I never see to much on Sony and CDMA.
ORLANDO - Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play phone may be the first of several CDMA smartphones for the company, which is re-embracing the technology after years of making only GSM phones, Sony Ericsson product marketing manager Stephen Sneeden said.

"You could see Xperia smartphones arrive on any U.S. carrier," he said.

Sony Ericsson recently had a major change in its U.S. strategy. Up until recently, it was a provider of flip, music, and camera phones to AT&T and T-Mobile - products like T-Mobile's successful TM506. But now future feature phones are "unikely" as Sony Ericsson switches to an all-Android lineup for all the U.S. carriers.

All-Android doesn't mean all-costly, though. "We might provide affordable tier Android phones," Sneeden said.

The first phone of Sony Ericsson's new strategy, the Xperia Play "PlayStation Phone" - has a few surprises. The European model's custom Timescape UI has been traded out for a stock Android look. And like all Sony Ericsson phones this year, it's running the latest Gingerbread OS, which other mobile-phone firms haven't yet installed on many phones.

"We learned a few lessons on what's important" from the experience with earlier Android phones, Sneeden said. "Android is so compelling in itself, it's important to be first, fresh out of the oven" with new versions of Android.

And while Sneeden was careful not to badmouth Timescape - it is Sony Ericsson's own software, after all - he said "folks complain about bloatware" and will find the mostly stock Android look appealing.
CTIA 2011

Now Sony Ericsson needs to develop an ecosystem of PlayStation Certified games for its Xperia Play line. Global launches, increasing the number of phones available, will help. But launching the Xperia Play is also dependent on having a way to buy great games. Google's Marketplace won't accept payments in some countries, so Sony Ericsson is also working to develop carrier-branded stores that charge games to phone bills. The Verizon Xperia Play has both a Google store and a Verizon shop for games.

What's next? Sony Ericsson plans LTE smartphones, though Sneeden wouldn't give a specific target date.

"We haven't announced LTE yet, but it's definitely in our roadmap."

For more, see PCMag's hands on with the Xperia Play at CTIA and Mobile World Congress.
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