had been rumored earlier this month, Sony Ericsson will become a wholly-owned Sony subsidiary, Sony said today. In addition, Sony will assume ownership for mobile phone patents and get other patent rights through a cross-license deal with Ericsson.

Consumers can expect a tighter integration between Sony's phones and the other main devices in the company's "four-screen strategy," said Sony Chief Executive Howard Stringer … Read more