Hasta La Gadget!

Our hope for the recently leaked Anzu (likely to be known as the Xperia X12 at retail) handset from Sony Ericsson was that it’d be the company’s Android Gingerbread flagship, but here comes international super-reviewer Eldar Murtazin popping that bubble for us. The good man from Russia has a preview unit in his secret lab and reports that it currently only runs Android 2.1, with the intention being that launch devices in early 2011 will start off with Android 2.2 before getting their Gingerbread (2.3) fix in a later update. He also notes a 4.3-inch display with 854 x 480 resolution (just an LCD, nothing exciting), an 800MHz Qualcomm MSM7230 (same as in the T-Mobile G2 / Desire Z) powering things inside, and a 12 megapixel imager mounted on the back. The latter is naturally capable of recording 720p video, while early performance impressions are that the stock Android interface flies. Alas, Eldar expects SE to layer its own customizations on top, which adds to his disappointment with the general build quality of this device — it’s thinner and lighter than the X10, but apparently feels cheaper to the touch. Hit the source link for his comprehensive preview.

Let’s also not forget Eldar’s tweet from the weekend when he said he was playing with the Anzu and the Galaxy 2 (aka Samsung i9100, according to him). Given that the first of those devices has now indeed made its way onto Mobile-review, the veracity of his second claim — that the upcoming Samsung handset would be a dual-core beastie — now seems a lot less questionable.

[Thanks, Momchil]

Continue reading Sony Ericsson’s 4.3-inch Anzu previewed: ain’t got no Gingerbread, but still looking tasty

Sony Ericsson’s 4.3-inch Anzu previewed: ain’t got no Gingerbread, but still looking tasty originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Nov 2010 02:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Doesn’t get much more “late October” than this, does it? Sony Ericsson has announced that it’ll begin delivering Android 2.1 upgrades to its X10 line of phones at long last this coming Sunday, October 31st — but odds are pretty good you won’t be in the first batch. In fact, only unbranded X10s, X10 Minis, and X10 Mini Pros in Nordic countries will be getting boosted at first, followed by “more kits” on Monday and throughout November. As a refresher, these updates will bring 720p video capture on the X10 proper (complete with continuous autofocus), a new backup / restore app, and a bunch of other tweaks that should make your little pal feel a bit less 2009 and bit more 2010. Froyo would be nice, of course… but we’ll take what we can get.

Android 2.1 starts rolling out to Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 line this weekend originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Oct 2010 13:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Let’s be real: almost every phone looks better in white. Okay, so that’s strictly a matter of personal opinion — but if you’re a white phone kind of person, turn your attention away from the forever-delayed iPhone 4 and toward a couple that are launching shortly thanks to some new details from Best Buy. Turns out Verizon’s white Fascinate and AT&T’s white X10 are both scheduled to hit on October 24, alongside the Dell Streak — not in white, by the bye — followed by the HTC Surround on November 8 (which we already knew). Any of ’em can be yours for a $50 deposit.

Update: We’ve been told that the white Fascinate and X10 will be exclusives for Best Buy, at least at first.

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

White Samsung Fascinate and Sony Ericsson X10 joining Dell Streak in Best Buy this month originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Android phone owners are in for some bad news. The company has delayed the rollout of the upgrade to Android 2.1  version of the operating system for Xperia phones in the U.S.

Instead of updating existing devices–the Xperia X10, Xperia X10 mini and Xperia X10 mini pro–to Android 2.1 at the end of September, Xperia owners will get new features added at the end of October and onwards.

“We are, of course, not happy about the change of launch timing but we have had to spend some additional time on the software to really makes sure we roll-out with the right quality and user experience,” says Sony Ericsson on its product blog.

The move is yet another example of how Sony Ericsson’s Android plans have been plagued by delays.

Despite the beautiful hardware Sony Ericsson’s phones have never enjoyed the same level of popularity in the U.S. as the company’s rivals. Last year, Sony Ericsson turned to Android in the hope that it would more effectively compete in the smartphones market. But it has been slow to bring Android devices to market.

Sony Ericsson worked for months on creating a skin for Android called UXP. The UXP skin brought in features such as Timescape that collects social networking feeds and presents them in a card-like view. It added a recommendation engine for music and a widget to access photos and video.

Though it was attractive, the user interface significantly delayed Sony Ericsson’s launch of Android phones. In August, the Xperia X10 debuted on the AT&T network for $150 with a two-year contract. The Xperia X10 launched with version 1.6 of the Android OS, as did the X10 mini and X10 mini pro.

Clearly, that version of the OS is extremely outdated and Sony Ericsson is trying to fix it with its latest update.

With its upcoming rollout, the company plans to offer Xperia users features such as HD video recording with continuous auto-focus, five homescreens for apps, widgets, shortcuts and folders and social phonebook that automatically syncs contact pictures from Facebook and shows when your friends are online.

Almost all of these features are already standard on most Android phones.

Sony Ericsson is struggling to catch up and along the way, Xperia users are finding themselves without the most current software and features. Even with the upcoming update, Xperia users won’t be on the latest Android platform. Current Xperia models are unlikely to see Android 2.2 Froyo for a very long time.

See Also:

• Motorola Droid Rules Android
• Bloatware Creeps Into Android Phones
• Nokia Phones Hacked to Run Android
• Want Porn? Buy an Android Phone, Steve Jobs Says

Photo: Priya Ganapati/Wired.com

[via Unwired View]

Sony Ericsson made it clear way back in May that the Xperia X10 family wouldn’t stay at the antiquated Android 1.6 forever — come Q4 2010, they’d get an Eclair with freshly revamped Timescape and Mediascape filling. Now, it looks like the company’s codified that promise in this allegedly leaked German roadmap. Spotted by a tipster at the Xperia X10 Blog at IFA 2010 in Berlin, the document describes a 720p video recording mode (with continuous autofocus) for the Xperia X10 alone, plus Facebook and Twitter contacts integration, an HTML5-compliant browser and five homescreen pages for the entire Xperia series with the release of Android 2.1. There’s also a separate “2.1x” release after that to bring the two ‘scapes up to snuff, and it seems the Xperia X8’s being bundled with the mini and mini pro as far as updates go. There’s sadly no mention of Android 2.2, but we wouldn’t yet count it out — for all we know, the very next page of that leaflet could be oozing delicious frozen yogurt all over these phones.

Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Android upgrade roadmap leaks out, shows 720p recording but no Froyo originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 00:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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