It was once called Idou… now it goes by another Japanese robot-sounding name – Satio.

We’re talking about Sony Ericsson’s latest all-in-one, “throw-in-the-kitchen-sink” entertainment phone that is being, well, launched, today.

Actually, we’ve heard about it back at the 3GSM World Congress in February, but Sony Ericsson has now decided to change the name of its new flagship phone.

And it’s trying to tease its fans with some shots of the phone which will come with a whopping 12-meg camera, a 3.5-inch 16:9 screen and Symbian Foundation OS (what’s left on the sink?)

The large-screen gizmo comes in red (or Boudeaux, as SE calls it), as well as black and silver, and features a handy sliding lid to protect the precious lens. No details on price yet from SE, which says the phone will hit the shelves in Singapore in early Q4 2009.

This one is worth waiting for, assuming Google/HTC or Microsoft/HTC does not come up with something stunning before SE does. Even then, those two will find it hard to match the 12-meg camera on the back of the, er, Satio. …

Microsoft, as you may have heard, is launching a new search engine called Bing.com. What a horrendously silly name. Now I know why.

Dr Qi Lu, President of Microsoft’s Online Services Group just explained 5 mins ago in a worldwide press conference call that the word Bing comes from two Chinese characters – bi and ing (sorry my hanyu pinyin is crap) and that together the two words mean “to be very certain in your answer.” They also want to make bing into a verb!

Microsoft’s strategy to fight Google? It says it’s by building loyalty with users by winning them over one at a time.

Differences vs Google and Yahoo – three key areas:

>>Delivering of best results: type in UPS, and you will get back an UPS link and tracking application, type BT and you get back a customer service number.

>>Bringing new level of organisation: type Bill Gates, you see his pictures, video, speeches,
going deep in four verticals – shopping, travel and local (one more i missed, maybe food?)

Thus the technology approach is more focused on the intent of the user, that is, according to Microsoft, to bring search to “new frontiers”, and to give more satisfying results to users.