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All multimedia and home electronics enthusiasts will have heard of Sony. Their products are known for sterling quality, whether it is Cybershot camera line or the Walkman series that changed personal music worldwide. Ericsson is no less accomplished, as the company had become one of the top mobile phone manufacturers in the world. The phones were not doing all that well though, before they signed up for a joint venture with Sony. After the agreements were signed, Sony and Ericsson both stopped manufacturing phones under their own brand names. The line was released under the joint brand name and therefore enjoyed no competition, at least from the home ground.

Sony brought their considerable multimedia expertise with music, cameras and video to the table, while Ericsson brought in the mobile phone technological knowhow. Together they created a new range of phones which had a powerful combination: the attractive design, packed with the best features that were available. Perhaps the only obstacle in their path was the rather prohibitive pricing, which slotted the phones firmly into the luxury bracket.

Considering the products were excellent, the mercurial rise to dominance just did not happen. The pricing was one aspect, however there were more reasons besides. Chiefly, there was the problem of compatibility with other devices. While the phones interfaced without a problem with computers, the ports that were on the device itself were Sony-branded. In today’s market, a number of people have more than one mobile phone. Carrying all the accessories for both phones, assuming they are of different brands, is cumbersome to say the very least. Most of the mobile phones now available have standard ports for headphones, microUSB from transferring data, and so on. Sony Ericsson phones till very recently had all proprietary ports, which reduced their popularity tremendously. Thankfully, these issues have been resolved and the rocky start to Sony Ericsson has finally been overcome.

Sony Ericsson mobile phones now have the excellence of both the Cybershot camera technology, as well as the Walkman personal music component, as evidenced by their exceptional range, Xperia. Recently, there have been phones carrying the branding of Bravia, which is Sony’s television brand, signalling the improvement in displays as well. The company evidently does not want to stop at incorporating the more successful of Sony’s technologies. In fact, after the release of a few Bravia phones, the latest mobile phone to grab the consumer fancy is the Aino.

Sony Ericsson’s Aino takes home media integration to a new level altogether. Again borrowing technology from the ultra popular Sony PlayStation, the Aino aims to bring the intense gaming experience on a mobile phone. A tall order, considering the PlayStation experience is optimally played on large screen television. However the move is not as drastic as it seems, considered there are smaller versions of the popular gaming console as well.

Sony Ericsson has only just come into its own. There was a time where Ericsson was ready to pull out of the joint venture, leaving Sony to fend for itself in the highly competitive market. Fortunately the situation turned around, and the venture became profitable. The phones that come out of the Sony Ericsson stable are classy devices, with refined design points and advanced features. The prices have come down, along with the rest of the industry, allowing the greater consumer population to enjoy the devices too. For an amateur photographer, the camera capabilities of the mobile phone are more than adequate, while the music enthusiast will find the features of media component rival those of standalone music players.

Sony Ericsson will be revamping their line up, starting with the change of product codes. The single letters of the newer models will indicate exactly to which product the phone belongs, and therefore indicating what is the main intended function of the device. For example, the ‘K’ series will refer to camera phones.

Sony Ericsson phones traditionally supported the Symbian operating system. While the mobile operating system was excellent at some point of time, the lack of advancement has left it dated. The company seems to phasing out Symbian, ushering the newer era of Windows Mobile phones – a wise move on their part.

If Sony Ericsson continues the trend they have established with the Xperia, their phones will do extremely well in the market. Looking back on the history of Sony Ericsson, there has been a steady rise of quality and innovation, something that will bring across better products time and again.