The Rambling Thoughts of an Ordinary Malaysian
Current Affairs Gadgets & GizmosUpdated: HTC had a launch on their new products on 6 November. More to follow.
Oh it’s early November but Christmas decorations are already at Starbucks. How fast did the year pass? The HTC Viva was just released and we should be able to quickly see a few neat goodies from HTC. These are the HTC Touch 3G, HTC Touch HD, Sony Ericsson X1 and a new extended battery for Diamond.
We have just seen the arrival of HTC Viva at our shops. A spruced up Touch with a slightly larger screen, the Viva remains attractive to the entry level PDA user who will practically get everything but no 3G/HSDPA and GPS. If you really don’t care about that, GSM and GPRS/EDGE with WIFI is probably all you will ever need with a decent camera all found in the Viva.
Furthermore, the other chief attractiveness is the price itself. The RM1,200 price tag makes the Viva the lowest priced full function PDA Phone in the market as well as the smallest in its class. Think O2 Mini but smaller frame and thinner, and voila, you get the Viva. It’s definitely better than any phone in the market at that price point.
The TouchFlo 2D interface is good enough and intuitive for first time users. If you make friends with the retailer, you can get heaps of software, be it games, applications and utilities. The Windows Mobile platform has some of the best software available to the Viva user. Note that you may have to pay them some service fee for their trouble. Smile and be nice. You might get away from paying for it.
Again, it’s a good second device but if you are already an experienced user of Windows Mobile devices, wait for HTC’s next models coming soon late November, early December.
The Sony Ericsson X1 is definitely on the way to the shores of Malaysia.
The X1 is coming to Malaysia
After some false alarms if the X1 will make it, Sony Ericsson finally figured out that the X1 will feature in the year end line up. The X1 is the first Windows Mobile device of Sony Ericsson. It has been introduced to the public for the longest time now, since the early part of 2008. Everybody has been wondering if the X1 will ever make it to the market and there is a very good chance it will be here in Malaysia come end of the year.
And that’s this year, 2008!
Here's looking at the back
The X1 has a number of key features that you will definitely find very useful and can become possible influencing factors in your buying decision, apart from the very elegant QWERTY keyboard (read here). In that secret meeting with X1, he showed me all the juicy features that I will share here. I also got a peek at the X1 Whitepaper that defines the technical features of this baby.
Arc Slider Design
The X1 comes with what Sony Ericsson calls an Arc Slider Design where by sliding out the screen reveals a really neat keyboard. The screen slides out and slightly up in an arc fashion, hence, the name. But it doesn’t tilt upwards like the HTC TyTN II, just slightly up. It’s somewhere between the TyTN and the TyTN II. What you will find in the brush metal body bracing the keyboard is a set of great QWERTY keys and those keys are probably one of the best I’ve used so far. We’ll tackle the screen in another posting. More on the keyboard.
A sneak preview of the X1
Meeting the X1 the other day was really cool especially when it was a secret one. A peek at his body showed an incredibly strong frame. After all, it’s stainless steel. Reminded me of Superman, the man of steel. In X1, of stainless steel. The cool steel has a robust feel in the palm although a tad heavier than normal. Steel caged frame in PDAs is a rarity actually. The classier ones were made of expensive aluminium but they were softer. Once dropped, you get a permanent dent. In the case of X1, you can throw it at a robber and will still be intact.
I had the privilege to meet up with X1 from Sony Ericsson this afternoon at a secret location. He was cautious to meet with me because his time is not yet come. Fortunately, this meeting was arranged by a very good friend who could pull strings in high places for me. This secret meeting revealed a closer look at the X1 albeit from my early impressions for now. X1 allowed me to take some pictures with him and I will be sharing some of them here over the coming weeks.
The new and yet to be released Sony Ericsson X1 is building new momentum of ardent followers. The first Windows Mobile device in the Sony Ericsson family, I’m sure their trademark of having a great camera, music walkman and excellent consumer designs will be retained by them.
The new and exciting X1
Many who have seen the online pictures are captivated by the marketing flair and my view is for such excitement to be taken with a pinch of salt. The photography has made many salivate when looking at the new X1. Experience tells me that the real thing may look and feel quite different.
Anyway, this posting is to let you know that I may soon lay my hands on a pre-engineering set of the X1. I’ll share my thoughts with you as I unveil what we can all expect of the X1 over the coming weeks.
Certainly, Sony Ericsson will want to exceed the expectations of the P series of PDA phone products and the X1 is poised to take the throne for the king of the line for now.
Stay tuned for more X1 news here! And the news will pertain mostly to our Malaysian market. I intend to do a strip tease of X1 here, little by little. 😉
Sony Ericsson X1 – An Early Impression (just arrived)
Neat and Slim - also not my hand 😉
The Samsung Omnia i900 is now officially available in Malaysia. At RM2,999 for the 16GB model and RM2,799 for the 8GB model, it is currently priced as the top-of-the-line Windows Mobile device. If you are not a prior user of a Windows Mobile device, you should read on as this is not written as an OS piece. It’s an impression of having played with the Omnia. A more detailed posting will be done when I get to actually use it for a period of time. Let’s see if I can lay my hands on a unit soon.
For now, this is my first impressions of the Omnia.
The PC Fair is starting tomorrow in KL at the KL Convention Centre. HTC will again show its dominant presence at this event. Leading the HTC charge is obviously the Diamond, the latest in the pack of HTC’s family of devices available in Malaysia. Word has it that there doesn’t seem to be any spectacular special packages during this PC Fair. Hmm is the PC Fair losing its lustre?
Here are the special PC Fair prices for the HTC Diamond and the Samsung Omnia i900. Remember, you read it HERE FIRST! This is breaking news now but it’ll be old tomorrow when PC Fair opens. Welcome to the Internet age news. Read on!
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