Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications lately announced a deal with Google to integrate the search company’s Blogger and Web search features into Sony Ericsson mobile phones.
The two companies are the first in the industry to provide a pre-loaded blog application with a tight integration to the mobile camera and intuitive automatic set-up for consumers who do not already have a personal blog.
Using software preloaded on the phones, subscribers of Blogger.com will be able to update their personal blogs from their cell phones.
Sony Ericsson claims it is the first company to offer an integrated blogging tool on its phones.
The first phones to offer the new feature are the K610 UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) phone and the K800 and K790 imaging phones, which were announced recently.
Integrating Blogger and Google Web Search in the Sony Ericsson handsets will provide a completely new experience for consumers.
These phones come with integrated 3.2-megapixel digital cameras with Autofocus, Xenon flash and a unique imaging technology developed by Sony Ericsson. The K800 is a dual-mode UMTS/GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) phone, and the K790 is a Tri Band EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) phone. Both will be available in the second quarter of 2006, the company said.
Icons leading to Google Web Search have been integrated into the phone user interface to provide easy access to the information that Google Web Search can provide.
We are seeing exponential growth in blogging and consumers are turning more and more often to the Internet as a means of sharing information or images in personal blogs, said Jan Wareby, corporate executive vice president, head of sales and marketing, Sony Ericsson. By working with Google, we are able to offer a quick and easy way for people to blog as they discover how convenient it is as a way to share words and pictures with friends, family and beyond.
We are also delighted to collaborate with Google, the undisputed leader in Web Search, to provide consumers with relevant Internet information directly to their Sony Ericsson handsets.
Sony Ericsson also announced that the Google search engine will become the standard search engine for all of its Internet phones. The search feature has been tightly integrated into the phones, so that consumers can directly activate a Google Web search option from whichever page they are viewing but without launching a new Web page to complete a search. Other phone manufacturers, such as Vodafone and Motorola, also have announced that their phones will use Google’s search tool.
By providing people with direct access to features like mobile search and blogging, we are able to create a more personalized, user-friendly experience, said Nikesh Arora, vice president, European operations, Google Inc.
Today’s tech-savvy consumers are becoming increasingly more mobile and demand access to information on-the-go, whether it is the latest news headlines or directions to a favorite restaurant.
Sony Ericsson made several other announcements lately. It announced three new Bluetooth headsets: the HBH-IV835, HBH-GV435 and HBH-PV705 and a Bluetooth car speakerphone, the HCB-100, which offers up to 20 hours of talk time and 600 hours of standby time.
In addition to the new K800 and K790 phones, Sony Ericsson announced three new camera phones, the K510, Z530 Clamshell and the K310, as well as a new Walkman phone, the W300.