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10 most popular free Android Apps

2010-03-25T18:31:00.000-07:00

GDocs

GDocs approximates the original formatting of documents.

Since Android is a Google product, the absence of an app for viewing and editing documents and spreadsheets from Google Docs would just be wrong. That’s where Art Wild’s GDocs comes in, allowing users to view spreadsheets and to create, edit and view word processor documents from their Google Docs account.

When you’re viewing a document or spreadsheet, a reasonable approximation of the original formatting is preserved (considering the small screen); editing is strictly text-only, though.

While you probably won’t want to write your life story on your phone’s tiny thumb-board, you can probably touch up that report for work or write up some notes for that short story you’ve been mulling over.

Imeem Mobile

Imeem Mobile offers a variety of ways to listen to music.

You can play music off your phone’s SD card or stream music over the Internet with Imeem’s mobile player.

Imeem offers several ways to listen once you’ve created a free user account: Upload tracks from your computer and listen to them under the “My Music” tab, create on-the-fly radio stations from music similar to your favorite artists using the “Search” function, or listen to featured stations put together by Imeem’s staff and other users.

The best part? Imeem will continue to play in the background while you use other applications.

Locale

Much more than a simple location-based app, Locale from Two Forty Four A.M. LLC is a scriptable, location-aware settings manager. This may not sound all that exciting, but don’t let its simplicity fool you.

Defining a condition that will trigger an action with Locale.

With Locale, you can set up conditions that trigger user-defined actions — for example, automatically dimming the screen when the battery gets below 20%, or texting your friends when you get to a specific location, or turning off the ringer at specific times of day.

A wide range of triggering events are available — battery level, dates, times, GPS coordinates and calls from specific people can all be used. Settings or events that can be triggered include pop-up notifications, turning Wi-Fi or Bluetooth off or on, sounding a chosen ringtone, sending a text message or tweet, lowering or raising the volume, or even changing the home screen’s wallpaper.

Some third-party programs even integrate with Locale, increasing the available options — for example, a to-do list program could make your shopping list available whenever you go by the store.

Twidroid

The king of the Twitter apps for Android is Twidroid.

It seems like every platform has a half-dozen Twitter clients these days, but on Android, Twidroid from Ralph Zimmerman and Thomas Marban is the reigning king.

In addition to the usual ability to send tweets, view replies and direct messages, and follow or unfollow people, Twidroid integrates with Android’s browser so you can tweet links to pages you find interesting; captures GPS information to tweet your location or to geotag tweeted photos; and offers a selection of URL shortening and photo hosting services.

It’s all wrapped up in a clean and stylish interface that’s easy and fun to use.

iMusic

Do you happen to listen to a lot of music while you’re on the move? Sure it your battery will be depleted faster but you can always carry that charger with you at all times and recharge the phone at the office. And you should consider getting an extra battery too especially since we’re just about to show you a music-related application for Android phones.

i Music brings you unlimited music to your Android device. You can choose between various genres and browse through a few million songs until you find your favorite tracks. The app will even let you stream your favorite music so you won’t have to download it right away. Just make sure you have an unlimited data plan available so you won’t have to pay extra for listening to the tracks you love!

Google Mobile

Google Mobile provides easy access to Gmail, Picasa, Google Maps, Google Sync and more.

Access the entire suite of Google’s mobile-friendly services in one place with Google Mobile. A single interface gives you one-stop access to Google’s Gmail and Maps applications (the latter of which can integrate with your built-in GPS tool, if your BlackBerry has one).

It also includes links to Web services including search, Google News, Google Reader, Google Docs (which is read-only on mobile devices), Picasa photos, and your Google Notebook, all of which open in your BlackBerry’s built-in Web browser. Google Mobile also includes the Google Sync service, which allows two-way synchronization between your BlackBerry’s built-in calendar and the Web-based Google Calendar.

TuneWiki

TuneWiki shows you song lyrics as the song is playing.TuneWiki is a replacement for Android’s built-in media player, offering a number of nice features. Most notable is the lyric scroll, which pulls lyrics off the Internet and scrolls them along with the song.

Other features include integrated Last.fm and Shoutcast radio streaming, YouTube video search, and community features like popular song lists and “music maps” that let you see where people are listening to the same song you are.

Facebook
A smartphone is not complete without a Facebook app. The Facebook-sponsored application offers a lot of features. You can do almost everything on the Android app that’s possible on the full version of the site. What’s cool is that you can even add a notification widget to your home screen.

Fring
Fring is a must-have Instant Messaging (IM) app that you can use to chat with your whether they are on Yahoo Messenger, AIM, Google Talk, MSN Messenger, and other supported protocols.

Evernote
One of my favorite iPhone apps has come to Android. Evernote is not your ordinary note-taking application as it will let you sync text, photos, audios, and files across different operating system minus the hassles.

HTC Disagrees with Apple's Actions,' Will Defend Itself

2010-03-18T07:47:00.003-07:00

HTC has just issued a press release about that giant patent lawsuit Apple has filed against them. There's no details yet on how exactly they're going to respond legally, but from a PR perspective the key points are that they "disagree with Apple's actions" (uh, duh?) and will "fully defend itself."

“HTC disagrees with Apple’s actions and will fully defend itself. HTC strongly advocates intellectual property protection and will continue to respect other innovators and their technologies as we have always done, but we will continue to embrace competition through our own innovation as a healthy way for consumers to get the best mobile experience possible,” said Peter Chou, chief executive officer, HTC Corporation.

HTC then delves into their storied history with smartphones, laying claim to a long list of firsts in the smartphone world that seem to be more about re-establishing their cred as innovators and not copiers than about hints at what sorts of patents they might counter-sue with. They note that they started designing the XDA back in 1999 and have delivered over 50 different smartphones to date. In other words, HTC has been in this game longer than Apple has and they won't let some pesky lawsuit prevent them from continuing to innovate.

Full press release after the break.

HTC DISAGREES WITH APPLE’S ACTIONS
Seattle – March 17, 2010 – HTC Corporation today outlined its disagreement with Apple’s legal actions and reiterated its commitment to creating a portfolio of innovative smartphones that gives consumers a variety of choices. Founded in 1997 with a passion for innovation and a vision for how smartphones would change people’s lives, HTC has continually driven this vision by consistently introducing award-winning smartphones with U.S. mobile operators.
“HTC disagrees with Apple’s actions and will fully defend itself. HTC strongly advocates intellectual property protection and will continue to respect other innovators and their technologies as we have always done, but we will continue to embrace competition through our own innovation as a healthy way for consumers to get the best mobile experience possible,” said Peter Chou, chief executive officer, HTC Corporation. “From day one, HTC has focused on creating cutting-edge innovations that deliver unique value for people looking for a smartphone. In 1999 we started designing the XDA
The O2 XDA by HTC was the first 3.5-inch color touch screen smartphone in the world in 2002. and T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition The T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition by HTC was the first 3.5-inch color touch screen smartphone in the United States in 2002., our first touch-screen smartphones, and they both shipped in 2002 with more than 50 additional HTC smartphone models shipping since then.”
The industry has recognized HTC’s contributions through a variety of awards including Fast Company’s 2010 Top 50 Most Innovative Companies and MIT Technology Review’s 2010 50 Most Innovative Companies. The GSMA also recently awarded the HTC Hero as the “Best Phone of 2009.” Some of HTC’s technology firsts include:
First Windows PDA (1998)
First Windows Phone (June 2002)
First 3G CDMA EVDO smartphone (October 2005)
First gesture-based smartphone (June 2007)
First Google Android smartphone (October 2008)
First 4G WIMAX smartphone (November 2008)
In 2009, HTC launched its branded user experience, HTC Sense. HTC Sense is focused on putting people at the center by making phones work in a more simple and natural way. This experience was fundamentally based on listening and observing how people live and communicate.
“HTC has always taken a partnership-oriented, collaborative approach to business. This has led to long-standing strategic partnerships with the top software, Internet and wireless technology companies in the industry as well as the top U.S., European and Asian mobile operators,” said Jason Mackenzie, vice president of HTC America. “It is through these relationships that we have been able to deliver the world’s most diverse series of smartphones to an even more diverse group of people around the world, recognizing that customers have very different needs.”
For more information on HTC’s history of innovation, please visit: www.htc.com/history.
About HTC
HTC Corporation (HTC) is one of the fastest growing companies in the mobile phone industry. By putting people at the center of everything it does, HTC creates innovative smartphones that better serve the lives and needs of individuals. For more information about HTC, please visit www.htc.com.

Nexus One Coming To Sprint

2010-03-18T07:29:00.000-07:00

It's now official. Google's Nexus One is making it's way onto the Sprint network. Sprint's Twitter accounts just posted this tweet:

Nexus One from Google Coming to Sprint; Availability Date Announced Soon - Press Release

Sprint is continuing to improve their line-up of Android powered devices. This will make the third official Android device in their arsenal, behind the HTC Hero and Samsung Moment. Rumors are, of course, that at least two more phones may come this year. One with WiMax.

This year is shaping up to be an explosion of handsets on multiple carriers which should be reason for excitement. Competition is always good in the market place. As more carriers introduce the Nexus One, it will be a great look at how the same phone delivers and performs on various networks.

So, Sprint customers, are you getting this phone when it comes out? Or do you wait it out for the "Supersonic" or "Legend/Hero2"?

Hands-on with the Nexus One multitouch

2010-02-03T07:56:00.000-08:00

If you're waiting patiently for your Nexus One multitouch update to roll in and haven't used the manual update method, here's a look at what you're missing. Multitouch on the Nexus One, for all intents and purposes, is the same as multitouch anywhere else (any by that we mean the iPhone, natch). Pinch to zoom, spread your fingers to zoom out. There's a slightly weird elasticity to it -- the motion continues slightly after your fingers have stopped. We wouldn't call it a bug; it's just a noticeable difference.

One thing we didn't look at here is the new Desktop Dock setting because, well, there's not much to show. When you first pair with the dock, it asks whether you want to, by default, stream music through it when connected. That's all the new setting does.

Anyhoo, peep the video after the break, along with a before-and-after look at the system profile, if you're into that sort of thing. Then head into our forums to discuss the update.

Nexus One pre-update (left) and post update (right)

Nexus One Product Page Sneak Peak

2010-01-14T01:51:00.000-08:00

Ahead of the announcement later today from Google, the Nexus One's product page was briefly live this morning.

The page featured an Android 2.0 demo video and links to order tracking and activation for the Nexus One handset.

The page was quickly removed but is believed to go live again later today at the time of the official Google announcement.

The Google Android event is scheduled to begin at 10 AM PST.

[via google.com + techcrunch.com]

Nexus One Review

2010-01-01T08:48:00.000-08:00

The Nexus One is an over-hyped Android phone. But that doesn't stop it from being the best Android phone. It is, for two reasons: Hardware and software.

Despite the buzz, it's not revolutionary, certainly not because of the way it's being sold—unlocked for $530 or subsidized, with a T-Mobile contract for $180. Sure, Google created its own web store that breaks the act of purchasing the device away from choosing a carrier—it'll soon even be sold by Google for use on the Verizon network. But people have been doing this for years by buying unlocked GSM phones from Nokia and Sony Ericsson and hooking them on to any GSM provider. It's just not the giant step forward that everyone was expecting.

Specs

Quickly, the specs. The Nexus One—built for Google by HTC—has a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 512MB RAM, 32GB-capable microSD slot, a 3.7-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display at 800x480, a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash and 720x480 video capture @ 20FPS, dual microphones for noise canceling and a trackball. There is no slide-out keyboard—everything's done with the onscreen virtual keyboard.

On paper, those specs are impressive. In actuality, each bit has its own quirk that makes the Nexus One less than perfect and just good. The 5-megapixel camera is built by HTC in such a way that the bezel around the ring juts out noticeably from the otherwise smooth back. The bulge protrudes just enough to either scratch surfaces that it's placed on, like your glass table or your laptop, or even scratch the lens if you're unlucky enough to rub it over something rough.

The AMOLED screen is gorgeous, and all the colors pop to the point that it makes both the iPhone 3GS and the Droid look washed out. It's really, really good. And it has a generous 480x800 resolution—slightly shorter than the Droid's, but still very ample for a phone, when compared to the iPhone's 320x480. But, again, as good as the screen looks, it doesn't have multitouch support in the US. No matter what the reason for that is, it's frustrating to the end user. But, on the bright side, every input you're giving it is more responsive than on the Droid, because of the improved internals.

Design

The Nexus One is probably HTC's best looking phone to date. The body is made up of two different materials: a metallic bezel that surrounds the front and side of the phone, which curves around to a custom-engraveable strip on the back. The battery cover and bottom of the phone are both covered in a rubbery plastic material that's solid and grippy, yet soft and pleasant. It's also thinner and lighter and curvier than the iPhone 3GS, and is much less sharp and masculine than the Droid.

Besides the requisite power and volume rocker buttons, there are five "buttons" on the face: one trackball and four haptic-based touch buttons. The trackball is basically useless—you'll only use it for its color-based notifications that tell you that you have a new email, text message or missed call without having to turn on the screen. As for using it as a scrolling device, the fact that scrolling around the OS or a webpage gives you inconsistent results depending on what "element" of the screen you land on means the ball is essentially useless for navigation. However, you will have to use it for text selection, because you can't hold your finger down to move the cursor—you have to use the ball to navigate to exactly where you want.

The four touch buttons for homescreen, back, menu and search do have haptic feedback when you hit them, but they're not that phenomenal either. Half the time they don't register a press when you want them to, and the other half of the time they think you're hitting it when you just wrapped your hand around the phone slightly too far.

You don't get a rocker switch for silencing the phone without looking, like on the Pre or the iPhone, but you can do the same thing quickly from the lock screen by swiping across the screen to the left. (Swiping to the right unlocks the phone.)

Software

The Nexus One runs on Android 2.1, which will make its way to many other phones, like the Droid, fairly soon. This means that all these great features will be available on some older phones—HTC and Moto for sure—so you may not have to buy all new hardware to take advantage of these capabilities. And take advantage you will.

As soon as you turn on the phone you'll notice the live wallpapers, which are essentially animated backgrounds that you can interact with. They're fairly useless, even if there are a couple that retrieve data in realtime, like blades of grass against a sky that mimics the actual time of day, or an analog sound meter whose needle moves to the music you're playing. The other guys at Giz put it this way: There's no reason for something like this to exist, and it sucks up your battery unnecessarily, but it might be the single coolest reason to get this phone right now.

This same engineer-driven "can we do this?" paradigm is evident in other parts of Android 2.1 as well. The photo gallery thumbnails tilt into or out of the screen as you tilt the phone, which is superfluous and fairly distracting. And the apps screen is even worse. You bring it up by hitting the apps button, which zooms the icons in in 3D. Then, instead of just quickly scrolling onto or off the screen, it wraps around as if on the surface of a cube. This would be fine if the extra 3D effect—added because they can—didn't cause any slowdown, but it does. There's a noticeable lag when you're flipping up, which makes us wish Google had eliminated the effect and let you just scroll through your programs in 2D.

These effects are definitely cool, don't get me wrong, but I'd prefer it of Google was spending its man hours on improving speed and performance (and getting multitouch on its apps) than putting in eye candy that doesn't help usability.

But things aren't all bad. There's a new beta-ish version of voice recognition that lets you speak into almost any text field (the names field in email isn't included for some reason, whereas the name field in text messages are).

Voice search works about 80% of the time, but you have to speak slowly and enunciate everything, and pronounce marks. And it doesn't recognize some proper nouns, transcribing "Jesus" (pronounced the Spanish way) to "Hey Zeus," Bruce Willis style. The major downside is that all the voice transcription is done in the cloud—you know, it's Google—so you have to have a net connection to use it. It's awesome to dictate text messages or emails, though I probably talk too fast and mumble too much for this to work well.

We're still not big fans of typing on Android's virtual keyboard. Sure, the keys are actually responsive now, thanks to the muscle of the 1GHz Snapdragon processor, but somehow Google's word prediction still lags behind the iPhone's, and gives you strange options for when you're typing really fast on the phone. It's less of a blast-and-forget than Apple's virtual keyboards. And, coming from the iPhone, the keys here are spaced a bit too close together and a bit too tight, but if you actually prefer the iPhone's style, you can download "Better Keyboard" from the Android Marketplace.

Real-World Use

It's fast fast fast. Part of this is due to performance gains just from using Android 2.1—people who've hacked 2.1 onto the Droid have mentioned better speeds—but a lot of it is the 1GHz processor. Every single aspect of the phone is affected when you have faster hardware on board.

Battery life lasts around a day with normal use, which includes calling, browsing, Google Mapping, push Gmailing and clothed sexting. That's on par with other smartphones now, and won't see much change until we get a dramatic boost in battery technology.

T-Mobile's 3G is decent, but not astounding. It really depends on where you are, how many other T-Mobile users are in your city and how deployed the 3G network is there. And if you want, you can download PDAnet from the Android Marketplace, and the accompanying PDAnet application for Windows/Mac, and tether the Nexus One to be a 3G modem on the go. This will work much better when the device is on Verizon—if you care to pay $30 a month to make it happen.

HTC placed two microphones on the device, one on the bottom and one on the back, for better noise cancellation. And the extra microphone pays off. The other party said that the Nexus One sounded, through their speaker, as loud as an iPhone 3G, but noticeably better. Not astoundingly better, just enough so that you'd mention it. But the speaker on the Nexus One, on the other hand, makes conversations sound tinny and thin. Actually, the better microphone setup is evident when you do a Nexus One to Nexus One conversation, because the resulting sound out of N1's speakers is less tinny.

The speaker on the back of the phone, used for speakerphone and for speakers when playing music, is fine. Not fantastic, just fine.

The camera app loads up a lot faster than on the Droid, and shoots a lot faster than the Droid's camera—but the image quality is similarly mediocre. Compared to HTC's earlier Windows Mobile phones, whose cameras were passably bad, the Nexus One's 5-megapixel camera is quite good, even if it doesn't have the iPhone's touch-to-focus.

What Does This All Mean?

Google's Nexus One is the best Android phone available right now, and we're seeing as high or higher interest in this than the Droid, which had Verizon's million-dollar marketing campaign behind it. But, since T-Mobile's 3G coverage (and voice coverage) is not as built out in certain areas, you might want to wait a few weeks until the phone is available on the Verizon network. (Google will sell that version, too.) And if you're looking to buy this unlocked for AT&T, be aware that you won't be able to use AT&T's 3G network.

But why is Google working so closely with HTC to design the phone, and why is Google selling it themselves? Our theory is that Google's injecting these devices into the market to make sure that OEMs are pushing forward with new Android versions, and the latest hardware available. They don't want stagnation, like with the Windows Mobile market, and are willing to sink manpower and money into ensuring forward movement.

It might seem like selling the Nexus One directly from Google's website is two middle fingers up to manufacturers who have been selling Android phones already. Not exactly. HTC's still the manufacturer, and it sounded like—both from the subtext at the press event and the presence of Motorola's Sanjay Jha—that a future Nexus Two might not be from HTC. Google's spreading the love, essentially, to any manufacturer willing to make the "best" phone it can; one Google's proud to attach its name to.

So What About the Nexus Two?

Google said it's going to be a while until the Nexus Two, but "a while" probably means one year. The previous phones, T-Mobile's G1 and the MyTouch 3G and even the Hero, don't quite measure up to the Nexus One in terms of speed and performance. It's really just like a little computer, so if you want to jump into Android, it's pretty safe to do so now. Better yet, you can get this thing unlocked and out of contract for $530—keep whatever cheap T-Mobile plan you currently have—and resell it in a year when the Nexus Two is available.

Motorola MILESTONE Official – Google Maps Navigator No, Multi-Touch Yes

2009-11-03T06:35:00.000-08:00

Motorola Europe have today confirmed that the first Android 2.0 handset to launch across Europe will be the Motorola MILESTONE (aka Motorola DROID).

Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT), today announced MILESTONE™, the first Android 2.0 powered phone in Europe.

Designed to deliver Android without compromise, Motorola MILESTONE is a blend of form and function that offers the thinnest QWERTY slider on the market (13.7mm) and a hi-resolution, multi-touch and pinch display with twice the pixels of the leading competitor.

For users who want the ultimate smart phone experience, MILESTONE offers the ability to use multiple applications at the same time, effortless multi-touch pinch and zoom browsing, and cinematic navigation through music, videos and maps of the world.

Just yesterday we brought you some leaked images of the MILESTONE handset appearing in an O2 Germany business guide, well today Motorola have issued a press release confirming the arrival of their first European Android handset.

Motorola MILESTONE features:

World’s thinnest QWERTY slider at just 13.7mm
3.7” widescreen display with 854 pixel width and more than 400,000 total pixels (more than twice the leading competitor)
Pinch & zoom and double tap features
5 megapixel camera with dual-LED flash
Motorola Media Link and Motorola Phone Portal to manage and share media content across desktop, phone and the Web
Stereo Bluetooth®
3.5mm headset jack
CrystalTalk™ Plus for superior talk quality

Whilst the hardware and spec of the two handsets is identical, the Motorola MILESTONE will include multi-touch support - a feature sadly lacking on the Motorola DROID.

The bad news however is that the Motorola MILESTONE will not include the recently unveiled Google Maps Navigation app, but instead will be bundled with the MOTONAV software.

The Motorola MILESTONE will go on sale first in Italy (O2) and Germany (Vodafone) from November 9th.

Still no word on a UK release date or possible pricing.

[via motorola.com]

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Officially Announced

2009-11-03T04:25:00.000-08:00

Sony Ericsson have this week finally unveiled their first Android powered handset, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10.

The Xperia X10 features a 1GHz Snapdragon chip from Qualcomm, 4-inch capacitive touchscreen display, an 8.1 mega-pixel camera, and ofcourse the impressive Rachael Android user interface.

Currently labelled as the User eXperience (UX), according to Sony Ericsson the Rachael UI will also be included on upcoming Android handsets - many of which will launch in 2010.

The handset will include Android 1.6 (Donut), and alongside apps from the Android Market will also support software from Sony Ericsson's PlayNow arena.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 is expected to be available from early Q1 of 2010, available in either black or white models. Pricing is not currently known.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 Reviews

2009-01-01T08:55:00.000-08:00

The first Android device from Sony Ericsson may have undergone an upgrade in the naming department, jumping from X3 all the way to XPERIA X10 (probably to avoid confusion with Nokia's X3 handset), but what lies under the hood is reassuringly in line with what we've been hearing. That is to say, a 1GHz Snapdragon chip from Qualcomm, wide 4-inch capacitive touch display, 8.1 megapixel camera with LED flash, and a thoroughly tricked out Android skin named Rachael. Sony Ericsson stressed to us the symbiotic importance of both the new flagship device and "open OS" UI -- the X10 was presented as the patriarch of a whole new family of handsets, which we can expect to see in the first half of 2010, all sporting the beauty of Rachael and perhaps helping to bridge the gap between featurephones and, well, more advanced featurephones. So don't be shy, come along past the break to see our uncensored first impressions of both, along with hands-on video and pictures.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 announced, we go hands on

We have to start off by noting that Sony Ericsson is calling its modified Android version the UX for now -- meaning User eXperience -- although we suspect it will revert to the more familiar Rachael naming scheme as soon as the lawyers have cleared a few hurdles and cashed a few checks. Part of a big "open OS" push by the company, this new interface will make appearances on a number of future handsets, both of the Android and Symbian persuasion, though Windows Mobile support sounded like something SE might consider only if there's much public demand for it (so much for a proper X2 successor, eh?). You'll find the full PR and exhaustive spec sheet in the gallery below.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 press release and spec sheet

Android the Sony Ericsson way

There are three central modifications that Sony Ericsson has made to the default Android 1.6 installation, beyond the obvious visual overhaul. Taking the lead is Timescape, a spiritual sibling to the MOTOBLUR, which aggregates all of your communications on the phone, whether they be Tweets by your favorite NASA astronaut, missed and placed calls, received text messages, or Facebook status updates. It's all there, in one big gorgeous integrated pileup. Naturally, all that can be filtered by source or by person, making for a seamless environment for interacting with your friends over the otherwise quite fragmented social networking space. Mediascape does the same for the media on your phone, presenting what you have available locally or online, and making track suggestions on the basis of the song you're listening to or stuff it has discovered your friends like via their communications with you. Finally, there's face recognition, which automates photo tagging by recognizing your friends after the first time you tag them, and also allows you to call someone by simply tapping on their face when viewing a picture.

All this sounds very swish, and as you can glean from the video above, the prepackaged presentation was all strawberries, cream and smooth swiping, but we've already seen equally sharp and impressive videos leak online and what we really wanted to know was how the whole thing ran on a real device. Unfortunately, there was only a solitary X10 on show, and that bad boy had such an early build of the software that it really doesn't merit talking about. Calling the present interface "laggy" would be paying it an unearned compliment. We got the gist of what SE was trying to do here, but there's absolutely no way to evaluate whether the company has succeeded when usability was this low. With its Donut not even half baked, SE faces quite a challenge in trying to deliver its promised release in the first quarter of 2010, but there were a couple of fully cooked items that we can discuss.

Browsing and Google Maps

The two apps that were already optimized, Google Maps and the WebKit-based default Android browser, showed us a happy glimpse of what the X10 is capable of. The 3G connection was lightning fast, and webpages were rendered quickly and accurately, with a satisfyingly smooth scrolling action that reminded us of Motorola's DROID. Similarly, Google Maps was responsive and relatively snappy, and showed off a little of what the Snapdragon under the hood can do.

XPERIA X10 hardware

Another thing that Snapdragon can do, apparently, is eat through your phone's battery. Again, we are dealing with a pre-production model here, but the number of power issues and the near-permanent attachment to the charger of the one device on show did not bode well for this phone's endurance. It sports the same 1,500mAh battery as the X2, so make of that what you will. Input duties are handled by the standard Android on-screen keyboard, and the minimalist trio of hard buttons do their jobs with relatively little fuss. We say jobs because the Options and Back keys change functions according to the context of what you are doing. Further testing would be required to tell if that's a boon or a hindrance. Multitouch capabilities like image rotation and zooming, which we expect to see as standard on touchscreen-dominated devices, are important and inexcusable omissions here.

The handset itself is pretty much what you might expect of a high end device -- it's full of appealing curves and slopes, which do nothing for usability (a physical keyboard might've helped), but give it a clean, uncomplicated, and relatively durable look. In our limited time handling it, we found the X10 comfortable enough, though you could tell you were holding a 4-inch device rather than something more compact like the original X1. Touring the outside reveals a MicroUSB charger / connector port, 8.1 megapixel camera, 3.5mm headphone jack, and an 8GB MicroSD card will be made part of the standard retail package.

Wrap-up

There's not much we haven't noted already. If Sony Ericsson delivers its halcyonic vision of an ultra-integrated device that intuits your intentions and makes a highly connected life easier, we'll all be up in arms and rejoicing. Alas, the state of play today reveals a handset that has a phobia toward the untethered life and a software platform that is plagued by lag and unresponsiveness. We give kudos to SE for stepping outside of its featurephone comfort zone, and eagerly await the final results of this unquestionably ambitious project.