Sony Ericsson announces Xperia active Billabong edition

Sony Ericsson and the extreme sports brand Billabong have entered into a partnership, which will bring the Xperia smartphones closer to the adrenaline junkies, who are fans of the popular Australian clothing and gear company. The first product of the partnership is the Sony Ericsson Xperia active Billabong edition.

There is no difference between the newcomer and the tough as nails, regular Xperia active, which we came to like quite a lot, save for the Billabong branded back cover and some software additions. The latter include exclusive Billabong screensavers, preloaded videos, and an app to keep you up to date on surfing news.

Yet another product of the newly formed partnership between the two companies is the Billabong Surf Trip - a Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY exclusive video game.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia active Billabong edition is already available in selected markets.

The EU approves Sony's bid for Ericsson

The European Commission has approved Sony's decision to buy Ericsson's stake of the Sony Ericsson joint venture.

The ten year long alliance is coming to an end and the EU approval is a huge step for Sony. Back in October the ladder announced it will be buying Ericsson's stake in the joint venture for €1.05 billion. Two weeks ago Sony Ericsson posted a quarterly net loss of €207 million, selling a total of only 34.4 million handsets for the entire year, that's around 3 million less than Apple did in just last quarter alone.

Sony LT22i Nypon to be marketed as Xperia P

ust a week ago the Indonesian equivalent for the American FCC posted the retail name of the Sony's ST25i Kumquat a.k.a. Xperia U. Today we find another retail name in there - the LT22i Nypon's.

Sony LT22i Nypon should be called Xperia P when it is launched. It looks just like the Xperia S, but is based on NovaThor U8500 chipset and its screen and camera are less impressive than the Xperia S ones.

According to this leak, the Xperia P will be launched this April and will cost about €370. It should be announced on the MWC in Barcelona in a few weeks along with the Xperia U and the codenamed Pepper.

Xperia S to feature a fast-charge battery and anti-stain coating

The first Xperia to have stripped itself of the Ericsson brand, the upcoming Sony Xperia S, is rumored to feature a sunlight-activated coating which should help repel dirt and other stain-forming materials, as well as a quick-charge battery.

Dirt and chocolate stains on the cover are said to come off easily after the UV coating is exposed to sunlight for several seconds, and the battery charge times are expected to be reduced by half when compared to previous Xperia models. A ten minute charge should provide an hours worth of standby.

We first got a look at the Xperia S a few weeks ago at CES, and were really impressed with its BRAVIA-powered display image quality.

Expect the Sony Xperia S this March for around €462.

Sony ST25i Kumquat to be called Xperia U when it launches

The Indonesian equivalent of the US FCC has given us the retail name of the rumored Sony Ericsson ST25i Kumquat. It's listed under the name "Sony Ericsson Xperia U", though by the time the phone is officially unveiled, we're sure that will have changed to just "Sony Xperia U".

That's all the new info available on the handset, but we expect to see the Sony Xperia U at the MWC in about a month. The LT26i Xperia S is also listed among the applications for certification, but we already know this one.

Anyway, you can brush up on the specs that the Sony Xperia U is expected to have in our rumor mill.

Also, with models named Xperia S and Xperia U, we can't help but wonder if Sony is considering a new naming scheme. We guess we'll have to wait until we find out how the Nypon and Pepper will be called officially.

Sony announces new 8 and 13MP sensors with HDR video support

Yesterday,

Sony announced that it's working on a couple of new image sensors for use in smartphones and other portable devices.

The sensors use a new RGBW matrix, which adds a white pixel to the usual RGB layout, aiming to improve light sensitivity and, in turn, low-light performance. Sony says that while the addition of white pixel normally has a degrading effect on image quality, here they have found a workaround with their new processing algorithms.

Sony plans to release three mobile sensors, utilizing this new technology this year. An 8 megapixel one, measuring 1/4" in diagonal is planned to start sampling in March, but that one won't have the HDR movie support.

The first proper RGBW Sony sensor should measure 1/3.06" and should come in June. Its effective resolution will be 13 megapixels.

Finally, an 8 megapixel 1/4" sensor with the HDR movie support will be developed by August this year.

So, we probably won't see actual smartphones with the new sensors by the end of the year, but here's hoping that the waiting will be worth it.

Sony Ericsson ST25i Kumquat emerges in a photo

while this is not the first time we've heard of this exotic fruit name bearing handset, we haven't had the pleasure of seeing it in a clear picture yet. Until today that is. Sony Ericsson ST25i "Kumquat" has emerged in a spy photo and it looks, well, quite familiar.

The upcoming smartphone looks a lot like the highly anticipated Sony Xperia S flagship, which got announced at CES this year. Its specs however, have been toned down a bit.

The device is rumored to feature a dual-core CPU, clocked at 1GHz and a 5MP snapper. The screen is reportedly in the 3.5" range, and has FWVGA resolution.

Expect to see the Sony Ericsson ST25i "Kumquat" get unveiled at MWC in Barcelona next month under a Sony name. As always, we will be covering it live, so expect the full scoop on the device as soon as we get it.