Sony Ericsson is a joint venture between the Japanese company Sony Corporation and the Swedish telecom company Ericsson to manufacture mobile phones. It used to be the 4th largest mobile manufacturer in the world after Nokia, Samsung, and LG. However, in 2010, its market share fell to sixth place.

The mobile phones manufactured by the joint venture are far more expensive than other handsets produced by other Asian manufacturers. The cost of their products includes material used, design, and software which had made the Sony Ericsson brand known globally.

In 2012, Sony will separate from Ericsson and concentrate on Android smartphones. Currently, the joint company produces mobile units using Android, Symbian, Windows Mobile and Sony Ericsson platforms.

Below is a rundown of the best features of Sony Ericsson mobile phones.

Walkman - The Music Frenzy

It is one of the best features built for their mobile devices. This is something a music savvy user should get because it features a versatile graphic equaliser, and it has the ability to find tracks from the net and a mini karaoke. Here are some features of Walkman phones:

Zappin: Allows the owner an easy and fun way to search favorite songs. With just the press of a button, Zappin enables the owner to "zap-in" to preview the chorus of the next track with a choice of either 4 or 15 seconds, making it easy to browse and find tracks desired. If the tune is found, simply press the button again to start the playback from the beginning.

Karaoke: The microphone button in the interface is dedicated for the owner to sing along with the lyrics. By remaining in karaoke mode for 5 seconds, the corner and buttons will fade out and the owner could see more lines of the lyrics.

Music Recognition: If the owner wants to know the title of a song that was just played, he could record a few seconds of the music and TrackID will come up with the song name, artist and album.

Greenheart - The Nature Friendly Device

It was first introduced in 2009 as the Sony Ericsson J105i Naite and C901 Greenheart. It is known for being environment-friendly theme, while featuring recent mobile technology and multimedia capability. Its materials are eco-friendly and it features eco-apps.

Recycled Plastics: The GreenHeart uses water bottles and CDs as recycled materials to save energy and reduce carbon footprint to produce these products. In the process, it saves non-renewable resources.

Waterborne Paint: The GreenHeart uses waterborne paint to help reduce the emissions of volatile organic compounds which are higher in solvent-based paint. The look and finish of the paint is similar to any other phones but its production process helps preserve nature.

E-Manual: This modification features an electronic version of the paper manual of the phone. In the process, it cut down paper usage and transport. The replacement of standard manuals in one million phones saves 350 tonnes of paper, which in turn saves 13,000 trees and 75,000 cubic metres of water.

Reduced Packaging: Phones are packed in attractive yet smaller, lighter boxes to reduce the environmental impact of transport and preserve precious natural resources. The smaller packaging allows Sony Ericsson to send more units with each shipment, thus cutting down carbon dioxide (CO2) from transportation and saving non-renewable fuels. The boxes are made of 100 per cent paper. Depending on the particular box construction, the amount of recycled material varies per model.

Green Charger: The chargers comply with the Energy Star Level V and have less standby power loss, meaning lower power consumption. All SE chargers have been PVC-free since the end of 2009.

Green Applications: The Walkmate Eco helps the owner make a greener choice by showing the CO2 reduction of the steps taken, and shows the phone user how to make smarter and greener choice everyday in easy and practical ways.

GreenHeart Accessories: Accessories range includes charger and headset which are energy-efficient. More than 50 per cent of the hard plastics used are made from recycled materials.

Cybershot - It's all about the picture

The term comes from digital cameras that Sony produce and its features incorporated to mobile units.

Photo Fix: Allows the owner to improve photo quality by adjusting brightness, light and contrast for the picture at the best possible quality in just one click.

Anti-blur: It has a stabiliser that compensates for small movements during picture taking to reduce the chance of getting a blurred image.

Perfect Timing: BestPic gives the phone owner nine chances to capture the precise moment he wants. Cybershot phones allows the user to take four images with one press of the button and another four afterwards.

Xperia - The Smartphones

The Android platform on Sony Ericsson mobile devices features the Cybershot, Walkman, and some GreenHeart. On top of that, Xperias are powered by fast-speed processors and has 3D support, Bravia engine, touchscreen, Android Market, Exmor, and HD, making it one of the best mobile phones in the world.

Xperia Mini: Small edition of the Xperia family that fits inside the pocket without missing anything. The owner could record memories in HD video, chat and use social applications, music player, gaming and personalised permission. To enhance this mobile devices, the owner should go to the Android Market.

Xperia Play: This phone is for game fanatics. This Xperia feature is PlayStation certified with real game controllers. The Xperia Play allows connectivity to a TV unit for larger screen view, has a high-powered processor for quality graphics and a fast multimedia play for videos without losing quality.

Xperia Arc: This is the most powerful among the members of the Xperia family. The devices under this subcategory are powered with processors by at least 1 GHz. It is HD-capable for great video viewing, and has a Bravia engine for richer color with less image noise. The Exmor mobile allows the user to capture high-quality pictures and videos even in poor light conditions.

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