Penny Mobiles – Mobile phone news, reviews & information

For those who have been following the Android phone market for some time a number of new devices have been seen to grace the shelves from time to time, ranging anywhere from huge power horses featuring up to 1GHz processors and massive computing potential to turn phones into virtual netbook computers to smaller devices looking to use the Android’s systems to offer some flexibility on minimal power. The XPERIA, Sony’s first venture into the Android phone market, was seen by most to fit into the first category of “big and powerful”, though for most people was simply too big and bulky to be of practical use. Enter the X10 Minis – Sony’s newest Android balance between size, power and flexibility to wow users.

Coming in at a fraction of the size of the original XPERIA released last year with the largest model – the Pro – measuring a mere 90×52x17 millimeters the new Minis are absolutely dwarfed in comparison. This small size has led many people to worry about the phone’s overall speeds as well as hardware has had to be scaled down to 600MHz, though this is more than enough to ensure speedy usage and blazing fast app speeds thanks to the overall reduced processing draw the compact design affords.

For most people looking at the “mini” tag on a touchscreen based device one of the major concerns they may have is on actual capabilities for messaging and data input, and rightfully so – anyone who can get their hands on the X10 Mini tends to feel that the screen is simply too small to accommodate most users with bulkier fingers. In order to compensate this the Mini Pro, in Sony Ericsson style, has an integral slide-out QWERTY keyboard that allows for direct typing into the phone and, even though it is still somewhat cramped compared to what some users may be used to, affords for much more comfortable tactile responses that even cynics find appealing.

Rounding off the Mini’s features is not only it’s processing power but its other functions as well. Coming equipped with a 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus and LED flash in addition to GPS for geotagging and the slew of connectivity options found on most smartphones these days means that you can not only keep in touch no matter where you are in the world but also share your information and exact location easily and effectively. The Mini and Pro also come equipped with a new feature of Sony’s, Timescape, that affords instantaneous notifications whenever an update is posted to your social media account of you receive a new e-mail or message, meaning fewer time is spent going online to manually check your messages and status updates. This is a great feature for social networkers and business professionals alike, though for some they may feel that the pop-up notifications are a big cumbersome on the Mini’s shrunken screen due to the fact that not much free space is available at any given time.

With the screen’s smaller size a big concern for developers the Sony Ericsson team has taken this into consideration as well and added in four customizable shortcuts that allow users to set their favorite programs or apps up to be run with a simply touch – thus cleaning up the home page and making room for updates. This small addition has helped sway those who have been on the edge in the past about the device over to believers and make them avidly await the upcoming release. Unfortunately as of yet no set date has been confirmed, however given Sony Ericsson’s relatively quick turnarounds after announcements these days consumers can most likely expect to see the Mini duo hitting the market sometime in the second quarter of this year.

While it is very common for us in the mobile industry to see new devices and innovations being announced and released one after the other, there is a definite charm in being able to have a good idea of how the industry will be shaping up a few months ahead in time. Events like last January’s CES (held at Las Vegas) and Feb 14’s Mobile World Congress (held at Barcelona, Spain), has given us plenty of new things to look forward to.

Samsung’s Wave phone got a head start in exposure with plenty of its posters being put up just a day or two before the big event. Looks like the Korean manufacturer has gone all out to deliver its promise of making a “smart phone for everyone” –the new Wave phone is hardly lacking in features, it has a 1GHz processor, a super AMOLED touch screen and Samsung’s spiffy new proprietary operating system, the Bada. Open source and ready to go, the Bada made a pretty successful debut last Sunday.

Though when it comes to debuts, nothing comes as close to the amount of fanfare and critical reception of the new Microsoft mobile platform, the Windows Phone 7 series; the new name is a telling sign of how many things have changed for the OS previously known as Windows Mobile. Presenters onstage constantly repeated the phrase: “the phone is not a PC”, emphasizing heavily on their new approach to reinvent the way users see their mobile devices.

Google’s Android operating system also made a pretty heavy showing, in actual devices too. HTC and Sony Ericsson will be launching major devices this coming March as the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 and the HTC Desire will be going head to head. Both devices run on Snapdragon processors. The HTC Legend and the X10 Minis will be following shortly too.

See MWC product images at the Guardian UK.

There are plenty of new Android smart phones coming out this year; Sony Ericsson will be contributing three new devices to the lineup.

Heading the charge is the XPERIA X10. This smart phone was originally announced as the Rachel and is probably the first high-end smart phone to be announced at the end of 2009 (before the Bravo and the Nexus One anyway).  The device was the first Snapdragon powered Android smart phone to be confirmed and while it is confirmed to be using the old 1.6 Donut OS from the box, updates for the firmware are expected to be available by its launch this coming March.

The XPERIA X10 is an impressive device, but it is definitely not made for the general market. This is probably why Sony Ericsson previously announced that it would also launch the XPERIA Robyn –a smart phone based on the looks and features of the X10, but with lowered specs, a smaller size and a cheaper price tag. SE surprised the crowds at the Mobile World Congress by bringing out the X10 Mini –the Robyn fully completed.

The phone is small, sporting a 2.5 inch screen that makes it almost half the size of the original device. It will not be using the Timescape and Mediascape user interface on the X10; instead, it will employ the UX user interface that fully utilizes the whole display screen. Overall, it is an impressive low to mid range smart phone.

SE has also shown the X10 Mini Pro. A second version of the X10 Mini that comes with a slide out physical QWERTY keyboard that targets the heavy messaging market. Speaking of keyboards, the new Vivaz Pro is a keyboard version of the Vivaz too.

Get the rest of the news on the SE X10 Mini and Mini Pro at Stuff TV.