Posts Tagged ‘PlayNow’

Sony Ericsson expands PlayNow arena to cover apps, too

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

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It looks like Sony Ericsson is taking a page out of Apple’s book for the launch of its app store, bundling the service in with the very same platform it already uses to distribute music and movies. PlayNow arena — which was originally designed for music distribution and whose movie rental functionality is going live this month in a handful of locales — is now being expanded to incorporate applications as well, initially coming to 13 countries and some 38 Sony Ericsson models. Conveniently, PlayNow arena is already well-plumbed to support a variety of blling methods which should make the transition to paid apps a pretty seamless one for the company, devs, and users alike. Submissions from developers for inclusion in the store will kick off July 1, initially covering Java and Symbian before being expanded to cover “additional platforms” (Android, anyone?) later in the year; there’s no word, though, on exactly when end users will be able to get in on the action.

Sony Ericsson expands PlayNow arena to cover apps, too originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Ericsson’s PlayNow Arena movie download service ready for June launch

Friday, May 29th, 2009

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Everybody’s getting into the mobile movie sideload business — just ask Samsung — and following an MWC unveiling earlier this year, Sony Ericsson is gearing up to launch movie content starting next month as part of its existing PlayNow Arena service. Direct on-phone downloads over WiFi or 3G would be awesome, but as most of these services tend to operate, PlayNow Arena will require that users select and download movies on their PCs, cable up their phones, and transfer the media the old-fashioned way, at which point they’ll be playable on the device for 90 days. You’ll be able to select from about 15 movies at any given time with content being cycled monthly — ridiculously meager, yes, but when you consider that the service is bundled with certain phones (up to 60 movies a year), it’s hard to pitch a fit. Look for it to launch on the W995 slider in Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the UK in June; support for Sony Ericsson’s newly-announced Satio and Aino (among others) is expected later in the year.

Sony Ericsson’s PlayNow Arena movie download service ready for June launch originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 29 May 2009 03:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Ericsson adds Yari and Aino to its multimedia line

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

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Launch details for the Satio was the 800-pound news gorilla out of Sony Ericsson today, but slotting in right underneath that set are another couple of phones that are still very much in the higher end of the range — the Yari and Aino. The Yari slider (pictured left) is being billed as a gaming device, featuring gesture-controlled actions in the same vein as the Wii (and for the record, that’s Sony Ericsson’s comparison as much as it is ours). It features a 2.4-inch display, GPS, and support for the company’s PlayNow services; it’ll be available in the fourth quarter for about €400 ($558) unlocked. Next up, the Aino takes some cues from the Satio with a relatively large 3-inch touchscreen — but also tosses in a numeric slider for good measure. It’s got an 8.1 megapixel cam, Sony Remote Play support, GPS, HSPA, and a scratch-resistant mineral glass display; it’ll be ready to rock in the same timeframe as the Yari in black and white, though we don’t have pricing stats just yet — needless to say, it’ll be more than the Yari.

[Via SEMC Blog]

Gallery: Sony Ericsson Yari

Gallery: Sony Ericsson Aino

Sony Ericsson adds Yari and Aino to its multimedia line originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 28 May 2009 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New Service From Sony PlayNow!

Monday, September 29th, 2008

Sony Ericsson has taken the wraps off of its new unlimited download music service that is meant to compete with Nokia’s Comes With Music service. The new service is called PlayNow plus and it will be launched with Sweden’s Telenor in Q4 of this year with other carrier rollouts taking place in early 2009. The Sony Ericsson W902 Walkman phone will be the first special edition device to feature integrated support for the new service.

From the Sony Ericsson press release:

PlayNow(TM) plus is due to set a new standard for the unlimited mobile music experience, with unrivalled download speeds, high-quality audio and access to the largest music catalogue of any unlimited download service. The service draws from Sony Ericsson’s collaboration with Omnifone and licensing terms have been agreed with all major international music labels-including EMI, Sony BMG, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music – as well as thousands of local music labels.

Unlike Nokia’s Comes With Music service, however, PlayNow plus will not allow users to keep all of the music files they have downloaded once their service contract expires. According to the press release, “at the end of their contract they will keep a number of tracks-DRM-free-from their most played favourites.”

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