Sony Ericsson To Reveal Android XPERIA Phone On November 3rd

Sony Ericsson has a teaser site up at the moment called “What’s next?” at sonyericsson.com. It says, “November 3″ and “We’re looking forward to November 3rd. We think you should be too.” then links to this YouTube video:

We’ve spoken to a trusted source and this phone is indeed an upcoming Sony Ericsson phone to debut in the XPERIA line – codenamed Rachael, and rumored to be the XPERIA X3/X10. We’re not sure about the official name, but we definitely know it will have Android, and this is definitely a true video of the interface:

Can’t wait!

Interesting Q&A From Sony’s Q2 FY09 Conference Call – New TV’s In February, And Other Tidbits

There was some real interesting quotes Sony put out there during its Q2 FY09 Conference call, including the admission that its TV segment will struggle to be profitable for the rest of the Japanese fiscal year, that we will see new TV’s from Sony by February, the power of the Michael Jackson effect on entertainment sales, and more. We’ve chosen the most interesting conversations for your enjoyment.

On bringing new LED backlit LCD’s to mass production as soon as possible to compete with Samsung and the rest:

Evan Wilson – Pacific Crest: You mentioned in Japan earlier today, that there is the potential to bring some TV models that you had planned to launch next year into this year. Could you discuss that strategy and what do you think the impact would be on profitability and pricing in the TV business?

Sam Levenson: Well, the impact on the profitability is very difficult to tell you exactly how much we’re going to save. But the main reason the why that we have to introduce the new model which originally, we anticipated to introduce in the spring time next year, was that our competitors particularly like Samsung, their product feature is unfortunately superior than ours. Particularly in the LED, satellite features. They planned that technology not only with top end model, but also the mass production models too. Of course, we have the LED-backlit model in our product line, but that was only for the top line items.

So therefore, our lineup was not so strongly enough compared to the Samsung. So, our strategy is to introduce the new models, the spring models as soon as possible, probably sometime as in February this year. By doing this, yes, that we have to invest some of the additional promotional expenses for the current model, that is a negative factor, but by introducing the new competitive model, other than planned, that will generates some profit. So, overall we’ll generate some profits for us in this sense.

Finding out if there will be a break-even or profits for Sony with their TV’s:

Daniel Ernst – Hudson Square Research: And for the second half you expect to either become break even or create profits in TV?

Nobuyuki Oneda: Well, TV will not to be a breakeven this year unfortunately. I mean the sales volume would be same as the forecasted level. But profitability wise it’s enough to breakeven, still we’ll be the raw situations unfortunately.

Thoughts on outsource manufacturing and further thoughts on restoring TV profitability:

Mark Harding – Maxim Group: If you could share your thoughts and have some targets on outsource manufacturing? And then secondly there was I guess a comment during the earlier calls regarding to moving towards profitability on the television side requiring you to look beyond the hardware. If you could just provide a little bit more color around that as well, it would be great?

Nobuyuki Oneda: Yes, currently under the digital era a little gradually difficult to make a differentiation for the television businesses. So, therefore and also the assembly areas, the final assembly areas, there is a less, the profit is expected in this area. So therefore the we would do still the engineering or the design side or see our final assembly areas, we will try to increase the percentage of the assembly to the outside EMS in operations.

Robert Wiesenthal: On the second question, it’s Robert Wiesenthal speaking. Nick mentioned in our meeting today about beyond hardware. And what he was referring to was about the use of visual services on our television set. Right now, as you know, we have the PlayStation network; the PS3 and PSP go that is migrating to the television, the Bravia, over time. Right now there are already is a service in place called the Bravia internet links that allows people to watch television shows and content from various networks. Last year, we were the first company ever to show a film directly to television owners outside cable and satellite and we have more plans in the future. So that’s really what refers to is that service stream which will generate revenues beyond the threshold of the retail store and that is something that is just beginning with IPTV and I think you will see a lot more to coming months.

Speaking about PSP sales..

Evan Wilson – Pacific Crest: So, far in the first half of this fiscal year, shipments of PSP are tracking down about 2.6 million versus the first half of last year. What gives you confidence that in you reiterated forecast to sell one more million PSPs this year than you did last year?

Nobuyuki Oneda: Some of the areas that we already introduced the PSP go, which is the new model. For some areas that we’re going to introduce in next month, right? The will increase hopefully over hardware numbers for the PSP and also at the same time, the big software program will be introduced like Gran Turismo during the coming holiday season. So that will hopefully putting the numbers over the software and hardware at the same time. So therefore at this moment we are behind compared to the original plan but we are not so pessimistic to achieve the original project.

Robert Wiesenthal: On the PSP go, we have also started as you know the networks services on only say Wi-Fi device. So there is no physical media. We have just started porting over many of the movies and television shows associated with that. That takes some time to build up and if that library expands and improves I think you are going to see a very strong take up rate for not only the device but also the revenues associated with this service.

Factoring the split of the PSPgo and regular PSP, and how download only will effect margins..

Jed Latkin – ING: Since we have the launch for the PSPgo in October, have you guys factored in like what sort of split have you factored in between the 3000 and in the PSPgo? And given the significantly higher ASP and underlying margin how is that going to affect the margins in the games business? And is that higher ASP offset enough to mitigate the losses on the lower price PS3?

Unidentified Company Representative: Hi this is Mark (inaudible) our visiting CFO speaking. On the PSP®go we have only launched in major countries in Europe and the U.S. so far and some countries in Asia the Japanese launch will begin next week. So we don’t have a full grasp of how this product will evolve but very roughly speaking, for the fiscal year, we aim to do north of 2 million units. So that is the kind of numbers that we are looking at for PSP®go. Now as we have a higher ASP compared to the 3000 that will result in a higher margin for us. I don’t think it’s appropriate to compare the margins on the PSP®go with the loss on the PS3. I think you are not comparing apples-to-apples where our money is money. But I don’t think it’s appropriate to answer your question in this way.

Jed Latkin – ING: It’s more of the margins for the entire division as a whole as you change to a more download base system that should increase the margin to the business and what is the assumption for the change of the margins. Are you also the breakdown for software sales like what percent are you assuming its going to be download versus physical distribution?

Nobuyuki Oneda: This depends on what kind of tie-ratio or tax ratio, what will happen for the PSP®go. As you know the PSP®go is only download. There’s no package media that you can play on the PSPgo. So the margin structure on the PSP®go depends on tax ratio as well as the breakdown between the first party and the third party content. Obviously, the first party content will have a higher margin. So we cannot disclose in detail how these margin structures are at the moment. But in the end, we have our businesses shift towards the download side of the business, our margin will improve. That is our basic assumption.

The network model should be efficient compared to the package model because there are no physical discs to the manufactured, no inventories to be carried et cetera, et cetera. and we don’t have to worry about shelf space at the retail floor. So I am talking in very general terms. But as we progress we hope to increase the part of the download business as much as we can. But this translation will take time I guess because no fault consumers have the connectivity to neutralize the full features of the PSPgo.

Dodging a bullet on when will the next next generation console come from Sony or its competitors (we love it when people ask this and think they will get a real answer):

David Leibowitz – Horizon Asset Management: In terms of the PlayStation how many years do we have to wait to you believe before we will have a next generation of architecture either from yourself or your two major competitors?

Robert Wiesenthal: We are not disclosing those kinds of question. I am sorry, we can’t answer that. Needless to say that the whole premise of the PlayStation 3 with this network connectivity and Intel processor is that it is something that is actually better today than it was when it first came out and it continues to grow with more and more digital services. This platform has lots of life. So that’s something that we are really not spending a lot of time talking about at this point. Right now we are just continuing building this platform.

Recapping Sony Picture and Music releases:

David Leibowitz – Horizon Asset Management: Could you go over for calendar year 2010, your major theatrical releases and your major musical releases that you have on schedule right now?

Robert Wiesenthal: Sure. On the music side right now, its actually, we have terrific line up with albums from John Mayer, Leona Lewis, Alicia Keys, Britney Spears and then Susanne Boyle from X-Factor and then Adam Lambert from American Idol. And then with respect to films we are very excited about “2012″ which is tracking incredibly strong that comes out on November 13, which is an incredible science fiction film with the John Cusack and Amanda Peet. And then during Christmas, we have romantic comedy called “Did you hear about the Morgans” with Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker.

So that’s what we are kind of looking forward to right now. And obviously, “This is it” opened up on Wednesday in 99 countries and did $20 million, which is actually a record for a Wednesday. And we are very excited about the start of that film and we will see how this weekend goes. And at the cinema scores for that film were an “A” across the board at all ages so it’s been a great week for the picture company.

On DSLR and consumer camera marketshare:

David Leibowitz – Horizon Asset Management: Are you gaining or loosing share at the mid and high end to some of your ach rivals such as Canon and Nikon as well as all the others who are in the field right now

Nobuyuki Oneda: Yeah I think we have talked about the Canon or the Konica type, what’s for the one [lenses]. We are not losing the market share, we are the late comers. And our target was the 10% industry but now that our shares are about 11%. So we are not losing shares.

David Leibowitz – Horizon Asset Management: And what share market do you think you need to continue moving forward in this process or is there a chance if you can’t get beyond your current market share that you withhold and move onto other products that offer more promise?

Nobuyuki Oneda: We don’t know how fast and how big these categories will be expanded but at this moment that creates more than 10% market share with the additional profit is our immediate target.

Robert Wiesenthal: Just to clarify the shares I am talking about is for the DSLR market not the compact digital market.

On the huge Michael Jackson effect for the rest of the fiscal year (I believe they are also referencing the eventual This Is It DVD/Blu-ray release, CD’s, etc.

Jed Latkin – ING: On the music business – I mean given the launch of the Michael Jackson movie, what are you budgeting in for the continued Michael Jackson effect for the remainder of the year?

Nobuyuki Oneda: Well, we are not disclosing the numbers. But let me put this way. So far the Michael Jackson CD business in United States is about 500 million units and global basis it’s about 1500 million.

Sam Levenson is the SVP of Investor Relations for Sony; Nobuyuki Oneda (pictured) is Executive Deputy President and CFO of Sony; Robert Wiesenthal is Group Executive, Corporate Development and M&A, Sony and EVP and CFO, Sony; Gen Tsuchikawa – Senior General Manager, Investor Relations Division for Sony.

Sony Posts Q2 FY09 Results – Sales Down, Forecasts Improve

Sony’s reveal of their Q2 FY09 results indicate one thing to me beyond anything else: an overall lack of sales of -19.8% compared to this time last year in every segment except for music and finance. However, despite that statement Sony is looking upward and has revised their forecast, as Q2 results exceeded expectations. Operating income definitely shed a lot of loss and is positive if you exclude equity in net income of affiliates and restructuring charges. Sony also notes, as it has for many moons now, “Structural transformation initiatives are proceeding as planned.” Sounds like something a droid would say to me in the future.

Here is a link to the transcript of the earnings announcement – Sony Corp Q2 2009 Earnings Conference Call.

Sony’s stock in the New York Stock Exchange is also flirting with its highest levels since September 2008 at 29.39.

Let’s examine each segment:

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Consumer Products & Devices suffered a decrease in sales of 36.5% with BRAVIA LCD TV’s, Cyber-shot cameras, and system LSI’s for game businesses. Lagging performance in Handycam video cameras and batteries took a hit on the operating income, which decreased by 82.7 %.

Networked Products & Services also saw an overall decrease in sales by 24.2%. VAIO PC sales fell behind and PS2 sales continued to decline. However, with the recent success of the PS3 price drop, I have a feeling next quarter will be pretty incredible in this regard. VAIO took a real hit because Sony has to sell for less to keep up with overall price declines, which meant a decrease in unit sales. Foreign exchange rates also hurt Sony, all amounting to a operating loss of 58.8 billion yen.

B2B & Disc Manufacturing faltered with a 19% loss in sales compared to last year, mainly because developing countries embracing professional/broadcast equipment lessened due to the woes with the global economy. Disc Manufacturing also took a hit.

Sony Pictures saw a 30.4% decrease in profits overall, but only a 20% decrease in the USA. Hancock was a huge hit for Sony last year and didn’t really have the same draw. Sony did have some key players with District 9, The Ugly Truth and Julie & Julia. We feel that their latest venture in the quick release of Michael Jackson’s final concert rehearsals This Is It will dramatically change things next quarter, though.

The consolidation of Sony Music has resulted in an overall increase of sales by 146%. However, but that is of course assuming that Sony Music would have been consolidated the previous year. Strong sales contributed to Whitney Houston’s I Look To You, the Kings of Leon’s Only By The Night, and Daughtry’s Leave This Town. In Japan, best selling titles included Miliyah Kato’s Ring. Michael Jackson sales were very positive on the operating income and there was a large decrease in overhead and restructuring costs.

Sony Life is looking stronger than ever. With a 135.% increase in revenue (171.3 billion yen), its investments have led to an improvement in net gains, valuation gains from bond investments (in the general account) helped by the stable Japanese stock market. Insurance premium revenue has also steadily increased.

Here are the overall unit sales (in millions) of key Sony Consumer Electronics & Game Products:

Vizio and Sony Settle Patent Issues, Grant Licences To One Another

Vizio announced that Sony Corporation has become a licensee under Vizio’s patent portfolio as a result of a recent patent settlement. Vizio, the current leader in the American LCD HDTV market, owns a substantial worldwide patent portfolio directed to digital television technology. Sony will be licensed under any patents that Vizio purchased this year related to color televisions, as well as any they may own in the future that are related to color televisions or PC monitors.

“We are pleased with the result of our patent licensing efforts. It further demonstrates the technical strength and value of VIZIO’s patent portfolio,” said Rob Brinkman, VIZIO V.P. of Operations and Administration.

Some of you may remember in October 2008, Sony filed a litigation against Vizio in the Federal District Court for the Central District of California for infringement of fourteen of Sony’s patents related to color televisions and PC monitors. This was also settled and VIZIO now is a licensee under Sony’s color television patent portfolio.

“Having successfully resolved the disputes, we shall continue to aggressively protect our rights and actively expand VIZIO’s licensing program. As an owner of patent rights and as a licensee of legitimate patent right held by others, VIZIO respects intellectual property and we expect our competitors to do the same,” added Mr. Brinkman.

Ahh, blissful harmony. Until some other patent spat arises.

The Term “LED TV” Is A Marketing Line That Is Manipulating Consumers

The LED TV products being whisked around lately (used by Samsung Electronics, Toshiba, Philips, LG Electronics and Vizio) are the same type of LED backlit/edge-lit LCD TV’s Sony has in their television range. The phrase LED TV is a farce – it is a term exploited by some companies to increase the status of their brands in the mindshare of average consumers out there. It’s unfair for Sony, who truthfully advertises their various BRAVIA products as LED-backlit or edge-backlit LCDs, which some people may pass off as inferior to a LED TV. There is no difference, though.

Sony’s LED edgelit/backlit LCD’s are just as good, if not better than the competition. Check out this handy chart showing the differences on Sony models:

Seem confusing? LED’s are used for backlighting, instead of fluorescent lights. Light-emitting diode televisions (LED TVs) are LCD television sets that use LED as back light. LEDs in their current form are much too large to be individual pixels on a conventional television. The use of a true LED display is therefore reserved for much larger screens in sports grounds and other commercial locations.

Dynamic RGB LEDs which are positioned behind the panel (aka backlit). This method of backlighting allows dimming to occur locally creating specific areas of darkness on the screen. This means you see truer blacks and much higher dynamic contrast ratios. Edge lit (White Edge) LED’s are positioned around the rim of the screen which use a special diffusion panel to spread the light evenly behind the screen, like the Sony ZX1/XBR10. The edge lit method allows for LED-based TVs to become extremely thin. The light is diffused across the screen by a special panel which produces a superb uniform color range across the screen.

Here’s another chart showing the visual difference one would expect between a normal LCD, a LCD with edge-lit LED, and a LCD with backlit LED:

Sony Ericsson’s Q3 FY09 Results Indicate Lagging Sales, But Product Refresh Looks Very Promising

It’s simply amazing to see Sony Ericsson reporting in their Q3 FY09 results (PDF) such a continued drop in sales, making them look so entirely different than 2008 with only shipping 14.1 million units in that quarter, a decrease of 45% year-on-year. Sales for the quarter were Euro 1,619 million, a sequential decrease of 4% and a year-on-year decrease of 42%. The sequential decline in ASP (Average Selling Price) was due to product mix and continued challenging market conditions. Gross margin improved sequentially but dropped year-on-year due to lower sales and foreign exchange fluctuations. The sequential improvement was seen in both percentage rate and volume, driven by cost savings actions and successful sales of the W995 Walkman phone.

Income before taxes for the quarter, excluding restructuring charges, was a loss of Euro 198 million compared to a loss of Euro 283 million from the previous quarter. The reduced loss was due to better gross margin, as well as reduced operating expenses. I would be more glum about these results but I can see changes for the better, especially if you look at last quarter. SE is going in the right direction, and with a recent cash infusion from Sony things should be back on track. It also helps that Sony Ericsson is on the precipice of delivering their greatest range of competitive mobile devices to date with the Yari, Aino, and Satio.

“Our business in the third quarter started to show the effects of our ongoing transformation programme. Having refreshed our brand we are now better positioned to support the launch of new products such as Aino and Satio in Q4 2009. We have cleared channel inventories, and have continued to realign internal resources and improve efficiency. We have also arranged external financing to strengthen the company’s financial position,” said Dick Komiyama, outgoing President, Sony Ericsson. “Transforming the business for future growth and returning Sony Ericsson to profitability is the focus of the senior management team and will continue under the new leadership.”

Bert Nordberg became President of Sony Ericsson succeeding Dick Komiyama, who remains as Executive Advisor until the end of 2009.

Sony Ericsson forecasts that the global handset market for 2009 will contract by approximately 10% from around 1,190 million units in 2008. Sony Ericsson estimates that its market share in units was about 5% in the third quarter.

Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” Has Incredible Debut

Well, Sony sure scored with their $60 million purchase of the concert footage from Michael Jackson’s rehersals before his concert tour. The movie made $2.2 million domestically in its opening night, and is looking very strong at a $20+ million dollar opening day. MJ even scored an 81% (at the time of this writing) approval rating on rottentomatoes.com. This will definitely be Sony’s strongest movie in 2009, and I assure you that will be most clear once international numbers come in. This Is It opened simultaneously in 95 different countries which have not reported sales yet.  Nikki Finke of deadline.com stated that she felt the film “could shatter box-office records” and predicted that they will take in a total of $250 million in its first five days of release alone – which would make it the biggest opening of all time; taking that record from the current title-holder The Dark Knight, which earned $203 million in its first five days of release.

Wondering how Sony obtained the rights to the movie? You may find this information interesting dug up by Finke:

Major studios like Viacom’s Paramount/MTV, NBC Universal, and News Corp’s 20th Century Fox/Fox Broadcasting Co, all battled Sony Music and Sony Pictures during AEG’s auction of the rehearsal footage. Sony had the inside edge because it controls the distribution rights to Michael Jackson’s music. The reason for the Hollywood feeding frenzy over Michael in death and not in life was because he was worth more dead than alive. The Jackson estate will get the “lion’s share” of any profits from the high-def footage. That’s why a judge had to bless the deal with Sony.

I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I’m pretty sure I want to see it in IMAX. Sony stated that the limited IMAX release will be played domestically during “evening show times” in 96 IMAX digital theatres. In addition, the movie will played in 27 of the company’s international digital locations. Sony described the film as, “Digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience with proprietary IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) technology. A key part of the IMAX DMR process includes re-mastering the soundtrack to take advantage of IMAX’s 14,000 watt digital audio system.”

The film’s IMAX screening will sound “10 times more” dynamic range than average systems in regular theater, and it will not have distortion and will have sound quality that “feels more immersive, especially with added acoustic paneling that absorbs sound and removes echo. This unparalleled sound experience combined with IMAX’s crystal-clear images and customized theater geometry create a unique environment that will make audiences feel as if they are actually attending a Michael Jackson performance”. Who wouldn’t want to go to this? Whenever geometry is included in the definition of my experience I will be there.

(L-R) Jermaine Jackson, director Kenny Ortega, Tito Jackson, Jackie Jackson, and Marlon Jackson arrive at the premiere of Sony Pictures’ “This Is It” held at Nokia Theatre Downtown LA on October 27 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

In true MJ fashion, Sony had the star-studded red carpet premiere online at the Nokia Theater in LA at thisisitpremiere.com, which I noticed at one point had 150000+ viewers. That wasn’t the only premiere, though – This Is It was a wide international release. Every country pretty much had a big event for the movie – the list is astounding, including countries and cities such as South Africa, Paris, Moscow, Sydney, Tokyo, Beirut, Bermuda, and so much more. Check out this incredible photo stream of “This Is It” interesting premiere shots that is must see at daylife. Make sure you hit “Next >” to see all photos there.

Actor Will Smith arrives for the world premiere of the Michael Jackson’s This is it at the Nokia Theater at LA Live on October 27.

Why the big release? Sony wanted to get the movie out as quickly as possible to defeat piracy. Smart move, but I can see this on getting on torrents pretty quickly. However, I think there is still great value in the film when it eventually leaves theaters. It will probably be a stunning Blu-ray release.

A fan has the words “Michael J” on her face during the Taiwan premiere of “This Is It” in Taipei October 28.

A general view of atmosphere at the “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” New York premiere at the Regal E-Walk on October 27 in New York City. (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

US pop star Lionel Richie smiles as he arrives at the Japanese premiere of the Michael Jackson film “This is it” in Tokyo on October 28. (Photo by YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images)

A crowd gather for the Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” film premiere held in London’s Leicester Square Wednesday, Oct. 28. (AP Photo/Sony Pictures, Richard Lewis)

A Nod To Official Sony Ericsson Blogs

Want to learn more about the inner workings of the Sony Ericsson company? Well, three blogs have sprouted up in recent times that many people may not know about – the XPERIA blogger resource centre, Satio Launch Blog, and the GreenHeart blog. I didn’t even know about them myself, but it really is hard to know every Sony URL these days. Don’t even get me started on the amount of Sony URL’s I keep an eye on..

Let’s take a look at some of the blogs:

The XPERIA blogger resource centre at xperiancers.com aims to help keep you updated on everything that’s happening with Xperia, both from Sony Ericsson and around many other blogs and forums. The team of authors on this site inlcude people from Sony Ericsson including developers, designers and programmers, as well as others from the PR and marketing team. It’s being run for Sony Ericsson by Wolfstar, an external communications consultancy, and the blog will also include lots of input from writers at Wolfstar.

Together they hope to provide you with help and guidance on everything we can find related to the Xperia brand, including anything and everything from news, graphics, images, videos and of course any interesting conversations which are taking place across the globe. There is also some guest bloggers.

The Satio Launch Blog is dedicated to information about the Sony Ericsson Satio, which is Sony Ericsson’s strongest handheld phone to date in overall functionality. The best part of the Wifi-equipped Satio is the screen – a true 16:9 display on a 3.5 inch widescreen (640×360) with 16 million colors! The camera included with the Satio is equally incredible at 12.1 megapixels and 12x digital zoom. Auto focus, face detection and geo-tagging with the built-in GPS are included. Sony Ericsson’s also went with the Micro SD format for Satio, and included a 8GB Micro SD card to compliment the 128mb of built-in memory. Music features include FM radio (with RDS), and A2DP stereo Bluetooth. Further downloadable music content will be available through PlayNow. Interesting software offerings include HD and 3D games, Facebook, Youtube, Google Maps and turn by turn navigation. Did I mention it also has a Webkit Internet browser, which is a much more pleasing browsing experience than the usual NetFront offering.

Learn more about the GreenHeart Blog and follow Sony Ericsson’s interesting collection and exchange of ideas, experiences and useful tips on sustainability initiatives shared by several key people within the company involved with GreenHeart development. They welcome your opinion and would like to hear from you, including your thoughts, suggestions and feedback on the GreenHeart initiative.

And of course there are many unofficial Sony Ericsson blogs out there, so please leave a comment with your favorite to enlighten others.

Aino Debuts To US Market On SonyStyle At $600 Unlocked

During May of this year Sony Ericsson really surprised people with the introduction of the Aino. To refresh your memory, the Aino is a slider phone with a 3 inch (16 million color) touchscreen that has GPS, PS3 remote play capability and other rich multimedia functionality. It was an European debut and many were glad to see Sony Ericsson returning to truly innovative features and design.

SonyStyle is now offering the Aino for the US market at the crisp price of $600, which is also the same price as the Sony Ericsson W995a Walkman phone. While I applaud Sony bringing the phone to the US market as quickly as they could, it would have been a lot nicer to see a carrier pick this device up. If the Aino can’t find a carrier in the US, it may just end up performing like the XPERIA X1 did. Both are beautiful devices, but carry an extremely high price tag and fall out of interest in the average consumer if they can’t be subsidized in price and tied to a one or two year plan. However, with such features as an included bluetooth headset Flash Lite support, wide codec support, Wifi, preloaded applications (like facebook, twitter, accuweather), 8.1 megapixel camera, etc maybe people will be seeking this out regardless.

We only saw one color available in the SonyStyle listing, which was the Obsidian Black.

Here’s hoping we see the Aino on a carrier soon.

Are You The Ultimate Gran Turismo Fan? Prove It.

Gran Turismo fans are invited to enter, through November 22, 2009, via video, essay or slideshow presentation, to prove they are the ultimate Gran Turismo fan. At the end of the contest, the top 10 winners will be picked and announced in early December.

The first place winner will earn the “driver” racing suit, helmet and gloves worn by Rhys Millen during the Gran Turismo TV commercial shoot. In addition, the first place winner will also receive a Gran Turismo PSP Entertainment Pack featuring a Mystic Silver PSP-3000 system, a copy of Gran Turismo, a PlayStation Network voucher for The Italian Job movie, a 2GB Memory Stick PRO Duo, a voucher for the exclusive white version of the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, and a Sony Music Pass voucher for 10 free songs. In addition, the first place winner will also receive a Gran Turismo poster signed by Rhys Millen and Tanner Foust, stars of the Gran Turismo commercial.

The second place winner will get the racing suit, gloves, and open-face helmet worn by the “passenger” in the TV commercial, Tanner Foust, plus a Gran Turismo PSP Entertainment Pack and a Gran Turismo poster signed by Rhys Millen and Tanner Foust.

The third place winner will win a Gran Turismo PSP Entertainment Pack, and a Gran Turismo poster signed by Rhys Millen and Tanner Foust.

Additionally, the next seven winners will all receive a Gran Turismo poster signed by Rhys Millen and Tanner Foust.

To enter, email your video (up to 2 minute), essay (1 page) or slideshow presentation to PlayStation_Community_Support@playstation.Sony.com with “GT PSP Contest Entry” in the subject line. Visit here for official entry rules. Contest open to US residents only and runs through November 22, 2009.