This week, Sony Ericsson waded into the increasingly competitive smartphone market with their first Android device. This is the 3rd OS that Sony Ericsson is supporting and recent comments from the CEO suggest that a 4th one (probably Windows Phone Series 7) is likely. The 4 inch capactive touch screen is clearly aimed at stealing market share from the iPhone and may well do so as the 854×480 VGA display and glossy black finish makes the familiar looking iPhone appear clunky. In addition, the decision to avoid using an OLED screen such as that found in the Nexus One means that using this phone in bright sunlight won’t present any problems.
Due to the customisable nature of Android, Sony Ericsson has been able to approach the problem of ‘information overload’ in an intuitive fashion through the use of Timescape. By pressing the ‘infinity’ button, you can view all information associated with any given contact; Facebook updates, Twitter updates, text messages, e-mail…all aggregated in one place and viewed in ‘splines’. It’s best explained by viewing the video below. The same sort of treatment is used in Mediascape.
In addition to bringing the usually abysmal Android media player up to speed, Sony Ericsson brings it’s usual market-leading mobile cameras to the device. The X10 boasts an 8.1 MP camera as well as face recognition technology that ‘remembers’ who was in your previous photo and tags them in your next photos accordingly.
As far as Android phones go, the Sony Ericsson emerges as the current market leader with the X10. Bringing their experience in the mobile world to an open source OS such as Android has really paid off and coupled with the immensely powerful 1Ghz Snapdragon processor, the X10 will be giving the iPhone a run for it’s money.
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