As you already know Sony Ericsson had a webcast session today, showing off the soon to be released Xperia X1. We were watching the event and share below some of the details of the webcast. It was a little disappointing as a lot of the time was spent talking about the device marketing. More details after the break
Coolsmartphone have spotted that the clever bods over at xda-developers have managed to port the TouchFlo 3D software used on the Diamond and Touch Pro to use on other Windows Mobile devices. So far it’s been tested on a few devices, the Kaiser (HTC TyTN II), Nike (Touch Dual) and others. There’s a main CAB file plus a YouTube CAB file to install, plus you’ll need Opera and Google Maps installed to get everything working. Leigh has posted a video showing the software in action which you can see along with download links after the break.
Today I will be heading over to Covent Garden to the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 launch event. As we now know, the X1 should be available from the 30th September but this event should give us a chance to get our hands on the device ahead of launch, and fingers crossed well have one to review shortly too!
We’ll be live blogging with our friend Paul O’Brien from MoDaCo and the live blog will be here in this post later on. Be sure to come back by about 12:45 when we hope to start coverage.
Webcast
To start the countdown to the launch of Xperia™ X1, Sony Ericsson will host a live global webcast on September 15 at 13:00 GMT + 1, offering viewers the first in-depth demonstration of the handset. The web cast will also premiere the first episode of an alternative reality thriller Johnny X. To register to view the web cast and Q&A session with Xperia™ X1 Senior Product Manager Magnus J Andersson, please visit: www.sonyericsson.com/premiere.“We are extremely pleased with the innovation and new user experience we have created for consumers on the Xperia™ X1,” said Rikko Sakaguchi CVP and Head of Creation and Development at Sony Ericsson. “The in-depth demonstration on the web cast will showcase how this handset is truly unique. The nine panel eco system puts the user in total control of the primary experiences available on the phone and allows consumers to personalise the panel interface to suit their needs and lifestyle. The Xperia™ X1 has the highest quality screen on the market, four-way navigation keys and optical joy stick to give a stressless browsing experience and, with its super fast processor and network speed the Xperia™ X1 really bridges the gap between personal, entertainment and work mobile needs.”
Johnny X Alternative Reality Thriller
Johnny X is about a young man with amnesia desperately piecing together his identity. The webisodic thriller comprises of nine episodes, created to demonstrate the rich, immersive and experiential elements of the Xperia™ X1.
The storyline follows Johnny X on his mission to rediscover his identity. As he finds out more about his lost life in a race against time, he updates his Xperia™ X1 with new content to piece together his personality and identity, reflecting how the phone can be personalized to suit users’ individual lifestyle and needs. Will Johnny X find out who he really is before it’s too late?
“Producing the Johnny X thriller has given us an engaging platform to demonstrate all the capabilities and features a user can experience with the Xperia™ X1 phone,” said Lennard Hoornik, Head of Marketing at Sony Ericsson. “The panel interface is a perfect way to reflect your personality and can be tailored and changed to suit your exact needs at any given time. No two Xperia™ X1 will ever have the same combination of panels on the phone; we are all individuals and deserve to have a phone that reflects that. ”
Over a three week period, one new episode of Johnny X will be posted online at www.sonyericsson.com/Johnnyx every Monday, Wednesday and Friday starting on Monday, September 22. Check out the trailer for the series at www.whoisjohnny-x.com
Global Launch
The official global launch of the Xperia™ X1 will take place at Tent London as part of London Design Week between September 18 – 21st. Journalists are invited to attend the official Tent London opening party on Friday evening 19 September 2008 to see the Xperia™ X1 and meet with Sony Ericsson spokespeople.
Check out this post for a couple of photos and some hands-on video of the Xperia X1!
Posted by: Matt
OK so you might be asking the question right now, "what is the HTC Opal and why has it never even been mentioned on this site?" Well it’s another one of those "is it real" moments. I seen this device a few days ago and to be 100% honest never knew if it would actually amount to anything but low and behold here it is.
HTC Touch Viva Side View
HTC Touch Viva is the name of the latest-leaked smartphone produced by HTC. The device was initially said to be called HTC Opal, but it seems that the Taiwanese company will officially dub it as Touch Viva. You may have already guessed that this so-called Viva is a full-touch smartphone – and so it is, indeed.
Apparently, Touch Viva will be the successor of the first HTC device from the Touch series, the one simply called HTC Touch and released in Europe about one year ago.
Leaked over at Pocketpt, HTC Touch Viva is said to come with features like quad-band GSM connectivity (850 / 900 / 1800 /1900 MHz), a 2.8-inch TFT touchscreen display with the classic 240 x 320 pixel resolution, Microsoft’s latest Windows Mobile 6.1 OS, HTC’s new TouchFLO 3D, Wi-Fi, a 2 MP photo camera, support for microSD / microSDHC cards, and so on – all packed inside a case that measures 104 x 59 x 15.5 millimeters (4.09 x 2.32 x 0.61 inches) and weighs 110 grams (3.88 ounces).
HTC Touch Viva Bottom View
So, basically, the Viva is an old HTC Touch with a new User Interface and worldwide connectivity. Which is not a bad thing, of course, as not all mobile users can afford a Touch Diamond, but they might still want to own a touchscreen device.
As far as rumors go, HTC should present the new Touch Viva this month. More exactly, the smartphone is said to be launched on September 15 in Asia (probably across Taiwan and China), while Europe will be getting it two weeks later, on September 30.
The retail price of Viva should be no higher than 300 Euros (426 USD), but we have to wait for an official confirmation to know this for sure.
In the end, HTC seems to have yet another new device that might be quite successful. It might not be the Touch HD, but it’s still a pretty nice handset.
Posted by: John
The Unwired have spotted some interesting information on what looks like a soon to be released Asus Windows Mobile device. We saw the announcement last week of the average looking P552W but this one looks like a much better device. Sporting an 800 x 480 pixel display and a 5 megapixel camera things are really starting to warm up in the Windows Mobile world. Full specs after the break.
Flutter has just been released in the App Store and this service gives you the ability to send MMS messages. What’s more and this is the best bit it does not need a jailbroken phone as this is an official application available through iTunes. It doesn’t help with receiving MMS messages, your still stuck with a web page link from your operator but at least its a big improvement to what we have. Full details and links after the break.
Looks like Sony Ericsson are going to be really pushing the launch of the Xperia X1, the guys over at the SEMC Blog have spotted some interesting advertisements which will shortly be appearing in the press. We have them after the break. Also don’t forget on the 15th of September to join the live in depth video demonstration and questions session online at 1pm GMT+1 if you want to see the device in more detail.
A few weeks ago we attended the Palm Treo Pro launch even in London and since then I’ve been trying to get my hands on a review unit. Finally managed to get my hands on one last Friday and have spent the last few days ‘playing’ with it.
The Palm Treo Pro
So far I’m quite happy with the Treo Pro, battery life seems really good and I quite like the fixed QWERTY keyboard rather than a slider. The OS is quite fast thanks to the 400MHz CPU and 128MB RAM.
I dislike the fact that it uses a Micro USB cable rather than Mini USB – every other device that I own, from Cameras to WM phones, has a Mini USB so this now means another cable to carry. I guess no big deal but it means I have to remember to take it with me if I think that I might need to charge or sync. Interestingly, when we saw the previews of the Treo Pro the other week, we commented that Micro USB cables were a lot easier to insert the wrong way and therefore damage the socket. We said that there needs to be an arrow or mark on the USB cable to show which way up. In the final version Palm sent me this week they have in fact done that!
The screen on the Treo Pro is a 320 x 320 touchscreen which is fairly unusual, I can think of only a few other devices that run at this res. This can cause problems with some third-party software so if you plan to use anything on the Treo you’ll want to check it’s compatible. The LCD screen also seems quite well set back from the flush front of the device. For me it makes stylus use feel a bit strange and somehow disconnected from what I see on screen.
I am possibly being a little over critical of the Treo Pro, overall I quite like the all in one design, the fact that it has built-in GPS and WiFi is good too. Have a look at the unboxing video which should act as a nice teaser before the review later on!
Palm Treo Pro specification:
- Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Edition
- Qualcomm MSM7201 400MHz CPU
- 256MB storage (100MB user available), 128MB RAM
- 320×320 transflective colour TFT touchscreen
- HSDPA/UMTS/EDGE/GPRS/GSM radio
- Tri-band UMTS — 850MHz, 1900MHz, 2100MHz
- Quad-band GSM — 850/900/1800/1900
- Wi-Fi – 802.11b/g with WPA, WPA2, and 801.1x authentication
- Bluetooth Version: 2.0 Enhanced Data Rate
- MicroUSB 2.0 for synchronization and charging
- Built-in GPS
- 2.0 megapixels, up to 8x digital zoom and video capture
- Removable, rechargeable 1500mAh lithium-ion; up to 5.0 hours talk time and up to 250 hours standby
- microSDHC cards (up to 32GB supported)
- 3.5mm stereo headset jack
- 60mm (W) x 114mm (L) x 13.5mm (D);
- 133 grams
EDIT: Our Palm Treo Pro review is now live!
Posted by: Matt
EB and TerreStar are working to bring to market the world’s first quad-band GSM and tri-band WCDMA/HSPA smartphone reference design with integrated satellite-terrestrial voice and data capabilities in a compact form factor. It will be a fully IP-based satellite handset reference design using high speed packet data. The smartphone reference design will have a touch screen and a full QWERTY keyboard and based on Windows Mobile.
If you are a regular on tracyandmatt you’ll remember that I recorded the Palm Treo Pro launch event a few weeks ago. At the time I mentioned that the Camcorder that I was using at the time didn’t perform very well in the low light conditions at the event and that I was looking for a replacement.
So over in the last few weeks I started looking for a new camcorder that I could use to record our unboxing videos but that would also be small and light enough to take out to press events without contributing too much to my already overloaded kit bag. I for the sake of convenience, also wanted a camera that recorded footage on to memory cards rather than DVD or Tape (yes the still make DV camcorders). I preferred to have camera that could record HD but this wasn’t essential, it was the recording quality that mattered most as our videos would always be scaled down for web-streaming anyway. Finally I didn’t want to spend a fortune on the camera; about £200 – £250 was ideal.
As you can imagine, there are a lot of models to choose from within the requirements set out above and it was difficult to decide which one would suit me best. So I decided it would be a good idea to perform a group test of some camcorders that fit the bill. Not only would it help me to select the model I wanted but would also make for an interesting series of posts here on the site.
The models that we short-listed (and were able to get hold of) are the Sanyo Xacti HD700, Panasonic SD7, Canon FS100 and Toshiba Camileo H10.
All of the cameras record on to SD memory cards. The Sanyo and the Toshiba are capable of recording at 720p whereas the Canon and Panasonic record SD.
|
Sanyo Xacti HD700 |
Canon FS100 |
Toshiba Camileo H10 |
Panasonic SDR-S7 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Effective Pixel Count |
Approx. 7.1 megapixels |
1.07 megapixels |
10.48 megapixels |
0.8 megapixels |
|
Camera Element |
1/2.5 inch, 7.38-megapixel CCD (total) |
1/6" Interlaced CCD |
1/2.5 inch, 10.48 megapixel CCD |
1/6" CCD 800k Pixels |
|
Recording Media |
SDHC (up to 8 GB) |
SDHC (up to 16GB) |
SDHC (max cap. Unknown) |
SDHC (up to 16GB) |
|
Recording File Format |
Still: JPEG |
Still: JPEG |
Still: JPEG |
Still: JPEG |
|
Resolution (Pixels) Still: |
[10M] 3680 x 2760 interpolated |
1152 x 864 |
4608 x 3456 max |
JPEG size:640 x 480 |
|
Resolution (Pixels) Video: |
[HD-SHQ] 1280 x 720 (30 fps, 9 Mbps) |
standard-definition video resolution of 720×480
|
H.264 – 1280 x 720 – 30 fps |
640 x 840 XP (10Mbps/VBR) |
|
Zoom |
5.0x optical zoom lens |
37x optical zoom lens |
5.0x optical zoom lens |
10.0x optical zoom lens |
|
Digital Zoom |
Shooting: Max. 12x |
2000x digital zoom |
4x digital zoom |
10 – 700x Digital |
|
Focus |
Auto (Stills: 9-point AF), Manual |
Auto/Manual |
Auto |
Auto/Manual |
|
Sensitivity |
Still: Auto (ISO 50–400), Manual (ISO 50/100/200/400/800/1600/3200) |
1.7 Lux Minimum Illumination |
? |
2 Lux Minimum Illumination |
|
Self-Timer |
2 sec. or 10 sec. |
2 sec. or 10 sec. |
10 sec. |
No |
|
Flash |
Auto/Forced/Off |
No |
Auto/Forced/Off |
No |
|
Audio |
Microphone: Built-in stereo |
Stereo Mic |
Stereo Mic |
Stereo Zoom Mic, Wind Noise Reduction |
|
LCD Monitor |
2.7-inch, TFT color wide screen LCD, Approx. 230,000 pixels |
2.7” Wide LCD (123,200 pixels) |
2.7” Wide LCD (123,200 pixels) |
2.7” Wide LCD (123,200 pixels) |
|
Interfaces |
Via docking cradle: AV output (HDMI/component video/S-video/composite video, Audio: stereo sound), USB 2.0 |
AV output (S-video/composite video, Audio: stereo sound), USB 2.0 |
AV output (HDMI/composite video, Audio: stereo sound), USB 2.0 |
AV output (S-video/composite video, Audio: stereo sound), USB 2.0 |
|
Power Source |
Lithium-ion battery (1200 mAh) |
Lithium-ion battery |
Lithium-ion battery |
Lithium-ion battery |
|
Approx. Battery Life |
Stills: CIPA standard approx. 180 images |
TBC |
TBC |
TBC |
|
Dimensions |
73.7 x 109.0 x 35.0 mm |
58 x 60 x 124 mm |
56 x 117 x 65 mm |
41.0 x 59.0 x 102.0 mm |
|
Weight |
Approx. 189 g (main unit only), Approx. 214 g (including battery and SD card) |
260 g with battery |
340 g with battery |
Approx. 165 g w/o Battery |
|
Price (Amazon) |
£249.00 |
£215.00 |
£173.00 |
£228.00 |
Over the next few weeks, with Nigel’s help, we are going to be testing the four camcorders under real world, general use conditions as well as for the specific job I need them for. We’ll have an unboxing and a sample video from each camera as well as a short review and then we’ll have a final summary post at the end where we’ll pick the camcorder that we’ve decided to buy.
If you have any questions or comments along the way then please do get in touch through our contact page!
Part 2 of the group test is now live – check out the Panasonic SDR-S7 review!
Part 3 of the group test is now live – check out the Toshiba Camileo H10 review!
Part 4 of the group test is now live – check out the Sanyo Xacti HD700 review!
Posted by: Matt
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