xperia x1

Pocketnow unboxes the Xperia X1, makes us jealous

October 29, 2008 | By Surur

Pocketnow has just received the Xperia X1 from abroad, and has recorded their unboxing for our viewing pleasure.

Their first impressions are certainly positive. Keep a close eye on their blog for the detailed review which is sure to follow.

2

First comprehensive review of the Xperia X1 in English

October 26, 2008 | By Surur

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 has been released in Sweden for about 2 weeks now, but is only now trickling into the rest of the market. It is now officially available and in stock on Vodafone and a number of online retailers.

Paul from Modaco has gotten his hands on one of these devices and has given it a comprehensive review. The review includes a large number of pictures, a review of the hardware, software and Panels, and an example of the video recorded by the device. His conclusions are:

Conclusion
So there you have it, a catalogue of my thoughts on the X1. It’s been very eagerly anticipated and now that it’s here, it largely delivers (with a few caveats). There’s a whole lot to love about the X1, but it does make me feel a little sad that a couple of (OK one?) niggle really overshadows my overall positive experience with the device.

I’ve been asked the same question many times, and that is ‘Which next-gen device’? Sitting in front of me now I have the Omnia, the Diamond, the Touch Pro, the X1 and i’ve also spent some time with the Treo Pro. For me, it’s a choice between the Omnia and the X1… yes – i’d take the X1 over the Touch Pro. Wo without realising it, I guess i’ve declared that the X1 is at least the new king of the keyboarded device tree, even if I am having trouble choosing between it and the Omnia for the overall crown!

I think the X1 will do well both here and over the pond and I am particularly interested to see how the additional brand kudos of Sony Ericsson helps drive sales in real retail channels (as I believe the Samsung name has helped shift a ton of Omnias). Having another big name on board the WinMo train is certainly a good thing.

Hats off then to Sony Ericsson (and HTC?), you’ve done a good job guys but PLEASE… don’t make such a hash of the controls for the X2…

Paul’s Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 Pros and Cons

Pros: Cons:

- Great specs
- Great screen
- Gorgeous slider
- Solid build quality
- Innovative panels
- Unusual notification LEDs
- Brand kudos - Hateful dpad
- Slightly squidgy keys

Read the full review at Modaco.com

0

First comprehensive review of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1

October 19, 2008 | By Surur

We have seen many previews, and also the odd unboxing, but AreaMobile.de has been the first to do a full, detailed review of Sony Ericsson’s new Windows Mobile smartphone.

The 5 page review is too much to summarize, but AreaMobile concludes:

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 impressed with many superlatives. The wide touch screen has a resolution that currently only Toshiba Portege and HTCs Touch HD has achieved. It reacts as sensitively as Apple’s iPhone. But the X1 is still better than all those competitors. It offers the full extendable keyboard, a good camera with many features and is also in an elegant metal case. Power battery with 1500 mAh ensures that the micro-computer does not run out prematurely. Sony Ericsson’s panel operation is not yet mature, but a firmware update is certainly there to help. There will also be growing pains such as the slow response in the panel menus and the lack of auto-rotation to resolve landscape. However the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 is, without doubt, the new reference, to which all others must be measured.

High praise indeed. To see how AreaMobile came to their conclusion read their review here (Google translation)

2

Xperia – Modify the Google panel to work with Opera Mobile

October 19, 2008 | By Surur

One of the reasons why I felt the Xperia X1 was unpolished was that many of the panels still defaulted to Pocket IE, when, in an apparent last minute decision, the excellent Opera Mobile 9.5 browser has been included.

Apparently the shipping hardware does not fix this issue, but fortunately fixing this yourself is not too much of a struggle. To change the Google panel to default to Opera Mobile one simply need to edit the xml fine found at \Program\Panels\GooglePanel replace all instances of iexplorer.exe with operaL.exe.

Of course many of us are not down with editing xml files, so xda-developers member P@itor has simplified the process by making the edited xml file available, which simply needs to be copied over the one in the GooglePanel directory.

Download the xml file form this xda-developer post here.

3

Xperia Q&A

October 13, 2008 | By Surur

TracyandMatt.com have a Sony Ericsson Xperia in the house, and have done a Q&A of the most burning questions regarding the phone. We have excerpted a few, but visit TracyandMatt for the full selection, and also some tasty pictures of the device.

The Q&A

What is the actual RAM in the device?

The X1 has 384 MB RAM but you’ll note that the device information screen says 256MB. This is because the X1 also has an additional 128MB RAM that’s only accessible to the CPU/3D chip.

Does it have a motion sensor?

No

How is the sound output quality of the media player? Is it good enough to use high-end headphones with, and how does it compare with more music-oriented phones like the iPhone or Nokia 5800?

I’ve got some fairly expensive headphones that I’ve been using with the X1. The audio quality is really quite good, I’m certainly happy with it. I can’t really choose between the X1 and my Sony Walkman MP3 player in this respect.

Which is better, the X1 or the Touch Pro?

This is another difficult question to answer. I quite like both devices. I think which one would suit you best depends on how you use, or intend to use the phone. If you are a touchscreen lover that wants to use the touchscreen for almost everything (apart from emails with the QWERTY of course) without having to resort to the stylus then the TouchFlo3D interface coupled with the flush screen of the Touch Pro would be your better bet. If however you don’t want to use the touchscreen as much and prefer using physical buttons then the X1 with its additional softkeys might suit you better.

Xperia unboxed

October 10, 2008 | By Surur

For the rest of the world who have been forced to wait, Dailymobile.se has taken photos of the unboxing ritual for the new Sony Ericsson Xperia X1.

If you are still drooling over the device, hop on over and have a look at their gallery of pictures.

Thanks Daniel for the tip.

1

First Xperias being sold (in sweden at least)

October 10, 2008 | By Surur

We are seeing the first user report of an Xperia being bought in the wild. Easycure1974 has reported that he has just walked out of Phonehouse (Swedish version of Carphonewarehouse) with an Xperia, and he recorded these impressions:

30 minutes ago I was at Phonehouse and got my Experia. It is the Swedish retail version, it came with the usual stuff but no case but with 4 GB micro sd card in the phone.

The memory seems to be 256 and not 384 as reported. The build qualtiy is outstanding, makes my Touch Pro and Touch Diamond feels very cheap and plastic.

And it for sure feels quicker than the TP when doing things, the panels are a bit slow but everything else is very fast. Installded the full Mobile shell 2.1 on it and it flies

The lesson obviously is that if you want an Xperia right now, get on the plane to Sweden

Follow the XDA-Developer thread here.

2

Xperia now available at CarPhone Warehouse

October 10, 2008 | By Surur

Continuing the confusing saga of the Xperia role-out, it appears the Sony Ericsson Xperia has popped up on the website of the Carphone Warehouse, a leading UK distributor which famously was involved in the distribution of the iPhone 3G in UK.

The phone is available from free on a £45 per month 18 month contract, only on the O2 network. It also includes an unlimited data plan capped at £1 per day for limited usage, which for a internet enabled device like the Xperia can work our rather expensively.

To make up for this, apparently the phone will be shipping with a free copy of the movie Hancock on a 4GB microSD card.

Edit: As one of our regular commenters alerted us, when you actually try and buy the phone is says it is out of stock. I would say a world-wide delay is more or less confirmed.

Read more at the Carphonewarehouse website here.

Via Coolsmartphone.com

1

Sony Ericsson Xperia delayed (again)?

October 9, 2008 | By Surur

We have already written about the Xperia being delayed from sometime this week to next week. Now we have received multiple reports of Clove customers being sent e-mails telling them not to expect the device any time soon, but that it had been delayed till the end of October.

from [email protected]
to XXXXXXXXXX
date Thu, Oct 9, 2008 at 4:41 AM
subject Clove Re:CLOVE081XXXXXX

Dear Mr XX,

Thank you once again for your order of the Sony XPERIA X1.

Committed to bringing you the latest technology as early as possible we work closely with manufacturers to do just this. However sometimes marketing teams and the distribution partners in the UK, get a little ahead of those actually producing the all important hardware!

We have been informed today, by Sony Ericsson that the first of the Sony XPERIA X1 units have been delayed until the end of October.

We are well aware how frustrating this is, and empathise with the situation. We are as keen as you to see the release of these units.

In light of this delay, your order will be held until the units arrive; we have been promised a supply of the first shipment. Nothing will be charged until this time. Upon their arrival, we shall process and ship your order as quickly as possible.

Thank you for your custom and understanding on this matter. We look forward to shipping your order.

The Clove Technology Sales Team.

The situation is still confusing however, and shipments have actually arrived at some stores and no major carriers have admitted to the delay yet. This suggests the problem may be isolated to Clove, but as Clove were to be one of the companies meant to get it very first, it is not looking good.

We shall keep our ear to the ground and let you know of any developments.

Thanks Kenneth Li for the tip

9

US Xperia support both T-Mobile and AT&T?

October 8, 2008 | By Surur

When the Sony Ericsson Xperia was announced, the specs originally mentioned rather unusual frequency coverage, for both the more common AT&T and the much less frequently used T-Mobile 3G. These specs disappeared the the Xperia website for a while, but now appears to have returned with a vengeance.

In the published specs for the US version the specifications now list:

UMTS tri-band
UMTS 850
UMTS 900
UMTS 1700
UMTS 1900
UMTS 2100

This has led to rife speculation in the usual forums that the Xperia will also launch on the T-Mobile network. While we have no confirmation on this, if the above is true and not an error by SE, it would at the very least mean US users have a real choice as to which GSM network to use, vs being always tied to AT&T.

See more on the Xperia website here.

Edit: As we have seen, even during this post, the specs come and go. I emailed SE for confirmation and got this response:

Me:I have a question re the Xperia X1. Does it, as per your website specifications, feature UMTS on the 1700 band or is this incorrect information?

SE: The specs on the site are correct. Thanks.

Thats good enough for me.

5

Sony Ericsson Xperia to be able to unlock your car and control your lights

October 7, 2008 | By Surur

(Screens of functions controllable from the mobile phone)

… if you drive the latest SAAB car that is. Using Bluetooth technology, Sony Ericsson and Saab the Saab 9-X Air will be showcased at the Paris Motor Show, where some of the car features will be remotely controlled by the Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X1, providing a premium mobile user experience through its unique customisable touchscreen panels.

Some of the features controlled would be:

Control ambient lightning
Control front and rear seat settings
Lock the car
Open the rear compartment
Switch on and off the lights (blinkers, main lights…)

More mundanely, several Saab 9-3, 9-5 and 9-X models will feature either Sony Ericsson car accessories (including the recently announced Bluetooth™ Car Speakerphone HCB-108) or fully integrated onboard systems which will provide visitors with a premium in-car user experience for Bluetooth handsfree telephony.

See the youtube video below for an example of the Saab vehicle control system and onboard computer in action. Some of the screens would be replicated in the panels of the Xperia x1.

While the SE Xperia may be less polished than the HTC Touch Pro, the HTC does not have the same level of partnerships, both in industry and the media, and this may very well give it the edge when it comes to being the best Windows Mobile smartphone around.

Via Informationweek.

21

Sony Ericsson Xperia Manual available for download

October 4, 2008 | By Surur

If you a rearing to find out more about the Xperia X1, Sony has produced 32 pages of bed time reading material just for you.

Interesting news is that besides the usual Bubble Breaker and Solitaire, the phone also comes with Astraware Sudoku and Bejeweled 2.

Besides Google Maps, the phone also comes bundled with Wayfinder Navigator, GPS software with voice guidance, installable from CD or internet download.

Also in the manual, there is no mention of USB Mass Storage mode, which does simplify and speed up file transfer tremendously on other devices.

Download the Xperia X1 manual from here.

0

Battle of the UI’s – TouchFlo comes to SE Xperia

October 2, 2008 | By Surur

There is a rumbling debate going on in the Windows Mobile world as to which Windows Mobile overlay is the best. Sony Ericsson’s Panels concept is certainly novel, but HTC’s TouchFlo3D shows the benefit of being a 3rd generation product.

It seems Xperia owners will be the first to answer the question, as they will be able to experience the software side by side. While the Xperia has not been officially announced yet quite a few pre-release devices are floating around, and the happy hackers at XDA-Developers have been making fast work of them. XDA member Nelshh has done some of the work of porting the interface to the WVGA screen. The process is however still pretty complicated and unfortunately wont bring the 3d accelerated goodness of TouchFlo3D, but only the more mundane 2D version.

If however you are rearing to answer the question of who has developed the best UI (and of course you have an Xperia handy), pop over to this XDA-Developers thread for the relevant files and instructions.

3

Pros:	Cons:
- Great specs - Great screen - Gorgeous slider - Solid build quality - Innovative panels - Unusual notification LEDs - Brand kudos	- Hateful dpad - Slightly squidgy keys