Sony (NYSE: SNE) Ericsson (NSDQ: ERIC) officially showed off its newest North American partner today: Grammy-winning R&B artist Usher. Basically, they’ve got a one-year deal to provide Usher fans that use AT&T (NYSE: T) with some exclusive ringtones, wallpapers, pictures… you know the drill. There will also be opportunities for fans to vote on stuff and interact with Usher in other ways. They promised a ‘surprise announcement’ from Ursh, but that didn’t turn out to be too much (he’s playing a show at The Apollo that hadn’t been announced). When asked why he was doing the deal, Usher said: “Cellphones are the future… you can’t live life without ‘em.” More coverage at our sister site mocoNews.net