Feel that heat, Touch Pro? That’s right — the Great QWERTY Smartphone War of 2008 is officially gearing up for kickoff now that Sony Ericsson has announced a firm date for the first handful of lucky countries to be scoop up the mighty XPERIA X1. Sweden, Germany, and the UK will be the inaugural launch sites come September 30, with no fewer than 32 more on tap in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America for the fourth quarter of the year. North America, China, Australia, and Russia are also listed as committed launch regions, though dates for those will be announced “in the coming months” — scary verbiage considering that they weren’t even willing to slap the Q4 label there. 2009’s a long way off yet, and if there’s a Touch Pro in front of us… well, let’s just say that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, if you catch our drift.

What was just a footnote to 2007 has finally come to fruition. Sony Ericsson just went live with details on the August 25th launch of its PlayNow Arena media download site. Initially the site will offer 1 million, DRM-free songs (ramping up to 5 million) from Sony BMG, Warner Music, and EMI. It will also offer games, ringtones, applications, and themes for your mobile downloading pleasures. Other European countries will come on board later this year before it goes global in 2009. Tracks are expected to be “on par” with Apple’s iTunes ($0.99 / €0.99) pricing but will cost SEK9 (about $1.43, credit card required) for the Nordic launch. Full press release after the break.

So heres the scene. We are at the Digital Experience show, trying to get our hands on a powered-up Sony Xperia X1. Sure, we found a unit that wasn’t powered up, but that does you — and us — no good. Sony told us to come back in 15 minutes, so we grabbed some press kits, made a round of booths, and came back.

We got our grubby mitts all over the latest and greatest from Sony Ericsson, including that new C905 8 megapixel monstrosity, and, of course, the Xperia X1. The C905 is certainly no slouch in the camera department, with that for-serious Xenon flash and dedicated camera keys, but you’ll pay for it in thickness — the C905 is a good deal thicker than its Walkman counterparts, though that does leave room for a nicely formed slide-out keypad. The C905 is capable of geotagging pictures, but can’t upload on the fly to photo services just yet like Nokia’s new phones, though such capability is in the works. While the C905 seems finely honed for a specific purpose, the Z780 flip phone seems much more plain jane in comparison, with a rather large size despite its “slim proportions” and a lack of detailing in styling to make it really pop. (more…)

We normally throw FCC goodness your way on Friday, but on occasion we can’t help spilling the beans when they do. Today’s treat seems to be a Sony Ericsson handset called the TM506, which, from outward appearances looks to be a clone of the Z780, but packs a wee bit of AWS love under its hood. Bedecked with T-Mobile branding and packed with goodies like Bluetooth, A-GPS, some type of camera, dual-band GSM, 1700 / 2100 WCDMA, and all wrapped in an alluring metallic green housing. (more…)

We have seen plenty of gear co-branded by high-end automakers, but only Ducati’s really putting out bike-themed gear, and the latest gadget to get dressed up in cycle gear is the Sony Ericsson Z770 flip phone. Due out in Italy this June, the Ducati Z770 isn’t anything particularly special apart from that paint job and a special Ducati-themed HBH DS-220 headset, but if you’re into tri-band GSM non-smartphones with slightly better browsers, it’s not a bad piece of kit. Just remember to take your keys out of your bike when you wander off chatting away, alright?

We are still smarting from the apparent cancelation of the fabulously powerful K850 from AT&T 2008 lineup, but as consolation prizes go, the Z750a ain’t bad. That being said, it’s solidly seated in the midrange, which seems like an unusual place for Sony Ericsson’s very first carrier-launched 3G handset for the US to be; the 2 megapixel camera isn’t going to “wow” anyone, and the choice of colorful, ultra-gloss shells definitely limits the phone’s appeal to a certain demographic. (more…)

CTIA approaches, we expect rumors to swirl and almost right on cue Sony Ericsson’s leaky faucet drips out a couple shots of an upcoming set codenamed “Emelie” appear. Not much is known about this set except that it is finished in metal — oooh, ahhh — packs a 2 megapixel camera, sports a QVGA screen, and may end up in the $200 - $300 range. The handset’s description also mentions 18 keys inside the case — so clamshell format is likely — and that said keys are “curvy and sparkly.” Here’s hoping Sony Ericsson are set to bust out some new fun at the show next week, and if the offering is anything like Mobile World Congress this year, we can hope for an armload — though, it’s not likely.

It seems that several years of taking their lumps on the long road to mobile gaming success has hardened the boys and girls at Nokia just a bit, and they’re ready to come out swinging. The target? Fellow European manufacturer Sony Ericsson, of course, which has been rumored for eons to be cooking up some sort of PlayStation- or PSP-branded handset to go head to head with the likes of Nokia’s N-Gage service. The head of Nokia’s games division went on the assault at a recent press event for its brand spanking new N-Gage client, saying “I’m not scared about anybody. The real question is how do they do it? Can they create a link between the PSP games and a phone? Can they do the multiplayer and online stuff? We’ve been doing this for two years and it hasn’t been easy.” In other words: bring it, Sony Ericsson, because we don’t think you can do it. Kind of funny to be lashing out against a product that hasn’t been announced (much less launched) though.

If you are tired of shelling out laptop prices for your WiFi smartphone browsing, Boingo’s got help on the way. At Mobile World Congress the company announced Sony Ericsson and iPhone / iPod touch versions of its connection client software, with the SE version to show up in the second half of the year, and the iPhone software to hit as soon as Boingo can get a hold of the SDK. Boingo already has Nokia and Windows Mobile-compatible versions of its software, but with 6 percent of users attempting to connect to Boingo already rocking an iPhone, it looks like this software can’t come soon enough.

We have a hard enough time keeping up with Sony Ericsson’s dizzying model naming convention as it is, but the standing rumor from SE World is that we’ll see the introduction of a whole new series at MWC next week. The alleged “G” series, putting an emphasis on compact devices with touchscreens, will be kicked off by two models: the G700i “Tyra” with a display in the mid-2 inch range and a 3.2 megapixel camera, and the G900i “Josephine” that adds WiFi and a 5 megapixel camera. If it pans out, the mighty P series is going to get a run for its money — as are Nokia’s higher-end devices. Guess we’ll just have to see if this one pans out, won’t we?

Apparently one of Sony Ericsson’s flagship products, the K850 is getting refit in a more business oriented shade, silver and black. The current lineup features both Luminous Green and Velvet Blue — both rather sharp-looking in our opinion — may benefit from a color overhaul. Nothing changing in the specs here, just the housing, but we’ll take what we can get when it comes to handsets in the US 3G spectrum. No word on pricing or availability, we’ll just have to wait until when — or if — they announce it.