Sony Ericsson Xperia drops Windows for Android

An Android-based version of Sony Ericsson's first Windows Mobile smartphone, the Xperia, has appeared online, prompting speculation that an official unveiling could be just around the corner. Sony Ericsson Xperia 2 Sony Ericsson's Xperia 2: equipped with a 4in, 800 x 400 touchscreen Sony Ericsson confirmed plans to launch …

[Mark 65]

Good to see

...that the most likely company to produce a decent smartphone for those that don't want an iPhone has finally knocked one out (so to speak). Unfortunately my guess is, as there is a "Sony" in Sony Ericsson, it will be fucking expensive.

[Jerome 0]

Camera

That pinhole camera on the front is a joke. I bet it's an 8 megapixel too.

Pro-tip to manufacturers: THERE IS NO POINT MAKING A DECENT PHONE AND PUTTING A SHIT CAMERA ON IT.

Thank you.

[Malcolm 1]

Dropping?

Thus far it appears that the X3 lacks a keyboard and will be Android Powered. The X2 will maintain a keyboard and be WinMo 6.5 powered:

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http://www.mobilebulgaria.com/news/view.php%3Fid%3D13078&sl=auto&tl=en&history_state0=

So not really dropping Windows at all then.

[OrsonX]

Looks nice, all it need now...

...is a crApplication store!

[Lutin]

Application store

@OrsonX

Android already has an application store.

[Anonymous Coward]

@jerome

that depends on whether or not you give a fuck about the camera on the phone... if I want to take pictures, I'll use a camera, with proper optical zoom, and a decent sized sensor... sod the gimmick 8mp camera on a phone... compared to any proper camera it will still be shit....

[Andrew Garrard]

800x400? Really?

I *assume* that's a typo, and that it's really WVGA (why it needs an operating system update to support a new resolution is beyond me), although there are phone LCDs out there with oddball aspect ratios and S-E do have a history of 320x208. WVGA would be nice, since the one thing that's keeping me with Windows Mobile is that nobody else offers an 800x480 screen. If Apple, Palm or Google (or even someone shipping a more complete Linux phone than Android offers) had more pixels, I'd be there. I could probably still do with a keyboard, though, so it looks like it's a TP2 for me until my next upgrade cycle.

[Jerome 0]

@ Anon Coward

If you want to carry around a compact camera as well as your phone, that's fine by me. Do you have a separate MP3 player, web tablet, games console, GPS device, compass, video player and portable HD stuffed in your pockets too?

I'll just carry one device around that does everything I need, then on the occasions when I intend to take proper pictures I'll lug my DSLR along.

Have you seen how incredibly slim a compact camera can be, complete with a decent sensor and an optical zoom? Can you name me one technical reason why this same tech couldn't be built into a mobile phone?

[Anonymous Coward]

@jerome

one reason....space

you can't squeeze a 10x optical zoom lens into zero space

[g e]

Guys, the camera, fuck it, seriously

ITS A PHONE

If you want a decent camera then buy one. That's why your phone hasn't put Canon or Nikon out of business yet.

Can't believe the damned camera trumped any Microsoft comments

[Alastair 7]

@jerome

Price? You want a decent camera in your phone? Cool, get one. I'll take the cheaper option, thanks.

[kissingthecarpet]

Does Android support

RDP & can you set up a standard PPTP VPN connection? Because if it can do so *Reliably* then its a winner in my book - Windows Mobile RDP is rubbish & the VPN support doesn't work, certainly on the HTC phone that I've used.

[W]

To the Motorola F3 and Nokia 1100 owners:

Your phone is a beacon of simplicity and value. Nice choice. But your choice to

a) buy a DSLR, and

b) tell us all about it

was entirely justified because, apparently,

i) you're a serious photograper, and

ii) it's impossible to create anything approaching a worthwhile 2d image on anything with less than a 36 x 24 mm CMOS sensor, 20million pixels and 99x optical zoom

was clearly

1) done to death before mobiles even existed, and

2) silly and just plain wrong.

-Do you always use a desktop PC because they have more functions and features than laptops?

-Do you always use Word because it has more functions and features than Notepad?

-Do you always write a letter because it allows more functions and features than a text message (from your Motorola F3 or Nokia 1100, presumably)?

No. No you don't. Because you know that different tools are for different jobs.

Tools = DSLR / Compact / Cameraphone / Pencil & Paper.

Tasks = Pro, large print, and arty Images / Decent general photographs / Snapshots / Sketches.

Tools and jobs, guys. Tools and jobs.

So just have a small lie down and get over yourselves and your specific obsession with camera needs/wants/choices. And if you doze off, try not to have nightmares about lomography.

[Giles Jones]

GPS was present in the original X1

So how can this model add GPS when it was a feature of the original?

[Andrew Garrard]

@W

Well said, sort of. I have a couple of DSLRs (and a selection of 35mm), several grand worth of lenses, a medium format camera and some Leica kit. I'm delaying buying a compact until after my next phone upgrade because the camera on a phone might suit my "always on me/unexpected chance for a photo" requirements well enough that I'd need a decent compact to do much better (and for *decent* compact money, I'd rather have another lens for my SLR); while I'd rather use a decent camera than the one on a mobile, the best camera is the one you remembered to bring with you.

But still, I'd like to know more about this phone than just how good its camera will be, since it's likely to fall into the range "awful" to "passable if necessary in good conditions". I'm tired of people advertising "12 megapixel mobiles" (the camera's 12MP; the bit I care about, the screen, that everyone spends all their time looking at, rarely gets a mention).

Anyway, I'll be interested in seeing whether S-E manage to get it right this time. "Mixed reviews" is being generous to the X1, from what I've seen; here's to some decent graphics acceleration for a start.

Can we talk about something other than the camera? I'm a photography bore, and *I'm* bored.

[Trixr]

Dimensions!!!

Damn, I held off getting an HTC Android phone when I saw SE had a nice-looking phone in the pipeline. I like SE (other than the stupid non-USB charging port), and I think the standard headphone jack is WIN. However, I don't want something as broad in the hand as a iPhone clone - the HTC is a good size for someone who wants to use it as a phone and a tiny bit of email/surfing.

@Mark 65 - if you spent 2 minutes looking, you'd see that SE prices are pretty much comparable to the similar range Nokia offerings.

And I second everyone who says they'd rather have a proper camera to take nice pics rather than worrying about pixels with something that has a sensor size of an ant's head.

[Wrenchy]

OOOOhhhhhh.

Now that is elegant. I want I want I want!

Looks like Android is slowly breaking through. This hardware was such a waste with WinMo installed. Android on a Sony Ericsson? I nearly s**t myself!

[Anonymous Coward]

Let me see if I have got this right...

...SE would like me to buy another phone that freezes, randomly turns itself off, lacks support (new panels anyone), cracks and looks shabby after 6 months of careful ownership, and pay through the nose for the privilege?

I am on Vodaphone. Locked into a 2 year contract and the phone is a train wreck after only 6 months. Interestingly, Voda don’t even have the X1 on offer anymore. That tells me all I need to know.

I like Sony products (for all their ‘quirks’) but the X1 is just a shabby, badly made, badly implemented pile of poo…and it appears to be getting worse.

The thing that REALLY got my goat was the senior Sony bod who described the X1 as an “experiment”. Go ‘experiment’ with your own money, bozo.

Will I be buying the X2, X3 or whatever SE is offering in 18 months? Will I heck!

[Neil 50]

Android

Its not 'Android 2.0', Google's Android team are not using version numbers, they're using pastry names. 'Donut' has not been assigned a number.

I would expect SE to include whatever version of the OS is ready at the time they're ready to release the phone.

You haven't mentioned the very pretty UI and contacts app SE have added on top of Android - there are videos of it on Android/SE blogs.

I hope they add some Sony-specific stuff to it, like a top-quality music app ('Walkman'), headphone controls, maybe Playstation Remote Play like they're giving one of their cheaper phones at the moment.

And it needs to be better than the Samsung, which also looks lovely.

[Andreas 1]

@Giles Jones

I don't know about the previous model but perhaps it only had "plain old" GPS and not **assisted** GPS (that this latest model is touted as having). Assisted GPS is an improvement over plain old GPS. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_GPS for more info.