The lucky chaps over at Boy Genius Report have managed to get their hands all over Sony Ericsson's latest and greatest -- the hotly anticipated Xperia X1. Early word is that the 800 x 480 screen, optical joystick, and speedy HSDPA data are all very welcome, but the keyboard (which looks like it would be a joy to type on) leaves a lot to be desired. Of course, the OS should come as no surprise, and they don't seem to have any shots of Sony's "panel interface," so for now you'll have to make do with some nice looks at the exteriors of the device. Hit the read link and check it out yourself.
So the backstory goes something like this: Swedish publication Elektroniktidningen were looking forward to a meeting with HTC, but the meeting was delayed due to talks of some sort of merger with Sony Ericsson. Everyone panicked: Could HTC be bought by Sony Ericsson? They've already worked together on the Xperia X1, so it could be possible, right? Not so much, according to HTC. Word from them is that this whole this is a bunch of hooey. According to HTC's spokesperson, "This is just a rumor and there is no truth to this statement." For now we're moving along.
Yeah, we know it's not earth shattering news, but we'll take what we can get when it comes to Sony Ericsson's eminently drool-worthy set. The X1's official site has dropped a few shots of the handset in a second color called Steel Silver that show a new XPERIA panel key and some new branding below the screen. Way to tease Sony Ericsson, we're not worried about the labels, just push this out the door this year, pretty please?
We're not sure how they pulled it off, so kudos to CNMO for snapping the HTC Touch Diamond up against the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. Undoubtedly the world's most hotly anticipated cellphones this side of the still fictional 3G iPhone and Nokia Tube. While the Xperia X1 definitely sports some extra chub, remember, there's an arc sliding QWERTY tucked beneath that WVGA display. Hit the read link for bigger pics.
Update: Ah, so that's how CNMO did it. They stole the pics from WMExperts and added their watermark. Crafty. Post updated with proper source.
A video doing the rounds on the interblogs is apparently showcasing not one but two new Sony Ericsson handsets. It's unclear just exactly what models we're seeing in the clip, nor do we know if they're prototypes or actual production versions, though they do bear a few similarities to the forthcoming X1. One thing is for sure, Sony is definitely pushing the convergence angle on its new phones, highlighting lots of multimedia, data sharing, and a suspiciously familiar chat app. Check out another pic and the full video after the break.
While we're sure there's at least a few folks that'll be pleased to hear that Sony Ericsson's eagerly-anticipated XPERIA X1 will launch with Handango's InHand service on the device, we're guessing there's a tad more people that'll be interested in the other little detail revealed in the company's recent newsletter: that the X1 will apparently be launching in mid-September. Of course, we'll still have to wait to hear from Sony Ericsson to know for sure, especially given some of the launch date confusion in the past, but this latest word is at least in line with the company's most recent statement that the X1 launching in the second half of 2008, so it might not be such a crazy idea to start counting down the days.
So it seems the X1 being shown off at CeBIT following its MWC debut last month is equipped with a particularly curious panel in its software load. Anyone care to take a guess? No cheating and looking at the one we've circled now. Yeah, okay, it's that big AT&T logo front and center, which makes an appearance in several of PHONE Magazine's shots of the interface. We'd like to believe that means that AT&T is a lock to pick up one of the hottest Windows Mobile devices ever manufactured, and indeed, it probably does -- its 3G radio is certainly ripe for the job -- but it's entirely possible to think that Sony Ericsson is still in the process of selling carriers on the device, and is simply trying to get 'em to crack a smile by loading their logo. Keep your fingers crossed, ladies and gentlemen.
It looks like those eagerly waiting to get their hands on Sony Ericsson's HTC-madeXPERIA X1 can rest a little easier, as the much anticipated apparently is still on track for release in the second half of this year, and not in February 2009 as recently rumored. That word comes straight from Sony Ericsson Corporate Vice President of the Global Communications Aldo Liguori, who told the Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog that "I can confirm that we will be launching the X1 product in 2nd Half of 2008, as per our announcement of 10th February." That sure is about as definitive as you can get, though we're guessing there's plenty of folks out there that think any date other than tomorrow is too long to wait.
A table of release dates dug up on Sony Ericsson's own site suggests something powerfully depressing, which is that the XPERIA X1 has been pushed all the way out to February 10, 2009 (notice that the date is in European format -- we'd just give up now if it were actually October 2, 2009). While the presence of the page on the company's very own domain is pretty damning evidence, we're still holding out hope that it's a typo or an oversight; late Q2 of '08 was mentioned at MWC, and we really don't see how it's possible to push out a phone nearly three-quarters of a year just weeks after its initial announcement. Please tell us we're right on this one, Sony Ericsson. Please.
It probably shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, but yep, that mysterious new version of Windows Mobile that Sony Ericsson was dread to discuss at MWC wasn't so mysterious at all -- it's just Windows Mobile 6.1. Granted, 6.1 still hasn't been announced to the world, but it's a well-documented rev that should do a decent job of holding us all over until 7 finally (finally!) happens. Given the pure hotness of the hardware, we kinda wish Microsoft actually had rolled some sort of crazy post-6.1 update just for it, but we guess Sony Ericsson's custom panel interface will have to pick up the slack there.
If you thought the X1's crazy panel interface was just a little too crazy for Windows Mobile 6, well, there might just be some truth to that. Mobile-review is reporting that the X1 will be among several late-2008 devices arriving with some post-6.0, pre-7.0 version of Windows Mobile that features a number of yet-to-be-disclosed goodies, which is why Sony Ericsson's generally been pretty stingy with the hands-on time at Mobile World Congress this week. We're not sure if this is simply another way of saying 6.1 or yet another interim build to hold us all over until the platform gets thoroughly revamped, but honestly, right now we're just kinda looking forward to sliding that beautiful keyboard open and closed a few times more than anything else.
When we saw the XPERIA X1 announced yesterday we pretty much flipped our collective geeky lids, this handset is the stuff mobile dreams are made of. There is nothing to gripe about here and while our play date was short-lived -- and very supervised -- we did get a chance to peek at the rather unfinished UI, fit and finish, and did we mention the frickin' screen on this phone? Wah! It's like paper. This handset just can't come soon enough -- for those of you not listening earlier, that'll be late Q2 -- but until then you'll just have to live with pics.
It's one thing to see the X1 (or any phone, for that matter) all dolled up for perfect, clinical press shots, but it's quite another to see it doing its thing in the wild. The WinMo-based superphone is still many months away from release, but a few lucky individuals -- Sony Ericsson employees, that is -- had the opportunity to show it off at the company's Mobile World Congress press event this evening in Barcelona, and it's hard to argue that the thing is simply beautiful. Whether it's usable and feels as good in the hand as it looks in pictures is a question that we won't be able to fully answer until we have a retail unit sitting in front of us, but for now, we're about as optimistic as we could be.
The company that once designed the Treo for Palm (and countless other amazing white-label devices) is apparently back in the ODM game. That's right, if you were wondering how the hell Sony Ericsson pulled the XPERIA X1 rabbit out of its hat, look no further than HTC. While we don't think they did any of the special software, we heard it through the grapevine that the X1 is all HTC-built, which kind of explains a lot if you ask us.
Wondering what the XPERIA X1's magical mystery "panel interface" is? Good, us too. Now we've got a preview courtesy of Sony Ericsson. If it functions this quick in hand as it does in the promotional video then Sony Ericsson might just be on to something here. See what we mean after the break.
