The online service is available globally to all members of Sony Ericsson Developer World and provides support for pre-commercial mobile phones released by the company.

The Sony Ericsson Virtual Lab provides Java developers a means to faster, more cost effectively develop, test, and monitor applications on real Sony Ericsson phones connected to live mobile networks 24/7 through an Internet browser. As a result, developers no longer need to invest in device labs or even be physically present on an operator’s network. Based on the results of 2,100 respondents in a global developer benchmark survey, Recom Research (a UK-based market research firm) in March 2007 reported that irrespective of the developer program they’re a member of, developers in general request better access to devices (cheaper loans) for testing purposes.

“With the launch of this remote testing service together with Mobile Complete, Sony Ericsson is responding to consistent developer feedback in benchmarking surveys from the past few years about the importance of having early-access to phones and prototypes for testing purposes. The Virtual Lab gives us a fair-for-all, affordable and resource - effective means of being able to offer pre-commercial phones for testing to all Sony Ericsson Developer World members, not just the Premier Partners, and helps the community speed up the development process of new applications for our phones,” said Ulf Wretling, General Manager and Head of Content Planning and Management at Sony Ericsson.

Early Access to the Latest Handsets

The Virtual Lab offers registered Sony Ericsson Developer World Community members early access to pre-commercial, Java ME based Sony Ericsson phones for real-time testing of applications including games. This unique online service allows developers to remotely access 2007 phones that are not yet commercially available , maximizing the valuable time window to bring quality products to market, including applications at market launch of a new phone.

The service has initially gone live with six of the most popular mass-market feature phone models announced in 2007 and with more phones to become available as soon as possible after Sony Ericsson’s official press announcements. Five of the phone models available for remote testing as of today – the Sony Ericsson W880 and W580 Walkman® phones, the K550 and K810 Cyber-shot™ phones and the T650 – are representative of Sony Ericsson’s Java Platform 7 (JP -7). The W910 Walkman is based on the new Java Platform 8 (JP -8) supporting Mobile Services Architecture (MSA), the next-generation Java umbrella standard (JSR-248), as well as Java Binding for the OpenGL® ES API (JSR-239).

Dedicated Service Reducing Testing Costs and Time to Market

Sony Ericsson Developer World’s Virtual Lab service is powered by Mobile Complete’s DeviceAnywhere™ platform and hosted as a dedicated service exclusively available to Sony Ericsson Developer World members on Mobile Complete’s website. In the past, the majority of the developer community relied on testing their applications through phone emulators in the Software Development Kit (SDK), since they have not had access to pre - commercial phones. Only Premier Partners have benefited from a phone loaner program, with the associated administration and costs for both parties for shipping test phones back and forth between Sony Ericsson and the partner. A major benefit of becoming a Sony Ericsson Developer World Community member is that all registered members can now get early access to pre -commercial and commercially available Sony Ericsson phones for testing through the reliable Virtual Lab service, reducing testing costs and time to market for wireless applications. All phones run the latest available, generic firmware.

“Java developers are increasingly looking for testing providers that can deliver a complete, integrated solution that addresses all of the stages of the product development lifecycle including testing, reporting and monitoring. Mobile Complete has great experience of offering this remotely and looks forward to delivering a cost-effective solution to Sony Ericsson’s developer community. Sony Ericsson is the first device manufacturer to offer developers this kind of service for pre-commercial phones,” said Faraz Syed, CEO of Mobile Complete.

The Sony Ericsson Virtual Lab service is available to any developer registered as a Community member of Sony Ericsson Developer World. Once connected and registered, developers can simply download a Java client that manages the remote testing session - including timeslot reservation and payment and application upload - showing a virtual view of the phone and communicating results. You can do anything on a Virtual Lab phone that you could do if the phone was physically in your hand (except for testing the accelerometer behavior, for example the sensor control in a game, since the test phones are physically mounted in a rack in the Lab and will not move if you rock the phone). The cost for using the service depends on the extent of the testing needs of the developer, who can sign up for as little as $100 /month.

Development support and technical resources for Java ME application developers can be found at Sony Ericsson Developer World, www.SonyEricsson.com/developer. Information about Sony Ericsson’s Virtual Lab and Community membership registration can be found at www.SonyEricsson.com/developer/virtuallab. Technical support regarding timeslot reservation, payment, application upload and data exchange, will be handled by Mobile Complete under the terms of agreement with Sony Ericsson for the Virtual Lab service.

Read Mobile Complete’s terms of use at http://www.deviceanywhere.com/terms.mcsp

About Mobile Complete

Mobile Complete offers solutions for managing mobile handset proliferation. Its unique Direct-to-Device™ technology provides access to and interaction with real mobile devices connected to live global networks. The Internet brings these remote devices and networks directly to users’ desktops. Through a simple desktop interface, users can press device buttons, view LCD displays and listen to ringers and speakers. For more information visit www.mobilecomplete.com