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.

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The video below is split in half, one depicting the video recording taken with the Xperia Arc and the other half showing the N8 camera. Both are of good quality but, the Xperia Arc video appears slightly “washed out”. Although this could be due to the settings used. The settings used on both handsets has not been disclosed, or whether the video was taken on a retail Xperia Arc or a prototype handset, so quality may improve. The sound on the Xperia Arc is much clearer than the N8.

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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.

Some photos have emerged on Flickr with several different scenarios and settings, each taken with an Xperia Arc along with some or all of the following handsets: Nokia N8, Samsung Galaxy S and iPhone 4. The photos show how the Xperia Arc performs in low light conditions against the iPhone 4, N8 and Galaxy S and how it performs with the flash on in the same environment. The sample picture with the flash for the Galaxy S is not available and there’s a few other shots where one or more handsets haven’t been used to compare against the Arc.

You can see the low light photos and flash photos below. The remaining scenes can be viewed here.

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.

The five Smartphone Experiment video’s are posted after the jump.

GLAM ROCKERS:

MODELS:

TODDLERS:

GUIDOS:

SURFERS:

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.

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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.

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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.

Via: Engadget, LG Press Release

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.

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