Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 Review at Mobile Tech Review

A great friend and super reviewer, Lisa Gade over at Mobile Tech Review, has reviewed the Xperia X1. This is a phone I lusted over early on. Just like the iPAQ 6915 a couple years ago, it’s been so long that my interest has dwindled. Still, It looks to be one of the hottest up coming devices out there.

Lisa’s Conclusion seems mixed, but overall good… What do you think of the Xperia?

We’re very impressed with the device, after initially doubting it could bring enough to the table to compete with the more affordable Sprint HTC Touch Pro and HTC Fuze on AT&T. The hardware is impeccable, the panels are both fascinating and useful, and of course there’s no carrier bloatware! Though other phones offer many of the same features, somehow the Xperia X1 has that special sauce where the whole is greater than just the sum of its features. It’s fun, it’s cool and it offers very good entertainment possibilities while also being a very good business device thanks to Windows Mobile, the hardware keyboard and push email. The Xperia is perfect for power users and those who like something new and different (courtesy of panels), and it’s priced at the high end where mostly power users tread. If you’re just looking for an affordable Windows Mobile touch screen phone with a single user interface, the Xperia isn’t for you.

Check out Lisa’s Complete review here. Thanks to PPCT for the reminder to post this.

Xperia X1 Reviewed and Online For Preorder!

Gizmodo, a blog that has been hard on WinMo phones in the past, has put up a their review of the Sony Ericcson Xperia X1. What I got from the review is that it’s not a bad phone, even with WinMo as the OS, but the price tag and features shoot the Xperia X1 in it’s own foot a bit.

Overall, the custom software upgrades Sony Ericsson added to WinMo 6.1 are good, but feel tacked on; ths ranges from random 6.1 elements popping up over the custom UI when you get a call or text, text messages and missed calls that go unreported or the frozen screens that occur when you try to transition to another panel/app. It feels like Sony Ericsson chose WinMo by default, not because it’s the mobile OS they really wanted.

To be blunt, the Xperia X1 isn’t quite up to snuff with the top smartphones in the market from an overall standpoint. Whether you’re talking about its $800 price tag, stylus-based resistive touchscreen or 3.2 MP camera, this is a phone that would have fared better amongst early adopters a year or two ago. This is not to say the Xperia X1 is a bad phone—on the contrary, it’s a very respectable piece of hardware. It’s just not good enough to justify the cost when better, cheaper phones are available.

Read the rest of Gizmodo’s review here and if you read the review and you want to grab one for yourself, you are in luck. Engadget is reporting that Best Buy has the phone available for preorder for a mere $799 now.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 - Review and Launch Info

It seems like almost a year since everyone, myself included, started lusting over the Xperia X1. Delays, rumors, leaked unit, etc… We’ve seen it all. Now we have something official, in the form of press release from Engadget (Press Release after the jump) So yes, you can go grab one of these for $799 on November 29th. Yes, I said $799. Wow!

Is it worth that much? Engadget Mobile has reviewed the Xperia X1 recently, lets see what they say…

So, here we are. The moment of truth. The section you probably blazed down to without even ingesting any of the minutiae that resides above. Is the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 worth your time and money ($799.99, to be precise)? As with any handset, that obviously depends on your needs, but those looking specifically for a Windows Mobile-powered device should give this long (long!) awaited device a serious look. For starters, the HTC design is truly world class. You’ll be hard pressed to find a sexier phone in all aspects than this one here, and let’s face it, design matters this day and age.

To found out the verdict, head over to Engadget Mobile…

[Read more]

SPB Mobile Shell Panel in Sony Ericsson Xperia X1

I’m a long time user of the SPB tools. I like the way they build their user interface and the SPB Mobile Shell product is the first thing I install on each of my devices.

Recently I posted in my blog about Toshiba embedding SPB Mobile shell as the main shell UI.

Today I found that the SPB Mobile Shell will be one of the panels included in Sony Ericsson’s XPeria X1.

As part of the strategic partnership between Sony Ericsson and Spb Software, Spb has put forth a top-notch, Spb Mobile Shell-based solution that compliments the X1 in both style and speed. Taking advantage of the smartphone’s unique panel technology, impressive hardware and dynamic wide VGA touchscreen, this custom version of Spb Mobile Shell is optimized for the new Xperia, and comes with all X1 devices as a free download.

I usually post about freewares I can recommend on, because as someone who also develop them I believe it is a good thing for the Windows Mobile community. But I have to admit that when it comes to SPB tools - I am willing to pay for the pleasure.

Read the full press release in here and here.

Not for the Squeamish - Xperia X1 X-Rated Video

If you are really, really interested in seeing the Xperia X1 stripped down to parade rest, I found some exhaustive videos over at Mobile Crunch last night.

Read on to watch the other videos too…

[Read more]

Another Xperia X1 Unboxing

The Xperia X1 is just around the corner and the hype has been dampened a bit with all HTC’s devices, the iPhone 3G, and the T-Mobile G1, but it’s still getting some love.

Source: Engadget

Control your SAAB with Windows Mobile

From PocketNow by way of  WMPoweruser.com

Due to a partnership between SAAB and Sony Ericsson, you’ll be able to control many aspects of the Saab 9-X Air using software on the Sony Ericsson Xperia X-1 via Bluetooth.
Some of the features controlled would be:
- Ambient lightning
- Front and rear seat settings
- Lock the car
- Open the rear compartment
- Switch on and off the lights (blinkers, main lights…)

This would come in handy in a pinch if I lost my keys (which is like, every single day of my entire life). That being said, if I could afford the new Saab 9-X BioHybird, that means I could also afford to have an army of personal assistants re-cut keys for me at my every whim and beckon call, each time they are missing, so this service really would only be another way to show-off.  But seriously folks… I am probably way to pragmatic to require said functionality, but as a concept, one must admit this is pretty cool and could be a starting point for all kinds of mobile/auto integration. While this may seem overkill to the average person, I bet this would go over big in Japan (if it hasn’t been in practice there for  5 years already).

What I want to know is will there be a garage-door opener module?  :)

Win Free Phones! Treo and Xperia x1

The Unwired brings us some new about a contest to win a Sony Ericcson Xperia X1 from Sony Ericcson.

This Competition is organized and hosted by Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, Nya Vattentornet, 221 88 Lund, Sweden and is only available in the following countries: Bulgaria, China, Taiwan, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Australia, United Kingdom, United States, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Brazil, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Mexico, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam, Serbia, Ukraine, Lithuania.

In addition, Palm is offering 5 randomly selected survey takers a chance at a Treo.

Everybody who completes the ten-minute survey will be eligible to win one of five Treos. (And if you need even more data in your life, you can also choose to get a copy of the survey results.) Click here to participate in the survey.

Head over and take Palm’s Survey.

Sony Xperia X1 Launch Date Official, For Most…

The US gets shafted on a cool phone again. Yes, it says that availability dates for NORTH AMERICA will be announced by local markets in the coming months. I guess this it is for sure that the US will not see the Xperia X1 until after September 30th.

The following Countries will have the Sony Xperia X1 on September 30th, 2008 though…

• APAC - Indonesia, Singapore, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam
• Western Europe - Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Netherlands, Austria, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Portugal
• Central Europe - Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic
• Middle East - UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait
• Africa - South Africa
• Latin America - Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia

Availability dates for North America, China, Australia and Russia along with other countries not mentioned above will be announced by local markets in the coming months.

In addition, I caught a bit over at Tracy and Matt’s Blog this morning about a Sony Ericsson built Xperia Blog…

Hi, welcome to the Xperia blogger’s centre. We’ve created it so that Sony Ericsson can start to understand and engage in all of the conversations that are already happening about the Xperia.

It’s fair to say that up until now, apart from with the developer community, we’ve not done a great job of listening to and talking with the wider blogging community. This is our first step in changing all that. We’ve been inspired by some of the great initiatives by other companies, but this is very much our own idea and we hope we’ve learnt from what others have done.

Source: Sony Ericsson

Zeemote, Sony and the W760i

Zeemote announced a partnership to bring near-console game play to the W760i. In a world first, Sony Ericsson will launch the Zeemote JS1 Controller featuring Bluetooth technology with an exclusive promotion throughout hundreds of retail outlets across the Netherlands.

From August 8th 2008 to October 31st 2008, the Zeemote JS1 Controller will be offered free to purchasers of Sony Ericsson’s new 3G mobile handset, the W760i Walkman, via a mail-in voucher promotion. The W760i will come with two embedded Zeemote Ready games with a further fourteen additional games available through the Fun & Downloads section on the http://www.sonyericsson.com/nl/.

You may want to check out the video here, it is a pretty cool way for gaming on your device!

See the Press Release here

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 First Impressions … WOW!

Looks like the Boy Genius Report got their hands on the XPERIA by Sony Ericsson and their first impressions are WOW!  Great specs from your local flavor of UMTS/HSDPA, to an optical joystick, to the 800×480 VGA screen, and they loved the “cool funky notification lights”!

They say they can’t wait to play with a final production unit so I guess you would have to assume that they were impressed. Are there flaws? Yup but you will just have to wait for their review to find out about them but in the meantime, check out their picture gallery by clicking on the picture above.

Xperia X1 White Papers are out

Engadget brings us word that Sony Ericsson has white papers online now for the Xperia X1. If you are as excited as I am about this device, this is a must read. I am looking for the next keeper device. I get to test out several phones and I think this is the one I will throw my own money down to own.

Most notably, Sony Ericsson has now confirmed that the device will ship with 256MB of SDRAM, in addition to 512MB of NAND Flash, and it’s gotten specific about the device’s battery life, which it says will clock in at 10 hours talk time using GSM or 6.5 hours using UMTS. That’ll take a further dip to 3.1 hours if you’re making video calls all the time, with 3.5 hours required to recharge the 1500 mAh lithium polymer battery once its drained.

Read the white papers here….

Xperia X1 Release Date Leaked by Handango

I am not going to use this post to tell you how much I hate Handango, but it’s quite funny that such a company is the one responsible for leaking the launch timeframe for the Sony Ericcson Xperia X1.

Mid September 2008. Nice, thanks MoDaCo. September is too far away. I want mine now.

Xperia X1 Photos and Video

I have been meaning to do this for a while. I am very excited about this device and have been absorbing all the info I can about it. So far, there have been some really good photos and videos to hit the net with true hands on. My friends, Arne Hess and Dieter Bohn have put out some great info, photos and videos.

Arne has posted some wonderful photos today that reminded me to make this post over at The Unwired. Knowing how small Arne is gives me some perspective about the size of this phone. It looks very comfortable. Arne also posted a video last week of the Xperia X1 if you want to check it out. (Link)

Dieter from WMexperts, has also had some hands on time with the Xperia X1 too…

We finally got real hands on the Xperia X1 (we’re done putting “Xperia” in caps, btw). Let us tell you - the hardware is simply top notch. It’s a decent weight, not too heavy, and feels remarkably thin for all the power they’ve got under the hood. Sony Ericsson also made a good decision by making this phone not feel too “wide”, it’s less wide than a BlackJack II, in fact. Overall this might be the best hardware I’ve ever seen on a Windows Mobile device.

Check out what he has to say about the Xperia x1.

As the Xperia X1 gets closer to launch, there will be more and more info. I have chosen to cover it here rather than the blog I set up, gotxperia. I just don’t have the time anymore to add new sites. :)

XPERIA X1 shows AT&T graphic. Coming to AT&T?

While a photo with an AT&T logo could raise curiosity, does it really mean AT&T might get this X1? I sure hope so and Engadget is pondering the same…

Yeah, okay, it’s that big AT&T logo front and center, which makes an appearance in several of PHONE Magazine’s shots of the interface. We’d like to believe that means that AT&T is a lock to pick up one of the hottest Windows Mobile devices ever manufactured, and indeed, it probably does — its 3G radio is certainly ripe for the job — but it’s entirely possible to think that Sony Ericsson is still in the process of selling carriers on the device, and is simply trying to get ‘em to crack a smile by loading their logo.

Source: Phonemag via Engadget Mobile