back to article Sony Ericsson LiveView remote phone viewer

With top-end smartphones costing an arm and a leg, anything that reduces the chances of your cellular pride and joy getting damaged or pinched should find a buyer. Certainly, that's the thinking behind Sony Ericsson's LiveView remote viewer for Android handsets. Sony Ericsson LiveView For Android 2 and above: Sony Ericsson's …

COMMENTS

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  1. Simon B

    fix the issues then I'll buy one!

    Great idea and something I could use (at work to check if i've got any messages for example without having my phone permanently on my desk). Shame about the connection issues, until that's fixed I'm out.

    1. Tigra 07
      Thumb Down

      Buggy and cheap

      I was thinking about buying one until i took a look on Amazon, there's not a single positive review, it's still too buggy and has left it with a rating around 3 stars.

      Not worth the cash!

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Typical

    Sony Ericsson do make some nice pieces of hardware, but every Android related device they make seems to have massive software issue. You didn't mention that when the device disconnects from your phone, it no longer even tells the correct time. That makes it a total fail.

  3. Piloti
    Thumb Down

    First Year Philosophy Exam.....

    "Why......?"

    This really does look like a solution looking for a problem.

    P.

    1. Anton Ivanov
      Badgers

      Attend two "no phones allowed" 6 hour meetings and let's talk again

      See subj.

      1. Ian North

        But...

        It connects to your phone by Bluetooth which means it has a range of all of six feet. Pretty useless if you have to leave your phone at your desk during said meetings.

      2. D@v3
        FAIL

        riiiiight, so...

        instead of leaving your phone in your draw before such meetings, where it can receive messages, that you cant read or respond to, receive phone calls, that you cant answer etc... you will now have a little gizmo (and why you could have one of those, but not a phone in such a meeting i dont understand) that will let you receive messages that you can read, but can't respond to and receive phone calls that you cant answer.

        So instead of being in a meeting without your phone (I'm guessing because it's an important meeting, with no outside interruptions), your now in a meeting WITH your phone, but still unable to use it. Seems a bit odd to me.

  4. roy lovelock
    Thumb Down

    worst £50 ever spent

    i bought this awlful pos when i got my new desire hd, the device quiet simply is useless,

    the machine first of all connected but then dies, to get it re connected takes so much time and effort you might as well just use your phone in the normal way.

    in my case it wont reconnect unless i completely remove the live view app and re install it, it will then work for best arount 10 mins before its again looking for the phone again.

    i also tried this thing out on the motorola milestone and had the same results.

    AVOID AT ALL COSTS, its not worth the time wasted in your life to deal with this thing.

    mine is sitting on the side covered in dust, unless the firmware gets updated it will probo go in the bin as i wouldnt want to palm this sort of poor technology on anyone else.

    nice idea, let down big time by sony, why release an obviously beta, na alpha device to the paying public.

    i concur its a steaming turd to say the least

  5. Anton Ivanov
    Thumb Up

    If they fix the firmware this will be my next watch

    It will not be the first phone wristband which I would change. Probably not the last. So the fact the wristband is butt ugly is the least of the problems. The firmware connectivity issues however are a definitive show stopper.

    Otherwise it is the perfect watch I would want nowdays - showing me the necessary bits from the phone over Bluetooth. It is not that expensive as a watch either (even accounting for a wristband replacement).

  6. Dave 126 Silver badge

    Dick Tracey

    is nearly here!

    I wouldn't be surprised if Apple's next iPod Nano expanded on this idea- already people are buying straps to turn it into a watch. Apple would have an easier time allowing it to control many functions on a paired iPhone than Sony have with a multitude of Android phones since Apple know their own software and hardware. Doing so would provide a reason for iPhone users to buy a Nano too.

  7. JaitcH
    Happy

    Not the only one on the market

    I saw a number of similar devices when I stopped over in HongKong during New Years.

    Perhaps these more generic types will prove more compatible to a greater variety of Android handsets.

  8. Andy Farley
    Thumb Up

    Oh yes...

    Paired Bluetooth headphones + mic linked to the phone in your pocket controlled by the display on your wrist soon. Sounds good to me.

    Now where's my jetpack?

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Title

    Over there, with that stack of spare batteries.

  10. David Wood

    Exercise app

    If this would work with an exercise app like endomondo i would consider buying it - provided they fix all of the issues! It would be great to have a speed read out on my wrist.

  11. Lui-g
    FAIL

    Got this for Xmas

    .... after telling my wife about it.

    The random connection problems are an issue but it has many major flaws:

    #1: whilst it is great that it has a find my phone feature, over xmas, I was hoping for a "find my LiveView" feature as the unit pops off the wristband far too easily. And no, you can't glue it on, as it needs to pop off the wristband in order for the charging usb port to be accessible. Thus, since you charge it rather often (more on that in #2), the unit needs to be removed and put in place, which means it becomes even more likely to jump off the wristband...

    #2: maybe it's a side effect of having to attempt to connect an fail so often, but the battery life was closer to a single day than anything, often far less than that.

    #3: the unit reset many times, after which you'll not have a working clock until you get reconnect. It would reset sometimes spontaneously, sometimes when I powered it on to tell the time. Other times I'd have to reset it to see if it would connect or not... Often the battery would die before I managed a reconnection.

    The three above issues are quite problematic, and make this feel like a prototype/experiment product that was rushed out to cash in on the Xmas sales - before much testing was done.

    Having spent most of the xmas break wearing a non-functional device (dead battery), or a pointless device (couldn't connect after a reset so could not tell the time), or wearing just the wristband whilst retracing my steps to find where the little black square had gone to, I wasn't impressed. Then, after an LiveView app update was pushed to the market, the new Liveview client on my up-to-date, non-rooted & factory unlocked HTC Desire phone (supposedly one of the few supported devices), it worked perfectly from one glorious evening! (This was unfortunately after Xmas, after my family got to see their 'tech guru' show off his latest innovation that doesn't function (last year I had an Archos 5IT which after an OTA update decided to not connect to any wifi network - &*%!). That device got working after a few tweaks and updates, but it lives in a drawer and will be recycled soon enough.

    So, back to the LiveView - it was WORKING !!! - I was living the dream finally! I got a call notification, then later a gmail notification and even read most of the email on my wrist. All the while I was able to tell the time whenever I wanted without taking my phone out of my pocket - I've not worn a wrist watch this century. Fantastic.

    Alas, the next morning, the power button (one of only two buttons on the unit) stopped working rendering the unit completely useless.

    It's being repaired at the moment by SE.

    I love it, but it needs stability and a redesigned strap. At least it wasn't crazy expensive.

    I'd recommend waiting for the next generation, or at the very least until a proper firmware update is released.

    1. Tigra 07
      Thumb Up

      RE: Lui-g

      Thanks, very informative =]

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Nice

    "As it stands, the wayward connection firmware is a hot, steaming turd on top of the LiveView's otherwise tasty treat."

    Succinctly put sir, I salute you.

  13. Lottie
    Linux

    Thanks!

    I was really considering buying one of these. I think I'll wait for the updates first.

    Great idea though. I mean, when paired with a bluetooth headset, we have the chance to have a fully integrated comms system on our person, all working wirelessly through a remote "brain"! Now all we need is glasses to show us our internet feeds and we can pretend that William Gibson wrote our lives :-)

    We really DO live in the future :-)

  14. John 62
    Gates Halo

    Microsoft SPOT anyone?

    Dunno about the usefulness of this. If I wore it like a watch with MS SPOT-syle functionality, then I'd probably end up using my phone more often anyway. Possibly if you could clip it to your desk/put it up in the kitchen/workshop or something and it would reliably automatically connect when you got in range, it might be worthwhile.

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