Sony-Ericsson intros XPERIA X1 'iPhone killer'
updated 01:55 pm EST, Sun February 10, 2008
Sony-Ericsson Xperia X1
Sony-Ericsson opened the Mobile World Congress today by unveiling the XPERIA X1, its first true touchscreen-focused cellphone. Following a deal with Microsoft, the handset is Sony-Ericsson's first device to use Windows Mobile for its OS but also uses a custom interface of "XPERIA panels" rather than the default Microsoft front-end: users simply tap panels with their fingers to access calling, media, and other functions, according to the phone designer. Though dominated by its 3-inch, 800x480 touchscreen, the device also includes both optical and physical navigation pads at the bottom as well as a unique arc-slider QWERTY keyboard that tilts outward for more comfortable typing.
The X1 is also the most Internet-connected Sony-Ericsson device in history, the company boasts: unlike even most advanced 3G phones, it offers HSUPA (High Speed Upload Packet Access) that sends video and other media almost as quickly as it comes downstream. Wi-Fi is onboard for short-range networking and is backed by assisted GPS for route finding. A 3.2-megapixel camera with autofocus and a microSD slot (versus Sony-Ericsson's favorite Memory Stick Micro format) round out its key features.
The first XPERIA phone is expected sometime in the second half of 2008; with quad-band GSM and an unprecedented five-band HSPA/UMTS connection, the device should be available both in North America as well as Europe and includes the key 1,700MHz band needed for T-Mobile USA's upcoming 3G service.
Press Release
02/10, 03:55pm reply
http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/corporate/press/pressreleases/pressreleasedetails/globalx1-20080210
Guest
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Joined: Nov 1999
hmm
02/10, 04:17pm reply
what ever happened to all those ipod killers?
Bartman
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yuck
02/10, 04:25pm reply
is it just me, or are all these "iphone killers" just bloody awful looking? and if you want to be a true "iphone killer", you better start with a different OS than microsoft's windoze mobile. i wouldn't put $0.99 into this product.
nostar
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don't be a robot
02/10, 05:57pm reply
some people like qwerty - not everyone is you + there is plenty of room in this world for style variance from apple's 'ultra-neutral' approach.
this is by far the coolest thing sony has done in a long time. I don't care much for Windows Mobile, but this phone looks better than a crackberry/palm/n95 imho - and if it has 'Windoze' I'm more likely to be able to get it supported by my company. (oh yeah, corporations use windows hmm).
btw. it would be good to look into who exactly is labeling these phones 'iPhone killers' -- do you think it's the OEMs? I don't...
The local storage space on these devices will in the end only be useful for media capture, as future networks will have bandwidth to support streaming media remotely (i.e. iTunes/netflix etc). Content redundancy on a mobile is a waste.
Sony needs to think progressively about the convergence trend - they need a device that integrates psp/smartphone functionality with xbox live networkability.
Once you can roll out your updates over the network... it's a whole new ballgame. Who wants to carry around more than one device anyway - and all this cd/dvd/umd media is so wasteful compared to distributed storage and streaming. SD, CF, CD, etc. hopefully will soon all be antiquated and replaced by 3GPPLTE.
Super Glitcher
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Sorry...
02/10, 08:08pm reply
...Super glitcher but this looks like a piece of c***.
ClevelandAdv
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MacNN has r***** writers
02/10, 09:04pm reply
I swear to god... everything is a i**** killer.
FYI MacNN Writers - a killer is defined as something that kills. A product that is not on the market is NOT a killer. A device that is released on the market is NOT killer. A device that steals ALL market share away from another device would be considered a killer.
now when youre going to write the word "killer", replace it with rival, challenger, contender, etc.. better yet, take a f'n writing class.
eldarkus
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Nooo!
02/10, 09:27pm reply
Yet another device with Windoze Mobile... Bland bland bland. Every handset manufacturer does nothing but add a memory slot, better camera, add Windoze Mobile, wi-fi or whatever feature the engineers can think of. What about innovation?! User EXPERIENCE, for example. Aaaargh.
Guest
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why sorry?
02/10, 10:35pm reply
aesthetics are subjective. like I said, some people like neutral. you probably really love helvetica.
Super Glitcher
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doomed to fail
02/10, 11:28pm reply
iPhone killer? Not with WM6 and its craptacular Pocket Internet Explorer on it. If it's running that browser, they just wasted several million $$ on development. Let's hope Ericsson is listening to their neighbours down the road at Opera and put the new Opera Mobile 9.5 on it as the default browser. Otherwise, this thing is doomed to fail as a mobile internet device.
midtoad
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UUGGLLYY
02/11, 12:03am reply
uuggllyy
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