[linkinpark875]

For years they made great phones like K700i, K750i, K800i, K850i, W995, C905 and then they got to the awful Satio and ditched the normal OS they used and have released a million Xperia phones running Android. I miss the days they released solid good Walkman and Cybershot phones.

Here's the latest range here:

http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson-phones-19.php

Really horrible phones. If you want an Android much better with HTC or Samsung. Maybe SE have gone the way Nokia have went? I think Apple have taken over from SE as the new unique brand.

[IslandNiles]

I disagree that the latest generation is the problem, really.

For years and years, I had Nokia phones. I was happy with the simplicity and reliability. Then, I had my head turned by Sony Ericsson, whose phones seemed to offer far more advanced features. They did - they were miles ahead of Nokia with what they seemed to be offering. I had the K850i and it was a buggy mess. It had to be replaced twice (the well-known 'incorrect function' error) and for the whole time I had it, it froze up, randomly restarted, and sometimes wouldn't switch on. It was terrible. Then I got the C905, and had all the same issues. (Both phones took very, very good photos though. I have some pictures from nights out and it's hard to believe they were taken on a phone.)

I swore I'd never have another SE phone after that.

[linkinpark875]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IslandNiles

I disagree that the latest generation is the problem, really.

For years and years, I had Nokia phones. I was happy with the simplicity and reliability. Then, I had my head turned by Sony Ericsson, whose phones seemed to offer far more advanced features. They did - they were miles ahead of Nokia with what they seemed to be offering. I had the K850i and it was a buggy mess. It had to be replaced twice (the well-known 'incorrect function' error) and for the whole time I had it, it froze up, randomly restarted, and sometimes wouldn't switch on. It was terrible. Then I got the C905, and had all the same issues. (Both phones took very, very good photos though. I have some pictures from nights out and it's hard to believe they were taken on a phone.)

I swore I'd never have another SE phone after that.

I also had problems with the C905 however the W995 was a stable phone after that probably one of the best.

But I think they will struggle the Playstation phone looks poor compared to the Ipod for games. Much better with a PSP if you want a Playstation.

They just look like Android clones and there's much cheaper priced ones from Samsung/HTC. They have not released a "wow" phone in some time. That's why I think they will struggle if they are just offering the same piece of kit 20 other companies can do better nobody will buy into it.

I never got the Iphone 3GS as it was poor featured for me and there was better alternatives. Since I got the Iphone 4 there's not been any other phone I'd have wanted. In the next year Samsung look to be the best as they are releasing better HD recording.

[Madridista23]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IslandNiles

I disagree that the latest generation is the problem, really.

For years and years, I had Nokia phones. I was happy with the simplicity and reliability. Then, I had my head turned by Sony Ericsson, whose phones seemed to offer far more advanced features. They did - they were miles ahead of Nokia with what they seemed to be offering. I had the K850i and it was a buggy mess. It had to be replaced twice (the well-known 'incorrect function' error) and for the whole time I had it, it froze up, randomly restarted, and sometimes wouldn't switch on. It was terrible. Then I got the C905, and had all the same issues. (Both phones took very, very good photos though. I have some pictures from nights out and it's hard to believe they were taken on a phone.)

I swore I'd never have another SE phone after that.

My last 5 phones have been SE's. T610, T630, W810i (two of them) and i currently have a W902i. I have never had a problem any any one of them. they have been totally reliable and they do exactly what it says on the tin.

Maybe you have just been unlucky with SE phones. It was upgrade time at the beginning of the month and they sent me a Xperia X10 which i must say i did not get on with it, so I sold it on eBay for GBP220 the day after it arrived.

[IslandNiles]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Madridista23

Maybe you have just been unlucky with SE phones.

I probably have. But you know what it's like - bad experiences taint your opinion of a company. I really liked the K850i when I got it, and absolutely hated it when I got rid of it. The C905 was me giving SE a chance to redeem themselves, and it proved just as bad.

[alanwarwic]

I think they failed to recruit a team of drones that like to give their money away whilst feeling compelled to seek new out new drones.

Xperia phones are big sellers
The Sony Xperia Play PlayStation Phone looks a serious prospect in the real world of choice.

[Martin Blank]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alanwarwic

I think they failed to recruit a team of drones that like to give their money away whilst feeling compelled to seek new out new drones.

Xperia phones are big sellers
The Sony Xperia Play PlayStation Phone looks a serious prospect in the real world of choice.

It very well could be, only the fact that the hardware will be outdated by the time it's released; letting it down a little.

The key thing with launching a 'gaming phone' will be the price of the games. Yes, now everyone loves a little Angry Birds, which is free on Android and all of 59 odd pence on the iPhone. These days, it's all about Apps and smart phones, and downloading for cheap from market places.

You and i well know, Sony will be expecting people to pay £10+ per game.

[CoolboyA]

It all went wrong when they strayed away from what they knew and created the Xperia WinMobile phones and the Vivaz/Vivaz Pro. Then, they started churning out underspecd Android phones by the bucket load. Seriously, in 2010, why churn out a "headline" mobile [X10] that can't even cope with multitouch? If that wasn't enough, they then made even worse, smaller versions of it... That, along with no future support past their cut down version of 2.1, put SE in a bad place, in my eyes.

However, we now have the Arc coming out which is all bells and whistles with Android 2.3 [upgrade to 2.4]. However, SE has again put their own software on the phone and every gadget website has picked up on how sluggish the phone is in places. Hopefully they will sort it out.

As for the Xperia Play, let's hope it isn't as big a flop as the PSP2 was... we all know how that ended.

[BT@home]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoolboyA

As for the Xperia Play, let's hope it isn't as big a flop as the PSP2 was... we all know how that ended.

??????

When did PSP2 get released? I thought it was out at the end of this year?

[alanwarwic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martin Blank

These days, it's all about Apps and smart phones, and downloading for cheap from market places.

Avoid the iPhone then if every single thing competing with Apple gets taxed 30%

Apple books and Apple music and Apple video customers won't get the double whammy Apple tax.
Everything else could be 30% more expensive or suddenly banished' fly by night'.

[CoolboyA]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BT@home

??????

When did PSP2 get released? I thought it was out at the end of this year?

I mean the thing they realeased after the first one - the all-digital one? I thought the new one was called the NGP?

Whatever it's name, it was a commercial disaster - over priced and under supported.

[Martin Blank]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alanwarwic

Avoid the iPhone then if every single thing competing with Apple gets taxed 30%

Apple books and Apple music and Apple video customers won't get the double whammy Apple tax.
Everything else could be 30% more expensive or suddenly banished' fly by night'.

Sorry, i dont follow; it's been a long day.

What made the iphone so big? It's ease of use? I would argue the "90,000 apps and growing" (as stated on an Apple advert)
What's making Android grow so fast?

...it's all about the "apps" at the moment, and games fall into that category too.

If you are a serious gamer, you will buy a console. You may also buy a handheld, DS, PSP etc, for 'on the move gaming'. Unless Sony make sure the games they release for their phone are priced accordingly, then the phone will go the same way as the Nokia N-Gage.

Plain and simple. You heard it here first!

[david.boobis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoolboyA

I mean the thing they realeased after the first one - the all-digital one? I thought the new one was called the NGP?

Whatever it's name, it was a commercial disaster - over priced and under supported.

You mean the PSP GO? Yeah that didn't work. It wasn't positioned right and wasn't marketed properly. Purely digital distribution is fine for apps where you're paying a couple of quid here and there, but not for a £30 game.

To answer the OPs question, Sony Ericsson got caught out just like Nokia did - sticking to Symbian as a strategy for too long. They did jump on the Android train pretty quick, but made the mistake of trying to differentiate too much with extensive customisation that they didn't have the resources to update in a timely manner.

Newer SE Android devices are much less invasively customised, so updates should be quicker. The X10 Mini and Mini Pro were big hits, and I think the Play and Arc will sell well too. It may have taken them a while but SE are definitely back on form.

[dreamfish]

Anyone remember the Nokia N-Gage..? That didn't fare too well, so I'm not convinced that adding the words "Sony" will mean anything better.

[alanwarwic]

Quote:

=Martin Blank;48171633...; it's been a long day.
What made the iphone so big?

iPod buyers happened to average 14 years old so Apple captured the emerging market?

[linkinpark875]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dreamfish

Anyone remember the Nokia N-Gage..? That didn't fare too well, so I'm not convinced that adding the words "Sony" will mean anything better.

I remember it.

To be honest most modern phones handle good games so now more than ever it's pointless.

Why should I want a playstation pad on a touch screen design? It will be a fail.

[mr_dink]

Quote:

Originally Posted by linkinpark875

But I think they will struggle the Playstation phone looks poor compared to the Ipod for games. Much better with a PSP if you want a Playstation.

Sorry but I have to disagree on this point.

I have an android phone at the moment which I use fairly extensively for emulation (SNES, Game Boy etc) and I normally use a Wii remote as a controller. The onscreen buttons aren't much use.

I will most likely be getting the Xperia Play when I'm due to upgrade, it's very unlikely I will buy a single game for it from Sony but the gamepad will see a lot of action.

I don't believe the current range of SE android phones is as bad as it's made out to be. Yes the bootloader is locked down beyond belief, and leaving the phone at Android 2.1 is not what I would call good product support, however as they say where there's a will there's a way, and my X10 now runs a 2.2 Cyanogen build, with pinch to zoom, Adobe flash support etc. God bless XDA developers for finishing Sony's job for them!

[MrKev]

I have to say from all the early hands ons I've seen, people seem to think the Xperia Play (PS Phone) is pretty darn good. Smartphone gaming's major let down is touchscreen joypads/buttons which just aren't as good as proper buttons.

Pretty ridiculous to compare it to something like Ngage when it simply provides an addition to Android gaming rather than sitting out there on it's own. You can still play all the regular Android games but you also have a special playstation section in the marketplace with games optimised for the gamepad. Some pretty decent developer support behind it too.

[goomba]

Where did it all go wrong? Bad software. That is all.

[Finglonga]

Went wrong with the K850i IMO as it was so unreliable I had 5 replaced before I insisted they gave me a phone that lasted more than a couple of weeks. The other half's lasted a month before that decided to do the same lock up routine.

I had the Xperia X1 after that and swore I wouldn't touch S/E phones again as they were buggy due to them rushing the firmware to sell as many as they could.

[CoolboyA]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finglonga

Went wrong with the K850i IMO as it was so unreliable I had 5 replaced before I insisted they gave me a phone that lasted more than a couple of weeks. The other half's lasted a month before that decided to do the same lock up routine.

I had the Xperia X1 after that and swore I wouldn't touch S/E phones again as they were buggy due to them rushing the firmware to sell as many as they could.

Ahh yes, the K850i! I had the K800i for 2 years and it was the best phone. I so badly wanted the K850i when it came out, but then I read the reviews [or complaints I should say]. SE went wrong then - churning the phones out for the masses before really finishing them.

[Awshum-Yawn]

Loved my Sony J70 back in the day, stayed with SE for sometime and still think the w810i was the best handset ever produced by SE. Solid build quality, well designed and worked a treat...

I then had a K810i for a while, my wife had a SE flip phone and both sucked. In for repair a ridiculous amount of times and I moved onto Samsung my wife held on with SE until I got fed up buying junk that I knew would fail and told her no more. Her last SE was the F305, that thing was woeful... spent longer being repaired than in use. In fact it went in for repair and I bought her a Samsung Tocco and didn't bother collecting the F305 I was that pissed off with it.

[len112]

I personally like my Satio a lot !

[brangdon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by david.boobis

To answer the OPs question, Sony Ericsson got caught out just like Nokia did - sticking to Symbian as a strategy for too long.

Or not long enough. I had a p900 and a pi1, and I was happy with them. They both had touch-screens, jog-wheels and QUERTY keyboards, and I used them mostly with 3rd party apps.

Apple upset everything with the iPhone. I had wanted an X1 with Symbian, but SE dropped Symbian and went with Windows instead. Eventually they adopted Android, but by then it was too late for me. I don't think SE's position was quite the same as Nokia's, but neither responded to the iPhone well.

[Barneygumble84]

I had a K810i for a couple of years 2007-8 I think, even returned my N95 upgrade. Sadly this seemed to be the last of the decent bunch. Upgraded to Satio back in '09. It had a beautiful 12MP camera and good adverts, but just not that user-friendly and a virtually non-existent selection of apps. When they were recalled, O2 let me change to a HTC HD2, which is the best phone I've had since XDA exec!

My sis-in-law has kept her Satio, and her hubby recently got X10 and loves it, but my other half won't touch Sony Ericsson with a barge pole; her aunt got her a C905 (I think) as a present last year and ended up getting a refund!

I think the X10 has clawed back some of their credibility, but from the posts on here, they're hell bent on self destruction!

Who remembers the T28? A 1-2 line screen