Sony Ericsson's fourth quarter results are a mixed bag of improvements and declines. Shipments were up 3% from the previous three months to 14.6 million units, although this is 40% down year-on-year. Quarterly sales were €1.75 billion, up 8% from Q3 but down 40% year-on-year. The company says these year-on-year decreases were mainly due to a downturn in the global handset market and the unexpected popularity of mid-price touchscreen phones.

Net losses were €167 million; an improvement from a €187m loss year-on-year but slightly worse than the previous quarter.

James Rosewell writes:

Mark’s been encouraging me to write an opinion piece on the Nexus One for the last few days and I’m finally putting fingers to keyboard to share my experiences. It’s taken so long because this phone has so many features. On a positive note I could go into details about the gorgeous screen, the Android Marketplace that will out-sell Apple’s over the next 18 months, the built-in satellite navigation service and the speedy processor that makes everything run smoothly in real time. Or on a less positive note, the touch screen keyboard that sucks (think carefully about this if you’re a heavy texter or emailer, it’s even worse than the original iPhone), the lack of ActiveSync for Calendars and Tasks, no support for WMA music files or the clunky zoom functions on the web browser.

However I’m going to focus on voice dictation. Nexus One is the first phone I’ve used with this feature.

Nokia says it's making its Ovi Maps satellite navigation application free on compatible smartphones. The new version of Ovi Maps will include turn-by-turn voice guidance for 74 countries with additional traffic information in a number of locations. There'll also be detailed maps for over 180 countries plus free access to Lonely Planet and Michelin travel guides.

Maps can be pre-loaded, enabling navigation to be carried out 'offline' without incurring data charges.