NorthGeek

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 gets software update (confirmed in Canada, too)

July 7, 2010, TORONTO: Sony Ericsson has announced a global software update for Xperia™ X10 which is available to Canadian customers. By visiting www.sonyericsson.com/updateservice, customers can update the product software for optimal performance and get the latest enhancements. This update focuses on improving the general performance, power consumption, speed and responsiveness of the Xperia™ X10.

Once upgraded, the Xperia™ X10 will include:

• Free backup and restore application for your contacts, messages, bookmarks, settings etc.
• Improved usability of camera and media player.
• Improved overall phone performance, such as power consumption, touch sensitivity, and overall audio quality.

To upgrade the Xperia™ X10, please follow these steps:

1. Before you start, back up your contacts, messages, media files, bookmarks, calendar, tasks, notes, etc.
2. Go to www.sonyericsson.com/updateservice
3. Select your phone – Xperia™ X10
4. Install and run the update by clicking on the link “Download here”
5. Follow the instructions on your computer to connect your Xperia™ X10 and update the software.

iPhone 4, iOS 4 and the iPad: equal parts of my digital life

Editor: Welcome to new NorthGeek contributor Chris Manitt!

Like many Apple loyalists and perhaps those who were just plain curious, I was anchored at my office desk last Tuesday to watch Steve Jobs make his annual keynote address from the World Wide Developers Conference in SF. Of course when I say “watch the keynote,” I’m referring to how I was reading live blog posts from those who were lucky enough to be there in person. Even still, reading the posts, as they popped up on my screen giving me the play by play, I was excited to hear what Steve had to say, what new innovative products Apple was bringing to market and most importantly – why I had to have them.

What made this Keynote different from others was that in the weeks leading up to it, a much publicized lapse in judgment let the “new” iPhone see the light of day a little sooner than expected. I still had faith in good old Steve in being able to wow the crowd at the WWDC not only because of an inevitable “one more thing…” but because Steve hadn’t yet told the masses the “why,” even we thought we only knew the “what.”

iPhone 4. We knew what it was going to look like, had a pretty good idea of what it was going to do, but expectedly I was still surprised at how much more there was to it. While Steve explained that there are over 100 new features in iPhone 4, he only focused on 8. Of those 8, the following stand out in my mind the most:

1. FaceTime. If iPhone 4 had only this feature I would still go out and buy it the day it is released in Canada. FaceTime is something that is classic Apple. It’s not about having two 5 mega pixel cameras or even an LED flash, it’s about being able to see loved ones when you’re away from home on a business trip. If you watch the FaceTime video on the Apple site closely, you’ll even see a deaf couple signing via this new marvel. The question is, will FaceTime work with any other video chat App – like iChat or Skype – or will I only be able to see other iPhone 4 users?
2. New form factor. Up until the day the not-so-spy shots of the new iPhone were blasted all over the web, I thought that my iPhone 3GS looked great, felt great in my hand and was exactly everything I ever needed my iPhone to be. And then the pictures hit the web. At first I thought that it didn’t look very Apple. But, as I examined the pictures and video more and more I realized that not only was it completely different from what I thought an iPhone to be, it was 1000 times sexier than what was sitting on my desk. From that moment on, I looked at my iPhone 3GS as an older model (which is less than a year old) with an outdated shape, large clumsy metal bezel and rounded edges that just didn’t stand up. All of these thoughts were reinforced at the WWDC keynote and I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on one to see what it feels like. Just because I think it’s worth mentioning, when I do get my hands on it, it will be a white iPhone 4. After seeing both the black and white version I thought that the iPhone 4 would be the first time I go to a black iPhone. However, in seeing the photography of the black Apple branded bumper they’re selling (for $29.99!) on a white iPhone – I was once again sold. White it is.
3. Retina display. From what I’ve read, this screen is something that really needs to be seen to be appreciated for what it is. Also, it’s everything and more that Steve hyped it up to be. From the numerous side by side comparisons that I’ve seen in the last week and even the podcast of the Keynote I can tell that this screen is going to be something specials. Like the form factor, I will not be able to appreciate it until I see what I’ve been missing. “It’s like digital ink…” Steve says.
4. HD video. This was very simple for me: with my daughter now running around these days, the last thing I want to do is lunge for the video camera before she’s out of my sight and miss the moment. I usually end up taking a couple of minutes worth with my iPhone 3GS which is great except when it comes to the final edit of my iMovie masterpiece – the quality just doesn’t look that great on a 1080p screen. I’m really looking forward to having one device in my pocket that can capture the HD video that I want and be able to take a call and do all the other iPhone things too.

iOS4. While this was previewed back in the winter, there was still much to learn about the next evolution of the iPhone OS. Again, many new features were announced and given their time in the spotlight on stage. But without being able to have the OS on my growing number of i devices yet, here’s what’s keeping me dreaming in i’s:

1. Mail. Updated and it seems like it’s better than ever. I love that there’s a universal Inbox now.
2. Folders. This is something that has been a long time coming and a feature that was perhaps a necessity once the powers-that-be at Apple realized how many Apps people would house on their iPhones and iPads. It’s a welcome feature that will be useful and something we’ll wonder how we lived without, but will force many to rethink their screen layouts.
3. Multitasking. Unlike the two features above, multitasking isn’t something that I’m looking forward to or even something that I feel I need. I’ve given myself the chance to try and understand how I could use it in my daily life to do things faster and more efficiently, but I don’t see how it will all fit in yet. Good for Apple to wait on multitasking until they figured out the right way to do it. Releasing it in such a way that battery life would suffer would have been a bad thing. I guess time will tell. Like folders, it’ll probably be something that six months from now I will not remember what it was like with it.

Does anyone else feel that more and more the updates to the iPhone OS are looking like the jail broken versions that have been available over the years since the iPhone was released? Am I alone here? I’m an Apple traditionalist. I update software via Software Update the day it comes out, I buy my Apps through the App store and I’ve never hacked my iPhone. Why would I want to? The reasoning I use is that someone at Apple believed in a given feature enough that they felt it was perfect for the iPhone. It didn’t need to be fancy, it didn’t need to be flashy, it just needed to work and that’s exactly what it would do. When the iPhone 3G came out, I had an answer for every criticism that was thrown its way. There wasn’t video functionality for a reason, cut copy & paste wasn’t needed either and why would you ever need a faster iPhone anyway?

John Gruber wrote a fantastic back page column in MacWorld last month. It really put Apple’s yearly ground breaking innovations in perspective using the simple analogy of building a snowman. You’ve got to start off with a solid base (iPhone 2G), add a middle section (iPhone 3G), add the head (iPhone 3GS), then add the buttons and carrot nose (iPhone OS 3). If Apple came out with an iPhone 3GS running OS 3 in 2007, it probably wouldn’t have been as good as it could have been because, as we’ve seen, Apple takes the time to build things one step at a time. They won’t ever take a next step unless they’re sure that the one that preceded it has been firmly established. In a way, it’s managing our i-expectations.

Oh and “one more thing”, this entire post was written, edited and submitted via my iPad. Yes, it may look like a giant iPod Touch or iPhone to the uninitiated, however once you get your hands on it you’ll know why it’s much more than that. Currently I use it at home as a replacement to the iMac that my wife uses for her writing. From the night that I brought it home, I use it more than my iPhone. In fact, I find myself using it preferentially for email, browsing the web and, of course, discovering the multitude of purpose-built iPad Apps that don’t have anything on their iPhone brethren.

No, it’s not something I would break out on my morning commute – because that’s what my iPhone is for. My iPad is a device that I use at home and at the office, that, for me, completely replaces any need I would ever have for a MacBook. I upload, edit and print photos from my iMac. I walk, talk and message with my iPhone. I sit down, email, web surf, and browse my entire photo library with my iPad. I’ve never done that on my iMac! That says something to the UI or lack of one on the iPad that makes me want to browse ALL my pictures and not just a a few here and there.

So, “what do i want?” No, it’s “what do i need?” iPhone 4 will be yet another addition to my Apple collection that I can’t wait to get my hands on.

Blogging from 36,000 feet

This US Airways flight from Philadelphia to Orlando is on a brand spankin’ new (well, at least it looks that way) Airbus A321. The interior is beautiful – so 2010-esque, the lighting is targetted and pleasant, the seats comfortable, more legroom, and, best of all – WiFi baby, WiFi!!

The first week of GoGo In-Flight WiFi aboard US Air’s fleet of A321 jets is absolutely FREE to use – that is from June 1st – 8th 2010. After this, it will be about $10 to connect for your flight. Some notes:

- Web browsing speeds are satisfactory.
- Skype connected, but I’m not popular enough to have had any friends online to test with. The “test call” with the Skype system worked like a charm.
- My SIP phone (through Acanac, using X-Lite) disconnected after I heard “Hello?” on the other end of the line – I guess bandwidth isn’t high enough.
- I couldn’t get online in Mac OS X – thank the lord for Bootcamp (I run XP Pro, and it connected on my first attempt)
- For more info, check out US Airways’ WiFi page and GoGo (by Aircell).

Adios from somewhere 36,000 feet over the Carolinas!

WIND Mobile Launches in Vancouver

Today, WIND Mobile has finally launched in Vancouver. They held an opening day launch event at their Yaletown store this morning. We at NorthGeek really appreciate having a new player in Canada to offer mobile services to the masses and finally to bring some competition to the stale Rogers, Telus, and Bell. However, it seems there’s still much confusion over what exactly WIND is.

WIND Mobile Yaletown Vancouver store

So here’s our rundown for you, thanks to Melissa Clark, WIND Mobile’s VP Sales and Distribution, and some of their technical team.

WIND Mobile is NOT:
An MVNO, or Mobile Virtual Network Operator, like Virgin, the major success around the world, and unfortunately a flop (shuffled under the Bell rug) here in Canada. An MVNO piggy-backs on a carrier’s network, is the front facing entity to the customer, but doesn’t own the network themselves. “MVNO” has become a taboo term, especially in Canada, with their spectacular flops (Amp’d in the US).

IS full carrier. WIND Mobile paid $442M for wireless spectrum (as auctioned in 2008) in pockets across Canada, but none in Quebec. They are spending more than that (to date) on network infrastructure (switches, base stations, etc). Oh and they’ll need much more. Building a mobile network in a country as spread apart as Canada is no small task. However, they have the backing of Orascom (global group of telecom companies) WIND affiliates, and other foreign investors (hand-cuffed by Canada’s stifling foreign ownership policy. They paid big money for network gear from Huawei and Alcatel Lucent — unfortunately nothing from Canadian vendors. Boo.

NOT just offering regional, urban coverage. When Fido originally launched as Microcell in 1997, they only had coverage in urban areas. Well, 2010 is very different. Consumers expect coverage everywhere: talk, text, data.

IS full coverage across Canada, however you’re going to pay an additional cost outside of the (current) five zones. They’ll be adding more zones in the coming months/years, and have plans including this “roaming” — you just wouldn’t be advised to get WIND yet if you live outside of those five current zones.

And it was no small feat to get coverage across Canada. Rogers, Telus, and Bell were evidently extremely uncooperative allowing WIND Mobile to share their cell towers (common practice across the industry). In fact, appealing The Big Three on this is a one-by-one incident affair. What a waste of resources. Outside of WIND Mobile zones, customers will roam on Rogers. I believe this is only talk and text, unless your phone supports both WIND’s 3G frequency (1700MHz) and Rogers’ 850MHz.

International roaming is looking good. In the US it’s currently just 25 cents a minute — what a bargain versus Rogers’ robbery of $1.50/minute! Around the globe, it looks pretty similar to anyone else.

NOT an iPhone carrier. Currently the iPhone 3G doesn’t work on WIND’s 3G frequency. You can still use your iPhone on WIND if you’re willing to unlock the phone AND accept EDGE data speeds. iPhone is just not available in 1700MHz (a bane for US’s T-Mobile as well), and don’t hold your breath for that to change.

Will your phone work with WIND? Most phones support multiple bands. For one, it has to be a GSM phone (has a SIM card in it). If it supports 1700 (check the specs), you’ll have 3G (fast data) access, otherwise just talk and text. Get in touch with customer support to find out. They want to hear what phones you want to use.

Android devices will be coming to WIND soon, likely the first from Huawei. Maybe even the HTC EVO? There are two Blackberries in the current lineup.

NOT just another Canadian mobile carrier, we hope. WIND is trying to promote value and transparency. That is their shtick. It’s no gimmick, but is certainly missing in Canada.

IS going to fight hard to make inroads into the market. Some might say they’re even desperate. They’re offering a $150 porting bonus (check for details, this deal is on the down-low), 6 month half price on your plan, no contracts yet discounted phones, and plan prices to compete. There are no contracts, so these are big gambles. The cost per new subscriber is quite high in the wireless business. WIND’s could be even higher.

Is it sustainable? For one, today they were offering $1 hot dogs on the street. Did you get one or ten?

WIND Mobile selling $1 hot dogs at their Vancouver launch

IS… Even if WIND fails, it will have a significant effect on the current Canadian market. Rogers copied them with their Redboard — an online forum for Rogers customers to communicate with the marketing folks and vice versa (well, they listen and reply, but don’t really do anything).

CONCLUSION
Canada needs this. Canadian mobile consumers desperately need something fresh. Rogers, Bell, and Telus have dragged their asses for too long. I want to support WIND (and Moblicity and Videotron and any other upstart) for that simple reason. And it’s going to cost WIND a whole lotta dough to get mindshare and understanding in Canada. Bring on the marketing team!

Are you out of a contract? Consider joining them. I would, but alas I’m one of the suckers who signed with Fido for 3 years just to get the iPhone, that being my first mobile phone contract ever. I’m certain I will never do that again. Bring on open Android devices and upstart carriers like WIND.

UPDATE
Here are some other things I really like about WIND and you should like too:

• Simple plan choice. Have you ever tried to wade through the Rogers website to figure out your plan?
• Fair usage: “If you exceed 5GB of data usage within any given month, we won’t cap your usage but we may slow your speed so that all customers can better share the network.” That’s on the $35/month Infinite data add-on.
• Treating pre-paid customers the same as post-paid. Both have access to the same plans. Pre-paid customers are no longer second class citizens.

Update: WIND Mobile has tweeted a correction to our published promotion. Don’t quote us on the deal above, but keep in mind that they are offering some great promotions this early:

Some cool announcements at Google IO – Android 2.2 and Google TV

Here are two videos that Google put together to officially introduce a couple of their announcements to the world. The first is for Google TV, and the second is for their mobile operating systems’s latest iteration, Android 2.2 (Froyo). My thoughts follow the videos. Enjoy!

This, while very cool and exciting at first glance, isn’t exactly anything BRAND NEW. Maybe this will be the first web-connected TV initiative to be adopted buy the masses, as it’s being backed by some little company called Google -- but it certainly isn’t the first and only device (or service) of its kind. Have a quick Google search session (ironic? What other search engine do you use) for Popcorn Hour, Western Digital HDTV, MythTV, TViX, Apple TV, and… dare I say, Playstation 3. Oh, and there’s Windows Media Center PC’s -- I know, you’re all yelling at me. But, if you want a TRUE home theater experience, then you’re going to need to support the real players in the game -- and they all support Microsoft’s MCPC OS.

This is very exciting -- although I’d be much happier if 2.2 was released yesterday, as opposed to just announced. We all sort of knew all the specs Froyo was going to be boasting. 2-5 times faster overall performance, WiFi hotspot-in-a-box, etc -- and some things we assume but they didn’t mention, like Flash support. What about my battery? Will it make my Nexus One battery last longer than 4 hours? Pretty please?

Sony Ericsson calls on EU to help save our planet

NorthGeek’s good friends at Sony Ericsson have informed us of an announcement made today by an alliance of global companies, including Sony Ericsson, demanding that the EU further restrict hazardous substances in consumer electronics. Joining forces with Sony Ericsson are Acer, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and the public interest organizations ChemSec, Clean Production Action and the European Environmental Bureau.

Sony Ericsson has made products that showcase more sustainable materials available through their GreenHeart™ strategy which takes a holistic approach to reducing negative environmental impacts and positively affecting those who use its products. Sony Ericsson’s Naite™ handset is the first GreenHeart™ product available in Canada. Some of its environmental benefits include:

The official press release follows:

Sony Ericsson calls on EU to further restrict hazardous substances in consumer electronics

Sony Ericsson joins forces with an alliance of public interest organizations and global technology brands to persuade the European Parliament to ban the use of hazardous substances in consumer electronics from 2015 onwards.

Brussels 19 May 2010 – In a partnership announced today Sony Ericsson joined Acer, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and public interest organizations ChemSec, Clean Production Action and the European Environmental Bureau, to call for a strengthening of the EU Restrictions on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive.

Currently the RoHS directive restricts some heavy metals and two types of BFR. However, Sony Ericsson along with other members of the alliance is calling for restrictions on all brominated flame retardants (BFR) as well as PVC. When BFR and PVC are incinerated under substandard recycling conditions, they form halogenated dioxins that are potent toxic chemicals. Sony Ericsson believes these brominated flame retardants and PVC should be phased out from electrical and electronic products as soon as possible. Over the past 18 months Sony Ericsson has been developing products without these unwanted substances and believes that substitute materials are available and could be rolled out across the industry with little disruption.

“Sony Ericsson is committed to a complete phase-out of halogenated organic substances from its products, and at the current time has phased out almost all brominated flame retardants (BFR),” said Daniel Paska, Environmental Expert at Sony Ericsson. “We believe the electronics industry has a responsibility to move proactively to find substitutes to replace BFR and PVC and are therefore calling on EU legislators to show leadership on this issue by voting to tighten the RoHS directive.”

Sony Ericsson along with the other members of the alliance will lobby EU legislators who are currently in the process of debating whether to tighten the existing RoHS directive and invites other members of the industry to join them.

“Sony Ericsson is committed to delivering products with the best possible environmental performance in the industry”, said Mats Pellbäck Scharp, Head of Corporate Sustainability at Sony Ericsson. “That is why we support strong environmental legislations. We have also introduced a range of GreenHeart™ pioneer phones that showcase more sustainable materials like recycled plastics, waterbourne paints and energy efficient chargers. We have also committed to making the majority of our 2011 portfolio compliant with GreenHeart™ requirements.
Sony Ericsson has to date phased out all PVC in its products and nearly all halogenated flame retardants.

For more information on GreenHeart™ and our environmental work, please visit the Sony Ericsson GreenHeart™ web page at http://www.sonyericsson.com/greenheart or the Sony Ericsson Greenheart™ blog at http://blogs.sonyericsson.com/greenheart/

Motorola Droid can solve a Rubik’s Cube

NorthGeek Review: Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

By now you all know that we have been in possession of a brand spankin’ new, white Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 courtesy of Sony Ericsson Canada (@SonyEricssonCA on Twitter). This cool new Android handset, running Google’s OS in version 1.6, comes in a sexy casing with a solid 8 megapixel Sony camera built-in, LED flash, a truly impressive 4″ touchscreen (at a resolution of 480 x 854 pixels), and boasts Qualcomm’s blazing fast 1GHz Snapdragon processor. To enjoy your various media in Sony Ericsson’s proprietary Mediascape media browser, they even throw in an 8GB microSD card. If you’re an online social maven, then you’ll enjoy Sony Ericsson’s own Timescape -- an aggregated timeline of you and your friends’ Twitter, Facebook, and email updates.

We played with the device for nearly a week and put together this video review for your enjoyment and education. Let us know (in the comments or by tweeting us at @NorthGeek) if you have any questions! Enjoy:

NorthGeek Unboxing: Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

Thanks to Sony Ericsson Canada, we have our paws on this slick little device. Stay tuned for some hands-on impressions in the coming days. In the meantime, here’s a quick unboxing video to whet your appetites:

Please be patient, the video may still be processing so its FULL HD delight might not be there yet…

Sneak peak at Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

Yesterday in Vancouver, NorthGeek met with Peter Farmer and Neil Dutton from Sony Ericsson Canada about the upcoming Xperia X10 launch. Canada is highly anticipating the release of this new Android device, and, well, so are we. The news is that we should know in mid April exactly what it will cost and when it will be here, which will likely be sometime in Q2.

THE SPECS
You probably already know that it comes with the blazing fast 1Ghz Snapdragon processor, a mega four inch WVGA display, and a sharp 8.1 megapixel camera… also 13mm thick, white or black, microSD up to 32GB (16GB included). If you want more specs, check them here.

SIGNATURE APPLICATIONS
“Signature Applications” is Sony Ericsson’s label for their Android skin — the front look and dominant applications on the Android platform. On the X10, this is dominated by Timescape, Mediascape, Infinite Button, and face recognition. Learn more about these in their online demo. Basically, the device is focused on aggregating your social media streams. It’s not just SMS, MMS, emails, and photos, etc, but also connecting with Facebook, Twitter, and something called MySpace, so you can visualize a person’s presence and correspondence in one place. Sony Ericsson is not the first to do this, but it’s certainly useful and centrally located on the X10.

However, the links within the apps go to the individual services’ mobile sites, not embedded apps like Hootsuite, Seesmic, or Facebook for Android. Also, there’s no Flickr yet — what other integration will you want? We will have to wait and see how Sony Ericsson continues to innovate and add functionality here. Will these features (a mix of the Signature Apps mentioned above) eliminate the need for standalone apps? I doubt they will — apps like Hootsuite or Facebook are so impressive and complete — so we will see how we might use both options or if they will coordinate well.

WHY MORE THAN A VANILLA ANDROID DEVICE?
Rogers has been recently tweeting about the Google Nexus One becoming available in Canada, so it’s hard to ignore the face-off between these two devices. The Nexus One also has the Snapdragon processor (yes, it does have a smaller 5MP camera and 3.7″ screen), but a bare-bones Android likely offering quicker performance and speed. And the most recent version of Android, always.

The X10 comes with Android 1.6, because the Signature Apps need to adapt to new Android OSs, and won’t have the same battery management, task management, etc. It would be difficult for any Android device manufacturer to keep pace with Google’s quickly iterating OS if there is a skin built on top which always needs revisions.

The X10 is trying to do something different here. With a background in media, hardware, and taking chances with their phones (eg. their attempt to embrace Symbian a few years ago), as well as recognizable brands like Cybershot and Walkman, Sony Ericsson is trying to create a unique device experience here. Their skin is impressive and slick, but it will take some time to determine if it is better and who will embrace it. Is a skin really better for Android?

THE BUSY CANADIAN ANDROID LANDSCAPE
Rogers now has lots of Android devices. They are likely a world leader on this front, and were even the first mobile operator to offer both an iPhone and Android. Sony Ericsson believes that there is room here for multiple Android phones. All this competition is going to be very, very, very good for consumers. Watch out Apple.

OVERALL
This piece of X10 hardware is phenomenal. It feels great in the hand, is good looking, has a class-leading screen, and sports a camera verging on real. We’re still wondering if a skin is a good thing. They are competing with the Nexus One now, which sells without support from Rogers — does this matter? Ultimately, we need to spend more time with the device, but this certainly looks promising for Sony Ericsson in the future of smartphones. Coming soon is NorthGeek’s Nexus One review (the Canadian version with 3G frequency support).