Sony Ericsson goes Windows Mobile with Xperia X1 'arc slider'

Sony Ericsson last night announced a new smartphone range. Dubbed Xperia, the series' flagship is the X1, featuring a Windows Mobile-based handset with a slide-out Qwerty keyboard and 3in, 800 x 480 display. Sony Ericsson Xperia 1 Sony Ericsson's Xperia X1: arc slider Sony Ericsson calls the X1 an "arc slider" handset - …

[Anonymous Coward]

Sad, sad, sad

If that hardware would have come with UIQ, or frankly anything else than Windows Mobl', then I would have considered dropping my K850i/N800 combo, but not a chance with Windows Mobl'.

Oh, and whilst it's SonyEricsson's first foray into Windows, it's not Ericsson's, as they made that MC12 (rebrand of HP 320 LX)... If I'm not too senile.

[Anonymous Coward]

3.2 meg camera?

What is this, 1986? Surely any decent phone nowadays, especially one yet to be release, must have a 5 meg camera? Now, where's the GPS?

[Simon Greenwood]

Looks great

Can we have one that has a decent OS?

[Miguel]

*sigh*

This thing looks amazing. Not sure I'm feeling much love for windows mobile though...

[jubtastic1]

Is that a mock up?

Because both pictures show exactly the same screen graphic even though one of them is in landscape orientation, not flipping the icons would be a serious UI faux pas.

[whitespacephil]

Not the first Ericsson MS device

Didn't Ericsson toy with Windows CE before they started flirting with Symbian?

I've got a recollection of an Ericsson MC16 which I think was a rebadged HP Jornada 620LX with additional phone helping features. Could connect to the old phones circa 2000 vintage (but not after).

Anyway, this device looks lovely. I'll take one.

[David Farinic]

Great

It does have GPS with speed of aGPS

3.2MP yes maybe small for some who think more pix linearly better value.

However note that this has 30FPS VGA camera! which is more important IMHO

GUI paging is flipping + it got optical joystick means u just move mobile and you move across your opened document thanx to camera in back detecting movement.

I welcome WindowsMobile on on SonyEricsoon... I had P800 and i tryied to program for it... very dificult then i had 3 windows mobile and programming was never easier

[Damian Skeeles]

Another P990?

Remember the hype about the P990? Unless SE have really got their act back together with the foray into WM2006, I'd expect a dodgy v1 of the product. I've just taken out a new TYTN II on a 12-month contract, and I'd say that's just about right - I can't see the X1 being viable/cheap/reliable until this time next year.

And at the end of the day, it's still Windows Mobile. Which basically means if it's successful, they'll be able to cut all the dev teams that develop UIQ-supporting apps - like PC Sync, Third-party software, developer forums, UIQ itself, etc. With the poor uptake since after the P910i, they must be loss-making.

Say what you want about Microsoft, but at the end of the day, they're the ones with the persistence and deep pockets to prevail.

[Steven Hewittt]

WM6

Just to venture out against the ones who love to hate MS - WM6 is a bloody excellent platform for mobile. The functionality is superb, with a huge amount hardly even been tapped into yet. However this is in the core of the platform, where most people just look at the UI.

The problem, as with Windows as a whole, is the user interface and rubbish applications. If SE change it so it's more fluid and user friendly then it could be a cracking phone. Shove on Opera and take out the Live bollocks too whilst your at it.

Time will tell.

[André Marques]

This is made by HTC...

So hopefully we won't see the same problems of the P series. I want this very, very much, only waiting for the confirmation that the camera has a macro mode before I start saving for it, even my girlfriend likes it a lot (still prefers her E61, but it is HER E61...).

It's just strange that a macro mode is still so rare in smartphones. I find it so useful to take a snap of a business card, serial number, IP adress, doc, price and feature list in a shop, etc...

[david gomm]

hmm

Is this move to Windows in response to the increased control that Nokia seem to be having over Symbian or to the Apple OS entry to the phone market ?

(would be interesting to know which of the two was responsible for the shift in direction)

Also, 3.2mp is fine for a cameraphone if the optics are good.

With regard to the memory cards, does this support the SDHC capacity or just standard SD ?

[Miguel]

@Steven Hewitt

Not everyone loves to hate MS. I just don't like using Windows mobile.

[Richard Spooner]

Will Likely be new version of Windows Mobile

I quote a Microsoft sales rep when pushed by a senior member of staff at the Orange shop last week concerning Windows Mobile 7. "Can't talk about it". He eventually gave away a late second quarter planned release date and that there will be new models from different manufacturers to go with it. What's the betting this is one of them?

And NO I am not saying WM6 is brilliant or that WM7 will be a massive improvement before anyone siezes on the comments!

[Red Bren]

One step forward...

After being ecstatically happy with my P800 and P910i, I was gutted by the flakiness of my P990 and swore I'd never touch another SE smartphone again. At least SE seem to have got the message that a smartphone needs an effin huge screen, the recent P-series screens just got smaller and smaller.

I'm concerned about them taking the Windows Mobile route - if it's that good, why the need for an additional UI on top of it? And I assume most operators will further customise that. And how well will it interoperate with my linux PC? MS does have a reputation for not playing nice. I wonder if it will dual boot?

[Mikael Holmberg]

Honestly guys!

I don't know how anyone on this planet can compare symbian with windows mobile!?? It's like comparing a fiat with a porsche.. Previously I used symbian devices but switched to windows mobile with the introduction of qtek's first devices. Recently I bought a symbian device again, I needed a new didgital camera and the nokia n95 seemed good enough. However the limitations of the os drives me nuts!! I can't believe what the symbian guys are doing! They are digging their own grave..

[Matt]

Have you tried a WM phone??

all these people knocking WM and praising Sybian, most noticably the nokias... ive never come across such a limited, child friendly operating system as found on the N95 not to mention the general flakyness of it! just about everyone I know that has an N series has issues with it... and if you have an alpine car radio, nokias take on the hands free standard means that it wont connect...

give me WM I plug it into a windows PC and it syncs, beautiflully, every time...

It runs low on battery, i plug it into a mini USB cable - a standard one... not some magic nokia contraption!

the whole WM interface works very well, phone numbers apear after starting to type either a number or name, everything just works!! :)

This SE phone hopefully will be out as my contract draws to a close in july!!! :) I want one!!! 800x480 screen! thank you very much!

[Anonymous Coward]

Form Factor

Ergonimcs is what counts not just the underlying OS. Symbian and WM are both powerful and mature mobile OSs. SE and Nokia are good at form factors. SE's Xperia is about SE branding and they don't need to stick to WM for this. A great set of ergonomics will sell devices.

However, WM is important for the US market, so hopefully SE has done what Nokia has not yet which is exploit the massive Smartphone market in the US.

[fluffels]

i loved my windows mobile phone....

....but i gave in to temptation and bought an iPhone. it's far from perfect, but it's the best phone i've ever had, or used.

i won't ever be going back to a WM device.

[Risky]

WM far better than previous SE offerings

At around the same time last year I got a MDA Vario II and my eife got a SE m600i. I'm pretty happy with mine, have now got the WM6 upgrade and all is pretty much ok give or take a few issues.

On the other hand the m600i must have the most perverse UI ever invented, with ages spend trying to guess how to do stuff added to general unreliability.

I think a move to WM is overdue for them.