2010 June » JustinLee.sg

Review: Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

Jun 292010

Introduction

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 is SE’s first attempt into the Android platform. Customized with their own look-and-feel UI, Rachael, and the amazing pimped-out specifications, does it really rise up to the brand of Xperia and Sony Ericsson’s acclaimed Camera and Music (media) focused branding?

Specifications

As usual, only the unique and interesting specifications will be listed. For full specifications, go to the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 website.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10
CPU	1 GHz snapdragon
Screen Size / Resolution	4 inches / 480 x 854 pixels WVGA
Camera	8.1 megapixels, 16x Digital Zoom, Autofocus, Face Recognition, Image Stabiliser, LED Flash, Smile Detection
Unique Software	Timescape and Mediascape

Love the powerful camera specifications. Don’t you?

Likes

The feel of the phone is great. With the slightly rubbery feel of the back similar to the Nexus One and the curves at the sides, it makes a great phone to hold and feel. The screen is a brilliant TFT touchscreen which is comparable, if not better, than most LED backlit and TFT touchscreens we see out there (excluding Samsung’s Super AMOLED).

Camera

The camera, running at 8.1 megapixels with LED flash is one of the better Android camera phones out in the market, even now. However, if it was Xenon Flash, it would have blown the competition away.

Take a look at the 2 photos taken by the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 and the Nexus One and judge for yourself. Notice the slight blurry photo for the X10. That’s probably just me not setting it to the right macro settings, or my hand shaking too much. But the colours are closer to the actual colours than the Nexus One.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

Nexus One

However, it just ends there.

Dislikes

Android 1.6 is the biggest failing factor of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10. Given, this is Sony Ericsson’s first foray into the Android platform. As much as the good intentions and ideas that Sony Ericsson has put into the UI customizations, codename Rachael, it fails to impress.

The UI customization is a glassy/dreamy feel that looks good on screen, but fails in usability. The dreamy and blurry look-and-feel might appeal to many visually, but after using for long periods, it becomes tiring to your eyes. Many of the widgets that comes preloaded with the phone takes up too much unnecessary white-space.

Not forgetting, their 2 applications that come with the phone, TimeScape and MediaScape, falls flat on its face trying to bring similar experience as HTC’s Sense UI or Motorola’s MotoBlur.

TimeScape aggregates all your communications, from twitter to SMSes to phone calls, all in one application. The idea is good, but the execution is badly done. For a person with too much information overload, it is difficult to consume these information quickly and efficiently with the Stacked-Tiled view.

MediaScape is a great application. That’s one interface I think works well with your albums. You can purchase songs directly from the PlayNow store. However, previewing a song takes so long to load your screen time-outs and locks your phone. When you unlock your phone, it simply cancels the preview and you have to start all over again.

Conclusion

Sony Ericsson has always been branded as a great media device phone, and the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 has upheld that branding; offering one of the best android media device phone in the market, both great as a camera and a music player. However, because of the lack of an updated OS and the overly bluish “glow” theme which makes the phone very “dreamy”, it isn’t suited for a person who uses their mobile phone heavily as their multi-source communication device. Good first attempt into the Android space, but there is still a lot of room for improvement to become the best Android phone.

+ Love the camera and hardware (screen, audio, and everything else)
+ Mediascape brings music to your phone with PlayNow
- Timescape needs a more effective way of displaying information
- Android 1.6

Photos

DigressCast Episode 11 by Tech65

Technology No Responses »

Jun 282010

You heard it from me. It’s finally out. Check it out! We talk about Farinelli’s nuts. That is right, Farinelli’s nuts. Enjoy.

DigressCast #11: Farinelli’s Nuts

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Windows Live Essentials Beta Now Available

Lifestyle No Responses »

Jun 252010

Windows Live Essentials Beta is finally out after months of waiting. Download it here.

Microsoft just unveiled the new Windows Live Essentials and the role it plays in completing the Windows experience. Essentials is a suite of free software and services which includes Messenger, Mail, Writer, Photo Gallery, and Movie Maker – as well as Sync and Family Safety.

We all take a lot of photos and videos that we love to share. Windows Live Photo Gallery and Movie Maker now comes with intuitive tools for organizing photos and movies, in addition to providing consumers with the tools to polish and then share their content online. Some of my favorites include:

Photo Fuse. Allowing you to take the best parts of similar photos and fuse them together into one “perfect” photo
Retouch. A great new feature which allows you to get rid of blemishes, scratches, bruises and stains on photos in a few clicks
Precision Video and Audio Editing. Make it so simple for you to find the sweet spot for each video or audio clip
High-Definition Formats (720p and 1080p). Now you can make your movies look even more polished and professional

Finally, a new tool introduced in the Windows Live Essentials family, Windows Live Sync. With Sync, you can access your files and folders on the web – even if your PC is offline.

Learn more about what’s new with Windows Live Essentials.

Compiling Android 2.1 Eclair Source on Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard

CodeAndroid, Technology 19 Responses »

Jun 222010

My previous post, Compiling Android Source on Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, is outdated and doesn’t work with the new source code, so I thought I’ll update this for eclair.

Here are the steps.

1. Install XCode, Macports, repo, etc.

I assume everyone knows how to do this. Follow the instructions from the Get Android Source Code page. Just remember to create a new partition that is a case-sensitive partition if you’re using a non case-sensitive primary partition. I’ll start off after you’ve gotten the source from git.

2. Get the following patches.

Since there is only 1 patch to grab, I used repo for this.

Patch 12074 - Change Ic4caeff0: Enable building on java 1.6 without conflicts.

This patch will allow you to use Java 1.6 that comes with Snow Leopard instead of Java 1.5.

[sourcecode language="bash"]
repo download platform/build 12074/5
[/sourcecode]

The rest of the patches seems to have made it into the trunk, so it isn’t required to patch them anymore.

3. Edit the files.

However, there is 1 extra step you need to do in order to get a clean build. I can’t find the patch for this yet, so if anyone knows, please comment the patch number. You have to edit the following file:

[sourcecode language="bash"]
system/core/libacc/acc.cpp
[/sourcecode]

In a gist, change all the (int) to (size_t). Change the following lines:

Line 4557:
[sourcecode langauge="cpp" firstline="4557"]
pGen->leaR0((int) glo, mkpCharPtr, ET_RVALUE);
[/sourcecode]
to
[sourcecode language="cpp" firstline="4557"]
pGen->leaR0((size_t) glo, mkpCharPtr, ET_RVALUE);
[/sourcecode]

Line 4637:
[sourcecode langauge="cpp" firstline="4637"]
pGen->loadFloat((int) glo, mkpFloat);
[/sourcecode]
to
[sourcecode language="cpp" firstline="4637"]
pGen->loadFloat((size_t) glo, mkpFloat);
[/sourcecode]

Line 4643:
[sourcecode langauge="cpp" firstline="4643"]
pGen->loadFloat((int) glo, mkpDouble);
[/sourcecode]
to
[sourcecode language="cpp" firstline="4643"]
pGen->loadFloat((size_t) glo, mkpDouble);
[/sourcecode]

Line 4730-4731:
[sourcecode langauge="cpp" firstline="4730"]
pVI->pForward = (void*) pGen->leaForward(
(int) pVI->pForward, pVal);
[/sourcecode]
to
[sourcecode language="cpp" firstline="4730"]
pVI->pForward = (void*) pGen->leaForward(
(size_t) pVI->pForward, pVal);
[/sourcecode]

Line 5740:
[sourcecode langauge="cpp" firstline="5740"]
pGen->resolveForward((int) name->pForward);
[/sourcecode]
to
[sourcecode language="cpp" firstline="5740"]
pGen->resolveForward((size_t) name->pForward);
[/sourcecode]

4. Build and watch it fly.

[sourcecode language="bash"]
make
[/sourcecode]

Wait for an hour or two for the build to be completed and you’ll have a nice Android 2.1 build in the “out” directory.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X8, Cedar, Yendo Specifications

Technology 2 Responses »

Jun 182010

Sony Ericsson Xperia X8

The SE Xperia X8 is similar to the Xperia X10 mini with a 3 inch screen. Here are the specifications:

Specifications	Details
Camera	3.2MP, Video recording
Processor	600MHz
Operating System	Android 1.6 (2.1 immediately or later in Q3 2010 or early Q4 depending on Telcos)
Screen	16 million colour TFT Capacitive touchscreen, 3″, 320×480 HVGA, Scratch-Resistant
Memory	Phone Memory: Up to 128MB, microSD (2 GB included)
Colours	White, Dark Blue / White, Aqua Blue / White, Pink / White, Silver / White
Availability	Q3 2010

Sony Ericsson Yendo

Sony Ericsson Yendo is a Sony Ericsson Walkman phone that uses the same User Interface as the Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 but with their own proprietary OS. Here are the specifications:

Specifications	Details
Camera	2MP, 4x digital zoom
Processor	720MHz, CPU ARM946 @ 156MHz
Operating System	Sony Ericsson Proprietary System
Screen	262k colour TFT Capacitive touchscreen, 2.6″, 320×240 QVGA
Memory	Phone Memory: Up to 5MB
Colours	Black, Blue, Green, Orange, Pink, Purple, Red, Silver, White and Yellow
Availability	Q3 2010

Sony Ericsson Cedar

Sony Ericsson Cedar is a candy bar low-end GreenHeart phone that has social network applications – Facebook, Twitter, MySpace – and a Widget Manager 2.0 that allows easy access to your favourite social network and applications. Here are the specifications:

Specifications	Details
Camera	2MP, VGA video recording
GreenHeart Identity	Low power consumption charger, small packaging, E-manual, recycled plastic, waterborne paint
Operating System	Sony Ericsson Proprietary System
Screen	262k colours, 2.2″
Colours	Black / Silver, Black / Red

Photos

Nokia Connection 2010 Ultimate Night Out Team 7 Video

Personal No Responses »

Jun 172010

Nokia Connection 2010 is an event held in Singapore showcasing Nokia’s latest products. There was a small competition called the “Ultimate Night Out” which the guys in Singapore (Team 7) had to go around places in Singapore to get clues to the final destination. The guys won 2nd prize in the competition. Watch the video!!

From JamCanSing:

First Look at Samsung Galaxy Beam

Technology 5 Responses »

Jun 162010

I was at CommunicAsia 2010 today. I saw the Samsung Galaxy Beam and got the chance to take some close up photos of the phone itself.

For those who don’t know, Samsung Galaxy Beam is one of the first (if not the first) with a Pico Projector on a phone. The specs are as follows:

Smart Projector on the Phone
- Home Theater / Office Projector / Visual Presenter / Torchlight
- Projection Screen Size 5″ ~ 50″
- Pico Projector (9 Lumen Brightness)
Powerful Multimedia Performance
- 3.7″ Ultra Brilliant Super AMOLED Display
- 8MP Camera with Flash
- HD (720p) Video Playing / E-book
Intuitive TouchWiz 3.0 + Android OS
- Social Hub (Integrated Calendar & Phonebook / Hybrid Widget)
- Enhanced Menu & Projector Specialized UI
- Android OS 2.1

Here are 2 unique points about the Smart Projector:

It projects the screen. It is not application specific. That includes your main Android Widget screen, your Menu screen, your Apps, ANYTHING.
You are able to project the view of the camera. i.e. whatever you see on your 8MP camera is shown on the projector.

However, the brightness of the projection isn’t that great, but it is expected with only 9 Lumen.

On the top left hand corner of the phone is a jog to adjust the projection focus.

Other than that, it is very similar to the Samsung Galaxy S. I hope to get the complete specifications, release date in Singapore, cost and which telco will carry this soon.

Photos

iPhone 4 and Gyroscope – What, Why and Possibilites?

Technology 1 Response »

Jun 102010

A lot of people started asking me various questions regarding what a gyroscope is after the Apple’s WWDC 2010 Keynote was done. So I thought I’ll try to collate my answers into this blog post.

What is a Gyroscope?

In layman’s term, it measures the position, angle, orientation of your iPhone 4. Not only that, it’s also able to measure the motion and change of the orientation of your iPhone 4.

But if you want to know the technical explanation for it, here’s the description from Merriam-Webster:

a wheel or disk mounted to spin rapidly about an axis and also free to rotate about one or both of two axes perpendicular to each other and to the axis of spin so that a rotation of one of the two mutually perpendicular axes results from application of torque to the other when the wheel is spinning and so that the entire apparatus offers considerable opposition depending on the angular momentum to any torque that would change the direction of the axis of spin.

Find out more technical details about Gyroscopes from Wikipedia.

But my iPhone already has an Accelerometer and a Digital Compass. Why do I need a Gyroscope too?

Well, an Accelerometer is great for measuring acceleration, detecting and measuring vibrations, or for measuring acceleration due to gravity (inclination). However, that’s all it does. A Digital Compass only shows your bearings of which direction you’re facing based on North/East/South/West.

With the addition of a Gyroscope, it will add a 3rd factor into the equation. Now you have 3 sensors that do the following:

Measure acceleration
Measure your bearings
Measure orientation of your iPhone 4 device

So why does it matter?

Developers have been guessing a lot of things based on a combination of both Accelerometer and Digital Compass to determine a various positioning and orientation, making up of the lack of orientation measurement data. Now with this new sensor coming to your iPhone 4, you’ll get a more accurate and sensitive experience with existing games (of course with some change in the code) that uses orientation of the iPhone as a key feature.

Everyone knows Labyrinth and Labyrinth 2. The game with the steel ball and you tilt your phone to move the steel ball. Now with a gyroscope, this game will be able to advance to an even more difficult and sensitive game which allows better experience and control over the game.

But this is just scrapping the possibilities of what can be possible on the iPhone now.

What apps might be possible for iPhone 4 with a gyroscope?

This is from the keynote where Steve Jobs was demonstrating the Gyroscope with a Jenga game. However, as mentioned above, it just scrapes the possibilities.

Here are some possibilities right off my head:

More accurate and better/new types of games
Anti-shake stabilizer camera feature (or anything that requires a stabilizer)
A Wii-like controller
Improved navigation calculations (mesure motion from gyroscope)
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
Medical apps that require precision calculations

The list goes on.

What now?

As a consumer, wait and enjoy the flurry of new apps, or improved existing apps. As a developer, it opens up a whole new space of possibilities to compete for great apps.

I hope that helps you understand what a Gyroscope is. If you want me to write more about the 3-axis pitch, yaw, and roll, leave me a comment. If you come up with more crazy possibilities of making use of the gyroscope, tell me and I’ll add it to the list.

StarHub Exclusive Motorola Milestone XT

Technology 4 Responses »

Jun 092010

Motorola Milestone XT is launching in Singapore on the 10th June 2010 (Thursday) available in all StarHub shops.

Pricing are as follows:

Items	3G SmartSurf 100	3G SmartSurf 300	3G SmartSurf 700	3G SmartSurf Unlimited
Monthly Subscription (w/GST)	$38	$58	$98	$205
Voice credit (mins)	100	300	700	2000
SMS/MMS credit	500	500	500	2000
Data credit (GB)	12	12	12	Unlimited
MILESTONE™ XT Pricings	$198	$98	$0	$0

Yes it is that cheap. I’m pretty impressed with the pricing and the specifications you get.

The phone is very similarly spec’ed with the original Milestone, but here are some of the really compelling features of the Milestone XT.

Unique features:

Android 2.1
8 megapixel digital camera with xenon flash
Automatic Panorama camera option
HD video capture at 720p, HDMI to HDTV (only video, not screen output)
FM Radio
CrystalTalk™ professional noise cancellation technology
Powerful Cortex™ A8 processor with 3D accelerator
5 Chinese input methods – phonetic notation, handwriting, Cangjie, pinyin, and Chinese strokes
MotoNav – In-phone maps and navigation for Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia