Rumours are appearing online that Sony Ericsson are working on a scaled down version of Satio to be presented at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next year. The current chatter on the tubes is that it will also be S60 and feature a full touchscreen like Satio, but instead of a 12 MP camera it will sport an 8 MP camera. Apparently named Kurara (at least for the moment), the device is said to be part of the Entertainment Unlimited series.
Support for Android 2.0 has officially been added to the SDK, which means that developers can now go ahead and start using the new functionality of 2.0. For the rest of us here are the major changes:
Support for multiple Google and Exchange accounts
Third-party “sync adapters” allow apps to tie in to the phone’s sync services
Quick contact menus for fast access to specific key pieces of contact information
Unified email inbox
SMS and MMS search
Text message auto-delete after a user-defined thread size is reached
Significantly improved camera controls with white balance, macro, effects, and more
Improved keyboard layout, dictionary, and algorithm based on multi-touch support
Double-tap zoom in browser, support for HTML5
Bluetooth 2.1 support with addition of OPP and PBAP profiles
“Better” graphics hardware acceleration
With Sony Ericsson’s first Android handset just round the corner many will be wondering whether or not it is going to feature Android 2.0 from the outset. There’s still no word on that, but given the enhancements 2.o will bring we can only hope. The first device to use 2.0 will be Motorola’s Droid, which is scheduled to be unveiled by American network Verizon tomorrow. Check out the video below to see 2.o in action:
Well here we go … only 8 days until Rachael is officially announced! Sony Ericsson have launched a teaser page with 3rd November given as the date of something new. Indeed Sony Ericsson pose the question “Sometimes there’s a thin line between the extraordinary and the magical. Did we cross it?”
Why is everyone so sure it’s Rachael? Well the source code for the page just so happens to mention Rachael by name. Sadly not the official desiganation, but it’s definitely Rachael. Actually, there’s more than one reference to ‘infinity’ on the page; an infinity symbol and the source code mentions “Rachael - infinity”. Hopefully ‘infinity’ is a tag line and not the name of Rachael … that just seems too cheesey.
So it looks like the long wait for Rachael is almost over …
One of the most anticipated features of Sony Ericsson’s Aino handset has been the Remote Play functionality that allows users to remotely connect to a PS3 to access content and make purchases. However, the feature has apparently been blighted by problems that mean some users either can’t connect or find it difficult to do so. The problem may be bigger than first suspected though if the response from Carphone Warehouse, the UK’s largest mobile retailer, is anything to go by.
It looks like Carphone Warehouse have created a specific code for this particular fault and, according to SE-Blog’s information, this isn’t standard practice, indicating that Carphone Warehouse may expect to deal with a large number of faulty handsets with this problem. Hopefully, for both customers and Sony Ericsson, this isn’t the case.
Sony Ericsson have hinted that there may be a possibility, probably very slight though, that Rachael may not be alone in the Android stakes when announced next month. Commenting to British mobile magazine ‘Mobile Today’, Sony Ericsson mentioned that there would be ‘at least one’ Android’ handset announced by the end of this year. Of course that statement doesn’t tie Sony Ericsson to actually announcing a second Android handset alongside Rachael, but it would actually make a good bit of sense if they did so.
So far Rachael has appeared on the tubes a number of times through various ‘leaks’. By the time the announcement date rolls around, probably sometime next month, it will already be a handset that the digerati are acquainted with. How much more impact would they have if they also decided to slip in another Android handset on the side, maybe nothing as flash as Rachael, but still something to catch the eye. Indeed, if it were a non-touchscreen Android handset, as some have speculated Susan may be, then it would actually be, in some ways, more newsworthy than Rachael herself.
Of course this could all be pie in the sky, but we’ll just have to wait to find out … Let us know what side your money is on in the comments.
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