We can't help but think that cell phone makers are starting to get a little too cutesy for their own good when it comes to naming their phones. Seemingly gone are the days of the good 'ol model number, replaced by exciting or mysterious sounding names meant to individualize phones. Motorola has long had the
four-letter "we hate vowls" thing going with their line. Palm has branched out from endless Treo model numbers by calling the
Centro just "Centro," and LG seems to really like the idea, going a little crazy with phones named after everything from
edibles to
Roman goddesses.
Sony Ericsson meanwhile has stuck with somewhat less endearing names like
W910 and W960, but that's apparently about to change with the company
trademarking the name "Xperia," a label set to be applied to their upcoming P5i smartphone.
The
P5i ... err ... Xperia is said to have the ability to "function in any number of extra ways beyond just as a phone." This includes a long list of tools including the ability to:
...function as a camera; perform instant messaging; access and communicate with e-mail; access and communicate with the Internet; function as a radio, to record, play, transmit, receive, and/or manage music; record, play, transmit, receive, edit, and/or manage video; create, view, transmit, receive, edit, and/or manage photographs; play electronic games; upload photographs and text onto online journals or web logs; function as a personal digital assistant (PDA); function as walkie-talkies; perform satellite navigation; function as a remote control for computers and run multimedia presentations...
It's unclear whether Xperia will be the single name for this phone or will be instead applied to a range of extra-smartphones, something that we'll surely find out ahead of the mobile's release sometime this summer. It's not exactly the most distinctive sounding name we've ever heard, but if you're a Sony marketing rep we do expect it's a lot easier to drive up excitement for something you can pronounce, rather than something called two letters and a number.
From
Trademork and
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