Sony Ericsson's BST-33 Li-Polymer batteries swelling into a lawsuit?

We've seen plenty of swollen and exploding batteries 'round here, but this is the first Li-Polymer battery (a technology generally assumed to be more stable and less prone to swelling and fire than Li-Ion) that we can recall ballooning into such a possible danger. Reader Christian sent us these pics of what's normally a 4-mm thick battery (pictured right) inside his W880i handset now swollen to a full 7-mm. The BST-33 sits at the heart of a long list of SE phones, a list we've included after the break along with one more picture. Do let us know if you're seeing similar issues.
List of compatible sony ericsson phones: C702, G502, K530i, K550im, K800i, K810i, M600i, P1i, P990i, W300i, W302, W595, W610i, W660i, W705, W850i, W880i, W950i, W960i, Z320i, Z530i, Z610i, Z750i

• Sony Ericsson's C903 Frances gives us a rear view, xenon flash?
• Sony ericsson 's F305 gets mauled by Hello Kitty

Sony Ericsson's F305 gets mauled by Hello Kitty

It's actually tough to tell whether or not this Hello Kitty "inspired" handset is real or fake, but at least Mobile-Review is claiming that the HK-adorned F305 will go on sale in Russia this March. From what we can gather, this is a rather standard F305 outside of the flamboyant exterior, boasting a two megapixel camera, M2 card slot, Motion Gaming and a ringer that only knows how to meow. We've no clue how costly this little beauty will be, but you can go ahead and bank on the fact that you'll be buying one for the Cosmo Girl in your life.

• sony Ericsson's T700 gets dressed in two exciting new colors
• Sony ericsson 's XPERIA X1 gets firmware update

Sony Ericsson's XPERIA X1 gets firmware update

XDA-Developers forum member PavelX1 has posted up info on a pile of xperia x1 updates he glimpsed on EMMA (Sony Ericsson's official service software). ROM version has migrated from 1.02.936.3 to 1.03.936.6 and is labeled as R2A. Of course, there's no word on what the official changes are but first reports say the X1 now boots quicker and attaches to network faster. Apparently the SEUS (Sony ericsson Update Service) isn't quite telling the truth when users are attempting to grab at the update, but proceeding through and updating anyway seems to be doing the trick. Usual cautionary advice from us is to read before attacking this as an ounce of precaution is worth a pound of cure.
[Thanks, Deniz]

• Sony Ericsson posts XPERIA X1 user guide for your perusal
• T-Mobile G1 and Sony ericsson X1 seen side-by-side, molten lava hangs head in shame

Sony Ericsson's C903 Frances gives us a rear view, xenon flash?

We got eyes-on with the C903's other side a couple days ago, so it was only fitting that we throw this up to complete the picture. We have to admit, the blurriness threw us briefly because if you squint hard enough, that 5.0 on the backside can sorta come off like an 8. Of course, that's not the case, but the joy here -- if you take joy in this kind of thing, which we know you do -- is what may be a xenon flash lurking in the rear of the C903 Frances' housing. That's it for new-ness, but maybe more news will trickle before the handset's unveiling.

• ericsson to cut 5,000 jobs
• sony 's MHS-CM1 and MHS-PM1 Webbie HD cams teach your kids to upload

Ericsson to cut 5,000 jobs

Wireless equipment maker ericsson said Wednesday it will cut 5,000 jobs after a 31 percent drop in fourth-quarter profits year over year. The Swedish company cited a dramatic drop in sales in its handset unit, sony Ericsson, and restructuring charges for the cuts. Overall, net profit fell to $465 million (3.9 billion kronor) from $672 million (5.6 billion kronor) in the same quarter a year ago. The job cuts represent about 6 percent of the company's 79,000 employees. "It remains...difficult to more precisely predict to what extent consumer telecom spending will be affected and how operators will act," said Carl-Henric Svanberg, CEO of Ericsson. "To date, our infrastructure business is hardly impacted at all, but it would be unreasonable to think that this would be the case also throughout 2009." Still, Ericsson's core equipment business, along with a weaker kronor, helped quarterly revenue increase 23 percent to $8 billion (67 billion kronor) from the same quarter a year ago. The revenue figures beat analyst expectations, sending shares of the equipment maker up more than 10 percent in early European trading. For the year, profits fell 48 percent to $1.3 billion (11.3 billion kronor), while sales grew 11 percent to $25 billion (209 billion kronor).

• Keepin' it real fake, part CLXVI: the Sany Ericssan X1 with Wyndowz Mobil
• Sony ericsson 's W705 Walkman and MBS-900 bluetooth speaker slide onto the scene

Sony Ericsson's T700 gets dressed in two exciting new colors

The T700 is one of those handsets we wish sony ericsson had bothered to launch in North America, and now they're just rubbing it in. Well, maybe not with that red and gold abomination, but the all black setup really suits the ultra-thin candybar well -- granted, it strays from the T610 heritage the phone was designed to carry forward, but let's not get hung up on the past, alright? No word on when or where you'll find these, but if you guessed the US, go ahead and dock yourself five points. Actually, on second thought, go read a couple years' worth of Sony ericsson history and come back to us when you're good and ready.

• Sony Ericsson's XPERIA X1a prodded by the FCC
• Sony Ericsson's Walkman Xmini for Japan is awesome, but not for the usual reasons

Sony Ericsson gets real with PlayNow Kiosk mobile entertainment service

Sony ericsson is trying just about anything to garner revenue during these less-than-stable economic times, but we just can't imagine this one gaining any sort of traction worth gloating about. Nearly a year to the day after PlayNow Arena broke cover, SE is officially rolling out PlayNow Kiosk in the Asia Pacific region. Put as simply as possible, these kiosks will be situated in over 80 sony ericsson stores in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia (during the first wave of rollouts), and users wielding SE handsets can plug in to browse / download TV shows, games, ringtones and music. Details around exact content choices and pricing are still being kept under wraps, but so long as our favorite EMF tracks is on there, you'll see nothing but smiles from us.

• Sony Ericsson's new ad shows off the C905's camera and absolutely nothing else
• Sony Ericsson's X1A surfaces in Best Buy's inventory