In a blog post going into further detail regarding its planned rollout of Android 4.0, Sony Ericsson has confirmed that the Xperia Arc S, Neo V, and Ray will be updated in late March or early April dependent on the completion of integration with its own Xperia overlay for the series, while the Xperia Arc, Play, Neo, Mini/Mini Pro, and Active will receive Android 4.0 in late April or early May with owners being notified via over the air update prompts.

This marks the first time that a manufacturer has committed its complete current lineup of Android devices to the update to Ice Cream Sandwich, and reflects the depth of knowledge gained by Sony related to Android after working closely with Google on the development of the PlayStation Certified program.

The announcement does however, exclude most of Sony Ericsson’s 2010 Android devices, falling far short of Google’s request to manufacturers that they pledge to offer Android updates for at least two years, whenever possible.

Cloud storage provider Box.net, whose claim to fame was offering 50GB of lifetime storage to owners of HP’s failed TouchPad even after the fire sale has expanded its offering to include Sony Ericsson’s Xperia line and LG Android models.

All the offer requires is that owners of  LG Android devices sign up directly from the smartphone from today until March 31st 2012 through the new Android app in order to take advantage of the free 50GB lifetime storage offer. Sony Ericsson Xperia owners will receive the same promotion in the future, with both companies still working out the details of their own lifetime storage promotion.

The cloud storage provider has garnered the most attention for offering a similar promotion on Apple’s iOS family of devices, coinciding with the launch of Apple’s rival iCloud service.

Box.net not only offers cloud storage, but the service also offers real-time collaborative editing through the service with version control and other enterprise features such as offline access, remote access/download and bulk upload support.

Sony early this morning announced that it would be fully acquiring the Sony Ericsson joint venture from partner Ericsson. The transaction will close for slightly over one billion Euro dollars.

The relationship between Sony and Ericsson has been one of the more enduring and straining relationships in wireless. Born in the 2G era, shortly after the launch of the groundbreaking Ericsson T68, the goal was to provide Sony’s brand and media experience, with Ericsson’s talents in the emerging market of mobile devices globally.

However, the relationship began to stagnate as the two companies became more conflicted as to how to steer the joint venture. Sony Ericsson became isolated from the gaming and music ventures at Sony, with PlayStation off limits to the venture for most of its time, only eventually lifting with the rise of the PlayStation Suite and Sony Ericsson Xperia Play.

Music too, suffered, while Apple was able to emerge with iPhone, fusioning iPod and an embedded version of Mac OS X, Sony Ericsson faced political turmoil to compete. Clearances to offer features like a Walkman-branded line of phones came as too little, too late in terms of offerings to compete in the marketplace.

Still, Sony Ericsson did bore some of the most advanced phones for its time. Using the Symbian UIQ platform, Sony Ericsson’s high-end line of P-series smartphones were regarded as some of the most powerful phones for their time. Phones such as the S700i and S710a provided superior photography, at a time when camera phones were regarded as a novelty.

Sony Ericsson suffered many hurdles similar to Nokia in reacting to the rise of iPhone and Android, but for different reasons. Where Nokia had a massive user base and a dated platform that it struggled to overhaul, Sony Ericsson had to face internal turmoil in building a path forward that would satisfy everyone at the table. Nokia failed to carry its user base to a modern platform, and Sony Ericsson shuffled platforms too frequently for users to feel brand loyalty.

After a brief courting of Windows Mobile, which stumbled after a painful transition away from Symbian UIQ for smartphones, the venture settled on Android, which fit in-line with Sony’s ambitions in the tablet and multi-media arena. That technological decision appears to have solidified the acquisition. Ericsson has moved away for the most part from handset development, and its R&D involvement in Sony Ericsson became more equity-driven than strategic.

The acquisition will need to be approved by the EU, where Ericsson is headquartered. The transition will face minimal, if any scrutiny elsewhere. Presuming there are no major objections, Sony expects to have control of Sony Ericsson’s assets around January of 2012.

The FCC has revealed the Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray Android smartphone with support for AT&T’s 3G bands. The Xperia Ray features a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 335MB of RAM, Android Gingerbread, an 854 x 480 resolution display at 3.2 inches front facing camera and microSDHC slot. Neither Sony Ericsson nor AT&T have announced the Xperia Ray at this time.

Sony has launched an AT&T compatible version of its Xperia Arc Android smartphone for $599.99 unlocked, mere months after its initial introduction at MWC.

The Xperia Arc features a 1GHz Qualcomm processor, 4.2-inch 854 x 480 touch display, Android Gingerbread, 8.1 megapixel rear-illuminated Sony-branded EXMOR-R camera sensor with 720p HD video capture, 1GB internal memory, microSDHC slot, Wi-Fi N radio with DLNA support and a bodyshell that measures 8.7mm at the thinnest point with ergonomics at the core of its design.

The Arc’s launch is notable in that it is one of only a handful of unlocked Android phones to launch in the United States from major manufacturers. It is believed that Sony Ericsson originally intended for the phone to be picked up by AT&T, but instead offered it as an unlocked device after the carrier passed on the phone, late in its development.

It’s also the first Android phone to be exclusive to the SonyStyle store chain, with previous unlocked phones in the United States being sold by Sony Ericsson directly. This appears to be an effort to build better relations between Sony Ericsson, a partnership between Sony and Ericsson, and the mainline Sony corporate brand.

SonyStyle – Xperia Arc (US Version)

Amazon is currently offering the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play through their Amazon Wireless storefront for one cent after new 2 year agreement and instant discounts. This undercuts Verizon’s online pricing and makes the Gingerbread-powered Android phone a compelling purchase for those looking to have one of the first Android Gingerbread devices with gaming controls while paying considerably less than going through Verizon directly.

Sony Ericsson has set May 26th as the launch date for the US version of the long awaited Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, the first Playstation Certified device on the market and the first CDMA Sony Ericsson phone in the US since the days of the Sony Ericsson T608 in 2003. Pricing for the phone is set at $199.99 after new 2 year agreement and rebate. The phone was originally scheduled for release on April 28th but was delayed due to Sony Ericsson’s own issues with supply constraints in the wake of the March 11th earthquake in Japan.

The Xperia Play features a 4 inch capacitive touch display, 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 Scorpion processor with Adreno 205 GPU, 1GB of ROM, 512MB of RAM, a microSDHC slot along with a 5.1 megapixel camera with flash and 720p video capture. To celebrate the launch, Verizon will be holding a pre-order campaign ahead of the release date on its online portal with more specific details confirmed on the 19th.

Sony Ericsson has quietly announced in a press release that it has dropped all litigation against Clearwire filed in January of this year over the similarity of the Clear logo to Sony Ericsson’s trademark logo in use since the joint venture’s establishment in 2002. The press release goes on to detail that as a result of the settlement, Clearwire has abandoned previous plans to release branded smartphones in a statement to the judge presiding over the case, which Sony Ericsson feared would lead to brand confusion in the marketplace and was the catalyst for the initial litigation.

Noted developer ZodTTD, best known for developing the popular PSX4Droid Sony PlayStation emulator for Android has taken to Twitter to announce that Google has pulled the application from the Android Market, eight months after being first approved and released. The timing for the removal is coincidental, as the Xperia Play from Sony Ericsson is expected to be released in the middle of April from Verizon Wireless in the US and later in the month in Europe.

Strangely, other similar emulators have so far been left alone, with Google releasing a cryptic statement on the situation:
“We remove apps from Android Market that violate our policies.”

As the Xperia Play will be preloaded with Sony’s PlayStation Pocket emulator with support for the forthcoming Playstation Suite in the future, the move is seen as one instigated by Sony, with Google  complying with the request, raising dubious questions regarding the “open nature” of the market. Also, since the emulator was never officially licensed, the policy violation is clear, but does not explain why it took eight months for it to be removed or was even approved for distribution in the first place without proper licensing.

Another explanation may center on the idea that PSX4Droid and other such emulators were tacitly approved by Google and convinced the search giant to pursue an arrangement with Sony to develop a gaming platform to counter Apple’s increasing dominance in the mobile gaming space. Meanwhile, the developer of PSX4Droid is currently investigating third-party alternatives for distribution as work was being conducted on an update to improve graphics performance, ironically in light of the forthcoming launch of new Android smartphones with newer graphics processors, such as the aforementioned Xperia Play.

Not too long after the Game Developers Conference held last week in San Francisco, it seems that certain lucky developers are looking to make some quick cash off of their swag. Case in point, a lucky few scored the forthcoming GSM version of the Xperia Play and have promptly put them on ebay. with one going for $700, while another has recently been listed for significantly less.

The Xperia Play will be released by Verizon Wireless in April with a 4 inch capacitive touch display, 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 Scorpion processor with Adreno 205 GPU, 1GB of ROM, 512MB of RAM, a microSDHC slot along with a 5.1 megapixel camera with flash and 720p video capture.

While no US GSM carriers have confirmed their own version of the Xperia Play, officials from the manufacturer have confirmed that the device is not exclusive to Verizon, despite being developed in tandem with the carrier and marking the return of Sony Ericsson to CDMA phone development since the T608 in 2003.