SE has really come a long way since their early days of venture into the Android realm. Their initial efforts were half hearted, half baked and mediocre at best. The SE Xperia X10 was lacking in more areas then some. Personally, being an ex-SE user, I was utterly disappointed in SE with what they had to offer. However, SE did mentioned that they will learn from their experience with the X10 and promised to improve on their Android offerings in 2011. Many were sceptical, even myself.
2011 came, and boy did SE improved. Their latest range of Android phones spot the latest Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS, standard 1GHz processors and stylish form. Coupled with their ironclad position in the gaming realm, they assimilated the PlayStation name with their Android devices. The direct offspring, being the PlayStation Suite & of course the SE Xperia Play. And to top it off with a cherry on top, they promised to update their old X10 to Gingerbread 2.3 as well. Kudos to them.
Now, this year's SE flagship Android phone will be none other than the SE Xperia Arc. With super stylish design and unbelievable slimness, the Arc is indeed a magnificent piece of engineering. Well, they do say Sony is essential run by engineers, don’t they? Like any SE Android phone, the arc will come with the custom UI known as Timescape. SE has done many improvements with Timescape since its first induction on the X10. Timescape now is very much faster, smoother, prettier and useful. And of course, the Arc packs a 8 megapixel camera. This camera is able to take very beautiful stills with good auto white balance as well as superior low light shots. This is due to its Exmor R sensor which uses back-illuminated CMOS technology. The dedicated camera shutter button is also a welcomed addition.
Now while these all sounds very good. I shall now touch a little on my pet peeves. Firstly, the device is not running on a dual core processor. Ushering 2011 is a gamut of Android devices from multiple manufacturers utilising dual core processors to power their devices. Some even use up to 1.5Ghz dual core processors. While 1Ghz single core is the standard and norm nowadays, dual core is the way into the future. 1Ghz belongs more to the last generation of Android phones, the Gen 1 Androids since the introduction of the Nexus One. Once the Gen 2 phones are on the shelves, the Arc might find itself in a power struggle.
Secondly, the lack of a front facing camera might proof to be its Achilles’ heel once the Google I/O in May is over. There are very strong hints in the tablet based Android Honeycomb 3.0 that Google is adding video functionality to their mobile apps. Google Talk is definitely one candidate to receive this feature. Lacking the front facing camera might result in the Arc losing a portion of users who would like to enjoy the true Google experience.
Since we are on the topic on Google Experience, I shall now touch on my last point. The Xperia line of phones can hardly be considered as Android devices with pure Google experience. Of course, the UI is already customised. And the most glaring physical mutation would be the lack of a Search button. All true Android devices have 4 physical buttons. The Xperia line only has 3. While this is hardly a cause for concern for average users, it is the timeliness of updates from Google that all users should be worried about.
SE has yet to proof that they will deliver all updates from Google to their device users in a timely manner. An acceptable timeframe would be no more than 3 months delay. SE used to be notorious in that area. It took them one whole year to update their X10 from 1.6 Donut to 2.1 Eclair while the rest of the world is already using 2.2 Froyo. Having said all that, the Arc is still a very desirable device. I am sure its camera will impress both users and sceptics. Its light weight, slim and stylish design will win over the ladies. Its Bravia technology display will make media consumption an awesome experience. For a two year SGD$30 monthly contract and an upfront payment of SGD$400, I think it should garner substantial interest and users.
The SE Xperia Arc is available locally in two colours, Midnight blue and Misty silver. It is also available in Japan in Sakura pink.
No comments:
Post a Comment