Sony Ericcson Shows Off A True Firstborn
There’s plenty to see at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, and there are a zillion product introductions. One that caught my eye is the Sony Ericcson XPERIA X1 phone. The trend is clearly moving toward smartphones and converged multimedia devices, and the XPERIA X1 embraces that philosophy.
The X1 slider features a 3-inch VGA screen and a full QWERTY keyboard. Housed in a full metal jacket, the X1 is the first native device to emerge from the Sony Ericcson venture. It’s stated purpose is to provide mobile Web communication and multimedia entertainment, and that it does.
The user interface consists of user configurable XPERIA panels, which allow the user to determine the most natural interface layout and provide touch screen navigation on its 65K colour TFT LCD display. If touch navigation doesn’t do it for you, you can also navigate using the keyboard, a four-way key or an optical joystick.
The XPERIA X1 runs on Windows Mobile and also offers assisted GPS navigation services, HSDPA/HSUPA and Wi-Fi support. It also has all of the must-have gadgets like a camera (with a photo light); music player; video recorder; FM radio; Bluetooth stereo; a modem; and USB support. It can support up to 400 MB memory for the phone, and has a microSD slot.
The phone is a quad-band that’s at home on GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks, and will also work on UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA networks on four frequencies.
According to Sony Ericcson, this baby will be ready for street duty in the second half of 2008. No word on price. If you can’t wait that long, check out the existing line of Sony Ericcson gear at TestFreaks.