I wasn’t lucky enough to get invited to
Mobius this year but my good friend Judie of
Gear Diary is at Seattle and has just put up her
Mobius Day 1 report. Yup, they have been treated with a demo of the XPERIA X1. Check out what she has to say:
He gave us demos of the interface and most of the issues we had seen with lagging screens (mainly from Mobile World Congress reports) seem to have been resolved. They said it at the time, that this was not a finished device and that it was a work in progress, so it is great to see that progress is indeed being made.We tried to pin him down on a date for the release, but second half of the year was as specific as he would get. We did find out that the name XPERIA does not specifically mean Windows Mobile devices, it could be other mobile OSes; but all Windows Mobile Sony Ericsson products will be XPERIAs.
Geek.com just released an article on ideas on how to iPhone-ify a Windows Mobile device. I do think that the three apps mentioned, Vito Technology’s Communication Suite ($39.95), PointUI (free), and SPB Mobile Shell ($29.95), will be great add-ons to the XPERIA X1 (if they support the X1 screen resolution).
Below are some app screenshots from the article:
Vito Technology’s Communication Suite
PointUI
SPB Mobile Shell
What other apps do you all think will enhance the XPERIA experience?
Read the full article.
Sony Ericsson has confirmed today that the XPERIA X1 will indeed run Windows Mobile 6.1. They have also re-confirmed that the X1 will be available “in selected markets” second half of 2008. There is still no mention of 1700 Mhz support.
It is expected that Microsoft will finally launch Windows Mobile 6.1 later today at CTIA.
Read the full press release.
[Thanks Jeremy.]
Sony Ericssion just released the official
XPERIA X1 White Paper. While we know most of its features already, there are a lot of items in the document that are have been described in more detail. Below are some selected X1 details:
1. Pre-loaded XPERIA panels:
- Sony Ericsson Panel - news weather, finance, worl clock, weather, and app shortcuts
- Media Experience Panel - multimedia consumption and navigation
- Slideshow Panel - slideshow of recent videos and pics
- microsoft Today Panel - standard Windows Mobile Today screen
- 3D Fish Panel - Aquarium with 3D fishes
- Custom Panels - user customized
2. Media Sharing - allows media sharing (DLNA compatible) via ActiveSync or WiFi
Read More…
For those wondering how much of the XPERIA X1 is HTC, Microsoft, and Sony Ericsson, an interview with Todd Warren, Microsoft Windows Mobile VP, at
Unwired View, provides some clarification:
The actual experience was done by Sony Ericsson, so a lot of work that we’ve done is to walk this very fine line and create a common platform for application developers and a common course set of experience so a user who picks up a Windows Mobile phone by a different manufacturer can immediately figure out how to use it. Sort of just like any person who gets into a car can find the steering wheel, brakes and the gas pedal; and how to drive that car. But also offering the opportunity for our partners that have expertise in particular areas, to bring those applications to the foreground.
So, the panels, the user interface on Sony XPERIA was done by Sony Ericsson. We provide them some developer support, but it’s all done on open document APIs, any programmer would have access to atop of Windows Mobile.
I have been waiting to hear this. During the Sony Clié days, Sony created Clié Organizer, a ‘Sony version’ of PIM apps with numerous new features, more professional looking, but still maintaining backwards compatibility with the standard Palm OS PIM apps (here’s my original review of Clié Organizer for those who want to read it). Sony has a huge software and R&D team, and I can’t wait for what other new Sony / Sony Ericsson apps they will be including in the XPERIA.
Watch Unwired View’s full intereview of Todd Warren after the jump.
Read More…
