“As LTE networks are deployed alongside 3G networks,” Cristiano Amon, senior vice president of product management at Qualcomm said in a statement, ”the ability for multimode 3G/LTE mobile devices to connect to different network technologies will be an important part of providing the best possible mobile voice and data experience to consumers.”

The demo used Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC), allowing a single radio to shift a call between 3G and 4G networks. Existing LTE devices have used CSFB (circuit-switched fallback technology) which automatically step a radio down from 4G to 3G when a voice call is to be made. Paired together, manufacturers can use a single 3G/4G chip rather than two separate radios.

Verizon is tipped to be trialling VoLTE in two US cities currently, with a full rollout believed to be intended for 2013. The carrier demonstrated the technology in early 2011, though not with transition to a 3G network, and has since committed to including LTE support in all its future smartphones.

The company now enveloped by Sony noted that they had a sour economy, price erosion, restructuring charges, and a whole lot of Thailand flooding to blame when they spoke of their loss earlier this month. Sony Ericsson also announced a relatively clear pathway for 2012 to update their device line to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, this leading consumers perhaps to pick up their devices in 2012 to stay ahead of the pack. New devices showing up at CES 2012 showed the company to be well on track for creating new and innovative Android-based smartphones for the year, devices such as the Xperia ION and the XPERIA S packed with high definition displays and specifications to be proud of.

The purchase price for Sony picking up Sony Ericsson from Ericsson totals in at €1.05bn ($1.47bn) and we’re still guessing that Ericsson is more than ready to give up control to the larger company. Meanwhile we’ll be continuing to review devices from the newly minted Sony mobile sector while we move through this 12th year on the century. Feel free to dive into our Sony Ericsson archive to reminisce on this soon to be extinct brand name.

[via Reuters]

Conspicuously absent from the list of excuses is any sort of recognition that Sony Ericsson’s own range might not have been up to scratch, though perhaps that degree of self-awareness is too much to hope for as the company enters its next evolutionary phase. Devices like the Xperia Arc S and Xperia ray were solid phones but fell short of the dual-core processors and high-definition screens of their Android rivals.

The next generation of devices show quiet promise however, with last week’s Xperia ion reveal impressing, though a fair number of low-end phones tipped for 2012 could see Sony taking its eye off the ball. Sony Ericsson at least began to show owners that they mean business with Ice Cream Sandwich upgrades, with a new degree of transparency that proved a marked contrast to its earlier poor update performance.

Nonetheless, people buy phones for what they do today, rather than for updates tomorrow, and that left Sony Ericsson’s Q4 performance reeling. The company will announce its full Q4 and 2011 figures on January 25, but you get the feeling Ericsson is really just looking forward to Sony coughing up €1.05bn ($1.47bn) and letting it escape midway through this quarter.

Sony’s intention had been leaked earlier this month, with the deal then tipped to be worth between $1.3bn and $1.7bn for Ericsson. The two companies will continue to work together, planning to set up a joint initiative designed to promote wireless connectivity. However, Ericsson’s overall “focus is on the global wireless market as a whole” Sony says.

“The transaction gives Sony an opportunity to rapidly integrate smartphones into its broad array of network-connected consumer electronics devices – including tablets, televisions and personal computers – for the benefit of consumers and the growth of its business. The transaction also provides Sony with a broad intellectual property (IP) cross-licensing agreement covering all products and services of Sony as well as ownership of five essential patent families relating to wireless handset technology” Sony

Meanwhile, the buy-out gives Sony a valuable haul of patents, handy things to have when the smartphone and tablet market is embroiled in legal sparring over which company invented what. Although the exact patents involved aren’t detailed, Sony describes it as “a broad IP cross-licensing agreement and ownership of five essential patent families.”

“With a vibrant smartphone business and by gaining access to important strategic IP, notably a broad cross-license agreement, our four-screen strategy is in place. We can more rapidly and more widely offer consumers smartphones, laptops, tablets and televisions that seamlessly connect with one another and open up new worlds of online entertainment. This includes Sony’s own acclaimed network services, like the PlayStation Network and Sony Entertainment Network” Sir Howard Stringer, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, Sony

The acquisition is expected to close in January 2012, subject to relevant approvals. Sony Ericsson had previously announced that its 2012 focus is to be smartphones.

Google had already put in a $900m offer to open up the proceedings, describing its interest in the patents as “a disincentive for others to sue Google.” In the end, though, the haul went for more than four times that amount, with Ericsson adding $340m to the pot and RIM contributing $770m.

“The size and dollar value for this transaction is unprecedented, as was the significant interest in the portfolio among major companies around the world” Nortel CSO George Riedel points out in the company’s press release. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of Q3 2011, though none of the failed firm’s shareholders will see any of the proceeds.

Interestingly, Microsoft had already got its hand in the Nortel patent cookie jar thanks to a prior agreement with the company that, its lawyers insisted, would hold true even if a rival like Google bought the IP.

Not that there’d be much congestion in Ericsson’s testing, given that right now there’s no operational LTE Advanced service around. The trial used a 3 x 20MHz (60MHz aggregated) spectrum chunk and an off the shelf Ericsson multi-mode, multi-standard radio base station, the RBS 6000, and streamed data between the RBS and a moving van from which engineers kept track of network performance.

Current LTE systems are limited to 20MHz at most, but thanks to carrier aggregation and extended multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) – fresh additions to LTE Advanced – the new system can pair together sections of the spectrum to create a fatter pipe. In the downlink, Ericsson says, 8×8 MIMO was used, and the new system is compliant with the 3GPP Release 10 global standard.

When will we get this super-fast LTE Advanced? Ericsson says the first commercial operation is expected in 2013, though that will obviously depend on where you live and how ambitious your carrier is.

“Our research found apps are appealing to people at an emotional level,” said Ericsson ConsumerLab heard of research Michael Björn, in a statement. “Consumers become attached to a certain set of apps that makes them feel more in control of their lives, and turns everyday chores into positive experiences. Apps even give consumers a new sense of freedom; if a new situation arises, there’s probably an app out there that could help them.”

Ericsson found that the apps themselves are more important than the device people are using. They call this “app culture”. Apps make it easier for us to quickly access the information we’re looking for, without having to think about it too much. Before smartphones, people would use the internet for large chunks of time during the day, but now with smartphones we can hop on for quick sessions any time the impulse strikes us. Whereas before, you would need to turn on the computer, find a bookmark, enter an address, maybe log in, and then finally get where you were going, now, all you need to do for many purposes is open up an app.

Other interesting findings are that consumers have almost an equal interest in purchasing a tablet as they do in purchasing a notebook. 16% of consumers were considering purchasing a notebook, while 13% were considering a tablet. The numbers decline a little bit to 12% considering a desktop, and only 6% looking at ereaders and netbooks. Only 1% were considering a digital media player (of course not, you already have one on your smartphone, duh).

So, what about you? Do you bust out the smartphone before you even set foot out of bed? Where do you go first?

[via Digital Trends]

The second record used a dual-carrier HSPA and attained a 84Mbps downlink with commercial network products. The dual-carrier HSPA used two 5Mhz carriers in connecting to the consumer, doubling the maximum speed possible by today’s fastest commercial HSPA networks.

The last record was for single-carrier HSPA hit 42Mbps using commercial products on both ends and a single 5Mhz carrier.

“These three achievements are the latest additions to our long list of world firsts in HSPA, demonstrating our technology leadership,” said Ulf Ewaldsson, Vice President and Head of Product Area Radio at Ericsson. “For many years we have focused on the evolution of HSPA and it is rewarding to see the industry-wide support for HSPA Evolution is now stronger than ever Ericsson’s Evo RAN brings EDGE, HSPA, and LTE together in one strong, industry-leading offering. The potential for HSPA is even larger and 3GPP is already looking at even higher HSPA speeds.”

Ericsson says actual customer speeds will be lower than the ones demonstrated today and will vary depending on certain conditions. The company also expects to put the single-carrier and dual-carrier HSPA into service within this year, followed by the higher speed HSPA in the future.

[Via Ericsson]

Key players in the segment are Qualcomm, whose dual-mode Gobi chipset – which can be used as a GSM/HSPA modem or a CDMA/EVDO one – has been finding its way into an increasing number of ultraportable devices as manufacturers look to satisfy multiple markets with a single component, and Ericsson, who have apparently been pushing adoption of their modules in embedded devices like ereaders and MIDs.  So far the major downside to having integrated cellular wireless connectivity has been the ensuing data tariff, which can cost $60 on a typical laptop with a two-year agreement, something owners have been reluctant to sign up to since they often also have similar bills for their regular cellphone.

Video demo after the cut

In fact, the U8500 is powerful enough to support dual displays simultaneously, up to XGA resolution touchscreens, and dual cameras with integrated ISP for 18-megapixel and 5-megapixel optics.  There’s also WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS, together with integrated USB 2.0 and HDMI output, and mobile TV support is an option.  Obviously there’s also HSPA connectivity.

ST-Ericsson have already added Android support to the U8500, though right now there are still a few bugs in the implementation.  It’ll also play nicely with Symbian and other Linux-based OSes; ST-Ericsson are already members of both the Symbian Foundation and the OHA.  We’re not sure when we might see the first U8500-based devices, but going by the smoothness of the demo video below, we’re already excited.

Press Release:

ST-ERICSSON AND ARM IN COOPERATION TO ACCELERATE INNOVATION IN MOBILE USER EXPERIENCE

ST-Ericsson’s U8500 platform first to integrate Mali-400TM graphics processing unit providing access to a leading-edge environment for graphics developers

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND AND CAMBRIDGE UK – Oct. 21, 2009, ST-Ericsson, a world leader in wireless platforms and semiconductors and ARM [(LSE: ARM); (Nasdaq: ARMH)], announce a cooperation to accelerate the next step in mobile user experience and graphics innovation with the creation of a Mali technology-enabled development platform for content and application developers available via the ARM MaliTM Developer Center. The cooperation will speed up bringing consumers a better gaming experience in terms of high quality graphics, video and audio on their mobile devices. At the same time it will improve the user interface with enhanced performance, quicker responses and the ability to implement 3D graphics. The availability of the platform will enable developers to reduce significantly the time-to-market of content and applications for next generation devices.

The ARM Mali Developer Center (www.malideveloper.com) fosters a growing developer community of software engineers by providing resources such as graphics software development tools, example code, documentation and access to upcoming hardware through a community-based web portal.

“ARM has welcomed the opportunity to launch this joint initiative with ST-Ericsson. The availability of this development platform will help achieve and accelerate the Mali vision of outstanding graphics in any consumer electronic device,” said Lance Howarth, general manager, ARM Media Processing Division “By using the platform, members of the Mali Developer Center will be able to access Mali GPU capabilities early and create outstanding content and applications for the next generation of consumer devices.”

“Advanced graphics play a key role in the user experience for a wide variety of portable and consumer devices. Our collaboration with ARM will bring the Mali GPU capabilities to the developer community,” said Marc Cetto, vice president, 3G Multimedia and Platforms Division, ST-Ericsson. “With this co-operation we foresee that our customers will benefit from the early availability of a broad range of innovative content for their devices.”

To provide access to a leading edge environment, the development board is powered by ST-Ericsson’s U8500, the first smartphone platform to integrate the ARM Mali-400 OpenGL ES2.0 and OpenVG1.1 graphics processing unit. The U8500 is one of the earliest mobile platforms to introduce an ARM Cortex™-A9 MPCore™ SMP dual core processor and can support HD video playback at 1080p.

[via GenerationMP3 and via B4Tech]

Video demo after the cut

Unfortunately that 2020 timeframe means the components of 2009 are a little too large to fit into Ericsson’s wishful-thinking mockup.  Instead the company have been demonstrating a rather more mundane (and arguably less frightening) prototype, which so far only squeezes in the projector, laser keyboard and a multiformat card reader.

Still, you can see the direction they’re going in: why make do with a tiny display and tiny keyboard (or lug around a huge display and a huge keyboard) when you can project them instead?  The track record of low-resolution pico-projectors and finger-hurting laser keyboards doesn’t exactly fill us with confidence, but perhaps the world of 2020 will only ever use soft-touch surfaces.

What’s really impressive here is that these speeds actually double what is currently in preparation to launch in Germany, Italy and in North America. Ericsson actually demonstrated a similar tech last month at the Mobile World Congress, however the peak performance at that time was 42Mbps.

So what makes for the speed boost? Apparently, it has something to do with HSPA+ technology. By using a combination of multi-carrier HSPA and MIMO tech, data transfer speeds get a serious boost. We should see the first commercial usages of HSPA+ starting in 2010, though a 42Mbp HSPA+ infrastructure will be launched before the end of the year in preparation.

[via Mobile Burn]

Of course, just because there’s a significant announcement from them, it doesn’t mean the Apple rumor-machine winds down but for a second.  This week we’ve heard about a possible OLED maelstrom from the company, with not only iPhone and iPod touch models using the new display technology but a netbook, desktop and more. 

Dell’s Adamo launch didn’t quite have the same impact as iPhone OS 3.0, but then now perhaps isn’t the best economical time to offer a luxury notebook.  Still, it’s a handsome machine and, in the unboxing experience and metal-to-metal, does a decent job of holding its own against the MacBook Air.  What could undermine the whole thing is if users demand performance along with their glossy casings: neither the entry- nor high-spec Adamo’s pack the punch to go along with their price-tags.

Ironically, Steve Ballmer picked this week to accuse Apple of attempting to sell the same hardware as everyone else, only with a $500 logo charge.  According to Ballmer (who obviously missed out on the Adamo press release) the tide has turned and Apple’s days of selling overpriced computers are nearing an end.  Cue much Apple/Microsoft drum-banging and banner waving, as most people forget that, like with so many things, when it comes to computers it’s really what you do with it that counts.

In mobile devices, Sony Ericsson’s Idou smartphone showed its pre-production head not once but twice, amid talk that Ericsson were considering selling off their stake in the collaboration to Sony.  Perhaps Sony were too busy toasting their successful negotiations with Google for over 500,000 ebooks on the Sony Reader to notice.

As for the SlashGear testbench this week, two of Logic3′s iPod touch/iPhone docks – the i-Station Rotate and i-Station25 – strut their musical and video stuff, while the BeamBox Evolution R1 pico-projector shed its packaging in our video-unboxing.  We’ll have the full review of the R1 this coming week, together with a few more AV pleasantries.

Finally, there are fresh faces old and new here at SlashGear, with the return of former writer Brenda Stokes and the arrival of Steven Grady, a new member to the team.  Brenda will continue her broad consumer tech coverage and sparring with me in a new round of “He Says, She Says” editorials, while Steven will focus on gaming news.  For Steven’s full introduction, check out his introduction at My Pre, where he’ll also be community manager.

Sony announced a huge 95-percent drop in profits over the last three months of 2008, compared to performance twelve months previous.  They went on to predict a net loss of 150 billion yen ($1.67 billion) for the full fiscal year, with Chief Executive Howard Stringer saying the existing cost-cutting measures – 8,000 job cuts and plans to close 10-percent of its factories – had not gone far enough.  Sony Ericsson themselves posted a significant loss in Q4 2008.

The Sony Ericsson partnership has produced several rumors of in-fighting between the companies, particularly in the case of the much-rumored PSP phone.  Sony have apparently refused to grant the PSP license to Sony Ericsson, supposedly until the “product proposition lives up to brand promise”.  An Ericsson spokesperson declined to comment on the current rumors, saying that the company does not discuss speculation.

Rumors and leaks also had their place, with images purporting to be of T-Mobile’s G2 Android phone turning up, and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile and cloud-backup plans for Mobile World Congress spilling out.  Meanwhile Apple threw down the litigation gauntlet, threatening serious implications for anyone considered to be impinging on their iPhone IP; it’s a challenge Palm rose to, defending their Pre smartphone and even bringing out an ex-Apple PR to deliver their retort.

Despite manufacturers’ best efforts, though, it’s been all about financial performance this week, and there isn’t much good news around.  In fact Apple are the only real winners this quarter, with Samsung, AMD, Intel, Microsoft, Nokia and Logitech all announcing losses and in many cases job cuts, while Ericsson and Bose also decided to slim down on employees.

You may have noticed a change in the comments system this week, which we’ve implemented in the face of rising spam.  You’ll now have to register – a simple task taking less than two minutes – before you can post your first comment, but since that then gives you posting rights in the SlashGear forums, we don’t think it’s too great a hardship.  See you on the ‘boards!

Bose makes an estimated $2bn per year in sales, but has declined to give much detail about the restructuring and its deeper motivations.  Spokeswoman Carolyn Cinotti released a statement suggesting that “as a global company, we are responding to these [recession] challenges”, confirming only that redundancies would affect Bose’s head-office as well as “select areas, including manufacturing.”

Ericsson, meanwhile, have highlighted the fact that all divisions but their Sony Ericsson partnership have been successful, with some areas such as infrastructure hardly affected by the economic climate.  Operating margins improved, aside from Sony Ericsson which saw a $339 million Q4 pretax loss, and Chief Executive Carl-Henric Svanberg  said that Ericsson is “the only vendor [in the segment] that has positive net cash, and that is a strategic asset.”

Ericsson announced on Thursday that they will be working alongside Intel to equip mobile broadband notebooks with secure anti-theft solutions. This solution is meant to protect data with encryption software and make notebooks a less attractive target for thieves.

Users will be able to send an SMS message to the mobile broadband module that will trigger Intel’s anti-theft device and lockdown the entire system. Solutions such as this have already been seen in handsets as well as other computers in the past. If the notebook is then recovered it can easily be unlocked by sending another SMS message to the device.

Previous less secure methods involved locking the system after multiple failed login attempts or not connecting to a central server in a predetermined time period. This new technology is capable of blocking the notebook’s boot process. This will also trigger encryption hardware or software and protect your precious data by deleting essential code needed for decrypting data. If this was not enough, the system will be able to locate the notebook using the built-in GPS technology in Ericsson modules. We can expect to see this new technology in the second half of 2009.

The full list of new membership is:

• AKM Semiconductor Inc.
• ARM
• ASUSTek Computer Inc.
• Atheros Communications
• Borqs
• Ericsson
• Garmin International Inc.
• Huawei Technologies
• Omron Software Co. Ltd
• Softbank Mobile Corporation
• Sony Ericsson
• Teleca AB
• Toshiba Corporation
• Vodafone

That list includes some significant players in the mobile industry.  Sony Ericsson’s recent X1 is already confirmed as merely the first of the XPERIA range, raising the possibility of an Android-powered future smartphone; a press release from Ericsson suggests the first “mobile platform” supporting Android will be available by mid-2009.  Garmin, meanwhile, may be eyeing the OS for a future nuvifone (or even a refresh of the much-delayed first version); that would certainly make sense, given the platform’s emphasis on location-based services.

Meanwhile, while ASUS is currently using Microsoft’s Windows Mobile OS for its P565, that’s not to say a future device may not convert to Android.  ARM’s presence is an interesting addition to existing member Qualcomm; it also suggests that future Android devices – whether they be cellphone or MID – could use the company’s powerful Socle chipset.

[via Android Community]

Press Release:

Open Handset Alliance announces 14 new members

December 9, 2008 – The Open Handset Alliance, a group of technology and mobile players, is pleased to announce the membership of 14 additional companies. By joining the founding members of the Open Handset Alliance, the following companies demonstrate their support for Android as an open mobile platform and their commitment to its commercial success. The new members are: AKM Semiconductor Inc., ARM, ASUSTek Computer Inc., Atheros Communications, Borqs, Ericsson, Garmin International Inc., Huawei Technologies, Omron Software Co. Ltd, Softbank Mobile Corporation, Sony Ericsson, Teleca AB, Toshiba Corporation and Vodafone.

New members will either deploy compatible Android devices, contribute significant code to the Android Open Source Project, or support the ecosystem through products and services that will accelerate the availability of Android-based devices. With these commitments, the Open Handset Alliance will continue to drive greater and faster innovation for the benefit of mobile users and everyone in the industry.

Open Handset Alliance members’ continued contributions to Android give everyone in the mobile ecosystem a free and complete mobile platform to build Android devices. The new members will add to the momentum of Android device availability, providing developers with an even greater opportunity to deploy compelling applications that will reach a global audience. As a result, consumers around the world benefit from a superior mobile experience that features less expensive devices, more compelling services, rich Internet applications, and easier-to-use interfaces.

For more information around the Open Handset Alliance, visit www.openhandsetalliance.com. (For more information around this announcement, take a look at the “What’s New” section.)

Press Release:

Ericsson further expands its Open OS offering by joining the Open Handset Alliance

December 9, 2008, 17:00 (CET)

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) announced that the company has joined the Open Handset Alliance, a multinational alliance of technology and mobile industry leaders, and will support Android software stack on its mobile platforms. Ericsson now supports all major operating systems on its mobile platforms.

Ericsson will support the Android software stack on selected platforms, both with external application processors and integrated solutions. Ericsson will also contribute with necessary software interfaces and drivers to the Android Open Source Project in order to further support the development of Android. Mobile platforms from Ericsson supporting Android will be available by mid-2009.

Robert Puskaric, head of Ericsson’s mobile platforms’ business, says: “By becoming a member of the Open Handset Alliance and supporting Android, Ericsson further strengthens its Open OS offering to device manufacturers. Android is set to become a significant application framework for mobile phones and our goal is to provide our customers with platforms that enable them to be successful.”

Ericsson supports all major operating systems on its platforms. Ericsson is a licensee of Symbian and supports this with several different application processors. Ericsson is also a licensee of Windows Mobile and has delivered Windows Mobile-based platforms to a number of mobile phones around the world. Ericsson will now also offer Linux-based platform solutions.

Read more about Ericsson Mobile Platforms at
www.ericsson.com/ericsson/press/facts_figures/doc/emp.pdf

Ericsson’s standard multimedia content is available at the broadcast room:
www.ericsson.com/broadcast_room

Ericsson is the world’s leading provider of technology and services to telecom operators. The market leader in 2G and 3G mobile technologies, Ericsson supplies communications services and manages networks that serve more than 195 million subscribers. The company’s portfolio comprises mobile and fixed network infrastructure and broadband and multimedia solutions for operators, enterprises and developers. The Sony Ericsson joint venture provides consumers with feature-rich personal mobile devices.

Ericsson is advancing its vision of “communication for all” through innovation, technology and sustainable business solutions. Working in 175 countries, more than 70,000 employees generated revenue of USD 27.9 billion (SEK 188 billion) in 2007. Founded in 1876 and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Ericsson is listed on OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm and NASDAQ.

For more information, visit www.ericsson.com or www.ericsson.mobi

The same, mythical mobile device will have an XGA 1024 x 768 resolution display and a 1GHz application CPU.  The latter doesn’t seem too far a leap given the speed of today’s mobile processors – 528MHz in the HTC Touch HD, for instance – but the big question will be whether Ericsson can find a battery technology capable of giving more than a few minutes runtime.

Ericsson are currently developing embedded modules, base station facilities and other services in preparation for the ramping up of cellular network speeds.  Unsurprisingly, Japan and the far-East are tipped as likely candidates for needing LTE technology first.