Hasta La Gadget!

Ericsson Labs is showing off an API for navigating through a three-dimensional interpretation of the world based on real imagery powered by Saab spinoff (the defense firm, not the car company) C3 Technologies on Sony Ericsson’s upcoming X10 — and in a word, it’s looking impressive. The buttons for controlling the action are a bit hokey, of course, but don’t worry too much about that — this is strictly a proof of concept, and the important thing is that no matter how much panning, tilting, and swooping through the cityscape the demo-giver does, video output stays above 30 frames per second. Thank goodness for Snapdragon, eh? There’s no indication that we’ll see a shipping version of this app on retail X10s out of the box, but let’s hope something awesome comes of this. Follow the break for video.

Continue reading 3D maps demoed on Sony Ericsson X10, Snapdragon paying off

3D maps demoed on Sony Ericsson X10, Snapdragon paying off originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We still don’t know whether T-Mobile is going to take on-contract advantage of the X10’s AWS version in the States, but as far as we can tell, WIND won’t be taking advantage of it in Canada now that Rogers has locked it up as an exclusive. The bad news is that it won’t be launching until some time in the second quarter — but when you think back to the X1 and the excruciating 16-month delay between announcement and retail on Rogers, that ain’t half bad. Now, Rogers, just push HTC to rethink its decision not to move past 1.5 on the Magic and Dream and you’re doing alright by us (at least as far as Android gear goes).

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Rogers signed up to carry Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 as a Canadian exclusive originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Occasionally, a phone exists simply because it can. Not because it’s powerful; not because it offers amazing bang for the buck; not because the manufacturer negotiated some lucrative exclusivity agreement with a major carrier, and certainly not because it’s introducing some groundbreaking new smartphone operating system. Yeah — not even Sony Ericsson is attempting to frame or formulate a legitimate business case for the sinfully hedonistic Xperia Pureness, because they don’t have to. One look at that wild transparent display and you’ll either be smitten or confused and dismayed by the $1,000 sticker price. It’s that simple.

Anyhow, we’ve just taken delivery of a Pureness today and have had a few fleeting moments to check it out. If it weren’t for the screen, you’d be looking at a $30 prepaid candybar here — you don’t have a camera, a high-res display, or any sexy metal or soft-touch bits to give the phone a premium feel. The UI is about the simplest possible incarnation of Sony Ericsson’s typical dumbphone platform, owing largely to the fact that the display’s just grayscale; you’ve got an FM radio (with a headset attached) and a basic music player and browser, but if you’re in North America, don’t expect any 3G.

That said, seriously, look at that shot we took up there: the display is insane. We can’t quite get over it — it’s the ultimate conversation piece. Motorola Aura owners looking for a fresh way to draw a crowd might look at this as their next purchase, but if you’re looking to do anything but talk (and occasionally browse an eerily translucent version of Engadget), make no mistake, this isn’t your phone. Did we mention we want one really, really badly?

Sony Ericsson Xperia Pureness hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh, to live the life of an FCC certification lab employee: setting up test benches, writing reports, playing with devices that won’t be released for months or years. Instead, we’re stuck enjoying their fun vicariously at an arm’s length through a little portal we know as the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology, where gems like the X10 occasionally pop up complete with pretty in-the-wild pictures, teardowns, and user manuals. What we’re looking at here are test results for EDGE 850 / 1900 plus WCDMA Band IV (that’d be T-Mobile’s and WIND’s spectrum, by the bye), WiFi, and Bluetooth, so even if T-Mobile ultimately chooses not to offer it on contract, you should be able to score it one way or another N900-style. The user’s manual is basically just 40 pages of good stuff plus a bunch of conformity statement mumbo jumbo, but it’s still a good read — so if you think this might be your phone of choice come 2010, have a look.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 catches FCC on a good day originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Since it’ll be eons until we enjoy the kind of 4G coverage that we’ve grown used to on 2G (and to a lesser extent, 3G), manufacturers and carriers are hard at work making sure that we’ve got a reliable way to interoperate for the foreseeable future — TeliaSonera, for instance, wants to swap out its customers’ modems for LTE / HSPA dual-mode versions once they’re available next year. To that end, Ericsson and ST-Ericsson are trumpeting that they’ve become the first to establish “LTE and HSPA mobility” in accordance with 3GPP’s Release 8 specification, which dictates this sort of stuff in a way everyone can agree on (that’s a good thing). Verizon’s naturally more interested in the CDMA handoffs that have already gone down, but for AT&T and most of the rest of the world, this is exciting news indeed.

Ericsson trials HSPA-LTE interoperability, we count 7 Gs in total originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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