There has been rumors for a few years that Sony were looking to buy Ericsson out of the Sony Ericsson joint partnership which was created 10 years ago. It has now been confirmed by both Sony and Ericsson that Sony have paid Ericsson for full ownership of the venture.

Sony have paid €1.05 billion to Ericsson for their 50 percent stake in the company. As well as giving Sony full control over the franchise, Sony will have a cross licensing agreement, along with ownership of five patent families which are described as essential. The move is set to be finalised in January 2012, pending regulatory approval.

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Following on from the recent announcement by Sony Ericsson and Electronic Arts regarding the exclusive Xperia Play and Fifa 12 release deal, the mobile phone company has added to the list of expected titles that are coming to their Xperia Play handset in the future.

Some of the games that have been announced at Gamescom include the previously announced Fifa 12, Dead Space and Need For Speed Hot Pursuit by EA along with titles from Gameloft, Polarbit, Orange Pixel and Hexage such as Let’s Golf 3, Reckless Getaway, Reckless Racing 2, EVAC HD and Radient HD.

List of announced releases so far:

• Reckless Getaway, Reckless Racing 2 and Tanks by Polarbit
• Let’s Golf 3 by Gameloft
• Townsmen 6, Guns & Glory WW2 and Clouds and Sheep by HandyGame
• They Need To Be Fed by YoYo Games
• Lame Castle by Be-Rad Entertainment
• Hyperlight by Catfishblues Games
• Diversion and Crazy Snowboard by Ezone PTY LTD
• Gibs & Gore Micronytes
• Protoxide and Battle Boats 3D by Herocraft
• EVAC HD and Radient HD by Hexage
• PewPew 2 by Jean-Francois Geyelin
• Stellar Escape by Orange Agenda
• Jumpy, INC and Meganoid by Orange Pixel
• Death Worm by PlayCreek LLC
• No Gravity by Real Tech VR
• Crusade of Destiny by Divide Arts
• Desert Winds by Southend Interactive

A huge commitment has been shown by game publishers and Sony Ericsson to boost the number of available games for the Xperia Play to over 150 titles. These are games specifically tailored to the control system used by the Xperia Play.

The Financial Times has published an article reporting that Sony Ericsson have recorded a Q1 net loss, it’s first loss in more than five years.

Sony Ericsson have suffered as sales of handsets have been lower and considering the ‘financial crisis’ in the world currently which has created a lack of consumer confidence, Sony have managed to come through the period less damaged than they could have been due to their cost reducing methods.

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Mobile Philippines have reported that the Sony Xperia X1 will be available in the country from the 14th of November.

According to confirmation they have recieved, the X1 will be out in Sony Ericsson concept stores in the Philippines on the 14th before becoming widely available the next day, on the 15th of November.

From the 1st of November, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 will be available to pre-order from the official Sony Ericsson website for the region and Mobile Philippines stated that P40K is the price you should expect to pay for one of the new Sony Ericsson smartphones.

The panel interface is one of the highlighted features of the new Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 and as we previously reported, Sony released the SDK for the panels which allows developers to rush in and create a host of optional panels to fill one of the nine panel slots on the cell phone.

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UK retailer eXpansys have a “Friday Offer” which this week includes a healthy price drop on the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1.

The offer, which was sent out via email to customers, is valid between 11am and 4pm GMT only on the 17th of October so, if you’re looking to purchase an X1 at £85 off the recommended listing price then this offer could be of interest to you. Obviously, the X1 isn’t released yet so this is a pre-order and although the release date is unconfirmed, eXpansys do have the 1st of November down as release date on their site.

eXpansys are selling the X1 for £499.99 (includes VAT) as opposed to the usual selling price on their site of £584.99 but, be aware that the offer is limited to 2 phones per customer and no other offers or vouchers can be used in conjunction with this deal.

A keen eyed o2 customer has seen an ad in an o2 catalogue showing the new Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 and has sent it in to coolsmartphone who have posted this scan up:

If you cant wait to get your hands on an X1, it could be well worth your while checking out the o2 website where the phone is now listed but, it isn’t actually possible to buy it yet. It could be available at any time though so it’s one to bookmark.

Sam Oakley from xperiancers has been lucky enough to get his hands on an Xperia X1 early this week and he has posted up a video demonstrating the X1 in action.

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If you have been keeping up to date with the Johnny X web drama – the series which is a part of the Xperia X1 campaign and which ended today, then you might know this already but, for anyone that isn’t ‘in the know’, Sony Ericsson have a competition running and the prize is a shiny Xperia X1.

The competition, entitled “Johnny X – Spot the References to 9 Competition” requires you to watch all of the Johnny X episodes and answer the question at the end of each episode. The theme of the contest gives the general jist of what you need to do, the question is based on the number of times you saw reference to number 9.

Good luck if you enter!

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Jouwmobiel have posted up not only a review of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 but also an in depth comparison of the X1 and the T-Mobile G1 with plenty of photos and videos included. The site is a Dutch site so no English but, it’s worth translating and a link to a translated version of the X1 vs G1 article is below.

Seems the X1 is, unsurprisingly the better looking and better designed phone of the two models and it’s smaller too. The build quality of the X1 impressed the reviewer in comparison to that of the G1. In fact most aspects of the X1 are praised more than the features of the G1. It’s certainly a positive comparison/review for Sony Ericsson.

Check out the translated version for the full comparison here.