Sony Ericsson executive says the company will focus on Android based products

Steven Walker, Sony Ericsson's acting head of global marketing, said in an interview that the joint venture is committing itself to the Android OS. Walker commented, "We do think it’s important at this moment in time to focus our external messaging on Android based products. We see the need as an industry to galvanize behind the Android ecosystem to create a strong ecosystem for consumers."

Even with a lineup filled with phones loaded with Google's open source OS, and despite the promise of more to come, Walker did admit that Sony Ericsson is keeping an "open mind toward Windows Phone 7". Walker added, "there is clearly a galvanizing within the industry around Android as a creditable alternative to what’s out there, and we think that’s a good thing."

Sony Ericsson has come under fire by its customers for what appears to be the inability to get its phones updated in a timely fashion. Recently, we reported that the joint venture's current flagship device, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, will not be able to receive an upgrade to Android 2.2 which means that the handset will not be able to download the Adobe Flash 10.1 player. Walker said that the inability of the joint venture to upgrade its devices to the latest Android builds was only an important concern to the most "spec savvy" users. Still, Walker did note that Sony Ericsson is releasing a product this quarter that will have Android 2.3 installed and the executive said that the company has learned over the last year how important it is to have the latest operating system software on new Android releases.

Two unreleased handsets have garnered some attention for the company.The Xperia PLAY has captured a buzz with its landscape sliding game controller, and at the CES, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc displayed a design that caught the attention of cell phone fans with a casing that tapered in the middle to the thinnest build seen on any current handset, and was the only phone on display at the show that was seen running Android 2.3.

source: AndroidCentral