Reporting from Beijing, Sony Ericsson Developer World live in China

The official launch of Sony Ericsson Developer World China on May 15, 2007 in Beijing was well-attended with over 180 representatives from China's key mobile content creation companies, network operators and technical press. In addition to presentations by Sony Ericsson's Chinese team, delegates also heard from UIQ Technology, Sun Microsystems China and Symbian China.

Here's an overview of the event to give you an impression of the day.

Why focus on China?
China has become one of the world's most dynamic mobile markets, and mobile content and applications are playing an increasingly important role. There is huge interest in content and Sony Ericsson is committed to actively supporting the growing Chinese developer community, hence the creation of its first regional developer support and business operation and the official launch of Sony Ericsson Developer World's Chinese-language website section.

Impressions from the day
The launch event was a fairly formal affair (as developer-related events go) with welcome speeches and introductions by various members of the Sony Ericsson China management team. In the foyer area outside the auditorium, Chinese variants of the Sony Ericsson W830, W880 and W950 phones were available for inspection and delegates received a CD containing 18 Chinese-language Developer World Docs & Tools. These Docs & Tools are also available from the new Chinese section of the Developer World web portal www.sonyericsson.com/developer/china

Michael Ning, Vice President, Director of Public Relations for Sony Ericsson China, made a welcome speech and stated that "Sony Ericsson has had tremendous success with its Walkman and Cyber-shot phones, both globally and in China. Music and imaging applications and end-to-end services have been a fundamental part of the product propositions, and we have recognized an increased demand for more local content. Sony Ericsson Developer World China therefore has an important role to fill."

Shanqi Wang, Marketing VP for Sony Ericsson China, then outlined how a strong content offering can act as a key differentiator in the market and be a real ARPU driver for operator customers. Shangi Wang observed that

"By combining attractive product features with useful, fun and innovative content, applications and services, Sony Ericsson can offer consumers richer multimedia experience and further help key operator customers, like China Mobile, drive their revenue. Increased focus on applications and content and combining them with other unique phone features enables Sony Ericsson to move away from a simple product offering towards creating a whole mobile lifestyle experience which can be personal and energizing."

Ken Zhang, VP of Operator Customer Service Unit & Multimedia Solutions at Sony Ericsson China, continued this theme with his presentation titled "I love partnership". Sony Ericsson closely cooperates with many operators all over the world, including China Mobile, and Ken Zhang stated, "We believe that the opportunity is bright for all parts of the value chain in China: for mobile operators, mobile phone manufacturers, platform solution providers and content and application developers. Sony Ericsson Developer World opens a window to excellent 3rd party content and applications, and provides a platform for Sony Ericsson to work more closely with operators and developers with the aim to bring even better mobile services and experiences to Chinese mobile users."

Ulf Wretling, General Manager, Head of Content Planning & Management at Sony Ericsson, then introduced Sony Ericsson Developer World to the audience, giving them an update of the global story so far. He explained that the launch of Sony Ericsson Developer World in China supports the development of content in the Chinese language and helps Chinese developers take their content outside China to global markets.

"Establishing Sony Ericsson Developer World in China is a strategic move to leverage our global success in mobile entertainment and smartphone applications development and contribute to Sony Ericsson's growth in the China market. Applications and content have grown in importance over recent years and with mobile technology moving so quickly, consumers will have access to more and more content choice in the future. Working with content providers on both a global and local basis is a good way for Sony Ericsson to remain cutting edge and receive valuable feedback on technical issues," Mr Wretling said.

Then things got explosive.

A blast of streamers and glitter erupted as the buttons were pushed to officially launch Sony Ericsson Developer World in China.

This ceremony was followed by a few more speakers and a question and answer session. Zhengqiang (James) Shao, Senior Manager from Sun Microsystems China, spoke on the future of Java ME development and highlighted Sony Ericsson's presence and support for the new Java™ umbrella standard, Mobile Services Architecture (MSA, JSR-248) at this year's JavaOne conference in San Francisco.

Jing (James) Lu, Marketing Director for Symbian China, outlined Symbian's activities in China. Sebastien Peirone, Developer Communications Manager for UIQ Technology, wrapped up the speeches with an introduction to UIQ Technology and gave an overview of the UIQ platform, including the business case for mobile software developers. You can download Sebastien Peirone's presentation here>>

Developer World resources in Chinese
Sony Ericsson Developer World is targeting a broad range of developers in China and provides dedicated services and support in the local language. The mission is to equip strategic content partners in China and the Chinese developer community with the tools, information and support required for them to be able to effectively deliver top-tier content for Sony Ericsson GSM and UMTS mobile phones.

The new Chinese web section on the global Sony Ericsson Developer World portal offers technical documentation, tools, go-to-market and application certification information in Chinese. There are already 18 different Developers' Guidelines, special interest papers and tutorials available for download in Chinese for Symbian OS/UIQ and Java ME developers. Check out it out here www.sonyericsson.com/developer/china

Speaking at the launch, James Liu, Manager of Sony Ericsson Developer World China, said:

"With the successful global experience and support from the company, I am confident that the Developer World program will be a success also in China. There is huge interest in content on this market and I am pleased that Sony Ericsson is committed to actively supporting the growing Chinese developer community. I am looking forward to stimulating local applications development with the hope of helping Chinese developers not only to achieve business success on Chinese phones, but also reach out to a global market through Sony Ericsson content channels and its global consumer base."

Register for monthly newsletter in ChineseBy registering as a Community member, you can subscribe to the Chinese monthly developer newsletter. As a registered member, you also have the opportunity to be evaluated as a Premier partner and get more dedicated partner support including prototypes for application development and testing, dedicated tech email support, third-party certification support, and face-to-face meetings with partner and content acquisition managers to receive early market information etc. Register here>>