The Case-Mate Smooth protects the Xperia X1 all round and comes with a screen protector for full protective coverage on the handset. It is soft touch and the X1 can be either charged whilst still in the case or can be docked with the removal of the bottom part on the case. This is one case that looks stylish while offering a good amount of protection for the original Xperia handset.

UK buyers can pick the Case-Mate Smooth up for as little as £5.99 with free shipping from MyMemory. The case is also available for $24.99 at the Case-Mate store.

For those in the UK who haven’t picked the Xperia X10 Mini up just yet, Argos have a fantastic offer on the handset. If you purchase the handset on O2 for £179.99 you can get three accessories for free. The offer is only available in store, so you’ll need to reserve the order online to collect from store. Or you could try your chances by going directly into the store.

The offer gives you a Mobile Drive Pack, which includes a bluetooth headset, a dash holder and an in car charger. You’ll also get a universal screen protector, which is likely to need to be cut to size. Another important accessory is a memory card. With the offer you’ll get a 4GB micro SD card, providing twice as much storage as the standard 2GB included with the phone. You have plenty of time to make use of these deal, as it doesn’t expire until January 2011.

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Did you ever wondered why the Xperia X1 keeps on getting low signal/reception? Try removing your unit’s battery cover for a few seconds and watch as your Xperia X1 gets an extra bar or two.  Now, while this could be solve by finding a plastic battery cover (if you’re lucky to find one) another issue with the Xperia X1 which hampers its signal reception has something to do with its antenna.

The Xperia X1’s antenna is covered by thick rubberized plastic coating which weakens its capability to get full reception. How to solve that?  Take a deep breath and whitesites blog’s method of  increasing the Xperia X1’s antenna.

Basically all you need to do is to pull out the antenna module, open it up and scrappe off the rubber coating using a cutter blade. Once done, you can now put the antenna module back and enjoy your Xperia X1 with great signal/reception strength.

Check out the Whitesite’s blog for photos of the actual tinkering with the Xperia X1 antenna.

The lack of non Korean smartphones is set to change from April when the WiPi restriction ends. While this is good news, it will mean year old smartphones, like the HTC Touch Diamond, should become available. I’m sure many wish this happened sooner though, especially with missing out on such great devices like the X1, for quite some time.

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Said telescope is capable of 6x zooming function,  avoids image contortion and also produces high quality photos.

This telescope lens sells for $17 and comes with a handy strap and crystal case with adapter.

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If you’ve been experiencing problems with your X1’s bluetooth recently, it seems you’re not alone. Brandon from PocketNow has reported that the bluetooth on the X1, will randomly turn it self off and isn’t staying connected to other bluetooth devices. Many are waiting for a fix from Sony Ericsson, but in the mean time, an XDA developers forum member, scar45 has provided his own fix for this problem.

To temporarily solve the problem, he’s written a MortScript which checks the status of the bluetooth every x minutes. If it finds the bluetooth off, it will turn the bluetooth back on. You can download his fix and instructions here.

The Xperia X1 has been added to the list of compatible devices able to use dual SIM card holders by Simore. While you can’t have both numbers on at the same time, switching between the SIM cards is a simple process via the Start menu.

The video below shows a demonstration of the dual SIM card holder working on the X1. The video shows how to insert the holder as well as how to switch between the SIM cards.

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One complaint among X1 users, seems to be that using the X1 with one hand proves to be quite difficult. One of the reasons being that there isn’t a finger friendly keyboard, the QWERTY keyboard needs to be used for replying to messages etc. There also isn’t a Start menu button.

Fortunately, there’s two cool apps for the Xperia X1 that will make using one hand much easier. The first app, while it won’t create a Start menu button, it will make the Start menu larger, making it more finger friendly. You can download the CAB file here and run it from your X1.

The second app, is the a port of the HTC keyboard which is usually found on the HTC devices, such as the Touch HD. This will give you a SureType keyboard as well as a full keyboard along with a T9 style keypad. This app can be downloaded here and installed the same as the previous app.
Via: PocketNow

Over at The Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog,  Michell has received her his Xperia X1 and has been “snapping like crazy” with the X1. She’s He’s provided 36 photos and 2 videos from the Xperia.

Verdict? They’re pretty impressive. Michell admits to being surprised at how good the camera is in the X1. Photos are of high quality and there were no signs of color or white balance problems. The only issue found, that is a seldom sight, is some photos have a purple tint.

The two videos have decreased a bit in quality for the upload, but both are provided as a download if you’d like to see the real quality of the videos.

Download video sample 1 (3.07 MB)

Download video sample 2 (852 KB)

View the rest in Michell’s post.

Unfortunately, there’s no mention on how long it would take for Vodafone to ship the Xperia units. The Xperia has eluded various major mobile carrier before it finally landed on Vodafone’s property.