Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 preview: First look

Introduction

With the X10 Sony Ericsson have gone from zero to hundred in a split second. While they may know their way around high-end devices, pulling off an undertaking such as the XPERIA X10 must have been a special challenge. And they have yet to get to the finish.

   
Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 official photos

The thing is that Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 is the first Android smartphone by Sony Ericsson. It's also a Snapdragon first for the company, and they've even come up with a first of its kind proprietary Android UI. Making the X10 a reality seems like a long way full of potential pitfalls for a company that hasn't still recovered from its financial woes.

But the XPERIA X10 or Rachael, or X3, or whatever it has been called in the long months of development, seems like a device that's worth all the hard work.

Even more so, X10 will not be a solitary device but more of a high-flying start for a full-blown platform of Android devices with their own distinct interface and user experience. That kinda sounds familiar. A year and a half ago, we were again there listening to Sony Ericsson presenting the XPERIA X1 in much the similar words. Well, let's hope they'll have better luck with starting off and developing this new part of their portfolio this time.

We had the pleasure of attending a very limited press event held in London, at which Sony Ericsson presented their latest and greatest before they showcase it for the general public. Much like attending a press-only movie screener we had the opportunity to gather some first-hand impressions of what is probably going to be the Sony Ericsson flagship next year. But before making our first go at the XPERIA X10, let's recap its features.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 at a glance:

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 900/1900/2100 MHz, HSDPA, HSUPA
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar phone
• Dimensions: 119 x 63 x 13 mm, 135 g
• Display: 4" 65K-color TFT capacitive touchscreen, 854 x 480 pixels
• Platform: Qualcomm QSD8250 Snapdragon 1 GHz processor
• OS: Android 1.6 (Donut)
• Memory: 1GB storage, 256MB RAM, microSD card slot, 8GB card included in the retail box
• Camera: 8 megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash and face detection
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS, 3.5mm audio jack
• Misc: Sony Ericsson custom social networking and media UI, built-in accelerometer

There have been numerous leaks about the XPERIA X10 so chances are you already know most of those specs well enough. As to the few new ones, let us assure you that some of those came as a surprise to us as well.

    
Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 presentation for the press

Take the Android OS version, for instance. Despite all the hopes for getting the latest and greatest of the Android crop, Sony Ericsson are serving a cold meal to all the gadget lovers out there. They refused to comment any further on the matter but perhaps all is not lost. Our best guess is they'll have some hard time adjusting their proprietary UI for Android 2.0 (Eclair) so they prefer to stick to 1.6 for the time being in an effort to get the XPERIA X10 out in the market as soon as possible.

And the current plans for the X10 availability say Q1 2010. Yup, missing the holiday season and shipping the handset during the tight-pocketed January and February is certainly the last thing they'd like to do, but proper product development obviously demands it.

Speaking of which, the Sony Ericsson X10 units presented at the event were devilishly fast in all Android tasks and applications, but the proprietary UI by Sony Ericsson clearly needed a lot more work.

But let's not waste any more time and jump into the physical details of the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10

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Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 preview: Getting closer

Introduction

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 is one of the hottest names in the industry and it's not even released yet. Santa won't be able to get us one for Christmas but next year holds a serious promise for us geeks. The Sony Ericsson's first Snapdragon device and first Android smartphone is one seriously capable handset that promises great user experience.

We first met the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 a month ago at its official announcement event in London. The device that might end up deciding the company's fate left us feeling quite positive about its market prospects so we are really pleased to finally welcome it to our office.

   
Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 official photos

The software of the XPERIA X10 is far from settled but since Sony Ericsson dared to show it to the audience, you can bet that the hardware won't see any dramatic changes. The realistic expectations are for the bugs to be solved and maybe a couple of minor features added but what we are going to show is what you should expect to see when the device hits the shelves in Q1 of next year.

For starters let's take a look at the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 key characteristics.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 at a glance:

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 900/1900/2100 MHz, HSDPA, HSUPA
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar phone
• Dimensions: 119 x 63 x 13 mm, 135 g
• Display: 4" 65K-color TFT capacitive touchscreen, 854 x 480 pixels
• Platform: Qualcomm QSD8250 Snapdragon 1 GHz processor
• OS: Android 1.6 (Donut)
• Memory: 1GB storage, 256MB RAM, microSD card slot, 8GB card included in the retail box
• Camera: 8 megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash and face detection; touch focus, WVGA (800 x 480 pixels) video recording at 30fps
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS, 3.5mm audio jack
• Misc: Sony Ericsson Timescape and Mediascape UI, built-in accelerometer

That Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 certainly looks pretty powerful among its Android peers. It's only major sin is that it will be too late for the Christmas shopping spree and will have to achieve success in a much more challenging market conditions.

   
The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 views

An unspectacular handset can do wonders in the last moths of the year, given the right marketing, but things get much tougher once New Year's Eve passes. People have already spent most of their surplus cash and need more persuasion to shell out the serious amount that this baby calls for.

    
The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 next to the Apple iPhone 3GS and HTC HD2

But than again, the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 looks well prepared to handle any challenge. The device is supposed to launch in the middle February - most probably around the MWC 2010.

We'll start with a brief hardware inspection of the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 following the break.

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Sony Ericsson Satio review: Shooter by vocation

Introduction

Sony Ericsson have long ago shown that they are not afraid of any challenge, producing handsets that have claimed a top spot on the market. There are still plenty of fans from those good old days that would love to see another market-leading device thrown their way.

A look at what's between the XPERIA X1 and the Satio is enough to tell you what Sony Ericsson have been up to for the past year. A top-dog Cybershot (C905) and an all-round Walkman (W995) were both compelling enough but none would be trusted to top the portfolio of a company that used to call the shots at the forefront of mobile technology.

So, Sony Ericsson might have been busy cutting costs, fueling the hype behind their new wave gadgets (Satio, Aino and Rachael) or experimenting with Symbian and Android. But there's little doubt about their full-time job. The Satio is a lot more than its mouthwatering features, full touchscreen debuting Symbian S60 or its 12 megapixel camera. It may be too much to say that all the company's hopes lie with the Satio but the burden on its shoulders is disproportionate compared to any other flagship device we can think of.

    
Sony Ericsson Satio official photos

This review, by the way, is coming after a massive spoiler. But the good thing is we know the Satio is all geared and ready to face some serious challenges. An industry leading cameraphone, or top-of-the-line smartphone, the Satio has a clear view of its goal. But you can be certain that its path forward will not be covered in rose petals. Sony Ericsson are in dire need of fresh devices (and cash) and the Satio should not be anything but a bestseller. When you're trying to turn your fortunes around, you have very little room for error.

Key features

• 3.5" 16M-color resistive touchscreen of 640 x 360 pixel resolution
• 12 megapixel state-of-the-art autofocus camera
• LED and xenon flash, active lens cover
• VGA@30fps video recording
• Symbian OS 9.4 with S60 5th edition UI, spiced up with a home-brewed homescreen and media menu
• ARM Cortex-A8 600 MHz CPU, PowerVR SGX dedicated graphics accelerator and 256 MB of RAM
• Quad-band GSM support
• 3G with HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA 3.6 Mbps support
• Wi-Fi and GPS with A-GPS
• microSD card slot (up to 32GB)
• Built-in accelerometer
• TV out
• Stereo FM Radio with RDS
• USB and stereo Bluetooth v2.0
• Web browser has full Flash support
• Preinstalled Wisepilot navigation software
• Office document viewer

Main disadvantages

• Xenon flash is not adequately powerful
• The S60 5th edition UI isn't to the best in class standards
• No 3.5mm audio jack or a standard USB port
• No DivX or XviD support out-of-the-box
• No smart or voice dialing
• Playing flash videos in the browser easily depletes the available RAM
• No office document editing (without a paid upgrade)
• No stereo speakers
• No digital compass (magnetometer)

There's very little to complain about looking at the list above, but the difference between a moderately successful handset and a blockbuster depends on all the performance you can squeeze out of those features. And with the Symbian S60 touch reincarnation hardly the most heralded OS on the market, the job gets even more complicated.

   
Sony Ericsson Satio at ours

The competition is at an all-time high in the premium segment, Sony Ericsson won't enter the battle unarmed. The sleek Satio knows it has a trick or two up its sleeves and is eager to show the world its worth. And here we are revealing those secrets for you, starting with the design and handling on the next page.

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Sony Ericsson C901 review: Cyber-shot reloaded

Introduction

At first, you might think that the Sony Ericsson C901 is just another 5-megapixel cameraphone. Well, that’s not terribly exciting in the current market bustling with 8-megapixel snappers, and probing the boundaries at 12. But you’d be wrong. Be it for the simple reason that the C901 is one of the few handsets out there sporting a Xenon flash. And the one on the C901 is special enough to help it stand above the crowd of cameraphones.

Another thing to note is the eco-friendly GreenHeart version which is interestingly enough, is the only flair or C901 that can currently be found on the Sony Ericsson website.

The C901 GreenHeart is trendy for being partially made of recycled materials (though, technically both devices are identical). You can find out more about it here.

    
Sony Ericsson C901 official photos

Even after reading those lines many would say there is nothing so special about the C901, particularly as it’s not even selling worldwide! Well, we‘ve been inundated with requests that we review it and there’s nothing we like doing more than pleasing our loyal readers.

Key features

• Xenon and LED flash equipped 5-megapixel cameraphone, videocalling
• Lots of dedicated camera controls
• Active camera cover
• Quad-band GSM support
• 3G with HSDPA 3.6 Mbps
• 2.2" 256K-color display of QVGA resolution
• Accelerometer for screen auto-rotation
• 110 MB of internal memory, M2 expansion (up to 8GB)
• Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Motion-based games
• Multi-tasking and task manager
• Smart dialing

Main disadvantages

• Video recording maxes out at QVGA@30fps
• No document viewer
• Memory card slot under the battery cover
• Disappointing retail package contents

   
Sony Ericsson C901 live shots

The Sony Ericsson C901 is a great value in terms of image quality. Looking at the pictures we took with it makes us nostalgic for the time when Sony Ericsson camerphones set the pace and the others just followed.

Aside from the remarkable imaging though, the C901 is just an ordinary feature phone. And that isn’t a bad thing, since it does its job just fine. Very little to complain about, but at the same time not a huge list of features to get excited about either.

Anyhow, it’s about time we opened the box and started the review, don’t you think? Head for the next page to see what we found in the box and what we thought of the Sony Ericsson C901 design and construction.

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Sony Ericsson XPERIA Pureness live photos make it online

The attention-grabbing Sony Ericsson XPERIA Pureness posed for an extensive photo shoot, showing off its one of a kind screen. Transparent screens that have so far been the stuff of concept renderings are now coming to a store near you.

We've seen the concepts (take the Nokia Morph for example), but at best we see them in some new techno-thriller. With the LG GD900 Crystal, LG also used transparency as a design element but it simply used existing technology in a creative way. The Sony Ericsson XPERIA Pureness on the other hand borrows technology from the future.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA Pureness is a pure show-off

The XPERIA Pureness promises to bring some fresh blood and luxury into the XPERIA brand. With its transparent screen and sleek, minimalistic design, it's set to tackle luxury phones, while its XPERIA X2and X3 cousins take aim at high-end have-it-all phones.

More photos of the XPERIA Pureness

This is the first attempt and the screen of the XPERIA Pureness has some limitations - the screen is small and is only monochrome. It's not all bad however, from the photos it seems that it has pretty good contrast and viewing angles. We don't know what the screen resolution is and how it fares under direct sunlight is also a mystery.

Yet more photos

In the next iteration, the problem of size will probably be solved and figuring out how to add color support shouldn't be too hard, should it? From there, adding touch input capabilities is a piece of cake, since the technology has been around for quite a while now. Oops, sorry! We got carried away daydreaming, but we're keeping our fingers crossed.

The Sony Ericsson XPERIA Pureness is expected to launch in November for a rumored posh price of 699 euro (1000 dollars).

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Sony Ericsson XPERIA X2 preview: First look

The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X2 has been in the center of attention ever since its first unofficial shots leaked online. Much like most other gadgeteers, we've had our hands itching to get one and luckily our wishes just came true.

The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X2 is one impressive device full of industry leading features - it's the first Windows Mobile smartphone with an 8 megapixel camera and WVGA video recording and it's actually the first ever full QWERTY phone to have that sort of imaging prowess as well.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X2

The XPERIA X2 most other features, though not as innovative, are a nice match as well. We guess they are worth going through one more time.

Sony Ericsson EXPERIA X2 at a glance:

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 900/1900/2100 MHz, EDGE class 10, HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 2 Mbps
• Form factor: Slide-and-tilt QWERTY touch phone
• Dimensions: 110 x 54 x 16 mm, weight 155 grams
• Display: 3.2" TFT resistive touchscreen, 800 x 480 pixels
• Platform: Qualcomm MSM 7200 528 MHz processor
• OS: Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional
• Memory: 110MB storage, 256 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM, microSD card slot
• Camera: 8-megapixels auto-focus camera, LED flash, touch focus, geotagging, face detection, image stabilizer, Smart Contrast, WVGA@30fps video recording
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS, 3.5mm audio jack, TV-out
• Misc: Optical trackpad, accelerometer for motion-based gaming, office document viewer and editor, XviD video support
• Battery: 1500 mAh Li-Po battery

We just got the XPERIA X2 and we wanted to share with you our first impressions of the device. So consider this article as a quick and dirty preview, with a more detailed one coming up in the following week. We hope to get as much as possible from our encounter with the X2 and you can bet we surely won't keep anything to ourselves.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X2 in our office

The XPERIA X2 should be available in two colors - Elegant Black and Modern Silver. There's hardly anything missing from the broad range of connectivity options. Perhaps the only two things it seems to lack are the FM radio and the automatic screen rotation. Yes, there's an accelerometer on board alright, but the screen doesn't auto rotate to match the orientation of the handset.

While the XPERIA X2 uses the vanilla Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional, the thing that sets it apart from competing products is the X-panels interface. X panels have gone a long way since the XPERIA X1 and have turned into a full featured system for using various animated and interactive homescreens. But we'll get to that further down.

Anyways, enough talking, let's get to some walking. Jump on as explore what the XPERIA X2 is made of with even a brief rundown of the interface later on.

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