Sony Ericsson takes mobile phone experience to the TV screen

MANILA, Philippines - Imagine playing Angry Birds or watching YouTube videos not on a tiny mobile phone screen but on the living room television.

Sony Ericsson is taking the smartphone experience to the large screen with the forthcoming local launch of the Xperia Arc, its latest phone running on the Android 2.3 platform.

Launched at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, the Xperia Arc is dubbed as Sony Ericsson’s most exciting product today as it draws on Sony’s technology to combine with the multimedia experience. 

Built with a super 4.2” multi-touch screen, the Xperia Arc experience is made even bigger as it can connect to the living room TV via an HDMI connector. Though it can connect to any LCD television, the Arc is optimized for connecting to the Sony Bravia LCD TV.

Francisco Dennis Manzano, Sony Ericsson general manager, said the Arc is the company’s latest offering for the premium segment of the market.

With a lot of Android phones now proliferating in the market, Lone Misikini, general manager and head of Southeast Asian Hub, said Sony Ericsson’s advantage is still core Sony technology incorporated into its smartphones, specifically picture and video quality.

“Taking pictures is still ranked in the top three features next to voice and SMS. So obviously Sony technology is capable of delivering that,” he said.

“The other differentiation we provide is we offer the most entertaining smartphone with the Xperia Arc being able to connect to a Sony Bravia TV. You can view pictures stored in your phone, watch videos or movies, connect to the Internet, and play games with the family gathered in the living room,” he said.

Instead of staring at a small screen and with everybody huddled around a small device, now more people can share in the experience on a large screen in that classic return to a more communal type of activity or bonding.

Strong push for Android

After the Xperia Arc, two more new Android phones are coming to the local market — the Xperia Neo and the Xperia Pro — which also draw the best from Sony technology.

Sony Ericsson said the Xperia Pro is the ideal business phone for Android fans as it comes complete with a set of professional functions such as syncing e-mail, calendar and contacts in as secure way. It also comes loaded with Office Suite Pro to allow users to view and edit office documents on the phone.

The Xperia Neo, on the other hand, builds on Sony Ericsson’s trademark design language that is both ergonomic and fashionable. Like the Xperia Arc, both phones can connect to an HDTV.

Sony Ericsson is bullish on the growth of the smartphones as driven by the Android operating system. In 2010, it shipped close to 10 million Android-based smartphones and this year, it is even keener on continuing its strategy of combining the best of the Android platform with Sony Ericsson technologies such as the Exmor R, Mobile Bravia Engine and Sony Ericsson UXP.

For the Philippine market, Sony Ericsson now has four Android-based Xperia phones - the Xperia X10 (its first Android phone in the market), the X10 Mini, the X10 Mini Pro, and the X8.

“Xperia Arc is actually an enhancement of the portfolio we have now,” Manzano said. “Android is a very interesting platform with its own independent ecosystem where a lot of consumers can download applications, a lot of entertainment, gaming and the social networking experience, and Web surfing. There are more than 50,000 applications accessible in the Android market and that number continues to grow every day.”

Misikini added that Android’s strength is really focused on personal applications and taking the Internet experience mobile.

“What we see right now is consumers increasingly demanding personal applications. When you look at the whole entertainment industry, it is also becoming more personalized. What does it mean for the Philippines? It means we are not only getting CNN but also local newspapers and local content. That is the power of Android and it has significantly changed the market,” he said.

According to a Frost and Sullivan study, 54 percent of mobile devices sold in the Asia-Pacific are expected to be smartphones by 2015. In 2010 alone, the Android-based smartphone market grew to approximately 21 percent of the total market from a small five percent in 2009.

Research firm IDC is also predicting smartphone shipments to break the 100-million mark in 2011.

“For 2011 and beyond, a lot more brands to come in at a lower price point on Android, which will help not only pull up demand in emerging markets, but also make feature phone users across all markets consider upgrading to smartphones,” IDC said in its recent release.

The Sony Xperia Arc itself is retailing locally for only about P29,990, a very competitive enough price for its full package of multimedia features. The X8, on the other hand, is considered a good buy at below P10,000.

The Arc unveiled

As a multimedia smartphone that focuses strongly on its connectivity to a large-screen HDTV, the Arc comes with an 8.1-megapixel camera with up to 2.46x smart zoom. Its built-in Exmor R mobile sensor with the f/2.4 lens enables users to capture high-quality pictures and HD videos even in low light. Moreover, its Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA Engine delivers crystal-clear images and visual brilliance.

It has a 1 GHz Qualcomm processor with a phone memory of up to 512 MB and memory card support of up to 32GB. It weighs approximately 117 grams and is super-slim at 125 x 63 x 8.17 mm. For connectivity, it has Bluetooth, aGPs, modem, Wi-Fi, USB mass storage and support, DLNA, audio jack and HDMI.

As an entertainment device, it has capabilities for 3D and motion gaming, has a media browser and is optimized for video viewing and streaming.

As an Android phone, it comes with built-in Google services such as the Android market, Gmail, Google Calendar, Gallery 3D, Latitude, Maps with Street View, Search widget and Voice Search, YouTube, Sync, and Talk.