Sony Ericsson X10 hands on

Some high-tech cell phone models get the same attention as movie stars and the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 makes for an illustrative example. The device has haunted our news section on a weekly basis since the first time we caught wind of it last summer. Some of you that do not share our excitement about cell phones may wonder why this… and here is the answer:

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 is the first Android device of the manufacturer and the operating system itself has been causing quite a stir in the cell phone world in the last year. The handset comes with downright monstrous hardware features and as of today, there is simply no other cell phone based on the same platform to rival the X10 and we hardly need to say anything other than “4-inch screen, 1GHz Snapdragon processor and 8.1-megapixel camera”, although Timescape and Mediascape add a truly unique touch to the interface personalization.

We are beginning our review of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 in high spirits and with sky-rocketing expectations. Despite the almost irresistible desire to tear the box open the minute we got it in our hands, we took time to notice it does remind of boxes that handsets like the HTC HD2 and HTC Hero come in. In other words: small, white and elongated. This does not come as a surprise really, because the current trend dictates that manufacturers should use the least amount of materials in order to make boxes as ecologically-friendly as possible. So, what´s inside?

–    Sony Ericsson Xperia X10
–    8GB microSD card
–    Headphones
–    Wall charger
–    USB cable (plugs into the charger)
–    User guide

Just like most cell phones these days, the Xperia X10 comes without a carrying pouch. The boxed headset is actually the MH500 that happens to be one of the best pairs that can be found with Sony Ericsson devices these days (we first saw it with the Xperia X2).

Design:

If we have to describe the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 in just one word, it would be “BIG”. In two words – „VERY BIG”. In three… Ok, let´s just not run to extremes here, shall we? It´s only logical the handset is on the bulky side, given the huge, 4-inch display it integrates. Some people would probably be more than happy to live with the massive overall size of the Sony Ericsson X10, but we need to point out this is not a cell phone you can use with one hand. Similarly to the HTC HD2 that is a tad wider actually, you will not be able to reach the farthest parts of the screen with your thumb if holding it in one hand. Fortunately, the back is slightly curved and the X10 fits well in hand. The weight is properly balanced, meaning the cell phone is not overly hefty and discomforting to carry around in your pocket, although you will be aware of its presence at all times.

Google mobile phone finally launch!

Google has announced that their next entry into the mobile phone space will be the Nexus One. Manufactured by HTC, the Nexus One will utilize Google’s Android operating system, which should be familiar to any recent Motorola Droid purchasers. For HTC this will be the seventh Android-powered mobile phone.

In terms of technical specs, the Nexus One will feature the following:
– A 3.7-inch AMOLED display
– A Snapdragon Processor
– Multi-colored trackball which lights up when different events occur
– Light/proximity sensors, as well as compass and accelerometer support
– GPS
– 5-megapixel camera with LED flash, which can also shoot MPEG4 video (plus one-click uploads to YouTube, natch)
– Stereo Bluetooth with active noise cancellation
– Case is thinner than a #2 pencil

Size and weight

Height

119mm

Width

59.8mm

Depth

11.5mm

Weight

130 grams w/battery
100g w/o battery

Processor

Qualcomm QSD 8250 1 GHz

Operating system

Android Mobile Technology Platform 2.1 (Eclair)

The Nexus One will come packed with Android 2.1, which means it should have equal functionality with the Motorola Droid’s feature-set.

Available in our shop now.

Motorola Milestone

As with the last handset, the Milestone also runs the Google Android mobile phone operating system. The version running the phone is the latest iteration, Android 2.0, with this being the first handset to arrive out-of-the-box with that installed.

This latest update to Android looks and feels much like any other vanilla deployment with its three customisable home screens. However, there have been some improvements to a few key areas. These fall into the realms of native Microsoft Exchange support, a better UI and browser experience along with a much improved virtual keyboard. The latter is almost a bit of a moot point with physical keyboards, but the browser’s ‘pinch to zoom’ plus full HTML viewing works much better than on other phones. The zoom feature was left out of the US Droid version of the mobile, where missing from the European model is the Google turn-by-turn navigation software which was replaced by Motorola’s own sat nav. The plus side to this is no other phone has the Google mapping software either so what we don’t know we won’t miss, also all the Motorola maps are based on the phone and they’re not pulled down over the air.

One item missing from the Milestone that was first seen on the Dext is the Motoblur, which is an overlay to the Android OS much the same way as the Sense is on HTC Android mobiles. Besides expanding the number of screens available for widgets there’s an in-built engine, for displaying social networking updates on the home screen. Motoblur also offers up great security for the handset, where it’s possible to track the mobile’s every movement through Google Maps, along with being able to back up all the phones’ contents into the cloud. If the phone is ever lost or stolen, the handset can be remotely wiped of all data and the content restored to a new mobile. Other redeeming features that were available on the Dext but not the Milestone are the phone book’s synchronisation, where Facebook and Gmail contacts are automatically populated throughout the address book in an intelligent way. We contacted Motorola to ask why this was missing from the Milestone, with its response being that it is not aiming this phone at the same market as the Dext. We firmly believe those elements of security would be a useful addition for anyone, not just social networkers.

System Specifications : Android 2.0, 3.7-inch 480×854 touch screen display, slide-out Qwerty keyboard, 5MP Camera, 3.5mm audio jack, Quad-band GSM, 8GB microSD card, Bluetooth, WiFi, AGPS, microUSB.