When Sony Ericsson announced some of their 2011 Xperia handsets would feature an HDMI output port, most assumed the Xperia Play would be one of the handsets. Instead, the Xperia Play was the only handset announced at MWC by Sony Ericsson that did not feature HDMI, meaning you couldn’t play your Xperia Play games on a bigger screen and instead the feature was to be used primarily for sharing and viewing media from the Xperia Arc, Neo and Pro. However, photos have emerged which shows the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play connected to a TV and is said to be connected via HDMI.
The photos leave two possible explainations of how this is possible and unfortunately there’s no information presently available to indicate which scenario it is. The first being that, Sony Ericsson are reworking the Xperia Play, or will release a newer, improved version. While possible this seems highly unlikely as many consumers have already purchased the Xperia Play and an updated version so soon, even if improved would cause a backlash from consumers for the company. The alternative is that a MicroUSB to HDMI cable is being used which seems more likely. While these cables aren’t readily available, there is a lot of rumoured information about the Galaxy S2 using this, so Sony Ericsson could be implementing the same technology.
Just a couple of days ago, we saw various photos showing off the camera of the Xperia Arc and comparing it with other handsets, including the Xperia X8. A video has now emerged comparing the video recording capabilities of the Xperia Arc and the N8. The Nokia N8 is highly regarded as a top quality camera phone, so how does the Xperia Arc stack up against the N8? Read the rest of this entry »
While the Xperia Play has been promoted as a gaming handset and rightly so, the Xperia Arc has received high praise for it’s camera capabilities. How does it compare to other handsets currently on the market though? Hit the read more link to find out.
While AT&T may have had the Xperia X10 and many assumed AT&T will also get the exlusive rights on the Xperia Play, it seems that the gaming handset will be making it’s way to Verizon and only Verizon. A Wirefly comparison suggests that upon the launch of the Xperia Play, the only network the handset will be available on will be Verizon. The comparison also highlights the arrival of the iPhone 4 on the Verizon network but, also lists the iPhone on AT&T, which isn’t the case for the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play.
Over on the official Sony Ericsson YouTube channel, the cheeky side of the company is showing as they have posted up 5 videos on their channel showing a variety of different ‘user types’ testing out smartphones. Of course the Xperia X10 is shown off mostly.
The videos are very funny to watch and show toddlers, models, glam rockers, surfers and guidos in the “Product Testing Institute”. The groups test out smartphones including the X10, the Blackberry Bold 9700, the HTC Evo, the iPhone 4 and the Galaxy Vibrant. Of course, as Sony Ericsson do point out, the videos are simply dramatizations and the people in the videos are actors but, they make great viewing all the same.
Adobe’s Flash Player for Android has finally been taken out of Beta and has officially available on Android. The ability to download and install the beta version of the app has made Android 2.2 even better looking. So now it’s out officially, it will have more consumers upgrading to Froyo if possible, or desperately wanting their Android OS updated to 2.2.
Unfortunately, even though it’s no longer in beta, it still requires Android 2.2 which the Xperia X10 is lacking. It should receive 2.1 soon but, there hasn’t been much information regarding 2.2 on the X10, except many petitions started from angry, frustrated X10 owners. When the X10 does get 2.2 though, the app should be even better.
While many users would love for the Xperia X10 to get Android 2.2 on their X10, with some users even signing an online petition. It appears that 2.2, for now at least, isn’t as good as it could be. That is, if you have the developers version anyway and have installed it on your handset. Which likewise, many X10 owners would love to do.
It appears that users who have upgraded to Android 2.2 using the developers version, instead of the handset specific version when released, is causing some apps to not appear in the Android Market. NYTimes, Epicurious, Calorie Counter and FlightTrack are missing from the Market Place since upgrading. However if you had the app installed before hand, it should continue working. Other users are reporting that they are unable to install apps purchased prior to the update, due to an option called “Forward Locking”. App developers may add this to prevent the apps from being copied, as well as disabling the app installing ability for developer or unreleased versions of Android.
Despite much press coverage and consumer uproar regarding Sony Ericsson releasing the Xperia X10 with 1.6, LG are also to release a handset with the outdated Android 1.6 OS. Like Sony Ericsson they also promise an update to 2.1 in the coming months.
LG are to release the Optimus Q in Korea. The handset will feature a 3.5 inch touch screen display, 1GHz Snapdragon processor and a 5 megapixel camera. There is 3GB of internal memory and a MicroSD card slot, with support for up to 32GB. The handset will also be able to handle DivX files.
Over at EmpireChronicles, Sten has set up a comparison chart between the popular iPhone and the upcoming Xperia X2. Sten has drawn up the chart based on known facts of each phone.
First he starts off with the size and weight of the phones. While the Xperia X2 is smaller in most aspects, it is slightly thicker and 20g heavier. The iPhone wins with weight but not size. The iPhone also wins when it comes to storage as it’s available in 16GB or 32GB options, where as the Xperia X2 will come with 4GB external memory, which can be upgraded, but adds extra cost to it.
One of the advantages of the iPhone being slightly bigger, is that it features a 3.5 inch touch display compared to the Xperia X2′s 3.2 inch display. The X2 makes up for this in resolution though, coming in at 800×480 instead of 480×320. The Xperia X2 also wins when it comes to the camera as it features an improved 8 megapixel camera.
When it comes to the keyboard and OS, both are a matter of opinion and taste. Sten personally prefers a real keyboard instead of an onscreen keyboard, so the X2 gets his vote there. With regards to OS, the iPhone runs iPhone OS 3.0 and Xperia X2 uses Windows Mobile 6.5, both great in their own respect, it’s no surprize he’s listed that part as a tie, but for others it’ll be down to preference. Connectivity is also a tie as both handsets feature 3G, bluetooth, WiFi and GPS.
The Xperia also features a better battery life by more than double, along with more special features, such as TV-Out, Pocket Office, etc.
If these points are enough to steer you towards the X2, it’s noted that the X2 is rumoured to cost more than the iPhone, but sometimes it’s worthy paying more for overall, better features.
A survey has recently been conducted in Korea by Smartphone Now, the only dedicated smartphone news channel in Korea which asked 202 consumers what they thought was the worst smartphone. The Xperia X1 had a bad start in Korea with several complaints, but over all it was a sucessful launch. Based on the survey, 22% of the respondants voted the handset as the worst smartphone available in Korea, where as 18% voted for the HTC touch screen smartphones. While 22% isn’t great, the Xperia X1 from Sony Ericsson fairs much better than the Nokia 6210 smartphone. A resounding 50% of voters chose the 6210 as the worst handset.
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