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Sony Ericsson Unveils Beta SDK for XPERIA X1 Panel development

New Set of Software Development Tools Enable Wider Developer Community to Build Lifestyle Panels for XPERIA™ X1 Utilising Windows Mobile® 6.1

Stockholm, Sweden —September 3, 2008— Sony Ericsson Developer World today announced the release of the Sony Ericsson Beta Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows Mobile® 6.1, a set of tools, plug-ins and documentation that allows developers to build and test XPERIA Panels and applications for Windows Mobile 6.1 to be used on the XPERIA™ X1 phone, the innovative multimedia phone announced earlier this year that combines Windows Mobile 6.1 software with Sony Ericsson’s unique XPERIA Panel user interface. The SDK and accompanying documentation will be freely available to all developers to download at www.sonyericsson.com/developer.

The Sony Ericsson SDK for Windows Mobile 6.1 will allow a wide range of developers and content makers to easily develop, test and deploy rich Web and native Panels for the XPERIA X1. The Panels are lightweight applications that extend the phone’s ‘Today Screen’ API to provide a fully customisable user interface on the XPERIA X1.

Personalisation is one of the hottest topics in the mobile phone industry today. Ability to fit relevant and contextual information in a timely manner on the mobile phone screen is key for convergence scenarios including Web 2.0. XPERIA Panels introduce a unique, more distinct way of interacting with content on the phone’s UI, allowing users to personalise their desktop screen with their favorite content and seamlessly draw from Web and phone applications with a single touch of the screen. With support for both HTML and Microsoft’s Visual Studio development environment, XPERIA™ Panels provide a rich canvas for deployment of a wide range of content by a potential base of millions of developers around the world—from Web developers and designers to programmers and independent software vendors.

“With the release of the SDK for Windows Mobile 6.1, we are inviting developers and content creators to capitalise on the vast opportunity offered by mobile content in the coming years,” says Rikko Sakaguchi, CVP and Head of Creation and Development at Sony Ericsson. “This is yet another milestone in Sony Ericsson’s commitment to provide our partners with a complete, rich and open development environment that catalyses innovation and variety in mobile content and gives the best user experience to the consumers.”

The SDK combines development tools for Microsoft® Visual Studio® with guidelines and resources designed to get developers deploying XPERIA™ Panels quickly and easily. A built-in XPERIA X1 phone device phone emulator enables developers to build and test Panels directly on their PCs without resorting to phone hardware. Integration with Microsoft Visual Studio also gives developers a set of predefined components for creating Panels that spares them having to spend time/resources creating code and allows them to start their Panel projects with a single mouse click.

”Windows Mobile provides an open, flexible platform to help developers create rich applications and new mobile experiences,” said John O’Rourke, general manager of the Mobile Communications Business, Microsoft Corp. “Developers can utilise this new toolset to build Xperia panels and open up a world of possibilities for people to interact with the X1 phone.”

The complete Sony Ericsson Beta SDK for Windows Mobile 6.1 kit will include:

· XPERIA X1 Emulator—a phone emulator/viewer that allows developers to run, test and debug XPERIA Panels applications locally on a PC without need to resort to phone hardware.

· Microsoft Visual Studio Templates— predefined XPERIA native and web (HTML) Panel templates to create the basic project containers and a preliminary set of items for XPERIA Panels.

· Full set of developer guidelines—Getting Started documentation including overviews, system requirements, set-up information, and walkthroughs that help developers learn about the Sony Ericsson SDK for Windows Mobile 6.

· API reference documentation related to the specifics of developing XPERIA Panels.

· Tutorials—giving developers a “hands-on” introduction to the SDK and the tools needed to build applications on it.

· Sample Code—the Beta SDK ships with several sample projects to help developers quickly start their development projects.

· Additional developer support — this is provided via the Sony Ericsson Developer World website and includes XPERIA Panels testing information and community discussion forum.

As part of the plan to create a variety of panels for the XPERIA X1 phone, there will be a dedicated category in this year’s Sony Ericsson Content Awards, the online content creation competition established in 2007, where applications and panels developed for XPERIA X1 can be submitted.

Sony Ericsson has a wide base of developers around the world that are active members of the Sony Ericsson Developer World Community and already offer exciting applications across the Java and Symbian/UIQ ecosystems. To this, Sony Ericsson now adds the resources and distribution channels of thousands of developers building content for the Windows Mobile and Visual Studio.NET environments.

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About Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson Developer World is a global support program and web portal totally dedicated to helping professional wireless developers achieve business success by providing easy-to-find documentation, tools, technical advice and go-to-market support. Sony Ericsson Developer World guides developers through the development process in four steps – Think it, Make it, Test it, Sell it - thereby ensuring a constant stream of fun, useful and innovative content and applications for Sony Ericsson phones. Visit the new look website at www.SonyEricsson.com/developer

Having sold over 100 million phones in 2007, Sony Ericsson is currently one of the five largest mobile phone manufacturers in the world. An important industry player operating in over 80 countries, our phones, accessories and PC cards are synonymous with innovation and style. With R&D sites in Europe, Japan, China, India and North America, diversity is one of the core strengths of the company. Sony Ericsson was established as a 50:50 joint venture by Sony and Ericsson in October 2001, with global corporate functions located in London. For more information about Sony Ericsson please visit www.sonyericsson.com