Sony Ericsson Vivaz from AT&TThis model debuted in Europe earlier this year, but AT&T is going to be the first U.S. carrier to offer it. Exactly when this is going to happen is not yet known, but the Vivaz’s appearance on Sony Ericsson’s website is a clue that the release can’t be far off.

Overview of the Sony Ericsson Vivaz
This smartphone has a tablet shape with a 3,2 inch, HVGA touchscreen. It has a curved back that its maker says is going to be a feature of its future models.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz from AT&TIn its descriptions of this smartphone, Sony Ericsson emphasizes the camera — no surprise, as at 8,1 megapixels this has a higher resolution than virtually all other phones. In addition to hi-res images, it can record HD video.

This camera has additional features like face and smile detection, stabilization software, and a flash.

The Vivaz runs the Symbian operating system with the touch-enabled version of Nokia’s S60 as its user interface.

This comes with a suite of entertainment, communication, and navigation software, including a high-end web browser.

Wireless features of the AT&T version of the Vivaz are going to include support for this carrier’s 3G network, as well as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a GPS receiver.

Also on the specifications list is a microSD memory card slot, FM radio, 3,5 mm audio jack,

Overall, the Sony Ericsson Vivaz is 4,2 x 2,0 x 0,5 inches (107,0 x 52,0 x 12,5 mm) and 3,4 oz.

Announced in a press conference in February, the X10 Mini Pro is slated to be released in the first half of 2010 in Pearl White, Black, and Red; rumours say it should be available by the end of May for an estimated £300+ before taxes and subsidies, but no official information has been released yet. Based off of the design of the Xperia X10, the X10 Mini Pro is a feature-packed compact mobile device, not unlike the X10 Mini, but with a few extras. So we should hopefully not have very long to wait for Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro deals to make their way on to the market.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini ProSony Ericsson has loaded with Mini Pro with plenty of features that belie its tiny size as part of a push to become the new industry standard for high-quality company phones with impressive specs and features. In order to bring the X10 Mini Pro to the forefront of the pack for communication entertainment, Sony Ericsson has included a slide-out QWERTY keyboard to make messaging much more quick and convenient. The Mini Pro also features conversation-style SMS text messaging, MMS multimedia messaging, support for simultaneously e-mail accounts, instant messaging, and predictive text input to speed up your communications.

Similar in size to its cousin, the X10 Mini, the Pro weighs about 120 grams and measures 9 x 5,2 x 1,7 cm, but its size is no indication of its power. With a 600 MHz processor, the X10 Mini Pro can smoothly handle almost anything you throw at it, making interaction with the phone an enjoyable experience without stuttering and slowdowns. Running on an updated version of Sony Ericsson’s UX platform, the X10 Mini Pro features a customisable four-corner touch screen with auto-rotating capability that allows you to easily create shortcuts to your favourite applications on your homescreen in each corner with simple drag-and-drop functionality, and easily access them with a single tap. You can also customize your homescreen with picture wallpapers.

AndroidUtilizing version 1,6 of the popular Android OS, the X10 Mini Pro has native access to the extremely useful Google application suite including Google Maps, Google Search, and a number of other applications. Along with Google Maps, he Mini Pro has aGPS support and Wisepilot turn-by-turn navigation with live voice instruction to help you plan trips and keep you on track as you travel. If you find yourself wanting a bit more functionality, there are plenty of applications in a variety of categories on the Android Market to fit whatever needs you may have. As open-source software with the second highest market penetration and plenty of support, Android allows for nearly unlimited customisation suited to your desires; you can develop your own applications, rewrite software yourself, or access the hundreds of packages already available on the internet to change the way your phone works.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro (3)Sony Ericsson has also included a fairly unique and interesting «Infinite» button that makes it easy to access a variety of context-based information with the press of a single dedicated button. Depending on what you’re viewing at the time, you can instantly check social networks for the latest updates from a friend. get additional info about contacts, find album and artist info on the track you’re listening to, or search for a video on YouTube.

Timescape, Sony Ericsson’s version of HTC’s Friend Stream, gathers all of your social networking communication-Facebook and Twitter status updates, text messages, emails, even call logs-into a single easy-to-navigate stream that keeps you up to date and in touch with your friends, or even see if you’ve missed a chance to talk to them. 3G+ HSPA and Wi-Fi connectivity combine with the Webkit browser to let you access the web anywhere for the latest news and information-with bookmarks, you can easily get to your favourite sites with a single tap. USB and Bluetooth connectivity allow you to easily synchronise your mobile device with your computer to back up all of your data, or connect wirelessly to other devices up to 10 yards away, and ActiveSync makes it possible to connect to a Microsoft Exchange server to sync your corporate calendars and contacts effortlessly.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro (1)To live up to the «entertainment» part of its design, the X10 Mini Pro offers easy access to YouTube and FM Radio to stream music and videos right to your phone so you’re never far from your favourite song or silly cat video. It also includes a full-featured 5-megapixel camera with built-in auto-focus, photo flash, continuous video lighting for recording, and support for geo tagging to add location information to your photos. With integrated Facebook support, you can easily share your latest videos and photos with friends and family in seconds. The Mini Pro’s crisp 240×320 pixel (QVGA) TFT display is capable of displaying more than 16,7 million colours, letting you view all of your pictures in clear, vivid colour.

The Mini Pro also features Sony Ericsson’s Music Player that they’ve perfected in their other phones to offer quality music playback and intuitive interaction. The Music Player can save album art to make browsing what you already have a quick and colourful experience, while the «Infinite» button also makes it easy to check out new music. With a simple press, your phone can instantly gather pertinent information from the PlayNow music store or YouTube so you can buy the track. Likewise, the extremely useful TrackID software allows you to record a few seconds of any song you hear, after which it searches through the online database and within seconds returns album, artist, and track information for a huge collection of music. Bluetooth A2DP stereo offers freedom of movement as you listen to your favourite music, or use the 3,5mm headphone jack for conventional headphones. Up to 16 GB of microSD storage in addition to 128MB of internal memory gives you plenty of space for your music and other media, applications, and games you might find on the PlayNow store or Android Market. Set to be released very soon stay tuned for more Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro reviews shortly.

Nordberg apparently wanted to protect the Sony Ericsson brand. He said that the company would only produce phones under its own brand, and that it wouldn’t be a subcontractor to anyone.

The news leaves me sort of speechless, because Sony Ericsson hasn’t been doing all that well lately — the company recently closed down four facilities, and laid off 2,000 workers. It also has yet to make a splash in this recent generation of smartphones. Its first Android device, the Xperia X10, won’t be released until later this year.

The hubris displayed by Sony Ericsson’s decision shows that the company would prefer to fail on its own, rather than team up with someone else to succeed. It also reminds me of VentureBeat writer Paul Boutin’s piece on why Nokia has had such a hard time succeeding in America, where excessive corporate pride likely played a role.

Before the iPhone, and before HTC started kicking butt with its smartphone designs, I was always a fan of Sony Ericsson’s phones. Its phones were the height of design for standard cellphones — each one seemingly had a personality of its own. The company also developed a great looking Windows Mobile smartphone, the Xperia X1, but by that point, Windows Mobile was on its way out.

Ericsson could have made a huge impact with Google’s flagship phone. Instead, the company is going to have to fight off the Nexus One, and other high-end Android phones, whenever the Xperia X10 is released. Good luck with that.

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Although final results may differ, Sony Ericsson plans to ship approximately 14 million phones during the first quarter of 2009 with an estimated ASP (average selling price) of EUR 120. Gross margin is expected to decline both year-on-year and sequentially. Net income before taxes is estimated to be a loss in the range of EUR 340 – 390 million, excluding restructuring charges in the range of EUR 10 – 20 million.

Sony Ericsson will announce its first quarter, 2009 financial results at 07.30 UK time/08.30 CET on April 17.