Targeting over three million Facebook users in Saudi Arabia, Sony Ericsson has introduced “Facebook inside Xperia”, a unique application that allows instant communication and an advanced social media experience. “Facebook inside Xperia” is included in the latest Xperia mini and mini pro series to engage all social media enthusiasts. According to recent statistics, a billion minutes are spent on the popular social networking website to share over 30 billion items of content each month, making Facebook an integral part of communication for every social media or web user. An exclusive feature for the Xperia family, the application provides a unique social media integration throughout the phone, making Facebook immediately accessible from the most used areas of the phone such as the picture gallery, music player, phonebook and calendar. Furthermore, it enables users to “like”, share and comment more easily than ever. “People are becoming increasingly reliant on their smartphones for instant communication. Sony Ericsson has enhanced the integration of Facebook in the Xperia portfolio to give consumers a rich social media experience while they are on the go,” said Stephan Croix, Head of Marketing Partnerships, Sony Ericsson. “Sony Ericsson is working closely with Facebook to ensure that the integration continually evolves to ensure users have the ability to interact between their preferred social media channels and their smartphones.” Henri Moissinac, Head of Mobile Business, Facebook, said: “We think that mobile devices are the ideal environment for a rich social experience. Sony Ericsson has created a deeply immersive Facebook experience inside Xperia smartphones and we believe that people will love this new, intuitive experience.” Xperia phones offers an absolute music experience that enables users to track, manage, store or buy downloads. It further allows them to “like” it directly from the media player, which gets updated spontaneously on their wall post – without the need to open a Facebook application. Also, users have the ability to keep track of the music and videos their friends have liked, recommended or commented even on services such as YouTube. Beyond music, the integration of Facebook into the Xperia allows users to manage their media gallery with just a click – allowing them to “like” and comment instantly. Furthermore, the Xperia phonebook feature updates the contacts with their friends' latest photos/images. Among the notable new features, the phone's calendar gets synchronized to include friends' birthdays or events. In addition, Facebook notification alerts in the lockscreen ensure users never miss any update.” Existing Xperia arc and Xperia PLAY users will be able to access the new integrated features by updating their software. The new Xperia mini and Xperia mini pro is a feature-rich smartphone that is powered by a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, and runs on the latest version of Google's Android–Gingerbread 2.3.” Sony Ericsson Xperia mini pro and Xperia mini will be available across all leading stores in the Middle East from the third quarter of 2011. __
