INBOX:MOBILES WITH big screens are starting to become the norm, especially for smartphones, writes Mike Butcher.
The iPhone revolutionised the big-screen experience. Google has done its best to emulate that success with the impending launch of the T-Mobile G1 in Europe, while Nokia is readying its widescreen Tube handset. But aside from the interesting Samsung Omnia, Windows smartphones are still looking for that elusive "zing" that a big screen can give.
Can the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 Windows Mobile smartphone cut it alongside the new screens on the block?
Sony Ericsson is among the world's top-five mobile makers, but it has kept out of the "iPhone killer" market for a while. That changes, however, with the launch of the Xperia X1, a colour touchscreen mobile with a slide-out Qwerty keyboard.
It certainly has plenty of features. On the top you'll find a USB power slot, volume rocker, camera button, power button and 3.5mm headphone socket. The X-shaped buttons on the front act as quick access points to the phone's main features and surround a touch-sensitive pad to skim through menus.
Unlike some Windows mobiles, it's not too heavy, at 145g, but you will notice the 17mm thickness in your pocket. That's the price you pay for a keyboard, however, although it is possibly a price worth paying with a smartphone.
The screen automatically goes into landscape mode when the keyboard slides out.
The X1 runs Windows Mobile 6.1. You will still need to use the accompanying stylus to navigate menus. However, Sony Ericsson has added a user interface at the top level that carousels through the main applications such as time and date, media player, FM radio, events, calendar and Google. In the future, you will be able to download other applications as well.
The 3.2-megapixel camera is pretty standard stuff - better than the iPhone's pathetic two megapixels, but no match for the Omnia's five-megapixel camera.
And although the quality is not great, you can take snaps with the iPhone very quickly. Windows mobiles like the Xperia, meanwhile, take ages to get into camera mode and take the shot. But at least the Xperia shoots video - unlike the iPhone or the new Google G1. The X1 records and plays at a decent 30 frames a second.
The X1 also comes with a great set of connections, including HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth and even outdated infrared.
The Windows Outlook application takes e-mail and there is easy syncing with a PC because it is a Windows platform.
GPS is helped by Google Maps and a trial of Wayfinder Navigator for satellite navigation with voice guidance.
The music player displays album art and comes with Windows Media Player if you need it, although this is not strictly speaking a real music phone. For storage you have just 400MB of memory installed. You can boost this with Micro SD cards with up to 16GB in capacity, though you'll have to buy those.
But my key issue with this mobile is the web browser. The X1's browser displays pages well, especially in landscape mode, and you can zoom in or out with the volume rocker and move pages around with a finger. Now we're talking.
The handset-only X1 costs in the region of €630.
Given the trends in smartphones, I expect that the next version after the X1 will be even better. It will be interesting to see how these new handsets affect iPhone sales in the months to come.
