Sony considering iPhone competitor

iphone 3gs FTW...seriously coming from a techy..i have to say that this little device is the best handheld machine man can own...there is no question about...it can do everything youd expect and more...i'm used to my blackberry curve but after getting this iphone..i wouldnt ever use anything else..except maybe a upgraded slimmer sleeker iphone...screw psp unless they give us a 2nd nub..if they cant offer that then they have no business with me..

I probably wouldn't mind having PSP sized phone with me all the time as long as I had a really nice bluetooth headset for it, of course it would have to excel in all other areas as well [more specifically camera, battery life, visual quality.... so on so forth]

As for iPhone competitors, I think the new Nokia N97 looks really promising. I NEED a QWERTY keyboard and I absolutely loathe Apple.

I love my Cybershot C902, and SE does build some brilliant hardware (I have iPhone owning friends who drool over my handset... mostly because of the high-grade camera).

My concern with letting SE get too close to this project is that they have a nasty tendency of not doing enough extensive R&D/QC and subsequently releasing buggy products. My C902 is currently at the latest firmware and has charging issues as well as a nasty firmware bug that causes the entire phone to crash and reboot (both common issues).

Sony needs to build a homerun product to compete with apple in this market. They certainly have the manpower, the technology and the expertise to do it, but they best take a cautious and careful route. I'd prefer that my device wasn't riddled with bugs.

It could work.. I remember when the the google phone was announced and everyone said how much better than iPhone it was supposed to be. Then I played with it and it didn't come close to being as good as the iPhone. I've had 3 Sony Ericsson phones and I thought they were great back in the day but I doubt they can raise the bar over the iPhone. They may have a decent shot if Sony will go down the playstation road though.

It better not have one of those little sticks to navigate the phone!! People look ridiculous when they pull that thing out and act like they're moving stocks in a portfolio or figuring out their next time share vacay!

not sure about the concept of it however its a funny-pic

The iPhone can suck my balls. It's just a tiny, frustrating, difficult to use, laptop.

Sony Ericsson flat out needs to market better in the US. They make good phones but the IPhone and the Samsung IPhone clones are just going to continue to dominate.

I hope iPhone gets more competition especially from phones of different networks. hopefully that would drive down prices even more.

Yikes. Any company that wants to compete with a rival product needs to outdo it in the areas that product is most successful in. Considering the iPhone is the rival product here, Sony needs to pull out something extremely good to have a chance at even putting a dent in Apple's iPhone profits.

And that's a seriously tall order for any company. Sony is going to require more than good luck if they actually follow through with this project.

Way too late for them to get a good enough market share now...

Somehow I have a feeling it will be a very long time before anything comes along that can compete with IPhone!

RT
www.complete-privacy.tk

It's interesting. Previously, conventional wisdom was that Nokia were unbeatable with their N-series of phones. Then the iPhone came along and changed all that, and now Nokia finds itself on the back foot.

The rumour's helped by the fact that Sony Ericsson already have expertise in developing phones, with a line of cybershot-style and walkman-style handsets already out there. In theory it makes logical sense for them to head down that route.

In practice, it's a very hard thing to pull off. The Nokia N-Gage was a resounding failure. Try to make the device too phone centric and you make gaming/apps less accessible as a result. Try to make it too gaming centric and you make it harder to accept using it as a phone, particularly if you have something the size of the PSP that you have to hold to your face.

There's definitely an opportunity there for Sony, and there is definitely a market for this product. Operator subsidies would also help bring the PSP down in price to a level that more consumers would find compelling. The trouble is, can Sony deliver a product that would present a compelling user experience - a device that people want to use?

Damn.. I love sony.. But if youre gonna compete with apple on this one.. Just give up already! Nothing can beat the iphone.

This is a rumor that refuses to die. It'll be interesting to see what (if anything) comes of it this time.