Sony Ericsson Unveils New Mobile Phone Strategy

Sony Ericsson unveiled a new strategy for its struggling mobile phone business in an attempt to share content on its handsets with other devices in the home.Called "Entertainment Unlimited," the initiative seeks to integrate mobile phones with such devices as TVs, home computers and home stereo equipment, allowing users to share content freely between them. To accomplish this, the company is uniting its until-now separate PC, TV and mobile phone divisions.At the Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona, the company introduced a concept phone that demonstrates these capabilities, called the Idou.It also plans to expand its Play Now mobile content subscription service, which now includes movies as well as music, to a broader service called MediaGo. That service is available in only eight countries today, but Sony Ericsson says it hopes to double that.Executives called the strategy "the next chapter in the evolution of the company," clearly making big bets on the mobile entertainment market. Sony Ericsson reported a loss of $248 million in the fourth quarter of last year.