X1 -- Engadget Mobile

x1 posts

Sony Ericsson X1 and C510 launch on Rogers

by Chris Ziegler posted Jun 24th 2009 @ 1:47PM

Better late than never, right? Some sixteen excruciating months after its announcement, Sony Ericsson's WinMo superphone -- the mighty XPERIA X1 -- has finally come to Rogers as expected. Considering that the X1 is still very much one of the world's premier smartphones (on paper, anyhow), the on-contract promotional price of CAD $249.99 after discounts seems reasonable enough -- of course, whether you feel the same way after three years of mobile marriage is another story altogether. Staying within the Sony Ericsson realm, the C510 has also launched, an attractive candybar with 7.2Mbps / 2Mbps HSPA and a 3.2 megapixel cam; it's all yours for CAD $79.99 on contract.

[Via Howard Chui]

Read - X1
Read - C510

Sony Ericsson X1 upgrade pricing on Rogers: $499.99?

by Chris Ziegler posted Jun 16th 2009 @ 6:26PM

We figure that the Sony Ericsson X1 is destined for Rogers any day now -- just around the same time that we suspect the X2 will be announced, ironically -- and now we're starting to get an idea on pricing. A tipster writes in to tell us that this CAD $499.99 you're seeing here is for an upgrade customer with no data plan, which would be crazy high for a new lad coming in off the street and signing up for a three-year deal, we hope, but it gives us a good picture of what current customers might have to gear up for. Excessive, perhaps -- but then again, some of us will go to the ends of the Earth for WVGA.

[Thanks, cell143]

Sony Ericsson X2 spotted?

by Chris Ziegler posted Jun 3rd 2009 @ 11:54AM

A tipster tells us that the device you're looking at here is Sony Ericsson's codename "Vulcan" -- better known as the X2 -- which would presumably replace the X1 at some point in the next few days, weeks, months, or years. Though the picture's small, you can clearly make out the X Panel button in the lower left of the phone's front and a Windows key in the upper left of the keyboard, which adds a dose of credibility -- the company has, after all, put quite a bit of time and effort into pimping its panel interface SDK, and right now, the X1 is the only device that supports it. The image looks a little rough around the edges, but we can easily chalk that up to this being either a composite mockup or a very early prototype combined with the fact that our tipster seems to have blanked out the surroundings to protect the source. We're not saying it's definitely real, but this certainly looks plausible -- we're just not convinced yet that it looks better than the model it'd replace. Thoughts?

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

Sony Ericsson X1 gets promising firmware update

by Chris Ziegler posted Jun 1st 2009 @ 8:51AM

We don't have confirmation whether BlackBerry connectivity is in there, but that rumored new firmware release for the X1 is apparently out and about. It's supposed to make the phone generally more responsive -- we always like to hear that -- but you'll also get a brighter keyboard backlight, improved messaging, and better signal strength. In other words, they seem to have hit a bunch of things that we wouldn't imagine could be fixed with a firmware update alone, so we're counting our blessings -- as long as this doesn't think they're allowed to slack on getting that X2 to market, that is.

[Via CoolSmartPhone]

New Sony Ericsson X1 firmware with BlackBerry Connect in the works?

by Chris Ziegler posted May 19th 2009 @ 3:06PM

SEMC Blog -- which tends to have an inside line on these matters -- is claiming that a new firmware for the awesome-but-pricey X1 is just around the corner. That in itself isn't really notable since we've seen new firmwares for the device hit in the past, but the juicy morsel here seems to be that the latest build will include "support of BlackBerry connection," which we take to mean integrated BlackBerry Connect. That'll certainly improve the X1's street cred in the business world, but we can't help but wonder whether it's too late to eke out a major sales push on this one -- especially now that buzz over the X2 has swelled to a rolling boil.

Lenovo's X1 for China is full of KIRF, win

by Chris Ziegler posted Mar 22nd 2009 @ 8:51PM

Okay, there's some amount of originality here, but enough to justify a Red Dot design award? What you're looking at here is the award-winning Lenovo X1 -- as opposed to, say, the Sony Ericsson X1 -- which is a triband EDGE handset Lenovo sells in China. To us, it looks like an Instinct with a slide-out keypad and TouchWiz, but what do we know? Coincidentally, Lenovo calls this totally original UI "Touch Dream," which sounds just a little bit (okay, a whole lot) like an HTC device. So, to summarize: Sony Ericsson and HTC branding, Samsung design, made by Lenovo. Right then.

[Thanks, Bin Xu]

HTC Touch Pro2 vs. Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1... fight!

by Chris Ziegler posted Mar 9th 2009 @ 1:44PM

It may not have been a fair fight to put the mighty X1 up against the original Touch Pro -- the X1's got the better display and oodles of sex appeal -- but HTC's already back for round two with an all-new device. Is it an even match this time around? The final call will probably have to wait a couple months for production Touch Pro2s to start circulating, but in the meantime, we now have a few side-by-side shots to ponder. "Too much awesome hardware" is a great problem to have, isn't it?

[Via WMPoweruser.com]

Sony Ericsson outs CNN, Skype, Mytopia panels for XPERIA X1

by Darren Murph posted Feb 19th 2009 @ 7:15AM

Sony Ericsson's Panels interface hasn't taken off the way HTC's TouchFLO 3D has, but it's still a nice way to momentarily forget that you're being forced to use Windows Mobile 6.1. At any rate, those who plunked down some eight bills to procure an XPERIA X1 should probably give this a look, as SE has just unveiled the latest Panels for its first (and likely last) HTC-designed smartphone. Available starting in mid-March, users will be able to suck down CNN, Skype, Mytopia and 'On the Road' Panels. For specific details on what each will provide, you know where to head.

Sony Ericsson's XPERIA X1 gets firmware update

by Sean Cooper posted Jan 26th 2009 @ 5:01PM

XDA-Developers forum member PavelX1 has posted up info on a pile of XPERIA X1 updates he glimpsed on EMMA (Sony Ericsson's official service software). ROM version has migrated from 1.02.936.3 to 1.03.936.6 and is labeled as R2A. Of course, there's no word on what the official changes are but first reports say the X1 now boots quicker and attaches to network faster. Apparently the SEUS (Sony Ericsson Update Service) isn't quite telling the truth when users are attempting to grab at the update, but proceeding through and updating anyway seems to be doing the trick. Usual cautionary advice from us is to read before attacking this as an ounce of precaution is worth a pound of cure.

[Thanks, Deniz]

Sony Ericsson's XPERIA X1a now available at SonyStyle

by Darren Murph posted Jan 6th 2009 @ 11:46AM

It's been tough getting out of the starting gate for Sony Ericsson's X1a (that's the Americanized version of the X1), particularly when you realize that it was supposed to ship en masse way back on Black Friday of last year. Oh sure, a select few have managed to procure one of the QWERTY-packin' WinMo powerhouses, but we've heard far more complaints about "no stock" than tips on excess inventory. Now, however, SonyStyle.com has the handset listed as in stock, with an estimated ship date of tomorrow. Furthermore, UnwiredView is reporteding that many of Sony's retail locations are also well stocked with the unlocked smartphone. Of note, SonyStyle is offering up the X1a in silver, but there's always spray paint if you're lusting after a black model like the one we tried out.

[Via UnwiredView]

Sony Ericsson's XPERIA X1 developing cracks?

by Darren Murph posted Dec 28th 2008 @ 3:31PM

Sheesh, what's up with top tier handsets cracking this year? First the iPhone 3G, now SE's XPERIA X1? A curiously high amount of cracking complaints are starting to build around the web, possibly indicating that a quality issue could be somewhat widespread. We're hesitant to believe that this here quirk is even close to happening everywhere, but it is somewhat suspicious that HTC and SE have recently been rumored to be going their separate ways after this phone has faded from the limelight. At any rate, we've no choice but to poll our own audience here, so have you seen unwanted cracks appear in your X1? If so, hit the read link -- you definitely aren't alone in all of this.

[Via WMPowerUser]

Fuze, X1, and a couple Touch Pros: the ultimate WinMo smackdown

by Chris Ziegler posted Dec 27th 2008 @ 7:00PM

2008 was, to say the least, a banner year for Windows Mobile hardware. Windows Mobile software... well, that's another story; we're still patiently waiting for the same thorough overhaul we'd hoped for years ago, but in the meantime, manufacturers have done an absolutely stellar job of taking the platform to its limits and packaging it in ways that could make any smartphone envious. For this first time, VGA screens (and beyond) have come to market en masse, and -- unlike the 8525s, Tilts, Moguls, and XV6800s of yesteryear, the latest batch of QWERTY sliders look like they've actually got a lick of intelligent industrial design in their DNA.

So these puppies are similar, yes, but they're not the same -- so let's take a quick look at what separates the Sprint Touch Pro, from the Verizon Touch Pro, from the AT&T Fuze, from the Sony Ericsson X1 (whew!).

Gallery: Fuze, X1, and a couple Touch Pros: the ultimate WinMo smackdown

Continue reading Fuze, X1, and a couple Touch Pros: the ultimate WinMo smackdown

Sony Ericsson's XPERIA X1, how would you change it?

by Darren Murph posted Dec 26th 2008 @ 7:45PM

Just like last week's How Would You Change, the latest episode is also dealing with one of the snazziest new smartphones to hit the US market. It's certainly not without its fair share of niggles, though, so why not head on over if you've a brilliant idea of how to make SE's XPERIA X1 better? Sure, it's all fun and games, but what the heck is wrong with fun and games? Nothing, that's what.

Sony Ericsson rumored to be moving away from HTC for WinMo phones

by Chris Ziegler posted Dec 23rd 2008 @ 6:40PM

We tend to think Sony Ericsson and partner HTC pretty much nailed the X1 -- at least to the extent a WinMo 6.1 phone can be "nailed" -- but for whatever reason, it looks like the company might be looking elsewhere to continue development of its Microsoft-based lineup. DigiTimes (which, granted, doesn't have a spotless record when it comes to this sort of stuff) is quoting a Chinese paper in saying that SE is cheating on HTC with Mobinnova to produce its second XPERIA model, and what's more, they're suggesting that Sony Ericsson's entire business partnership with HTC will draw to a close when the final X1 rolls off the assembly line. We're seriously unsure why they'd go their separate ways after creating one of the most beautiful phones of the year, but hey, business is business.

[Via the::unwired]

Sony Ericsson's US X1 back in business this week, hopefully

by Chris Ziegler posted Dec 8th 2008 @ 1:23PM

If you've had trouble finding the Sony Ericsson X1 on American shelves since its supposed release on Black Friday, you're not alone. It seems that stock was pulled shortly after release and sent back to headquarters, possibly for an ultra-last-minute firmware update designed to fix an undisclosed bug of some sort -- but the good news is that phones should start to filter back into their natural habitats this week. Look at it this way: at least you got to hang onto your 800 frickin' dollars for a few days longer, right?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]