Sony Ericsson and Motorola are in a similar situation: both have recently lost market share at an alarming rate, and are betting their future onto a few Windows Mobile devices. For Motorola, it will be Attila and Alexander, while Sony Ericsson peddles the XPERIA X1.
While Sony Ericsson Austria has left the marketing to carriers so far, they have recently changed their strategy. I found the ad below in a popular Austrian tech magazine – it offers a J2ME program for download:
As for most other Java programs, I decided to use my Nokia N96 for testing. Sent out an SMS, downloaded 500KB – and presto, the XPERIA app was ready to rumble:
Starting it up reveals a 3×3 GUI which is heavily animated. The choices offered include a small “screen protector”, a web site where games can be downloaded and a Johnny X feature:
Finally, an option is included which allows you to access further information about the X1 while on the phone:
I personally think that this is a highly innovative thing – using an applet to advertise a new phone on the customer’s current phone is an amazing idea. If Sony Ericsson manages to ensure that the roll-out continues issue-free, I predict that this device could serve them very well…
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