Dubai, UAE, January 10, 2011: Sony Ericsson Middle East has partnered with a group of budding media professionals from SAE Institute, the world's largest creative media educator, in a competition to capture the essence of life in the Middle East in HD video on Sony Ericsson's Vivaz Pro.

Students from SAE Institute's film and digital journalism courses have recently submitted their completed video entries, in which the students aim to portray life in the Middle East through the high definition lens of the sleek Vivaz Pro (720p HD recording).

After three weeks of filming on the Vivaz pro handsets, which boast a 5.1 megapixel camera and 4x digital zoom, the two minute long videos have been submitted to the Sony Ericsson judging panel. The entries have also been uploaded on Sony Ericsson's Middle East Facebook page (www.facebook.com/SonyEricssonME) where the general public can vote for their favourite.  Based on popular choice via the facebook page, the judging panel will reward the lucky winners.

The grand prize winner of the competition will be given an opportunity to make a paid corporate video for Sony Ericsson Middle East and a Vivaz Pro handset as prize. The second runner up will also be given a Vivaz Pro handset.

Ruediger Odenbach, General Manager, Sony Ericsson, Middle East, said: "Sony Ericsson believe in making the things of tomorrow possible today, and this unique competition gives the region's future creative media professionals the opportunity to hone their skills using the latest high definitional mobile technology. Vivaz pro provides consumers with an unrivalled platform to produce and broadcast their experiences in HD video, and the videos by these talented SAE students truly reflect the amazingly diverse region in which we live."

Predrag Toncev, Campus Manager of SAE Institute Dubai, said, "SAE Institute believes in education through hands-on, practical learning, and what better way for our students to practice their skills, experiment and broadcast their creativity to the world than with this unique competition. Digital or back-pack journalism is the way of the future, and this competition that introduces our students to the most cutting edge, mobile technology and teaches students to harness the powers of these new media devices to tell a story."

Each video portrays the Sony Ericsson brand values - energetic, playful, optimistic and beautiful, and entrants where asked to represent how these themes are uniquely entwined with "life in the Middle East". The winner of the competition will be announced later this month.

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About Sony Ericsson:
Sony Ericsson is a 50/50 joint venture by Sony and Ericsson established in October 2001, with global corporate functions located in London and operations in all major markets. Our vision is to become the industry leader in communication entertainment where new styles of communication through the internet and social media become entertainment. Sony Ericsson offers exciting consumer experiences through phones, accessories, content and applications.

For more information visit: www.sonyericsson.com

About SAE Institute:
The SAE Institute is the largest worldwide private college for Audio Production, Film Production, Interactive Animation and Applied Multimedia, providing practical training courses, as well as academic degree programmes across 57 schools in 26 countries.

SAE Institute was established as The School of Audio Engineering (SAE) in October 1976 by engineer/producer Tom Misner, who in doing so developed the world's first combined practical and theoretical curriculum in audio engineering.

SAE's unique education system remains the only one of its kind in the world and has since expanded to offer programs in other curriculums such as film making, multimedia and other creative media.

The first courses began humbly in a 4-track recording studio however, over the past three decades, SAE has developed into a world-wide network of campuses, boasting some of the most advanced equipment and facilities available to students studying in the creative media industries.

SAE Institute Dubai officially opened in 2006 in Knowledge Village offering courses in Audio Engineering, Film Making, Digital Animation and Multimedia. The Dubai campus now boasts over 200 students.

For more information, please contact:
Eisha Anand/ Georgia Thompson
Polaris Public Relations
P. O. Box 32838,
Dubai,
UAE
Tel: +9714-3415555;
Fax: +9714-3415588
Email: e.anand@polaris-me.com, g.thompson@polaris-me.com

© Press Release 2011