Sony Corporation (NYSE:SNE) has announced that they will be paying $1.47 billion for Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson’s 50% stake in the Sony-Ericsson venture. Sony has bought Ericsson’s “five essential patent families” through this acquisition. This was an intellectual property agreement between the two companies. The acquisition will allow Sony to incorporate their mobile products into other offerings like PCs, TVs, tablets, etc. The venture was created 10 years ago and Sony wants to catch up with rivals through this acquisition. Going forward Sony plans to get very aggressive in the mobile market space. Below is the company press release:

This graphic from Thomson Reuters shows just who is suing whom in our current patent wars.

When Nokia releases smartphones powered by the Windows Phone 8 operating system, they will use silicon from ST-Ericsson according to STMicroelectronics CEO Carlo Bozotti. Windows Phone devices currently use chips from Qualcomm. ST-Ericsson is a joint venture between STMicroelectronics and Ericsson.

Ericsson has announced a deal with China Mobile and China Unicom that is worth $1.8 billion. Ericsson will provide China Unicom with a faster 3G network. Ericsson will also provide China Mobile equipment to boost their capacity for mobile networks. “The signing of the significant frame agreements is a manifestation of our continued strong co-operation with our Chinese customers,” stated Ericsson head of China Mats Olsson. [BBC]

The Sony Ericsson TM717 has been submitted to the FCC, but it has the code name “Elle.”  The TM717 is expected to replace the TM506 since it looks similar and packs more features.  The TM717 also has a AWS 3G network connection option and a 3.2 megapixel camera.  The camera on the TM506 is 2 megapixels.    Depending on the FCC’s approval, we should expect to see the TM717 hit the T-Mobile network in the next several months.

[via Engadget/FCC]

According to BGR, a Sony Ericsson public relations representative in Germany has confirmed that the Idou will be available in October. The Idou has a 3.5″ touchscreen, 12 megapixel camera, GPS, and is powered by Symbian.

[via BGR]

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications announced earlier this week that Najmi Jarwala is stepping down.  Jarwala was the President of Sony Ericsson USA and the Head of Region North America.   He has stepped down to “pursue other opportunities.”  Jarwala worked at Sony for three years.

“It has been an incredibly rewarding time for me and we have achieved a lot together in North America,” stated Jarwala. “We have introduced an increasing number of new products, grown market share, built operator relationships and, perhaps most importantly, have laid the foundation for North America to play a key role in the long term growth and success of Sony Ericsson. I have been privileged to have led a team of passionate, creative and innovative people at Sony Ericsson and I wish them every success.”

Jarwala will be replaced by Anders Runevad starting April 1.  Runevad is the Executive Vice President of Sony Ericsson and the Head of Global Sales & Marketing.

“It is the realization of Web 2.0 and we want people to jump into it because they would benefit from it,” stated Rahul Hukku, Regional Sales and Business Development Manager at Ericsson.

Ericsson Inc. is testing a new online service called 3GLifestore (www.3GLifestore.com) over the last year.  3GLifestore is not open to the public yet, but it is being tested in Manila, Philippines.  3GLifestore is a wireless service where users can send photos, videos, audio, etc. through various blog platforms. 

Another feature of 3GLifestore is playable videos via YouTube.  Ericsson phones with cameras built in will be able to act as a webcam and upload on YouTube.  3GLifestore will be rolled out worldwide very soon.