Sony Ericsson's New Vision: Entertainment Options

[scotsboyuk]

Two weeks ago we published an open letter to Sony Ericsson highlighting some of the problems we believe the company faces and calling on them to take action to address those problems. We have been running polls to gauge our users' reaction to the letter and so far the response is overwhelmingly in agreement with the letter. Given that we've looked at what's holding the company back let's now take a look at what Sony Ericsson are doing to change and move forwards, and also ask whether it is enough to actually bring lasting change.

Perhaps the most apparent change has been the introduction of the 'Entertainment Unlimited' brand. This is a new brand of Sony Ericsson hardware that some see as combining the old Cybershot and Walkman brands. Whilst that's true Entertainment Unlimited (EU) is actually quite a bit more, or at least it is trying to be. The idea isn't just to release all-in-one handsets you see, it's to completely re-focus the company as a whole; instead of being just another manufacturer Sony Ericsson wants to be an 'entertainment company'. There's that word again: entertainment.

What's so important about entertainment then? Well quite a lot according to Sony Ericsson. Consumers are increasingly doing more with their handsets, whether it's watching films, playing games, or accessing the web. To put it simply, Sony Ericsson wants a piece of that action. Now you might be thinking 'haven't people been doing those things for years?'. Well yes, and no. Take games, for instance, they've been on handsets for years, but it's only in the last couple of years that they've grown significantly beyond relatively simple Java games and reached a mass audience that isn't largely confined to children and teenagers. In other words mobiles are becoming, and in some cases have become, true games platforms in their own right. The same can be said for films as memory sizes have increased and screen resolutions have gotten better.

As slow as Sony Ericsson seems to be at times in catching on to trends they do recognise that consumers expect ever more from their devices and that we are living in an ever more connected world. Someone with a good cameraphone wants a good music player too, and why should they have to carry around a separate device because the manufacturer has decided to skimp on the media features in their phone in favour of the camera? That's essentially the ethos behind EU, an all-in-one media device that not only does a good job of playing that media, whether it be a game, a film or a song, but also does a good job of sharing that content and in allowing the user to create content himself.

We can see that ethos played out through some of the features that have been built into Aino, Satio and Yari. For example, Yari features in-call music, which allows the user to play a song whilst in a call so the person on the other end can hear it. Aino of course allows the user to connect with his PS3 and access content. Satio's main selling point is its camera, but it also acts as a pretty good media player to boot and has enough connectivity options to make sharing it pretty easy.

The handsets are only one part of it though because SE are also trying hard to tie in their PlayNow service, which has seen a huge expansion since its beginnings as a portal for Java games, wallpapers and ringtones. It now offers millions of songs for download as well as films. Sony Ericsson have also released an updated version of their handset sync software, which basically acts as their own version of iTunes. All in all it's an attempt at creating their own content cycle.

It's too early to say whether this will be successful or not, however, Sony Ericsson needs to expand on this vision a lot more and tie it all together much tighter if it's going to run in the long-term. Consumers increasingly expect a lot more from a handset than what's in the box and what's pre-loaded on the phone. They want access to content and they want to tie that in with the rest of their digital lives. In that respect these are good first steps we're seeing, but they're still fragmented and they're still small steps. As we've said previously, we need to see some risk taking and some bold moves.

From the USEB:
http://blog.se-nse.net/sony-ericssons-new-...-entertainment/.

[Kaosblade]

Interesting.

The handsets are only one part of it though because SE are also trying hard to tie in their PlayNow service, which has seen a huge expansion since its beginnings as a portal for Java games, wallpapers and ringtones. It now offers millions of songs for download as well as films. Sony Ericsson have also released an updated version of their handset sync software, which basically acts as their own version of iTunes. All in all it's an attempt at creating their own content cycle.

Which software is this exactly? MediaGo?

[hks_911]

isnt the MediaGo a waste????

[scotsboyuk]

That's a good question!

[Kaosblade]

Yes. IMO it was a complete failure.

[hks_911]

That's a good question!

[scotsboyuk]

This is what I meant by tightening things up. They need a really well connected and really useful eco-system that makes people want to use it, not use it because they have to or feel obligated to.

[zlayaa]

Nicely written!
If the iTunes wanna-be is MediaGo then it has failed.. It doesn't seem to work on Vista, it gives me an error about permissions when I start it (yes, I run it as admin)

[Corman]

I use MediaGo for the SensMe data It works on Vista Business SP2

[jock]

Aiming to be like iTunes is a really bad goal! i hate iTunes it always freeze on Windows while syncing with iPod Touch and iPhone

[MrMojo]

Sorry but SE's Media Go software S*CKS!!

It's terrible at playlist creation, organizing files, editing files, tagging files, updating the library seems non-existent, long transfer time, shall I continue....

Sony has (or, rather, HAD) a reputation for making good Hardware (i.e. cameras, tvs, PMP, etc...) in the past and it's still using that image to OVERCHARGE their products!

Sony can NOT make software to support their hardware to save the company's life! Period!

Their products aren't bad but the company is TOO slow in incorporating new technology yet charges a premium for their existing and new (outdated) products!

No more innovation! More arrogance! Overpriced products!

Yeah, many of us feel this way! That's why I STOPPED buying Sony products and the SE phone I bought may be my last!

Sony's idea of Media Go is to compete with iTunes because it knows people want media software for their media files esp music files. Unfortunately, the software is NOT user friendly and cumbersome to use!

Many people bash iTunes but it's pretty good, actually! Rips music, edit files, tag album art, etc... Isn't THIS what good media software should be? If you do NOT want to buy music/media from iTunes, then DON'T!! It's still good at incorporating MANY features into 1 software rather than using more than 1 software to do various activities!

Another example.. SE favors Drag n Drop! OK BUT... what if you do NOT have media files "already" available? Media Go S*CKS! Oh, use Windows Media Player?! Right, AS IF that is a "good" media software (which it isn't)!

My apologies for the rant....

Can't stand that SONY REFUSES to make software to support their devices! It's so hardware driven but lacks software support, which it really does NOT care about, hence their arrogance and attitude!

Add to that, the public is charged a Premium for their products!

[hks_911]

now we can really say SE is learning from there mistakes, it will take some time for them recover completely
so just for an example they r really trying to keep their prices competitive, i mean the gap is becoming less
just checkout the prices of satio,n97,omnia HD and pixon12 in 'univercell' they r one of the largest mobile store network in india
 compare.JPG ( 76.94K ) Number of downloads: 17


so i hope is not going to die, i would say "get well soon SE"

[mphilip876]

Two weeks ago we published an open letter to Sony Ericsson highlighting some of the problems we believe the company faces and calling on them to take action to address those problems. We have been running polls to gauge our users' reaction to the letter and so far the response is overwhelmingly in agreement with the letter. Given that we've looked at what's holding the company back let's now take a look at what Sony Ericsson are doing to change and move forwards, and also ask whether it is enough to actually bring lasting change.

Perhaps the most apparent change has been the introduction of the 'Entertainment Unlimited' brand. This is a new brand of Sony Ericsson hardware that some see as combining the old Cybershot and Walkman brands. Whilst that's true Entertainment Unlimited (EU) is actually quite a bit more, or at least it is trying to be. The idea isn't just to release all-in-one handsets you see, it's to completely re-focus the company as a whole; instead of being just another manufacturer Sony Ericsson wants to be an 'entertainment company'. There's that word again: entertainment.

What's so important about entertainment then? Well quite a lot according to Sony Ericsson. Consumers are increasingly doing more with their handsets, whether it's watching films, playing games, or accessing the web. To put it simply, Sony Ericsson wants a piece of that action. Now you might be thinking 'haven't people been doing those things for years?'. Well yes, and no. Take games, for instance, they've been on handsets for years, but it's only in the last couple of years that they've grown significantly beyond relatively simple Java games and reached a mass audience that isn't largely confined to children and teenagers. In other words mobiles are becoming, and in some cases have become, true games platforms in their own right. The same can be said for films as memory sizes have increased and screen resolutions have gotten better.

As slow as Sony Ericsson seems to be at times in catching on to trends they do recognise that consumers expect ever more from their devices and that we are living in an ever more connected world. Someone with a good cameraphone wants a good music player too, and why should they have to carry around a separate device because the manufacturer has decided to skimp on the media features in their phone in favour of the camera? That's essentially the ethos behind EU, an all-in-one media device that not only does a good job of playing that media, whether it be a game, a film or a song, but also does a good job of sharing that content and in allowing the user to create content himself.

We can see that ethos played out through some of the features that have been built into Aino, Satio and Yari. For example, Yari features in-call music, which allows the user to play a song whilst in a call so the person on the other end can hear it. Aino of course allows the user to connect with his PS3 and access content. Satio's main selling point is its camera, but it also acts as a pretty good media player to boot and has enough connectivity options to make sharing it pretty easy.

The handsets are only one part of it though because SE are also trying hard to tie in their PlayNow service, which has seen a huge expansion since its beginnings as a portal for Java games, wallpapers and ringtones. It now offers millions of songs for download as well as films. Sony Ericsson have also released an updated version of their handset sync software, which basically acts as their own version of iTunes. All in all it's an attempt at creating their own content cycle.

It's too early to say whether this will be successful or not, however, Sony Ericsson needs to expand on this vision a lot more and tie it all together much tighter if it's going to run in the long-term. Consumers increasingly expect a lot more from a handset than what's in the box and what's pre-loaded on the phone. They want access to content and they want to tie that in with the rest of their digital lives. In that respect these are good first steps we're seeing, but they're still fragmented and they're still small steps. As we've said previously, we need to see some risk taking and some bold moves.

From the USEB:
http://blog.se-nse.net/sony-ericssons-new-...-entertainment/.

Nice article..
Its really appreciable...

[zlayaa]

I use MediaGo for the SensMe data It works on Vista Business SP2

omg.. I also have Vista Business SP2... x)
Did you have any problems or was it straight forward? Did you launch it in any special way?

EDIT: Do you have 32bit or 64bit?

EDIT2: Found a solution, I deleted all items in AppData/Local/Temp then it went fine

This post has been edited by zlayaa: 2009-10-14 19:02

[witchking]

Interesting...

Well let's wait and watch, hoping for the best

[cyberbillp]

You know, I'm not sure this criticism is justified.
Comparing my w890 to an iPod Nano, I'll take my w890 any day.

Media Manager works like a dream. Games kick ass. What's not to like?