Omio

The Mobile Phone Keyboard Olympics

By Robin LandycloseAuthor: Robin Landy Name: Robin Landy
Email: talk@omio.com
Site: http://www.omio.com
About: See Authors Posts (17)

Apparently there’s something going on in London in 2012 that’s costing a whole bunch of money and has got a lot of people all excited.

Alas, the Omio budget doesn’t stretch to Olympic sponsorship, let-alone building our own velodrome. Anyhow, who wants to watch a bunch of men chase each other round-and-round on bicycles, when you could stay in and watch our own Ernest Doku go thumb-to-button with greatest phones on the planet?

We lined up 6 of the best smartphones: the Apple iphone; the Samsung Omnia; the T-Mobile G1; the HTC Touch HD; the HTC Touch Pro (win this in our Touch Pro give-away) and the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. We gave Ernest a set text to type - twice on each handset - so that we could take an average time.

Want to see what happened when Ernest got typing? Check out the video…

More details of the contest after the jump

Read the rest of this entry »

Sony Ericsson W705 Walkman Phone Officially Announced

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (461)

The oft-pictured Walkman handset from Sony Ericsson codenamed “Rika” has finally been announced as the W705.

It’s a phone of firsts from the manufacturer, as it is the first Walkman phone to feature Wi-Fi connectivity, and also the first to come with Google Maps. The latter of the two does seem to indicate that this phone was to include some GPS functionality, but it seems to have gotten itself lost on the way to market…

What it does have is a nice 2.4 inch screen, 3.2 megapixel camera and 4GB of memory (via M2 card) for all your music. Download tracks over-the-air through the recently activated PlayNow Arena service, or just watch YouTube clips that amuse you!

Being Sony Ericsson, the crazy colour names that they dream up are the most exciting part of any new handset release, and they did not disappoint. Luxury Silver and Passionate Red are the order of the day for the W705, and it is scheduled for a Q1 2009 release.

What’s that blimp behind it? Oh, just a Bluetooth speaker. ‘The MBS-900, the perfect accompaniment to any space station.’

Sony Ericsson C905 Cybershot Phone x FHM = A Good Idea

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (461)

There is no denying the photo taking credentials of the new 8 megapixel C905 handset, and Sony Ericsson has gone to some impressive lengths to prove it in their new ad campaign.

Nestled within the December pages of men’s mag FHM is a beautiful, and tasteful image of a lady in her underwear. No surprises there, but the hook is that it the campaign shots have been been taken with the C905 itself, thus proving the digital camera-beating quality of the latest Sony phone.

Sony Ericsson UK & Ireland Marketing Director, David Hilton was suitably exuberant, possibly due to his attendance at the photoshoot: “The audience and timing of this campaign is perfect for generating a buzz within the gadget-mad young men of Britain, just as their Christmas wish lists are being created.”

Don’t be fooled, gadget-mad young men of Britain! This was very much a professional shoot, complete with make up artists, lighting rigs and hair fluffers on hand to make the picture perfect. As good as the C905 is, don’t go expecting snaps of your weekend away to the Sidcup Travelodge to rival the vision of loveliness above…

Sony Ericsson Mobile Phone Range To Be Cut, Yet They Manage To Leak New Handset Info!

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (461)

Following on from Sony Ericsson posting their first quarterly loss in the last five years, they are to take drastic steps in order to wrestle the situation back under control.

Despite the world’s economy going into financial meltdown, Sony managed to sell almost 26 million phones in Q3 of 2008, and yet they lost €25 million in the process. That is almost certainly a bad thing, and worse when compared to the €267 million profit made this time last year.

Aggressive moves including cutting the range of handsets by a fifth and the consolidation of their three handset research labs into one were the first to be announced by Sony Ericsson president Dick Koriyama.

The downturn means that less people are buying phones, particularly those that may not have such strong unique selling points as the T-Mobile G1 or the iPhone. Trimming the range and drawing the focus onto ‘hero’ handsets such as the Xperia X1 and the 8 megapixel C905 may well be a step in the right direction for the beleaguered manufacturer.

Enough with all that doom and gloom, info on some more new Sony handsets has leaked!

Read the rest of this entry »

Sony Ericsson GreenHeart Concept Phone

By Peter RosscloseAuthor: Peter Ross Name: Peter Ross
Email: peter.ross@trafficbroker.co.uk
Site: http://www.omio.com
About: Raised by wolves, in the darkest of woods, Pete eventually left the pack. He emerged into the world blinking and half feral with one true dream: to write about mobile phones on the Omio blog.See Authors Posts (39)

As concept phones go, the Sony Ericsson GreenHeart isn’t out there in terms of design or functionality. However what makes the GreenHeart so special is that it’s ‘meant to be environmentally sustainable’. It’s made of bio plastic, the keyboards are recycled, it’s charger packs a mere 3.5mW.

If you are worried about the environmental impact of your mobile phone use, you won’t have to wait till the GreenHeart is released. Omio has launched a new page where you can sell your old mobile for recycling or resale.

Recycling an old phone saves vital resources and cutsdown the environmental cost of manufacturing new phones from scratch. Many old phones work perfectly fine but as they are out of date or no longer fashionable people discard them. If you sell your mobile to a company for resale, you can save the environmental cost of having to manufacture phones that are not really needed. Plus a lot of phones that are resold get sent to developing countries where new phones are prohibitively expense for the majority

You can get a quote instantly for your old mobile and they guarantee fast payment.These companies buy all phones, regardless of their condition. Some even take broken or damaged phones So if you want to be as responsible as Sony Ericsson and make a bit of cash in the process, you should definitely think about trading in your old phone.

Source: Ubergizmo

Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 LiveBlog Today!

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (461)

This afternoon will mark the official announcement of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, and we’ll be there to liveblog every bit, keeping you in the know about the arguably the biggest and sexiest smartphone launch in Sony’s history!

We know it’ll be out on September 30th, but what it looks like up close and how it performs is what we need to find out…

Well, you’ll know as soon as it happens with our coverage of the launch event, as well as adding all manner of pictures and hands-on impressions as the day goes on. It’s so exciting!

So cast your eyes below for the window where our liveblog will go down, and enjoy…

First Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 Review

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (461)

Delayed until January? Well, Russian website SMAPE wasn’t going to let a little thing like that stop them from putting out a very detailed review of Sony’s first WinMo handset, the Xperia X1.

The review goes into some exhaustive detail, answering the big three questions of build quality, keyboard and image quality of the epic 3 inch TFT touchscreen. Well, they’re my big three…

The user interface is the big allure, and they explain how the Xperia can run nine dynamic thumbnails of active programs, which can then be arranged and manipulated in almost any concievable manner. Fan them out like a deck of cards, rotate and flip them, all in real time with a minimum of lag.

Despite sounding gimmicky in theory, it turns out to be a gorgeous yet rather practical user interface, and the only serious contender to the TouchFLO of the Touch Pro and Touch Diamond (apart from the iPhone, naturally). As both the Xperia and the HTC duo are pretty much equals on specs, to work this magic with the same 256 MB of ram is a mircale for the Xperia. However, they do report that TouchFLO consumes more computing power than the lovely panels, so go figure…

Downsides? A  3.2 megapixel camera? What is this, 2006? Yeah, camera technology has moved at a breakneck pace of late, and with the i8510 showing off an 8 megapixel snapper, the Xperia’s doesn’t cut it. Also, the keyboard. As soon as we saw that curved sliding mechanism, the first thought was ‘those keys are going to get scratched!’ Sure enough, these fears were realised as the demo handsets were shown, and now to add insult to injury the keyboard buttons are said to feel loose and indistinct.

The Touch Pro’s keyboard is a joy to use, so the Xperia had better fix up on this front otherwise it could be a real minus point for many. Smartphone lovers are militant when it comes to keyboards.

All in all it is a largely positive review, full of plus points like the sturdy metal frame of the phone and its relatively compact nature. Let’s hope those extra few months to tweak it up make the Xperia the first big phone of 2009!

Nokia Rules Sales Charts, Credit Crunch Beginning To Bite

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (461)

Mobile phones are still big business in 2008 despite economic issues curbing growth in the coming year, according to market analysts Gartner.

Everyone’s favourite phrase the ‘credit crunch’ is to blame, with market growth predicted to slow down and a general downturn to be on the cards for all manufacturers, Nokia included. The increasing competitive environment does have an upside for the consumer in the form of lower phone prices, however.

Despite their table-topping Q2 sales of 120 million handsets accounting for 40% of the industry as a whole, Nokia are still tightening the purse strings to focus on emerging markets and mid-tier phones to ride the turbulent time.

Samsung cements their second place standing with sales of 45.7 million units to claim 15.2%, whilst Motorola stay strong in third with 30.4 million (10%). A sad time for Sony Ericsson in fifth place, with recent comments by Sony CEO Howard Stringer adding fuel to rumours of a strained commercial relationship between the two firms.

The preference of mid range (read: cheaper) as opposed to luxurious phones, as well as the longer duration of contracts tying customers in are all contributing factors to the changing landscape of the industry. Nevertheless, Gartner predicts attractive forthcoming handsets like the Samsung i8510 and Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 will keep the industry buoyant through the rest of the year, leading to sales of over 1.28 billion handsets for 2008.

Source: Reuters/PC Pro

Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 Dated By Play?

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (461)

Never ones to disappoint, Play.com have put up another mobile phone for pre-order, highlighting for us a prospective date of release. This time, it’s the eagerly awaited Xperia X1 from Sony Ericsson.

This super-PDA has been quiet of late besides showing a bit of thigh at the occasional trade show, but a date of October 30th and £600 on Play falls in line with our winter time estimations for the Windows Mobile-powered touchscreen wonder.

Granted, it is SIM-free which means network offers and cheap prices will be at least a month later, but at least this is some conclusive proof that the Xperia is not just an elaborate tech demo, and we will all be able to get our hands on one eventually…

Sony Ericsson Reveals New Walkman Range

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (461)

Sure enough, the countdown clock ran out and this morning marked the launch of three new Walkman handsets from Sony Ericsson, each targeting different demographics with clinical precision.

The W302 is an unashamedly entry-level mobile, yet possesses the looks and features one might expect from something a bit more classy. Much was made of the very slight frame of the W302, it being only 10.5mm thick and still complete with all the bells and whistles we’ve come to expect from a W-series. The aluminium fronted device also sports a 2 megapixel camera, a 512MB memory card and Bluetooth stereo functionality - all pretty impressive given that its the cheapest Walkman phone yet.

The W595 is a nice little slider phone, set to pick up from where the highly successful W580 left off. It has a huge 2.2 inch screen, a 3.2 megapixel camera and comes with a 2GB memory card to plonk your tunes on. From here on in things, get a little ‘Sony’ with some quirky features… The ‘SensMe’ function is an odd little thing that was introduced on the W910i, apparently it is able to automatically sense mood in music tracks allowing them to be sorted accordingly. Cool, and according to this review, works pretty well too!

The ’shake control’ for changing tracks and volume has returned, but it still needs an elastic tether like a child’s mitten to stop me from shaking it under a passing bus. What can I say, I’m an overzealous shaker. Apparently pressing buttons for music navigation is considered retro, but is thankfully still catered for on the W595.

The tech blog speculations were pretty much on the money, as the W302 and W595 were unveiled as expected. The big shock was the new flagship in the Walkman empire - the W902. A luxury handset in every sense of the word, the W902 attempts to reaffirm the Walkman phone as an object of desire in the eyes of the masses.

Loaded with a 5 megapixel camera, amazing sound quality and a gorgeous 2.2″ mineral glass screen, it looks to be a replacement for all your gadget comforts. It comes equipped with an 8GB memory card, and it is shaping up to be the ultimate music phone. Pretty much what the Walkman brand is all about!

All of these phones are slated for a Q4 release, and we are very much looking to getting them in for a quick review. All in all, Sony look to be following the Nokia school of attacking on all fronts. With this line up, it could prove to be a very successful strategy.