Jun 09
It is officially out. Just over the weekend, Carphone Warehouse has announced that they have the X10 Mini Android smart phone available for anyone interested, and considering that this is the very first mid range Android smart phone made by Sony Ericsson, plenty of fans are certainly interested.
The only drawback to the X10 Mini is that fact that the operating system used in the device is only the Android 1.6 operating system. So far, there is still no update to version 2.1 Éclair, and rumors are pointing at a potential September release date for the update (as that was the same announcement for the original XPERIA X10 which also uses Android 2.2).
With version 2.2 Froyo already out for the Nexus One, it certainly seems that the Android fans of Sony Ericsson are going to be left behind. Hopefully, an update to the new OS will be released pretty soon.
At just 83mm tall and 50mm wide, the X10 Mini is truly living up to its name. It is not as slim as some might like, but at 16mm, it is more than easy to grasp in the hand comfortably. Despite the small size, the phone still packs a pretty good touch screen display, and at 2.55 inches, this 240 x 320 pixel screen provides sufficient viewing space for browsing online or viewing short videos.
The camera is a 5 mega pixel snapper, which is not much of a down grade from the original 8 MP camera. It still packs a pretty impressive image resolution and its 30FPS video recording capabilities is more than enough for many users.
The device runs on a Qualcomm MSM7227 600 MHz CPU –sufficient for many apps, but not quite sufficient for running really resource heavy functions. Overall, the X10 Mini is a great package, and anyone who wants the same set with the addition of a slide out QWERTY keyboard need only wait a while longer for the X10 Mini Pro.
Feb 22
There were plenty of impressive smart phones on show at the Mobile World Congress held last weekend. Google’s Android operating system is still a major favorite of many smart phones for now (maybe that will change once Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 7 series comes out during the holidays). Here’s a quick look at some of the most anticipated Androids from the event:
Sony Ericsson unveiled three new Android smart phones from their XPERIA line of devices. The SE XPERIA X10 sticks to the main specs that it was announced with last year. T will definitely have a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, an AMOLED touch screen and other old 1.6 Donut operating system. To mix things up, SE will use the Timescape social networking integration and the Mediascape UI along with the OS.
Based on the XPERIA X10 are two mini phones. The SE X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro are simplified, miniaturized and watered down versions of the X10. With their 2.5 inch touch screens, it is no surprise that each only seems to be half the weight of the original. The two phones are completely identical in specs, but the Pro version comes with a physical QWERTY keyboard in slide out form.
HTC has a couple of Android devices as well. Both were leaked last year in a roadmap document; the HTC Desire and Legend live up to many of the expected specifications for the two phones. The Android Snapdragon Desire was originally named as the Bravo and just got a name change last Sunday. The Legend will be the successor to the HTC Hero and will come with a 600 MHz processor and a 3.2 inch AMOLED touch screen. The two devices are expected to be launched by March this year.
See more highlights from MWC at Pocket Lint.
Feb 16
Sony Ericsson has plenty of catching up to do in terms of sales. The Swedish Japanese joint venture has had a very rough year last 2009 with the venture losing over 800 million in revenue.
Between having to close facilities and offices to the whole Satio problem, there is no doubt that Sony Ericsson would not be able to get enough holiday sales to save the company. Even worse were the delays that pushed the XPERIA X2 to a January release which got it pulled out of the Vodafone 2010 lineup (though in fairness, even the HTC HD2 was also taken out).
Anyway, 2010 is looking a whole lot better for Sony Ericsson. It has already been announced early on that March will see the launch of the upcoming SE XPERIA X10 and the SE Vivaz. The XPERIA X10 (originally Rachel) is an Android smart phone that comes with a 4 inch touch screen and a Snapdragon 1GHz processor. The Vivaz (formerly Kurara) is a Symbian OS 5 smart phone that comes with an 8 mega pixel camera with 720p HD video recording.
During the MWC, Sony Ericsson revealed that two devices linked to the X10 and the Vivaz would be ready by Q2. The SE Kanna was a revision of the Vivaz that comes with a keyboard. The XPERIA Robyn is a mini version of the X10. It turns out that the two devices have been under development and will be released with new names.
Expected for Q2 of 2010 are the Vivaz Pro, the XPERIA X10 Mini and the X10 Mini Pro -as one might expect from the name, the X10 Mini Pro also comes with a slide out QWERTY keyboard.
Get to know more about the new Sony Ericsson XPERIX X10 Mini and the Mini Pro at Mobile Today UK.
